NASCAR race spammed/hacked/pirated

[lazierfan]

Chicagoland Raceway has been the victim of radio pirates.


Early in Saturday's Freaky Fast 300 championship NASCAR race, the ESPN2 commentators have apologized for unauthorized snippets of traffic when they thought they were listening and rebroadcasting pit-to-car transmissions. Also, it was noted during the broadcast that teams were switching channels a lot more than usual.

 

[Mtnrider]

Sure it was Pirates ? and not local licensed users ?

 

[lazierfan]

At this point, with no proof, noone is sure of either.

Since teams are changing channels for more reasons than just keeping other teams from listening, I tend to lean toward unauthorized use. If licensed this scenario is grounds to lose that license, easy to prove with national coverage being part of the discovery in the case, if one is ever brought.

 

[kd7mxi]

arnt race radios rented? ,, if so shouldnt the rental company be blamed for freq coordnation issues?

 

[W8RMH]

It could be people with these cheap Chinese radios like the Baofengs.

 

[KevinC]

It could be people with these cheap Chinese radios like the Baofengs.

Very (unfortunately) true, surprised it hasn't happened before.

One upset "Junior Nation" fan is all it takes.

 

[rwier]

Chicagoland Raceway has been the victim of radio pirates.

Early in Saturday's Freaky Fast 300 championship NASCAR race, the ESPN2 commentators have apologized for unauthorized snippets of traffic when they thought they were listening and rebroadcasting pit-to-car transmissions. Also, it was noted during the broadcast that teams were switching channels a lot more than usual.

A google search for "Chicagoland Raceway NASCAR race spammed/hacked/pirated" returns this RR thread and nothing else remotely related. You'd think that ..... , just saying. By the way lazierfan, I appreciate your exquisite use of English syntax.

 

[kayn1n32008]

It could be people with these cheap Chinese radios like the Baofengs.

Or it could be people with MTS-2000's or XPR-7550's or a Vx-929 or an IC-F9011...
It is not the radio brand, it is the persons mentality behind the PTT.

Time to get off your baofeng/Wouxon/whatevercheapchinesebranddujour rant buddy


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[W8RMH]

Or it could be people with MTS-2000's or XPR-7550's or a Vx-929 or an IC-F9011...
It is not the radio brand, it is the persons mentality behind the PTT.

Time to get off your baofeng/Wouxon/whatevercheapchinesebranddujour rant buddy


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I wasn't ranting nor was I blaming the brand.. I have a Baofeng myself. It is a known fact that the low cost availability of these radios has caused issues with unauthorized transmissions in the public safety as well as the private sector.

I don't think you are going to find a MTS-2000 or a XPR-7550 for less than $50, that was my point.....buddy! Your post sounds more like a rant.

 

[lazierfan]

Very (unfortunately) true, surprised it hasn't happened before.

One upset "Junior Nation" fan is all it takes.

Where's the 'like' button

 

[com501]

Some interesting discussions were had between myself and some high level folks from a very large national rental radio chain about pirates and deliberate interference to their rentals at various venues.

All it takes sometimes is a disgruntled local business in the two way industry with no scruples to 'jam' or interfere with the competition when they come to town to provide comms after the local has lost the contract for either poor performance or being simply outbid.

Never leave to chance that which can be explained by deliberate action....

Coming soon to a NASCAR rules change near you: Encryption - spread spectrum - new digital comms allowed.

Just sayin'.....

 

[kayn1n32008]

...I have a Baofeng myself.

And I have one too. What is your point?

It is a known fact that the low cost availability of these radios has caused issues with unauthorized transmissions in the public safety as well as the private sector.

And these 'unauthorized transmissions' were happening long before Baofeng/Wouxon/whatevercheapchinesebranddujour hit the US market whether it was modded ham gear or surplus commercial gear.

I don't think you are going to find a MTS-2000 or a XPR-7550 for less than $50, that was my point.....buddy!

What does price have to do with whether someone is causing interference? I guess I just can't seem to follow your (il)logic(al) leap to how price indicates the likelihood of people causing interference.

Your post sounds more like a rant.

Might be. But with out knowing all the facts you seem to want to lay blame on something that may not actually have anything to do with the situation.

How many times have we seen stories of rouge radios on trunk systems... I bet they are not a 'cheap Chinese radio'

Lay blame on the morons causing interference, not the tool they use to carry out the deed. It is like blaming a car for a dunk driver killing a family.


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[speedway_navigator]

All it takes sometimes is a disgruntled local business in the two way industry with no scruples to 'jam' or interfere with the competition when they come to town to provide comms after the local has lost the contract for either poor performance or being simply outbid.

