Derby Talk

Our pack purchased GP Race Manager and the Derby Stick timer as a package...long story short we have been running into challenge after challenge trying to get the two products to work together, with no luck. At this point we are leaning towards another timer...would like to get the group's suggestions. We don't have an unlimited budget, so would appreciate any suggestions on cost-effective solutions.

Our track is 4 lanes, wooden and OLD (at least 40-50 years) but solid and in great shape. We have a very old timer setup that has been losing reliability and compatibility over the past few years, which is why we want to upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

Howdy,
Of course, Micro Wizard and the Champ are wonderful timers because they have all those really neat areas where they show the Elapsed times that people love. They're probably not going to go out of business real soon either. However, I also know what they cost. The Judge timer might be your best choice. I own 2 MicroWizard timers. Our Pack used The Judge for many years with no problem. We now have a Champ on our new track. We have never had a problem with any of the timers. The Judge has been around for a long time. We have always used GPRM and are now using it with an Apple computer.

Speedster wrote: ↑Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:26 am Howdy,
Of course, Micro Wizard and the Champ are wonderful timers because they have all those really neat areas where they show the Elapsed times that people love. They're probably not going to go out of business real soon either. However, I also know what they cost. The Judge timer might be your best choice. I own 2 MicroWizard timers. Our Pack used The Judge for many years with no problem. We now have a Champ on our new track. We have never had a problem with any of the timers. The Judge has been around for a long time. We have always used GPRM and are now using it with an Apple computer.

Our Pack Timer (an aging Smartline) has fritzed out on us in the middle of a race again (reported accurate finish order, but not accurate times), so I feel like it's time for our Pack to consider a new timer.

The Champ seems expensive for what you get.

What would be the determining choice between a Microwizard and an equivalently priced Judge? It seems like The Judge touts its durability? Not much for the display though (blinking LEDs).

We sold our Piantedosi track with Judge timer 2 years ago to another Pack. The gentleman who does my taxes originally bought the track in the 90's for a Pack that now no longer exists. The track and timer was given to my Pack. I work with the Pack that now has the track and timer and the timer is still working fine. I'm guessing it's about 22 years old. I have 2 Microwizard timers I bought in the 90's and used them for our Pack race, District race, and the one that shows Elapsed time for my personal use. The only thing I have ever replaced is the switch for the one that shows Elapsed time. Our District and Pack has since gone to aluminum but I still use the one that shows Elapsed time and it's now connected to a Best track I bought. The two wood tracks I have are now relics. We use one of the wood tracks for a Lego track we set up for the kids but we do not use a timer on that track. The Judge and Microwizard are both Great timers.
The Microwizard probably looks a bit more fancy but I don't know if folks care about that. The Judge can be raised up if your rules allow more height.
Since I own and have used 2 of the Microwizard timers for so long a Microwizard would be my choice.
I wish you the very best.
Bill

Vitamin K wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:29 am Our Pack Timer (an aging Smartline) has fritzed out on us in the middle of a race again (reported accurate finish order, but not accurate times), so I feel like it's time for our Pack to consider a new timer.

That could have been a start switch issue. The SmartLine\Champ timers will provide times relative to the first place finisher, if it does not detect the start switch opening.

gpraceman wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:19 pm

Vitamin K wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:29 am Our Pack Timer (an aging Smartline) has fritzed out on us in the middle of a race again (reported accurate finish order, but not accurate times), so I feel like it's time for our Pack to consider a new timer.

That could have been a start switch issue. The SmartLine\Champ timers will provide times relative to the first place finisher, if it does not detect the start switch opening.

I forget what the exact issue was. One of our dads actually managed to fix it last time, but apparently his work came loose mid-race or something.

I forgot to mention the Microwizard timers will run on a battery pack that Microwizard has for sale. They're inexpensive. They operate on 6 - C cell batteries. No need to have a wire needing to be plugged in someplace.

Speedster wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:53 pm I forgot to mention the Microwizard timers will run on a battery pack that Microwizard has for sale. They're inexpensive. They operate on 6 - C cell batteries. No need to have a wire needing to be plugged in someplace.

Haven't tried it yet, but I got the power converter and a power pack to run our timer off of. See http://derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8473 Got a race this Saturday that I'll give this a try.