Ridercam at Port Aventura

06-2007


A ride on an wooden coaster is mostly, with few exeptions, a bumpy, ungentle, and even painful event. OF all things however, it´s two of the wildest woodies in Europe that received Onride-Video-Systems this season: “Stampida” at the Spanish PortAventura Park, and “Bandit” at Movie Park Germany - a challenge fpr sensitive technology.

The first wooden roller coaster in the world equipped with a new onride video system is “Stampida”. It is simultaneously the first commercially operated system from the German Ridercam company (Marketing: Lagotronics, Netherlands). The four new trains from Kumbak were already modified in the factories so that the Ridercam-system coul beb build in without any problems. Each train comprises of six 4-seat wagons, and each row is equipped with a valuable camera – twelve cameras per train with wide angled lenses, so tha passengers only 60 centimeters away are capured in the pictures. Each camera is connected to its own comuter element, wich automatically starts when the ride ends. The battery capacity for each camera is 20 hours constant operation (in the evening hours the system is switched to infrared), and due to an automatic loading technology, it´s impossible for the battery to run low.

High Quality Resolution

The recording is in MPEG2 format with PAK-resolution (720x576): As soon as both trains arrive at the station simultaneously, 24 times 110 MB is transferred over without cables, so tha passengers can see thair on onride prctures on the flat screen, when passing the video and photo shops. The burning to a CD takes three to four minutes and currently also contains bonus materials in the form of a video about the hotels, water park, and special events. Each DVD cost 15 Euro and is personalised with a photo. As is the case of most photo equitment, the Ridercam-system is not qwned by the park, but is operated on a share basis.

“Stampida”, the first modern wooden roller coaster in Euope, was erected two yeas after the park opening by American manufacturer Custom Costers International. The construction was inaugurated in March 1997. This unusual constuction has two tracks, wich run only partly parallel in the manner of a Racing Coaster. The tracks separate almost unnoticeably, so that a few seconds later they appear to be collison course a number of times. In addition, many of the curves are only furnished with a slightly elevated outside track, so that Wild Mouse type effects appear. Altogether, each of the 950 metres long and 25.6 metres high tracks contain unusual roller coaster experiences, the 100-second ride also partly dishes out severe and uncomfortable blows. For this reason, Port Aventura´s technician Javier Almánoz Rios ordered extra new trains from the Kumbak Company in the Netherlands - a step that attenpts to reduce the rawness of the ride a little (the same steps were taken a few years ago by Germany´s Movie Park). However, apart from the fact that the new trains look very nice – they are a lot of more open than the older trains from Philadelphis Tobboggan Coasters – they had to be intensivley improved . The problem is both amunsing an absurd, and shows as is the case in project “Vliegende Hollander” (see KPR 5/2007), the shortcomings of the manufacturer: in the case of “Stampida”, the 24-seat trains unfortunately didn´t always reach the station independently, so there was a regular, almost hourly “evacuation” of the passengers.

Whilst the RIDERCAM®-system was operational since the beginning of the season, the weight of the trains had to be artificially increased initially, and materials hab to be removed from the axle bearings to attain a better running quality. Five weeks after the park opening, the problem was solved, so that the sale of Onride-Videos could start on the 5th of May.


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