You left out ex-employees with a grudge.

 

[com501]

There's always that....

 

[W3DMV]

I agree with rwier. If anything did happen, it's a well kept secret
Here is a link to a very basic well written article explaining the communications
equipment which has been supplied by "Racing Radio's" in Atlanta for many
years. Pro's like NASCAR don't go to with second rate equipment from some
rental joint.
HowStuffWorks "How does a NASCAR driver communicate with the pit crew?"

 

[quarterwave]

Not the first time it has happened, won't be the last. It's usually incidental, and sometimes it's a bone head playing around. The can go TRBO whenever they want, NASCAR just has to allow it. They already use TRBO mode during testing, and some practice, etc.

All race day comms have to be in the clear per NASCAR. There was a rules clarification last year.

 

[N4KVE]

Or it could be people with MTS-2000's or XPR-7550's or a Vx-929 or an IC-F9011...
It is not the radio brand, it is the persons mentality behind the PTT.

Time to get off your baofeng/Wouxon/whatevercheapchinesebranddujour rant buddy


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Wouldn't you need a radio with a VFO to scan the freq's to find the drivers talking? However, the above mentioned commercial radios do not have a VFO to scan & find active freq's. Also the above radios require a laptop to program freq's in the radio. Can you imagine sitting in the stands with a laptop trying to guess what freq's are being used. Years ago when I went to the Daytona 500, I brought an Icom W-2 to the track to scan interesting freq's to listen to. I left my Motorola radios at home as they were useless to scan for interesting chatter. The freq's I enjoyed the most were in the 450-451 range. There I found the TV crews telling camera 3 to zoom in on the crash in turn 2. Sadly, you can get a $50 radio where the tx is wide open, vs a scanner that costs hundreds more, but doesn't transmit. The whackers know where to spend their money.

 

[gordonaustin]

As far as the TRBO goes, Nascar is very clear that they are the only ones allowed to be using TRBO or encryption. It is also my understanding that the big teams were banned from using TRBO even for non-essential communications towards the end of 2013. I used to intern with a small Nationwide team (no one on the team could have told you what TRBO was). The how stuff works article seems to have good info, but leaves some info out. Racing radios supplies probably 75% of the Nationwide series teams, while probably only 50% of the sprint cup teams use them. All teams (Despite their radio provider) are required to bring an actual car radio (mostly the Radius CP200) to the NASCAR hauler which houses a mobile Racing Radios shop. They will ask you which channel you are going to use and pull up the programming off that radio to confirm their list (sometimes they just plug in a handheld mic and turn on their scanner further into the season to see if it is primary or backup and highlight the one you are using on their sheet). They then program their receiver bank of about 50 rack mounted base stations so that every car has a radio. The feed from this rack is fed to the TV broadcast, Race control (to monitor for rule infractions), and to Raceview and the FanView things that they rent at the track. Each series has a Racing Radios shop in it's hauler, Sprint Cup has a radio hauler, Nationwide series has a hauler lounge, and I have never seen the one for the truck series. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here or PM me.

 

[gordonaustin]

I forgot to add, most teams do not use ANR headsets.

 

[Jimru]

As far as the TRBO goes, Nascar is very clear that they are the only ones allowed to be using TRBO or encryption. It is also my understanding that the big teams were banned from using TRBO even for non-essential communications towards the end of 2013. I used to intern with a small Nationwide team (no one on the team could have told you what TRBO was). The how stuff works article seems to have good info, but leaves some info out. Racing radios supplies probably 75% of the Nationwide series teams, while probably only 50% of the sprint cup teams use them. All teams (Despite their radio provider) are required to bring an actual car radio (mostly the Radius CP200) to the NASCAR hauler which houses a mobile Racing Radios shop. They will ask you which channel you are going to use and pull up the programming off that radio to confirm their list (sometimes they just plug in a handheld mic and turn on their scanner further into the season to see if it is primary or backup and highlight the one you are using on their sheet). They then program their receiver bank of about 50 rack mounted base stations so that every car has a radio. The feed from this rack is fed to the TV broadcast, Race control (to monitor for rule infractions), and to Raceview and the FanView things that they rent at the track. Each series has a Racing Radios shop in it's hauler, Sprint Cup has a radio hauler, Nationwide series has a hauler lounge, and I have never seen the one for the truck series. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here or PM me.

Do the NASCAR races have frequency coordinators the same way the NFL does? Is the "NASCAR hauler" doing basically the same function as the NFL freq. coordinators?

The NFL coordinators are responsible to know EVERY frequency that is being used at the game; including teams, press, stadium vendors, officials and anyone else using two-way comms.