PT's at Nationals

[bigred5765]

Originally Posted by ben

The future? They've been for a few years now haha

yeh like garlic bread

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by DCM

One reason people run handout's, is that with a PT, any missed laps are not the race directors problem, they are yours, if they provide a Transponder, and you have missed laps, they have to then sort it.

then do like we do at 10th ic, if the bug starts its lap/clock then is was plugged in if the driver has a missed lap we will look into it as restore it if its a fair claim

if the bug failed to start the race/clock then its fair to say it was not plugged in or faulty which the owness is then on the driver.

we have a warm up in ic where the RD will check the bugs and cars are out most of the time
im sure i have seen your guys do a lap to run round the track, a switched on RD can chack all cars are registered.

Originally Posted by David Church

I think PT's only is the way forward. Yes it will cost £££ to get sorted, then it can be a fit and forget item!!!

This will also help at race meetings as you won't have to wait for a handout to be returned before the next heat/race.

People that are against PT's need to think of the people that run and help run these meetings, it's getting harder and harder to get people to help.

I am sure many clubs will buy a few extra PT's to hand out to newbies for a race meeting.

After all this is a expensive hobby compared to football, but the BRCA do alot to keep cost down.

clubs wont have to buy extra pt is they have hand outs, the more users that run thier own pt the club has more had out to preserve and last longer for the newbies!

clubs can also but at a discount for bulk, our section ordered a bulk amount and passed the saving direct to our racers. we are as below soley on PT

Originally Posted by ben

A collinson strikes again!!

It's mandatory at 1/8th scale nationals to have a PT so why shouldnt it be with 1/10 scale?
In real terms you only need one so it's £60 not £120.

BEN

it is in on road!!

Originally Posted by carlin

The only thing i cant understand is why a AMB PT is so expensive?
Out

monopoly (bar MRT)and they know once you have one, ur unlikley to buy lots more

i highly recomend mrt. i have one old amb and 3 mrt bugs all the same number.

mine must be over 4 years old plus now

[Bob Burr]

Its inevitable that in the end all racers will have to own a PT, Bedworth has 3 sets of handouts (we were selling one but withdrew it when AMB anounced they were stoping making them), yes batteries can be replaced but as they brake, go missing etc in the end clubs will end up with none (OK may be years down the line), to lend a PT we would want a £60 deposit incase that person went off with it (hand out come back at the end of each race so we can constantly check for mising ones).
The cost of a genuine PT is now only about £65 so no more than a motor or pack of Lipos so if you can afford £100s on race equipment why not a PT, why should the clubs keep spending out thousand's on handouts ? that money could go elsewhere.
ON MRT PTs beware ! im not sure where they are getting the numbers from but they are not unique like AMB ones, we had one person buy a MRT PT and 6 of the numbers were already registered to people racing at Bedworth ?? we have also had people try to book in and i have had to tell them there PT number is already registered, our policy is the genunine AMB number always get priority, yes they work fine, cheep and getting one cloned for your second car is fine, but what happens when that person gives up and sells both PTs locally to different people.
This problem will only get worce with the demise of the handout transponder.

[MattADH]

Originally Posted by Bob Burr

ON MRT PTs beware ! im not sure where they are getting the numbers from but they are not unique like AMB ones, we had one person buy a MRT PT and 6 of the numbers were already registered to people racing at Bedworth ?? we have also had people try to book in and i have had to tell them there PT number is already registered, our policy is the genunine AMB number always get priority, yes they work fine, cheep and getting one cloned for your second car is fine, but what happens when that person gives up and sells both PTs locally to different people.
This problem will only get worce with the demise of the handout transponder.

My understanding is that MRT own 20 AMB PTs of which they have the numbers for.

If you are not cloning an existing AMB unit, you can buy an MRT PT with 20 stored numbers on it and its possible to select one of these numbers for the MRT unit to transmit.

Maybe the other six guys also had purchased a MRT unit as this would explain the duplication. As I said, this is my understanding and I may have got this wrong...

I do know that for my local club, we need to keep as many of our handouts working for as long as possible to support the youngsters and those with limited funds. Now that AMB have chosen to discontinue PTs - which I believe is the reason why the BRCA 1:10 section will move over to PTs solely in 2011 - I guess that slowly the club and regional racers will make the changeover.

When the 1:8 off-road section changed to PTs only, I dont think that PTs were as common yet there was little resentment to the decisiom. For the organisers, it was a time-consuming and frustrating situation to use handouts...

[Dazzler]

Firstly I have PT's and so this would not cause me an issue, however I can see it may cause others an issue, I also remember a post not to long back on here where the BRCA were looking into an alternative, more cost effective system. If this is imminent, would it not be a bit off to make it compulsory for everyone who wanted to race national level meetings go out and purchase a PT (AMB or MRT) only for it to become redundant if or when the BRCA find that system? Maybe a BRCA rep could update on progress of the alternative system they are looking at, and give due consideration when imposing the switch over onto drivers.

[telboy]

All they have to do to make sure everyone PTs are working, is to run timing during the two practice sessions.
If someones PT isn't counting, then they can discuss with the driver after P1.
so I can't see it being a problem. As said before, I switch mine between the two cars...when I run two cars.

[ben]

Bit of a pointless thread really..

If everyone ran a PT at nationals this would save the scruitineers the hassle of handing out and trying to find transponders that people have left in there car when they go out to marshall aswell. It happens!!!

[peetbee]

MRT are looking to do a 'club PTX' to replace handout transponders.
Uses the same ID as a handout rather than the pt.
Sounds interesting as apparently it'll only be available to clubs!

Also, I don't understand the issue with the MRT pt's, as long as you're not in the same heat as someone with the same number as you it'll be fine.
You just get them to change to one of the other 10 or 20 numbers in the PT's memory until it doesn't clash - the same applies to the clones, you get the clone number plus the others.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by Dazzler

Firstly I have PT's and so this would not cause me an issue, however I can see it may cause others an issue, I also remember a post not to long back on here where the BRCA were looking into an alternative, more cost effective system. If this is imminent, would it not be a bit off to make it compulsory for everyone who wanted to race national level meetings go out and purchase a PT (AMB or MRT) only for it to become redundant if or when the BRCA find that system? Maybe a BRCA rep could update on progress of the alternative system they are looking at, and give due consideration when imposing the switch over onto drivers.

it was said at last years agm there was nohing else on the market that was comparable for the AMb, so im sure were stuck with what we have, i also doubt very much that the BRCA would uintroduce a system that made the AMb bug incomatable to all its members

Originally Posted by peetbee

MRT are looking to do a 'club PTX' to replace handout transponders.
Uses the same ID as a handout rather than the pt.
Sounds interesting as apparently it'll only be available to clubs!

Also, I don't understand the issue with the MRT pt's, as long as you're not in the same heat as someone with the same number as you it'll be fine.
You just get them to change to one of the other 10 or 20 numbers in the PT's memory until it doesn't clash - the same applies to the clones, you get the clone number plus the others.

as i under stand it those numbers are from trade ins that have not been cloned.
so the more thay trade in the more "random" 20 numbers the mrt bugs will be made with

as i have said i own 4 pt one amb 3 cloned id never sell them as singles should i pack up.
as bob says the owner of the AMb bug should allways have priority.
i also know MRT keep a file of all the owners of the numbers they clone, so should you have say my number you can call them and they would say the numbers owner is mark christopher.

there was talk when harry came out that AMB woulfd do clones but the lap counting will know its a clone due to the extra digit.

[Col]

Originally Posted by peetbee

Also, I don't understand the issue with the MRT pt's, as long as you're not in the same heat as someone with the same number as you it'll be fine.

That' incorrect I'm afraid. The BBK system will only allow a single number to be registered to a single owner, so will always count laps for the registered keeper, even if he's not in that race.

[bigred5765]

don't think thats right col i have two cloned Pt's and if we race 2wd and 4wd in the same day its doesn't count are laps twice,ive even lent one to someone else at the same time we were racing,

[peetbee]

Originally Posted by Col

That' incorrect I'm afraid. The BBK system will only allow a single number to be registered to a single owner, so will always count laps for the registered keeper, even if he's not in that race.

blimey another feature of lapsfree that's better than bbk if that's true!

[Col]

Originally Posted by bigred5765

don't think thats right col i have two cloned Pt's and if we race 2wd and 4wd in the same day its doesn't count are laps twice,ive even lent one to someone else at the same time we were racing,

True, but that's because both PT's (with the same number) are registered to the same driver but in 2 classes. The problem is that you can't have the same number registered to 2 drivers (regardless of class). I can't explain the lending out bit - your race control must have some magik that I don't...

[Smartalec]

Most clubs in our area have been running PT's only for some time now as all the handouts are beginning to fail and it's never been a problem. Any new members joining are told that to count laps they must buy a PT, either from the club or from the manufacturer, if they are new to the hobby they don't have to buy one, they just don't count laps until they do. This suits everyone because if they carry on the hobby then they know how much they have to spend on the PT, if they don't carry on then they just sell the stuff they've bought already.

A PT for around £60 is really not that expensive in the scheme of things seeing how much everything else costs. Nowadays you can get a second hand buggy for around £60 (B4), second hand decent speedo and motor for less than £100 and a decent brand new 2.4 radio set for £100, new digital servo for £50, £50 lipo and £20 charger ........... £440 and your up and running with top end gear. You could go RTR even cheaper if you didn't want top end stuff, what can you do these days for under £500? ........ and remember that all this stuff will last a couple of seasons at least no problem if looked after properly