[chrisw957]

At our regional, one of our drivers used a handheld camcorder to video several of our matches. It wasn't connected to our driver's station laptop, it didn't have any sort of wireless transmitter, it wasn't on a 20 foot extension pole, it didn't have any sort of lighting. The student with the camcorder was one of our three designated drivers. It was not a cellphone being used as a camcorder.

This was fine for several rounds, but eventually one of the judges decided is wasn't allowed. We didn't question this decision, as it wasn't something that was critical for us. But I could tell that the seemingly arbitrary decision was something that bothered the student.

Looking at the rules now, I still don't understand how one of the drivers using a handheld camcorder could have been an issue. At the time I thought we should just plug it into the USB port of the laptop and declare it part of our operator console. Would it be allowed then?

Can someone explain the ruling and the logic behind it?