Apologies if this has been discussed recently. I'm very new to this forum. We created an urban adventure race in Grand Rapids, MI and our first event in July had 750 racers (can't get more than 50 to come out for a non-urban event 10 minutes outside of town, but that's another topic). Scoring by punched passport was challenging to handle. Are there races out there that are using RFID, QR codes, or any other technology for scoring, particularly connected to smartphones? Any companies offering a package that has electronic punching and scoring? Thanks for any thoughts.
You mean other than SportIdent e-punch, just like a "classic" orienteering meet? In Switzerland they run urban-o this way with very high volumes.
I don't know about canned applications that integrate with phones etc.
I did a couple adv races this year which had probably 300-500 racers on race day, and used the SportIdent technology, and from a racer's perspective, it worked great. I don't know, but I believe they said at the race briefing they rent the system from an orienteering club.
It just didn't seem like we could take on the cost of SportIDent - we have 1,000 racers and 35-40 CPs. We're a small outfit so the initial cost is not feasible. But I'll check out renting it. Michigan's not exactly a hotbed of orienteering but I'll email around.
SMOC has at least 18 cps worth of punches and a few dozen sticks. Not sure if any Michigan AR folks have asked about borrowing/renting them. May not cover your big race, but it would be nice at the smaller ones.
My coworker has his home server respond to emails, such as what tv are you recording tonight. Seems like a gifted person could script something to parse texts or emails from teams, perhaps with each cp having a code to send in.
You might want to confer with Sean Roper (STORM on AP), an RD who runs four AR events each year, including Canada's largest. Over the past couple of years, he has moved to SportIdent timing for all his races.
You would definitely want to rent rather than buying, even if it means getting it shipped from elsewhere since your event is so large. (It's large in number of SI cards needed but not in the number of controls.) You also need someone with expertise to run the software or get you set up to operate it.
huge discussion on the use of QR codes in the orienteering portion of AttackPoint a few weeks ago. It has several advantages over SI for urban races. Contact MerGeo.com or GetLost.com
Chinese 'clones' of SI would be cheaper, and are more modern technology.
Might want to talk to the folks who bought the Magic Shine headlamps about the quality of Chinese 'clones'....
*Knocks on wood* My MagicShine has been great!
Sure the OP crushed me in a recent AR, but it had nothing to do with my magicshine - it's been flawless.
Gotta say a teammate and I both use magicshines and so far have been very happy with them as well.
It seems as though we've gone on a tangent! Apologies OP. The recalled battery is no longer on the market.
Out of curiosity does anybody know what it costs to use Champion Chip for a race of about 300 people?