Density Altitude Calculator?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 6,473
Likes: 297
From: Orange Park FL
http://www.dragtimes.com/da-density-...t+Weather+Data
I just bookmarked them and a weather site that has humidity and the Barometer readings.
The DA won't be exact but close enough for the avg guy or girl.
Last edited by pit-man; Jan 29, 2013 at 04:04 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 492
Likes: 10
From: Sacramento California
You can simply go to Dragtimes and bookmark it. Fill in the data and it will calculate for you. It has all the tracks across the country and their elevation.
http://www.dragtimes.com/da-density-...t+Weather+Data
I just bookmarked them and a weather site that has humidity and the Barometer readings.
The DA won't be exact but close enough for the avg guy or girl.
http://www.dragtimes.com/da-density-...t+Weather+Data
I just bookmarked them and a weather site that has humidity and the Barometer readings.
The DA won't be exact but close enough for the avg guy or girl.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,549
Likes: 27
From: Southampton NJ
Last edited by dennis50nj; Jan 29, 2013 at 05:07 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 492
Likes: 10
From: Sacramento California
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 27,254
Likes: 136
From: Short Hills, NJ
Those are all good sources (as pit-man noted) to get a general 'in the ballpark' idea of the DA 
but of course the ONLY way to get a truly accurate reading is with a well calibrated weather station (hand held device) used directly at the track, at the starting line actually of when/where you're making a particular pass.
I've seen some online sources (some of which might get their data from nearby airports or office buildings with meters located 30-40 or more feet in the air etc.) differ from the hand held units by as much as 700 feet
...but it's usually only about a 200-300 foot difference. 
but of course the ONLY way to get a truly accurate reading is with a well calibrated weather station (hand held device) used directly at the track, at the starting line actually of when/where you're making a particular pass.I've seen some online sources (some of which might get their data from nearby airports or office buildings with meters located 30-40 or more feet in the air etc.) differ from the hand held units by as much as 700 feet
...but it's usually only about a 200-300 foot difference.
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Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 492
Likes: 10
From: Sacramento California
Those are all good sources (as pit-man noted) to get a general 'in the ballpark' idea of the DA but of course the ONLY way to get a truly accurate reading is with a well calibrated weather station (hand held device) used directly at the track, at the starting line actually of when/where you're making a particular pass.
I've seen some online sources (some of which might get their data from nearby airports or office buildings with meters located 30-40 or more feet in the air etc.) differ from the hand held units by as much as 700 feet ...but it's usually only about a 200-300 foot difference.
but of course the ONLY way to get a truly accurate reading is with a well calibrated weather station (hand held device) used directly at the track, at the starting line actually of when/where you're making a particular pass.I've seen some online sources (some of which might get their data from nearby airports or office buildings with meters located 30-40 or more feet in the air etc.) differ from the hand held units by as much as 700 feet
...but it's usually only about a 200-300 foot difference. 
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 16,557
Likes: 2,108
From: Peoria/Phoenix AZ
C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
I use www.wahiduddin.net for DA and www.wunderground.com for weather info.
The Dragtimes site has 2 issues to overcome.
It doesn't have accurate elevations for all the tracks, compared to GoogleEarth which has accuracies within 5' of surveyed Geo markers.
The weather data is only once per hour and is sourced from the closest large airport which could be many miles away. Fortunately, the Sacramento track's closest weather station is at Mathers AFB about a mile away.
When a handheld is setup well and used properly it can give you the best info at a low cost. I prefer to keep mine in the pit area, since I detect as much as a 5* difference in the staging lanes or start line.
The ultimate solution is having the track install a quality unit with the sensors about 2' above ground between the lanes at the 1/8 mile mark. Then print the results on the timeslip, including the DA and the sea-level adjustment for N/A cars.
The Dragtimes site has 2 issues to overcome.
It doesn't have accurate elevations for all the tracks, compared to GoogleEarth which has accuracies within 5' of surveyed Geo markers.
The weather data is only once per hour and is sourced from the closest large airport which could be many miles away. Fortunately, the Sacramento track's closest weather station is at Mathers AFB about a mile away.
When a handheld is setup well and used properly it can give you the best info at a low cost. I prefer to keep mine in the pit area, since I detect as much as a 5* difference in the staging lanes or start line.
The ultimate solution is having the track install a quality unit with the sensors about 2' above ground between the lanes at the 1/8 mile mark. Then print the results on the timeslip, including the DA and the sea-level adjustment for N/A cars.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,549
Likes: 27
From: Southampton NJ
I use www.wahiduddin.net for DA and www.wunderground.com for weather info.
The Dragtimes site has 2 issues to overcome.
It doesn't have accurate elevations for all the tracks, compared to GoogleEarth which has accuracies within 5' of surveyed Geo markers.
The weather data is only once per hour and is sourced from the closest large airport which could be many miles away. Fortunately, the Sacramento track's closest weather station is at Mathers AFB about a mile away.
