Safe Speed Forums

Hi All,

Safe Speed will be an exhibitor at (Pistonfest 2004) to be held on 2nd to the 4th July near Stratford on Avon at (Shakespeare County Raceway) near Stratford on Avon.

I hope we'll be selling Safe Speed T shirts and baseball caps as well as offering memberships.

I'd like to have a slide show of facts and analysis running but with no mains power and probable bright sunlight I'm not at all sure how this might be arranged. We have a generator, but it's noisy and I don't really want to put it in the car. Maybe we'll have to hire a van, but that doesn't get around the noise or the sunlight. Anyone got any "bright" ideas?

I'm also interested in any ideas that will help promote Safe Speed and also be fun. I was trying to organise giving away samples of "Highway Robbery" beer, but the organisers of the beer tent are planning to sell the stuff and they aren't keen. Any ideas welcome.

We risk being understaffed. At present it's just me and my girlfriend Claire. Would anyone like to help run the stand?

I'd like to move towards a full roadshow based on a mobile exhibition built into a caravan. I don't suppose we'd be able to get it built up in time for Pistonfest, and not least because there's presently no money available to set it up. Does anyone have any bright ideas about how we could finance a mobile exhibition pronto? The approximate budget is £15,000 to include computers for public access to the Safe Speed web site, a projected slideshow and a low noise generator.

Phew. See you at Pistonfest!

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Previously, I've used a leisure battery in the back of my van with an inverter to provide limited mains power. A 110Ah leisure battery (about £60), a battery box (about £12), and an inverter (£20 or £50 from Maplin) should give a full day's operation for a laptop computer and external LCD panel with the only noise being the hum of cooling fans. However, you'd need to recharge the battery each night.

You can overcome the sunlight to some extent by siting the screen a little further inside the van. Some black fabric to form a tunnel inside the van door also helps -- the screen isn't any brighter but its immediate surroundings are darker and so the contrast is greatly improved. Of course, the futher inside the van you site your screen the fewer people can view simultaneously, so you'll have to find the best compromise.

It's a pity that I have other committments that weekend because my van is the same type as some scamera partnerships use and the delicious irony of slapping SS logos on it for the weekend really appeals

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Will

It's worth mentioning that the AGM of the ABD is scheduled for Saturday 3rd July at Gaydon, which is fairly close to Stratford.

Regards,

Peter

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Fascinating. I've been so used to CRT displays being totally unreadable in sunlight that I've never truly asked the same question about LCD displays.

Well, it's a lovely sunny day here and we took Claire's laptop into the garden. Even in full sunlight it remains clearly readable - there's ample contrast between black and white although colours didn't seem to show up too well in the brief test. A slide show designed around sunlight readability would work just fine.

So I think I'll be moving down the path you've suggested - we've already got a suitable inverter. Thanks for the tip.

The set up for this one is going to be tent and table I think unless something wonderful happens to the bank balance pronto.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety