Chronit Transponders

[StephenRae]

Originally Posted by dtype38

Before we all get too hot under the collar this terrible injustice... maybe we should try and keep things a bit more in perspective here.

So we have to change transponders every few years... at what £130-150 a pop. And????

Like I say... change transponders every few years...

To argue that because transponders are a minor part of your budget so it's OK to throw it away every few years does not help. Is there a technical, not commercial reason for having to replace the transponder

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by StephenRae

Is there a technical, not commercial reason for having to replace the transponder

Apart from them being rubbish:

Originally Posted by MSA via our own Lola

... no support has been found to repair Chronit 290 transponders.

At the same time, following upgrades to the AMB-it decoders, which receives the signal from the transponder, it is not possible to identify Chronit transponders...

link here to the quote

They mention a short term solution, but this is probably holding back improvements to the system for a year.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by dtype38

Do you really have to quote my whole post when you're replying directly below it anyway?

Yes

Originally Posted by dtype38

My AMB transponder was £125+vat Have they gone up a lot?

So was mine, but they are now a few quid shy of £200

[Lola]

£200 is a huge part of my budget. I cant afford that outlay. When my chronit dies , prob so will my racing.

[StephenRae]

Reading through this thread has made me even more irritated...in one the AMB transponders may be invalid after 2005 in another they are for sale with a 3 year warrranty.
If the upgraded receiving equipment can recognize 'Chronits' this year how come it won't be able to next year.

[Adam43]

It may be that the Chronit system can't do something that the new transponder and new system can. There is no hope of developing a system to allow them to as Chronit have gone bust. Perhaps something to do with the actual timing? I'm only guessing, but there are reasons why it could be. I suppose they could just ditch them now if that is that case and let us get on with the better system?

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by StephenRae

Reading through this thread has made me even more irritated...in one the AMB transponders may be invalid after 2005 in another they are for sale with a 3 year warrranty.
If the upgraded receiving equipment can recognize 'Chronits' this year how come it won't be able to next year.

Perhaps the upgraded equipment can't recognize the Chronit and the solution until November maybe that MST will do the timing manualy for people with Chronit transponders like they already do with all the others.

But then I'm a cynic

[dtype38]

Originally Posted by Lola

£200 is a huge part of my budget. I cant afford that outlay. When my chronit dies , prob so will my racing.

Sorry Lola, but if £200 is a huge part of your budget, I'm at a loss to think of which part of motorsport you actually take part in. I thougth that sort of money just about covers one local club race or maybe a couple of kart meetings Would be very interested in how you go about a season of racing on that sort of money.... I may well come and join you

As for being cynical... my best guess is that no club, venue, or organisation would want to recognise or accept any piece of equipment from a company who have gone bust. To do so would imply some sort of reliance on, recognition of, or (more likely) some implied ongoing support for that piece of equipment. Might I suggest they are simply putting a proverbial barge pole in place to prevent any possible future arguments.... say if someone loses a race because their Chronit transponder wasn't working properly

[andy97]

I'm with Lola on this - £200 is a huge part of my budget too. We both race in Monoposto so perhaps that explains the similarity! £200 represents the cost of attending one meeting - entry fee, petrol, transport costs etc - and that's assuming that its a meeting that's local to me and that there's no damage. Having to fork out another £200 just one year after having been forced by the BRSCC to buy a chronit in the first place (the Mono club often races at BRSCC meetings) means that I will enter one less race meeting in 2005 than I would otherwise have done. I am definately not happy.

As for joining us in Monoposto, Dtype38, you would be very welcome and I reckon that not only would a seasons racing be far cheaper than your current series (I an guessing from your ID that you race a jag in something - the Revival series, perhaps?) but it may well be faster and more fun, too!!

[JohnMiller]

Originally Posted by andy97

having been forced by the BRSCC to buy a chronit in the first place (the Mono club often races at BRSCC meetings)

Very minor point, but I don't think the BRSCC forced anyone to buy a Chronit transponder. I certainly bought the red one (AMB?)

[StephenRae]

Originally Posted by JohnMiller

Very minor point, but I don't think the BRSCC forced anyone to buy a Chronit transponder. I certainly bought the red one (AMB?)

You and I have lucked into buying AMB...unless you had a crystal ball when Big Brother BRSCC forced us to buy transponders

[JohnMiller]

I seem to recall that the first year they were 'compulsory' if you read the small, small print they weren't actually compulsory, just advisory. Hence I bought mine a year later than most...

