Page 47 of 52
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 20th, 2010, 2:19 pm
by Phenylethylamine
We've been using racquetballs, and they seem to be pretty much consistent from one ball to another. We did have some issues with them softening over time, though, but since we haven't seen any difference between individual racquetballs, now we just rotate through several to minimize wear.
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 20th, 2010, 3:19 pm
by colombiano
zyzzyva98 wrote:We've noticed the same thing with our tennis balls. We labeled them to avoid confusion. There's not much you can really do about it, unless you know someone in the tennis ball-making industry.
yeah we had to label them as well
and yeah i don't know any one in the tennis ball making industry so...
we'll just have to use the same ball all the time
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 20th, 2010, 6:12 pm
by haven chuck
starpug wrote:anon y mouse wrote:I don't know the reason why similar balls from the same pack preform differently, but I have observed the same phenomenon.
Does anyone have a good explanation?
If you are using any sort of lubrication on the area where the ball is then the ball you use a lot might have some residue on it that causes it to move a little freer
You could also in the tennis ball case have more or less fuzz on the ball.
I guess the ball making process isn't perfect :/ if all else fails
Also, you should be careful about lubricating the ball too much, since the rules call for an "unmodified.......". While this probably wouldnt be a problem, there might be an event supervisor who will get all butterfly over a slightly different ball.
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 20th, 2010, 6:13 pm
by starpug
haven chuck wrote:starpug wrote:anon y mouse wrote:I don't know the reason why similar balls from the same pack preform differently, but I have observed the same phenomenon.
Does anyone have a good explanation?
If you are using any sort of lubrication on the area where the ball is then the ball you use a lot might have some residue on it that causes it to move a little freer
You could also in the tennis ball case have more or less fuzz on the ball.
I guess the ball making process isn't perfect :/ if all else fails
Also, you should be careful about lubricating the ball too much, since the rules call for an "unmodified.......". While this probably wouldnt be a problem, there might be an event supervisor who will get all butterfly over a slightly different ball.
Well you don't lubricate the ball, you lubricate the pvc pipe the ball passes through
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 20th, 2010, 8:04 pm
by wlsguy
NIXINATOR wrote:my catapult has so much force behind it that when using a pin it pulls the whole catapult with it
any ideas for another release mechanism?
Regionals:
4th trajectory
1st dynamic planet
4th Egg-o-naut
You may want to check out our device. It uses a mousetrap to pull the pin and this eliminates the movement from the launch. Check the image gallery
HELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELP
Posted: April 21st, 2010, 5:43 pm
by trentendo
Re: HELPHELPHELPHELPHELPHELP
Posted: April 21st, 2010, 5:59 pm
by starpug
You can impound almost anything you want for fixing the device. I always have duct tape, spare tubing, a screwdriver or two, and maybe a spare screw or two around just incase.
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 21st, 2010, 6:17 pm
by zyzzyva980
If the rules don't say you can't impound it, go ahead. Our team brought practically everything we needed to build the machine all over again (in cases of extreme emergency!) So, yes, duct tape is allowed. Bring anything you think you might need at competition. Be Prepared.
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 21st, 2010, 7:15 pm
by trentendo
thankyouthankyousosososososososomuch!
Re: Trajectory B/C
Posted: April 21st, 2010, 7:35 pm
by colombiano
ohh yeah we have a whole bin of extra things and back up materials
i guess you can never be too prepared