When a handheld is setup well and used properly it can give you the best info at a low cost. I prefer to keep mine in the pit area, since I detect as much as a 5* difference in the staging lanes or start line.
The ultimate solution is having the track install a quality unit with the sensors about 2' above ground between the lanes at the 1/8 mile mark. Then print the results on the timeslip, including the DA and the sea-level adjustment for N/A cars.
The Dragtimes site has 2 issues to overcome.
It doesn't have accurate elevations for all the tracks, compared to GoogleEarth which has accuracies within 5' of surveyed Geo markers.
The weather data is only once per hour and is sourced from the closest large airport which could be many miles away. Fortunately, the Sacramento track's closest weather station is at Mathers AFB about a mile away.
When a handheld is setup well and used properly it can give you the best info at a low cost. I prefer to keep mine in the pit area, since I detect as much as a 5* difference in the staging lanes or start line.
The ultimate solution is having the track install a quality unit with the sensors about 2' above ground between the lanes at the 1/8 mile mark. Then print the results on the timeslip, including the DA and the sea-level adjustment for N/A cars.
remember forum member siffert use to use google earth and say atco was downhill and the elevation was wrong, if you have ever been to atco and know the layout you can clearly see google earth is wrong, that could be 5+ or 5- on each end plus could be meters off on the longitude and latitude not matching the pictures, i can clearly see the return and pit area is higher then the track surface at the start but levels toward the end
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 492
Likes: 10
From: Sacramento California
Race Director
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 13,298
Likes: 14
From: Somers NY
The best one by FAR was the old "TAG" weather station that myself & a few others have at the track...Sad 
day when he stopped selling them (divorce I think) but mine is accurate to within .02
Ralph and I think Ellis also have them.. There is another one called "ProAir" Or something like that but it costs about $400 or close to that....
Those hand held ones are the best...
day when he stopped selling them (divorce I think) but mine is accurate to within .02 Ralph and I think Ellis also have them.. There is another one called "ProAir" Or something like that but it costs about $400 or close to that....
Those hand held ones are the best...
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 492
Likes: 10
From: Sacramento California
This will be fun - most likely going back to the track on Saturday in search of an 11-sec. slip and I'll try all the different DA readers and see how close they are.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,286
Likes: 4
I saw that one too but it didn't have any ratings so I skipped it - but now that you rated it here, I downloaded it This will be fun - most likely going back to the track on Saturday in search of an 11-sec. slip and I'll try all the different DA readers and see how close they are.
This will be fun - most likely going back to the track on Saturday in search of an 11-sec. slip and I'll try all the different DA readers and see how close they are.
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Feb 2011
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2024 C6 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
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I saw that one too but it didn't have any ratings so I skipped it - but now that you rated it here, I downloaded it This will be fun - most likely going back to the track on Saturday in search of an 11-sec. slip and I'll try all the different DA readers and see how close they are.
This will be fun - most likely going back to the track on Saturday in search of an 11-sec. slip and I'll try all the different DA readers and see how close they are.http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/Kestr...794600824.html
The problem with those websites is they typically only update once an hour which is fine if you're just trying to get a ballpark idea of what the DA is but not so much if you're trying to figure out a dialin for bracket racing. I've used the Kestrel and on more than a few occasions been able to predict my ET to within .005 seconds and sometimes even less than that.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,286
Likes: 4
I use this one and find it works great.
http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/Kestr...794600824.html
The problem with those websites is they typically only update once an hour which is fine if you're just trying to get a ballpark idea of what the DA is but not so much if you're trying to figure out a dialin for bracket racing. I've used the Kestrel and on more than a few occasions been able to predict my ET to within .005 seconds and sometimes even less than that.
http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/Kestr...794600824.html
The problem with those websites is they typically only update once an hour which is fine if you're just trying to get a ballpark idea of what the DA is but not so much if you're trying to figure out a dialin for bracket racing. I've used the Kestrel and on more than a few occasions been able to predict my ET to within .005 seconds and sometimes even less than that.
I wish I had your money. Lets see....free vs. $256.
Just sayin
Jeff
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 492
Likes: 10
From: Sacramento California
I use this one and find it works great.
http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/Kestr...794600824.html
The problem with those websites is they typically only update once an hour which is fine if you're just trying to get a ballpark idea of what the DA is but not so much if you're trying to figure out a dialin for bracket racing. I've used the Kestrel and on more than a few occasions been able to predict my ET to within .005 seconds and sometimes even less than that.
http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/Kestr...794600824.html
The problem with those websites is they typically only update once an hour which is fine if you're just trying to get a ballpark idea of what the DA is but not so much if you're trying to figure out a dialin for bracket racing. I've used the Kestrel and on more than a few occasions been able to predict my ET to within .005 seconds and sometimes even less than that.