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Timing System

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graydog View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote graydog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 9:20am
well I'll look at it as se what we see.....

we could ask the rider to stop every lap and sign three sheets or have them pouch in on one of the punch card clock
but I'm joking now. It is a problem for some and something that need making understandable for all.

we must check this system out before throwing it out if pedal carscan run a system, come on so can we........

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GeoffBird Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 9:30am
We seem to be in agreement about what to do with the timing system gNick. Maybe you could have a chat with Derrick about what you think the issues might be. I too hope that we can get it working reliably.

However, Alan is right that we need a back up system and stopwatches are relatively inexpensive. I would be willing to do what Stevie did way back, which is to have laminated instructions attached to each stopwatch and some clear step by step directions for the race organiser. Getting good results out of a stopwatch should be fairly easy and Kevin's program makes it very simple to produce results from there.

The alternative is to go the route Mike is going to propose, which is to spend a lot of money on a commercial system and hope it works faultlessly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KevinJ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 7:18pm
I'm being careful what i say here - but worth bearing in mind is if we are going to use any timing system (even the AMB system) someone or a group of people need to be willing to manage this - spend a bit of time learning it before had - preparing things, charging batteries, etc. Also bring it to the race, set- it up check it and run it.  that might sound obvious but seems almost impossible for use to organize in this club.  Admittedly getting someone to come in and do it all for us and pay them would be one option.  But that is the main problem here.  AMB would be more reliable - but still needs checking.  We would know when it is not working - but that needs a waterproof area to monitor it - more stuff to carry and set-up.  Don't just think about the technology the system must be considered as a whole with the processes and people needed to run it.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GeoffBird Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 7:41pm
I don't sense much enthusiasm on this thread for the club buying a commercial system, if only because I think a number of you realise you are probably the ones who will end up maintaining, transporting and operating it Ouch
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gNick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 9:52pm
Originally posted by AlanGoodman AlanGoodman wrote:

The pedal car folks manage to monitor their system for 24 hours so surely we can manage 40 minutes?
 
With their system the beep doesn't come from the car... it comes out of a speaker at the side of the track. It's surprisingly easy to spot when a car is dropping laps just from the lack of a beep. Even when several cars go over together...
It definitely works.
They do have a real-time display on a monitor as well of course so that they can see what's going on (and this year we have been able to see on our mobile phones from the pits)... Cool

The pedal car folks do have the advantage of lots of spare people around when the race is ongoing AND a relatively small turnout relative to  the number we have , or used to have at least...Cry

Originally posted by AlanGoodman AlanGoodman wrote:


At Stourport and Rhyl all we had was a couple of stopwatches, bits of paper and Heather doing most of the counting and we had accurate(ish) results on the web within a couple of hours of the chequered flag waving...
Every event I've been to this year where the timing system has been used it has caused chaos, confusion and frustration...
 

With the field sizes at Stourport & Rhyl, you could probably have got the positions by asking people who they were ahead of and who they beat, as we used to do way back when.

Doing it by hand is a big ask of people's day though.

Originally posted by AlanGoodman AlanGoodman wrote:


If Graham can fix it over winter then fair play to him, but we would need the first half of next season (at least) running with a backup system before we could trust it enough to to run it on its own...
 
That's if we could find people willing to organise races using it.
I'm quite happy to organise races but I won't use it again because it has the potential to ruin a good day out!


Finding people to do things is always a problem, there hasn't exactly been a glut of people jumping to help this season, never mind taking an interest in the Timing System.
Expecting a very few to do all the work for little or no thanks has resulted in a fair number of people giving up coming to races over the years.




Edited by gNick - 10 October 2012 at 9:54pm
gNick



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AlanGoodman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 10:03pm
Originally posted by gNick gNick wrote:


The pedal car folks do have the advantage of lots of spare people around when the race is ongoing AND a relatively small turnout relative to  the number we have , or used to have at least...Cry

 
Not a small turnout any more!!
The 24 hour race was restricted to 38 entries because of the size of the track and was full (with some reserves) well before the closing date. And that's with 6 drivers per car...
 
Most of the pedal car races this year have had more entries than our races. There were 29 cars at Curborough for the last round a couple of weeks ago...
 
And of course the pedal car races aren't split in to fast and slow races.... When did we last have 38 machines on track at once outside of a World Championship?
It really wouldn't be hard for a couple of people from the fast race to monitor the system for the slow race and vice versa...
 
There were actually less people racing at Hog Hill than Rhyl... Considering the fact that we weren't using the big hill that was a really disappointing turnout.... Cry


Edited by AlanGoodman - 10 October 2012 at 10:15pm

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GeoffBird Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 10:55pm
Yes, it seems, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, Hog Hill is not popular. To be honest, the hill was its USP.  If we are just using the lower circuit, we have plenty of more interesting, IMHO, circuits to choose from. Although, I can imagine, for a streamliner or a fast semi-fared bike, it has a certain flow.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AlanGoodman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 10:59pm
Even the excellent facilities become less attractive when you have to climb a mountain to get them... Long walk to the toilets! Dead

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AlanGoodman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 October 2012 at 11:03pm
I have added the timing system to the AGM Agenda as the first item under AOB so that we should have plenty of time to discuss it there... Then members can decide how we should go forward.
 
I have already decided what my race plans are going to be for next year if we are continuing with the current system...
 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LeeW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 October 2012 at 8:58pm
I would be happy to put a hundered or two towards a commercial system. It seems to me that our current system is a failed expiriment. I know a lot of time has been put into it and it was good effort but as many of us know, things like bikes and fairings etc don't always turn out as good as one had hoped (Anyone remember leg's larry's GTO fairing?).
Current fleet: Milan SL MK2 #027, Fujin SL II, Beany!

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