What to display on projector?

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korey99
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What to display on projector?

Post by korey99 »

Hello all-

In a couple of months, I'm going to be running our pack pinewood derby race. For many years we've done double-elimination brackets on paper, but I'd like to move to a perfect-n schedule. I'm going to be using GPRM.

The main thing I can't figure out is what to display on the projector, and I'd like a little advice.

Here are the things I know are available, I can see wanting to display.
  • Results of the most recent race
  • who's on deck
  • who's winning
I spent most of last year's race answering the question "what place am I in?" I know the race screen does a good job of showing who's next, and race results, but it what about standings? It seems to me that the standings screen is sort of designed for a big reveal after the round, but I don't want to keep everyone in the dark during the round. A couple of folks like elimination methods because "it feels like racing," and I think showing the points standings at all times would be a good compromise.

As a follow on question, is it possible to calculate standings via points, but still display the time on the race results screen?

Thanks for any advice,
Korey
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gpraceman
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by gpraceman »

korey99 wrote:I spent most of last year's race answering the question "what place am I in?" I know the race screen does a good job of showing who's next, and race results, but it what about standings? It seems to me that the standings screen is sort of designed for a big reveal after the round, but I don't want to keep everyone in the dark during the round. A couple of folks like elimination methods because "it feels like racing," and I think showing the points standings at all times would be a good compromise.
If you leave the large font standings screen open, it will update as racing proceeds. While some may like seeing that, it can discourage other racers and they could lose interest in the race. Personally, I'd rather try to keep everyone's interest for as long as possible.

Those used to an elimination format may find it better if you do a two round format for each race group. The first round (prelims) gives everyone an equal chance to race and the 2nd round pits the top racers for the trophies.
korey99 wrote:As a follow on question, is it possible to calculate standings via points, but still display the time on the race results screen?
Nope. You can just open yourself up to complaints if it did, as if someone computes the standings based on time, the results can be quite different than by points. With one you are racing the clock and the other you are racing against the racers in the next lane.
Randy Lisano
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korey99
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by korey99 »

Thanks. Regarding not showing times in points mode, doesn't it show Mph? I assume that's calculated based on elapsed time, so is there a similar concern of people keeping track?

What about if we give a trophy for the overall slowest car. Is there a way to see that, even when running in points mode?

Regarding the interim points standings, am I correct that non-final standings are going to be off because one scout has raced more times than another, therefore having another heart's worth of points?
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by gpraceman »

korey99 wrote:Thanks. Regarding not showing times in points mode, doesn't it show Mph? I assume that's calculated based on elapsed time, so is there a similar concern of people keeping track?
One could, but I don't think that it is likely.
korey99 wrote:What about if we give a trophy for the overall slowest car. Is there a way to see that, even when running in points mode?
You can view the Turtle standings in the large font standings screen or the reports or select the Round level on the standings tab of the main screen and just look to the bottom of the list.
korey99 wrote:Regarding the interim points standings, am I correct that non-final standings are going to be off because one scout has raced more times than another, therefore having another heart's worth of points?
Yes, that is correct.
Randy Lisano
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korey99
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by korey99 »

You can view the Turtle standings in the large font standings screen or the reports or select the Round level on the standings tab of the main screen and just look to the bottom of the list.
For this, you mean that the "turtle" winner is the one with the highest points? I don't see a time listed anywhere.

I'm only in DEMO mode still (making sure this is going to work for me), so I can't race a different group. When I select just a round on the standings tab, does it show me standings for all the groups?

To clarify, I'm looking for the slowest car from all groups, not the slowest from each group. It seem to me the only valid comparison between groups is on elapsed time. Or, am I going about a turtle race all wrong? The goal was just 1 trophy.
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Re: What to display on projector?

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korey99 wrote:For this, you mean that the "turtle" winner is the one with the highest points? I don't see a time listed anywhere.
Yes. When scoring by points, you will not see the times.
korey99 wrote:I'm only in DEMO mode still (making sure this is going to work for me), so I can't race a different group. When I select just a round on the standings tab, does it show me standings for all the groups?

To clarify, I'm looking for the slowest car from all groups, not the slowest from each group. It seem to me the only valid comparison between groups is on elapsed time. Or, am I going about a turtle race all wrong? The goal was just 1 trophy.
If you select Round 1, you will see the standings for everyone, regardless of race group. You can do this even in the sample data file. Then look for the racer with the max points. If you have a requirement that the turtle car must cross the finish line for all heats, then you would then need to check the racer stats to make sure that happened.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Vitamin K
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by Vitamin K »

gpraceman wrote:
korey99 wrote:For this, you mean that the "turtle" winner is the one with the highest points? I don't see a time listed anywhere.
Yes. When scoring by points, you will not see the times.
Are the times still stored someplace, for post-race analysis?
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by korey99 »

Ok, cool. but the standings between groups meaningful? Is the car with the highest points necessarily the slowest car out of all the groups?

You also you won't see times when racing in points mode, but are the times recorded someplace that I can look them up?
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by gpraceman »

Well, if you really want to base your turtle award on heat times, you can simply switch the software to times scoring in the Software Settings screen. This assumes that you have a timer interfaced with the software. All interfaced timers will send the heat times, regardless of if you are scoring by points or times. That is even if the timer only shows finish order on its own display. The software will store the times and use them to determine the points awarded. You can switch between times and points at any time and the standings will get recalculated.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
korey99
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by korey99 »

I don't want to do anything that is not recommended. Is there a better way to do the turtle race?
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by gpraceman »

korey99 wrote:I don't want to do anything that is not recommended. Is there a better way to do the turtle race?
The software is very flexible, so there can often be more than one way to accomplish something. So, it really depends on how you want to do it. If you want to base the turtle award on times, you certainly can. You would just have to switch to times scoring once you've determined your other awards. Some take it a bit further with a turtle award and require that the car must cross the finish line each time. There is not currently an automatic way to do that in the software, so you would have to manually do that verification for your slowest racers by looking at the individual stats.

I would just recommend that you not let anyone else see the times standings, as that could cause a conflict since the standings based on times can be quite different than by points.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Darin McGrew
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Re: What to display on projector?

Post by Darin McGrew »

korey99 wrote:I spent most of last year's race answering the question "what place am I in?"
Interesting. I've never heard that question. But we explain our (points-based) system before we start racing, and explain that the results will be determined at the end based on the results of all the races.
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