Dragster as fast as Radar Says?

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RideMan said:
All I know is that it appears that they borrowed a gun from a speed-pitch game and mounted it on a pole on the hydraulic building.

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If you correctly guess the speed of your launch, do you win a prize? ;)

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CP Games 1991-92 (while many of you were still in diapers :) )

...Like a rollback. :)

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khommy84 said:
They definitly did change the radar since the beginning of the season, the accuracy might be a little off but I am sure that it isn't fabricated. But it must be hitting something around 120 which is all that matters if that is what it takes to get over the top.

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Well if the speeds aren't fabricated why was this happening on 7-23? This was not the only rollback either, and there was not that much wind, more like a breeze.

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tambo

Like somebody said before, there are many factors, not just wind and speed, that determine a rollback.

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LeWiS

Great video. After watching that, I really want a rollback. Gotta find a way to get back up there from Texas.

Yes, there are sensors on the track (those 600 prox switches) that are used to measure the speed of the train. That's for the computer's benefit...it monitors the train's speed, probably in milliseconds between triggers.

Rather than tap that data and translate it into miles per hour, for the sign it's easier to stick a radar gun on the motor house and be done with it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Cool.

I didn't even notice it's there. Going on the 30th so I will look for it this time.

When I go to Cedar Point, I will tell you, I do not want to roll back, I would be too scared...

When I went back in May, before TTD had the problems, the trains were between 115 -122 mph and they were making it over the top just fine..

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LaUnCh...420 feet, 120 mph, 4 seconds....brakes...breathe

Radar guns are affected by cosine error, which always results in a lower speed than what is actually occuring. Only way to be 100% accurate is to be dead-straight with the train (not happening).

Of course, radar is open to errors... the microwaves could bounce off other objects, or something flapping in the wind, or the trees. And even LASER's open for errors.

In this case, I'd say it's close, but we're talking what, half a mile per hour or so? Maybe they should be like news polls... put 120 MPH, + - 3%.

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18 straight years of real thrills and counting...
Being watched? http://www.lavasoftusa.com [Research & Development]

And of course, at Cedar Point there are lots of things that could be flapping in the wind.

****hawks in particular.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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tambo said:
This was not the only rollback either, and there was not that much wind, more like a breeze.

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Just a note...

Just because it isn't very windy at ground level, that doesn't mean that it's the same way 400 feet above. Dragster was down because of high winds the other day and, although you could see how windy it was at the top of Dragster and Magnum by looking at their anemometers, there was hardly a breeze down on the midway.

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James Draeger
Ride Maintenance 2003

i remember feeling like i was going to get blown off the stairs when i was in line for a water ride at soak city. then when i was at the bottom it wasn't windy at all. probably just because of all of the the trees and coasters blocking the wind.

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Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!