I’m just back from the formula 1 Grand Prix at Monaco. It was a when in a lifetime trip for me, as well as something I’d been intending to do for the last 25 years.
Wanting to maximise the experience, I was extremely interested to hear about the new Kangaroo TV (now called FanVision) system. nevertheless I couldn’t discover anything in the method of an F1 spectators evaluation before booking system so I believed I would supply a record of our experience with it right here to ideally benefit some others. While not associated to house Automation, It’s an fascinating device none-the-less.
Kangaroo? So what is Kangaroo TV (now FanVision)? Well, the premise is simple, you go to a online sports event since of the atmosphere, the spectacle, the noise as well as in the situation of motorsport, even the smell! walking the track at Monaco was akin to going out at Wembley or some other excellent stadium for a football fan. However, being utilized to enjoying a Grand Prix with contemporary TV coverage, you realise there’s a great deal of info you depend upon for your pleasure of the race – action replays, in-car footage as well as timing data. as well as so go into Kangaroo TV, a gadget which attempts to bring the very best of the living space experience to the enjoyment of the race track.
Booking & Collecting We rented the system in development utilizing the www.kangaroo.tv website. We selected the weekend rate at $95 (approx £50), the Saturday only rate (qualifying day) was $50 as well as the Sunday rate (race day) was $60. The very first issue was getting info on where to pickup the unit. The collection point details weren’t extremely impressive, the map (below) is meant to show where the kiosk was found to gather the unit, marked by the Kangaroo logo. The red square (added by us) was much a lot more like where the stand was really located. The address provided referred to a general area (Placed’Armes ) as well as it took us a while to lastly find the kiosk. In these days of GPS as well as Google Maps there’s no reason for such bad directions. one more gripe was that we had rather a walk from our Casin0 Square stand to take the system back after the race. There seem to be several kiosks places at other races though, so maybe this is a issue with the lack of area around the small Monaco principality. one more bit detail that was inaccurate was the return time. According to our confirmation email the units had to be back by 6:30pm on the Sunday, however the woman at the kiosk told us it was 10:00pm.
When we ultimately discovered the stand, I created my passport – the confirmation email stated we’d requirement “Photographic ID” in buy to gather the unit, however we were told it wasn’t required. I was then told I needed to pay once again as a few of the pre-bookings from the web site “hadn’t gone with PayPal properly”. Understandably I queried this as well as the woman serving us spoke to one more member of the personnel on the stand as well as then told us it was OK, we didn’t requirement to pay again. Not precisely confidence inspiring. The system was then put into the bring pouch as well as provided to us, we had no presentation as well as no directions were included, all in all a quite shoddy begin to our Kangaroo TV experience.
Using the gadget The pouch bag included the TV system itself, a set of headphones in a retractable case, a completely charged spare battery as well as a battery charger – you only get the charger if you take the weekend booking. The system is around 4 inches by 6 inches as well as used on a lanyard around your neck. It can dangle there whilst supplying the audio feed as well as you can lift the system as much as view the stats or TV protection when you requirement to. The lanyard likewise has a clip enabling you to keep the strap around your neck whilst the system is eliminated for storage.
Turning on the gadget for the very first time it scans the network for a signal. It took us about 30 minutes to realise the aerial really extends, one more reason it would have been great to have had a quick demo as well as a fundamental set of instructions. The Kangaroo system is based on a Linux platform as well as utilizes smart phone innovation to get as much as 10 online MPEG4 feeds, together with AAC3 as well as MP3 audio streams. The very first thing you do is set your much-loved driver. This motorist is then highlighted in the timing data screens for simple identification.
The system has two primary modes, accessed from the red TV button as well as the blue STATS button. We were lucky sufficient to be sat opposite the big screens round the circuit on both days, so we might see the primary video feed on those. The system likewise enables you to choose in-car footage, although this was restricted to around half a lots drivers.
It’s impossible to hear anything when you are this close to an F1 car!
The system had a trans-reflectivescreen so can be seen in bright sunlight, although it can of program look washed out if its truly bright. screen brightness will have a direct impact on battery life, which we were told was 6 hours. We never got near to utilizing even half of the battery on either day, never mine utilizing the spare.
On the audio side the commentary feed was in 3 or 4 different languages, with each language getting its turn for a few minutes. It would have been much nicer to get a feed per language. We discovered the volume level as well low during the race. However, when twenty-two F1 cars and trucks are passing you a few meters away, its difficult to state what would be loud sufficient to hear over them! once again this is most likely a specific issue in Monaco, I’ve been to Silverstone as well as been an dreadful great deal additionally away from the cars.
I believed we would have been hearing pit radio from our chosen much-loved driver, however instead we got audio from random motorists throughout the race. a lot of times it wasn’t even possible to tell who they were unless their team utilized their name.
The system is supplied with an exceptional set of headphones. I utilize a extremely similar set with my iPod as well as these are the only kind that in shape my ears as well as stay in. They in shape snugly inside your ear as well as produce a seal so they have a noise reduction impact also. The system utilizes a common headphone mini-jack socket so you utilize it with your own earphones if you like (Tip – pack a 2nd set of headphones as well as a doubler so two of you can listen in at the exact same time). A great bit touch is that you get to keep these, total in their F1 top quality situation which is a beneficial as well as special memento of your race weekend.
For our money the system came into its own during the Saturday Qualifying session. The online timing data was not offered anywhere else however on our Kangaroo system. other spectators just had no method of understanding who was where in the buy besides hearing the strange snippet from the program commentary when the PA wasn’t obliterated by the screaming V8s.
The Future Kangaroo TV is already being utilized in Nascar as well as the business has just revealed a partnership for the 2007 Le Mans 24 hour race. There are lots of other sports events that might benefit like Golf, Tennis, Cricket as well as Football for example.
Would I Recommend? So, the bottom line, was it worth renting. I’d absolutely state yes. Whilst a few of the finer points of a few of the features requirement improving, as well as our experience of renting the system left a great deal to be desired, without question the system added to the pleasure of our race weekend, particularly having the online timing info for qualifying which was not offered on the screen around the track. In the grand plan of the expense of a Grand Prix weekend, the rental expense is irrelevant as well as it provides you the added info that keeps you in the loop, whilst experiencing the excitement of really being there.
Pros
+ absolutely adds to the race experience
+ Selectable In-Car Footage
+ online Timing data – particularly beneficial for Qualifying
+ respectable high quality headphones (that you get to keep!)
+ spare Battery (plus charger supplied with weekend rental)
+ Battery life
Cons
– bad collection details & experience
– Not loud sufficient (for Monaco anyway)
– screen might be brighter
www.kangaroo.tv – now www.FanVision.com
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