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illusionist wrote:

Mr_J wrote:

iwonder wrote:Anyone know of a place to get a cheap track for this event? I tried building one a long time ago and it never worked out very well, but $150 or more is way out of our budget...

If you plan to build, I found 25 feet of Magnetic tape online at walmart for $9 including shipping

Would that be appropriate for maglev purposes though? Kelvin also sells some magnetic tape that is cheaper than the designated maglev one, but they clearly state that it is not suitable for maglev purposes. Anyone else have any thoughts?

You are correct. I recieved the stuff and it is crap. Sorry if anyone else ordered this. I should have done more research first.

So again, looking to save money where I can, Kelvin offers either North or south only strips individually instead of the paired set called for in the plans. Can anyone see how using just North up on both sides of the track would cause a problem? I have several ceramic ring magents I could orient with the North down for the vehicle. I don't want to waste money, but I don't see why the directions call for the set of strips.

Mr_J wrote:So again, looking to save money where I can, Kelvin offers either North or south only strips individually instead of the paired set called for in the plans. Can anyone see how using just North up on both sides of the track would cause a problem? I have several ceramic ring magents I could orient with the North down for the vehicle. I don't want to waste money, but I don't see why the directions call for the set of strips.

That definitely works. I have one in front of me configured exactly like that.

Mr_J wrote:So again, looking to save money where I can, Kelvin offers either North or south only strips individually instead of the paired set called for in the plans. Can anyone see how using just North up on both sides of the track would cause a problem? I have several ceramic ring magents I could orient with the North down for the vehicle. I don't want to waste money, but I don't see why the directions call for the set of strips.

While theoretically it seems that you should be able to float the vehicle with ring magnets, we have not had success with them. The vehicle is much more inclined to roll than with blocks.

I believe this dowel is supposed to help with photo gate timing.

But as the rules are written, I think it makes the timing setup really cumbersome:-( As I understand it, teams are free to place the dowel as high or as low as they want on their vehicle. That means you need photo gates with a vertical clearance of >= 20 cm ( I could not find any commercially available), or the ES might need to adjust the height for each vehicle:-(

Maybe a better idea for next year(?) would be to `require a vertical dowel over the height of the vehicle to a total height of 30 com (+/- .5cm)'. That way the photo gates would have a much smaller vertical range/clearance requirement.

mw46d wrote:I believe this dowel is supposed to help with photo gate timing.

But as the rules are written, I think it makes the timing setup really cumbersome:-( As I understand it, teams are free to place the dowel as high or as low as they want on their vehicle. That means you need photo gates with a vertical clearance of >= 20 cm ( I could not find any commercially available), or the ES might need to adjust the height for each vehicle:-(

Maybe a better idea for next year(?) would be to `require a vertical dowel over the height of the vehicle to a total height of 30 com (+/- .5cm)'. That way the photo gates would have a much smaller vertical range/clearance requirement.

Interesting observation. If I were an event supervisor presented with a dowel way too tall, I'd just ask the team to cut /break it off to a shorter height. While the wording is a little ambiguous, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone the purpose of the dowel and what we were trying to say.

chalker wrote: Interesting observation. If I were an event supervisor presented with a dowel way too tall, I'd just ask the team to cut /break it off to a shorter height. While the wording is a little ambiguous, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone the purpose of the dowel and what we were trying to say.

Um, maybe I'm missing something; I don't see any ambiguity; the requirement is provide a "30.0 cm long 1/8th diameter vertically attached", or if you don't, "be able to accomodate an event supervisor-provided dowel of the same dimension." There is certainly no "freedom to place as high or as low as you want", and if the length you provide complies with the rules (i.e., is 30cm long), there would be no need to cut/break; if the ES is using photogate timing, and sets the timer to catch a 30cm long dowel, there is no adjustment needed for vehicles that comply with the construction rules.

Balsa Man wrote:

chalker wrote: Interesting observation. If I were an event supervisor presented with a dowel way too tall, I'd just ask the team to cut /break it off to a shorter height. While the wording is a little ambiguous, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone the purpose of the dowel and what we were trying to say.

Um, maybe I'm missing something; I don't see any ambiguity; the requirement is provide a "30.0 cm long 1/8th diameter vertically attached", or if you don't, "be able to accomodate an event supervisor-provided dowel of the same dimension." There is certainly no "freedom to place as high or as low as you want", and if the length you provide complies with the rules (i.e., is 30cm long), there would be no need to cut/break; if the ES is using photogate timing, and sets the timer to catch a 30cm long dowel, there is no adjustment needed for vehicles that comply with the construction rules.

The OP's point is that the rules do not seem to specify that the dowel be mounted on the base of the vehicle. If the dowel were to be placed on an elevated platform, say, it might end up extending significantly more than 30 cm above the track surface.

Flavorflav wrote:

Balsa Man wrote:

chalker wrote: Interesting observation. If I were an event supervisor presented with a dowel way too tall, I'd just ask the team to cut /break it off to a shorter height. While the wording is a little ambiguous, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone the purpose of the dowel and what we were trying to say.

Um, maybe I'm missing something; I don't see any ambiguity; the requirement is provide a "30.0 cm long 1/8th diameter vertically attached", or if you don't, "be able to accomodate an event supervisor-provided dowel of the same dimension." There is certainly no "freedom to place as high or as low as you want", and if the length you provide complies with the rules (i.e., is 30cm long), there would be no need to cut/break; if the ES is using photogate timing, and sets the timer to catch a 30cm long dowel, there is no adjustment needed for vehicles that comply with the construction rules.

The OP's point is that the rules do not seem to specify that the dowel be mounted on the base of the vehicle. If the dowel were to be placed on an elevated platform, say, it might end up extending significantly more than 30 cm above the track surface.

OK, I hear what you're saying; yes one could do that, but why would you possibly want to; there is no reason I can see to want any more height, or weight than you have to have- both work against you.

No reason, no advantage - just a potential headache for supervisors. As Chalker said, though, not a huge deal - if one comes in too tall, give the team a razor saw and make them cut it down. It would probably be a good idea for tournaments to announce that, though.