Coach to Crew Radio
Dan Hoover
Kieran Coghlan wrote:
>
> Conor H. wrote:
> >
> > Does anyone know where to get a coach to crew walkie-talkie?
> > The coaches radio should include a head-piece, and ideally the radio in
> > the boat should be able to attach into the cox box.
> >
Unless you're teaching raw novices (or "instructing" during drills or in
between pieces) I would be firmly against piping the coach's voice
through the coxbox's speakers.
If you *are* going to use a radio (which I think actually is a brillant
idea), you should use it only to feed instructions to your coxswain -
this way he/she is more directly involved in the coaching process and
assumes much more of a leadership role than one who sits there passively
while the coach barks out directions. IMHO rowers respond better to a
coxswain who operates like this.
Since I have a bad habit of dropping electronic equipment in the water
(especially megaphones and radios) I try to develop a system of sign
language to communicate with my coxswains during practice pieces - a
crew becomes much more independant and "empowered" if they don't rely on
a coach barking at them all the time.
Also, under this system, the rowers are less likely to start tuning you
out (coaches can quickly get redundant and repetitive really fast).
dh
Conor H.
Does anyone know where to get a coach to crew walkie-talkie?
The coaches radio should include a head-piece, and ideally the radio in
the boat should be able to attach into the cox box.
Thanks everyone who replied to the "electronic oars" message. I'll have
to give the instructions to some engineer friends.
Kieran Coghlan
Dan Hoover wrote:
>
> Also, under this system, the rowers are less likely to start tuning you
> out (coaches can quickly get redundant and repetitive really fast).
Ha! Good one... ;^)
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Kieran Coghlan, Mechanical Engineer, The Boeing Company
Cal Irvine Rowing, '92-'96
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"...The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time." --Jack London
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Views expressed are not necessarily those of The Boeing Company.
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Deborah Mulloy
While I agree that the coach should never be seen to talk over the cox
or take any authority from them, these machines can be useful if the coach
needs to talk to a crew. Most rowers and coxes know how irritating it is
to have to try and make out what a coach on a windswept bank is saying
especially when in motion. Also useful for allowing coach to tell cox that
eg "No. 3 is pulling like a donkey" and training coxes.
I believe N-K do one of these contraptions and you might want to have a look
at one of those and see if you can devise one of your own. I know it is
possible to use connections to play other machines through the cox-box (like
walkmans) so I guess it should be quite simple. However, I imagine lwt
transmitters and receivers could be quite expensive.
D.
XXX
--
Debbie Mulloy Tel. 439512
Ex-Somerville, Still Sad Boatie
fur...@email.unc.edu
If all you want is one way communications, you stay fairly close to your
crew, you have responsible coxswains, and you are not in an urban area
(phew) just go down to the radio shack nearest you and get a "camcorder
microphone" that operates in the 49MHz range. $70. Works on 2 nine
volts. You can listen to the coxswain and tape her voice on the camcorder
at the same time, or she can listen to your information.
You can get a similarly priced 2-way set without the ability to patch into
the camcorder, but I've found the VOX systems can be annoying, and I don't
know that most coxswains can handle the sensory inputs they already face,
much less a coach talking in her ear. We've also found that with some
coxswains they're never quiet enough to speak to -- unless you've got a
full-duplex setup, you can't break through their transmission!
If you want to connect to the cox-box, radio shack will also sell you an
appropriate Y adapter, but matching the sound levels between cox-vox mic
and your wireless set is not easy. I also agree with the desire to let
the coxswain do the talking. I'd rather tell her and have her repeat it.
Finally, if you need better quality an dhave lots of money, buy a VHF or
UHF system (whatever is appropriate for your use an area) with a headset.
They run around $250 for all the parts, per unit, so $500 probably for a
solid system. I haven't tried this.
Hope this helps,
Joel
In article <61g6vr$j37$1...@news.ox.ac.uk>, some...@sable.ox.ac.uk (Deborah
Mulloy) wrote:
--
Joel Furtek
919/962-8277 -- fur...@email.unc.edu
Head Coach, North Carolina Women's Rowing
America's Oldest Sport -- Carolina's Newest
thebat
Didn't Brian Sweenor have a mini receiver in his ear for some of his
races in '92 or '93--so Bob Gillette could ~really~ get inside his head?
Lance Armstrong (US Cycling Team/Team Motorola for you hardcore
oarheads) uses a 2-way micro transceiver, as do other pro cyclists to
comm w/ their support crew and director/manager during races.
I think FISA specifically has outlawed coaching an individual/crew
during a race. I might suspect USRA has adopted this policy as well.
(Ron, Jay: insights on any or all of above?)
k. scanlon
no radios in boats, no coaching from outside the boat- it's in the USRA
rules for racing.....
just read it recently but I'm too lazy to paste in the URL (must be all
those powerbars I had for lunch <urp>)
Koster J.A.
I actually made a radio set for coaching about three years ago. It saved
my freshmans eight from a collision once, on the Amstel river. (so the
investment definitely paid back!)
I used a walkie-talkie set that cost approximately 60 guilders ~ 18
pounds ~ 27 dollars(?). On one WT I soldered a headphone set which the
cox would wear, the other WT had to be hand-held by the coach.
The system lacked a squelch function for suppression of the noise when
both WT's aren't transmitting. This eventually drove our coxes mad so we
had to get rid of them. (the WT's!)
A lightweight I know used a similar system, only with squelch function.
Apparently this worked perfectly for them.
I also heard that radio communication with the shore is not allowed
during races.
Letting a coach's transmissions suppress the coxwain's instructions
sounds dangerous to me:
cox: "ok, let's take a few strokes to get out of the way of that tanker,
ready,..."
<BREAKY BREAKY, YOUR COACH SPEAKING, GUYS, PLEASE TAKE CARE THAT YOUR
FINISHES DON'T GET SLOPPY, ESPECIALLY NUMBER THREE..." (and the crew was
hit by a tanker, to be found floating in the water 3 days later)...
I mean, you're dragging this cox along, why not let him speak now and
then?
A3aan.
--
Adriaan Koster
Artificial Intelligence, VU Amsterdam
a3...@cs.vu.nl - http://www.cs.vu.nl/~a3aan
+31 20 4447785
Williams
I'm sure that radio's are against most league rules, but I think it's a
great idea for practice. I always wondered if somehow the cox could wear
one headset, and push one button to speak to the boat, and another to speak
to the coach. The cox would also be able to hear the coach. That way, the
coach doesn't take over the coxwain's job (as I have seen many coaches do).
-Matt Williams
Brian Sweenor
> Didn't Brian Sweenor have a mini receiver in his ear for some of his
> races in '92 or '93--so Bob Gillette could ~really~ get inside his head?
> Lance Armstrong (US Cycling Team/Team Motorola for you hardcore
> oarheads) uses a 2-way micro transceiver, as do other pro cyclists to
> comm w/ their support crew and director/manager during races.
> during a race. I might suspect USRA has adopted this policy as well.
> (Ron, Jay: insights on any or all of above?)