[andy97]

If you bought an AMB then you did, indeed, "luck in". I just remember being required to buy a transponder, sending off my money to the Monoposto Club, who were acting on behalf of its members in its dealings with the BRSCC and getting an Orange transponder back. I had no idea that there was a choice in the matter! The plot thickens.

[Lola]

I can think of better things o spend £200 on!

That as andy says is a race entry + costs. One less for me then.
Yes i did send my money to the mono club in return for a transponder. I was unlucky enough to get an orange one. I see the ones saying its tough are the ones with amb models

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Lola

I can think of better things o spend £200 on!

That as andy says is a race entry + costs. One less for me then.
Yes i did send my money to the mono club in return for a transponder. I was unlucky enough to get an orange one. I see the ones saying its tough are the ones with amb models

I have an AMB one and suspect that there will be some lame excuse to require us all to replace these within a year or two, I will get dtype38 to buy me one as he seems to be loaded

[Lola]

your right

[JohnMiller]

andy 97, Lola

Hmm, so you bought it via the club then as opposed to direct from the manufacturer. You have to wonder why the club did this and whether it made on the deal - if not, why would some numpty involve them in the first place?

I'm pretty sure I bought my first one via a discount deal with the 750MC but the purchase was nothing to do with the club, you just phoned the distributor (HS Sports?) and asked for the 750MC price (which, in reality, I doubt was much different to any other price).

Depending on what evidence you have, you might actually have a case as to whether the product the club supplied was "fit for use" although I suspect, in all practicality, that you would be wasting your time...

I decided a long-time ago that some clubs, like Mono perhaps, have a lot to offer and are run by enthusiastic individuals but if you expect them to be run anything like a real world business you will be sorely disappointed!

[midgetman]

I've got an AMB 'ponder somewhere. In my hurry to return to racing I didn't notice that MGCC hire them out for the day so I laid out £125 + VAT (oh don't forget the carriage!). I've only used it twice, it's now shared around my mates whenever they go out. I now race on the continent where the organising club hands one out FOC for the weekend.

Why didn't UK clubs get together, buy a huge batch at rock-bottom price and depreciate the cost over 5 years in the entry fees? Probably add a couple of quid at most per entry.

Ah well, s'pose we've all got 20/20 hindsight. But don't you just wish some people would put in a bit of thought and stop us being ripped off all the time? So quick to charge, so slow to help.

[kickstart]

Personally I cannot see why many club races are actually timed at all. How about this, anyone without a transponder goes through practise but then goes to the back of the grid for the race ( in random order if there are several of them). After all in club racing who cares if you come 6th by 0.4 or 1.2 seconds.

[Adam43]

It is only club racing and it is only for fun. I agree with this. However it is great that we have decent timing and nicely produced reports. The reports of every lap time that MST publish is excellent and I think adds a lot to my racing. I like that kind of thing being from a science background, but it also enables me to continue the pretence (to myself?) of being a racing driver!

[StephenRae]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

It is only club racing and it is only for fun. I agree with this. However it is great that we have decent timing and nicely produced reports. The reports of every lap time that MST publish is excellent and I think adds a lot to my racing. I like that kind of thing being from a science background, but it also enables me to continue the pretence (to myself?) of being a racing driver!

This is an excellent service but does not rely on transponders.The BRSCC do not use them to time the cars but only to identify them. This all seems fairly silly to me we seem to have paid out for technology which is not being used.
Don't the BTCC show sector times? these must come direct from the transponders.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by StephenRae

This is an excellent service but does not rely on transponders.

True. Although maybe that will change.

Originally Posted by StephenRae

Don't the BTCC show sector times? these must come direct from the transponders.

Now that would be good.

[diz]

Before the Anglesey meeting on 5th December, I contacted my Chief MST timekeeper to make sure they would have some spare transponders available for any entrants who didn''t have one. He asked what sort of entry figures I had. When I told him the highest entry in any individual race was eighteen, he said that they could cope without using transponders for car identification. Interesting?

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by diz

Before the Anglesey meeting on 5th December, I contacted my Chief MST timekeeper to make sure they would have some spare transponders available for any entrants who didn''t have one. He asked what sort of entry figures I had. When I told him the highest entry in any individual race was eighteen, he said that they could cope without using transponders for car identification. Interesting?

MST always seem to time cars without transponders or non working ones anyway. The only club that have got heavy about it was the 750mc at Mallory last October.
As has been said earlier they dont use the transponders for timing which is a bit of a ****er as we were all forced to buy them.

[kickstart]

If they do not use the transponders for timing then I have got a great idea why don't we put numbers on the cars to identify them...