Chrislong
You have to keep in mind that the AMB/MYLAPS system has had atleast 20+ jump start on selling its lap counters.Up until a few years ago there was no good alternative to the AMB.AMB put most of those companies out of business ,by claiming patent infringment.Which is BS because patents only last for so long !!!! So here comes a company I-lap who develpoed a great system for counting.It keeps cost down ,works the way it is supposed,easy to use and is very accurate.What else do you need.
What do think the comments would be if it was the reverse I-LAP came first then AMB?It just comes down to the AMB has been around longer and at this point has more user's,for now!!with how many I-LAP system being sold around the world it want take long until when you ask about lap counters ,both AMB and I-LAP will be mentioned in the same sentance.
As for charging a fee for use of a track PT ,over her there are some track charging mostly AMB track's because they are using regular AMB personal transponders(the red plug in's) for there handouts.

Lee
If you don't like the statemnt about "its good for Americans" just keep in mind that the I-LAP system is sold all over the world ,so it must be good for them too.
As for your car reference about 200hp out of 8,you are so WRONG .200 hp is nothing getting that out of 4 lit. with out even trying.Not that this matters to me ,but it amazes me how anti-american people can get in a conversation over hobbies.

Sean

My point was that the American Engineering isn't up to the standard of other parts of the world, i know they can get more power, but the fact is, they don't, they seem to choose to settle for average when they should be setting the world alight, afterall they are world leaders aren't they? :thumbdown:

Lee

Not true!! but that's OK. We just have too many things going on like most countries.Just can't concentrate on one thing too make our name on:yawn: .Let's get back to talking about RC and lap counters.:thumbsup:


Sean

I run a club in Lincolnshire quite big running on road and off road outdoors and during the winter months indoors at the local hall built over 15 years.
The one thing to remember is you will never please everyone so do not even try but you must be open to more racers do not close your doors to anyone,as racers are getting more scarce with many other hobbies competing for the same people.
I would say to Scott good luck to your club but the one thing you need is racers to increase your bank balance you will get people you do not like or just pick fault and any and everything you do even i its brillant but you get that in all walks of life. I do applaund trying something diffrent and i really hope it works for you i must say if your outdoor track is brillant i think they will come and forget about the timimng equipment until they do not win and need an excuse:woot::woot:.Just one word of advice when club funds allow you should by some more handout transponders so this can be given out instead of loaned because thats basically how its done, we at the momment run the old amb20 so no PTs can run anyway but we do have 20 hand out transponders some people moan but we would rather spend the money on upgrding the track and facilites. We must all pull in the same direction other wise our hobbie will die we allready have declining numbers as to say 10 years ago i wish you well with your club and i may come an have race during the summer.

all the best Darran (Leverton Raceway)

I think my (and Chris's) (and maybe Lee's) point has been missed a little. Wether we own AMB PT's or not, we race at regular clubs and have never paid for the use of a transponder. All clubs have started at the bottom (again no offence) like Scotts club and have worked round to buying AMB decoders without charging for handouts. I do not recieve a discount for usng my AMB PT, nor would I expect to. If my club started charging for the "loan" of it's expensive AMB handouts I would simply find another club.

Yeh thats it, you've hit your head on the nail!

If the handouts were to be free, then fantastic - but then id still (personally) prefer to be able to use my AMB PT, as I bought it for convenience over going getting handouts before each run. BUT if I-Lap PT's are of a reasonable price, and there system prooves to work then id be keen to get an I-Lap PT and encourage other clubs to follow. As lets face it, AMB equipment isn't priced in proportion to what the item is.

Bedford are being brave in trying the equipment in a country dominated by AMB equipment, it will either be a raving success (except for charging for the handouts :thumbdown:) or a catastrophic failure (which I am presuming could end the club :thumbdown:). Good luck.

Also, clubs need races from any location, whether local or not. No racers = no club, and there'll only be a handful of locals - but get travellers coming and you've got a big event! So whatever opinions you have of people travelling to your club (non-locals), a forum isn't the place to air them as it won't just put off any non-locals, it may also put off any possible new locals using the search function and stumbling accross negative comments...... so, BE NICE, its important when your words represent a club, brand or company.

Yes we may be brave, but then I've never been one for following the herds :woot:

However, I've been getting PM's and emails directly via our web site from lots of other clubs up and down the UK who are supporting us in our choice and looking forward to the feedback we give about the I-Laps system.

As a previous poster has said, AMB has had a 20 year head start, but I can see I-Laps becoming a firm favourite with many local clubs once they see the cost of running it and our club will certainly look forward in the years ahead to welcoming some of these clubs to meet up and race together.

As to the point about charging a small fee (in the grand scheme of RC racing £2 is a very small fee in my view) I have children who attend various clubs during the week and weekend and often if they do not have certain equipment then they can 'hire' said equipment until such a point that they can (or should I say we as parents) purchase our own equipment for the clubs.

You can't even buy a round of drinks for £2 these days so it's not a lot to ask for. As for other clubs who decide not to charge for loaning out AMB PT's - please refer to my first sentence in this reply :thumbsup:

Then just up the booking in fee and disguise it that way, don't mention any other fee, an increase in this way is easier to swallow for the racer. Just an idea. I could be wrong.

I think having a "hire" charge for transponders is ok. I race occasionally at the Aylesbury club. They use AMBrc and encourage every member to buy their own. They charge to borrow a PT for racing. The hire charge will very slowly pay for the cost of buying the transponder in the first place. The lifetime for a club PT will always be lower than for one that is owned by a racer due to it constantly being plugged and unplugged.

I think charging is fair enough, and if there is no charge to "Hire" a transponder then there is no incentive to buy your own. I have just ordered one of the new PT's as the price is now right, but with the old prices it would have taken a lot of £1 per night hire charge for it to be worth me buying my own!

I have also tried using optical PT's racing at the Newbury track. This never missed a lap for me, the only problem I had was trying to get line-of-sight through a window in my XX4. Sussed it in the end though.

Ben

Was it the I-Laps system or something similar?

How high were the sensors positioned in relation to the track? The guys from I-Laps say the sensors should be approx 20-24in's above the race track for them to work properly.

Have to admit that all the testing I've done so far at home shows that there is no problem in the sensors picking up the PT under my bodyshell, even when I hid the PT under the back of the car where it's painted royal blue. It picked it up everytime. Of course we shall suggest to all racers to have it visible through the windscreen which should be no problem for everyone.

I believe it was I-laps, but it might be worth getting in touch with someone from Newbury. I think the bridge holding the sensors was 24-inches high. They run on an indoor track with carpet, jumps and some hardboard sections. The loop was placed at the start of the main straight following a slow technical section. I guess this stopped any problems with out of control buggies hitting the loop. You might be able to see part of their setup on one of the youtube videos of the club, try searching for newburyrc and MKGP. If you are looking for ideas for a buggy track they have had the best tracks I have ever raced on.

Ben

before we get bogged down, a few people have mentioned cost as the deciding factor between Ilap & AMB.. however i'd be curious to know what software they are running the system on, considering RC-Timing is over £300 for the full version & other software is pretty much the same sort of cost. I know Laps-Free is well, erm... free, but i am amazed at these clubs who moan & bicker about the cost of the timing hardware then think nothing of spending hundreds on software & a laptop/PC to run it! I know Ilaps comes with Laps-Free, but i dare bet some clubs have upgraded to more "prefessional" software"

I will admit i'm impressed with laps Free, but can't help thinking because it's free is it really that good, because i would imagine the paid versions are a lot more thought out. But in saying that, a high price on things these days doesn't exactly determine better quality, it may just mean the people who create it are greedy.

Mad-Wolfie

We run LAPS-FREE on our I-LAP.it works just fine for our use.Many tracks over here that buy there program use ALYCAT it is a full version program,it cost less than Jlap and RC scoring pro and it does the same thing as those. Those program are used alot still.Alycat is being used on both AMB and I-LAP tracks.I believe it cost a little under $300 usd.No matter what system you get ,you need to get software.I think most tracks use inexpensive computer's and as for the software they choose what they can afford.Just like making the decision between I-LAP
and AMB.
Buying lap counting program is just part of the whole process .At least you have a free program option,unlike the lap counters.
Laps-free will work for 95% of the tracks out there,the other 5% just think they need the more expensive programs(jlap and RC scoring pro)!

here is a list in order by popularity in the U.S--PAID programs
1 - RC SCORING PRO
2- ALYCAT
3- JLAP
Laps-free would be some where in the middle.

sean

Luckily for us, all the hardware and software has been kindly donated to the club so we only had the worry of buying a lap counting/PT system :thumbsup:

Regardless of the fact that lapsfree is perfectly usable, there's the fact that even if you do buy software, £300 is still only a small percentage of the cost of an AMB timing system.