knapster

iTrader: (2)

Despite all of the negative things that people have to say about the US Indoor Champs, I have a blast each year and will be back.

miller tyme

iTrader: (5)

Phil Zimmerman Sr was running LRP QC2 in both his cars , David Lee had LRP Sphere in the mod and I think QC2 in stock

scootr117

This was my first trip to the Champs...And other than the freak fire alarm incidents....thank goodness my qualifier had just ended....it was a great race weekend..

Thanks Eli for helping me with motor tuning....You deserved your wins.... Even with me in the same class ..you offered to help me improve my weekend...

And Whoever got the pic of Ian on the luggage cart...Please post it soon...I drove him home Sunday and we laughed about it all the way back...

aaron_buran

I ran a GTX in 19T 1.12th and a LRP Shere Competition in 1.12th Mod

brianrice

iTrader: (5)

I ran an LRP QC1 in the 12th stock main.

Fuzzy

iTrader: (4)

WOW. Are me and Pete Medved the only ones that had a good time this past weekend? In fact, we had a blast. We struggled with some traction rolling issues for a little while until we figured out the magic solution (switched to Niftech compound). We improved our times with every run. Never broke a single part. Enjoyed the track layout. Good racing, good people, and good times. What more could you ask for? The only issue as far as we were concerned were the bumps that developed. But I think Bill Aholt and crew did a good job correcting them. Besides, a bump or two makes controlling these cars challenging. Don't want a challenge? Get yourself some Hot Wheels and setup your own track on a pool table somewhere.

John Warner

Joel,

I was using one of the older LRP Quantum's.

Tempest2000

iTrader: (21)

My name is "Michael Skeen" no T in it LOL

and its a novak GTX

KE4PJO

Get it right boy's, it's FUBAR not foobar!!

Nova F1 Racer

iTrader: (3)

I spent 17 years at Digital Equipment Corp......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foobar

Foobar is a common placeholder name also referred to as metasyntactic variable used in computer programming or computer related documentation.

The word "foobar" may be derived from the WW II era Army slang acronym FUBAR (`Fucked Up Beyond All Repair'), later modified to foobar and carried back by returning GIs to morph into other uses. In technology, the word was probably originally propagated through DEC system manuals by Digital Equipment Corporation or DEC in 1960s and early 1970s. Another possibility is that foobar evolved from electronics, as an inverted foo signal. This is because a digital signal is active low (so a negative or zero-voltage condition represents a "1") then a horizontal bar is commonly placed over the signal label.

KE4PJO

Whatever ! It's still FUBAR

Brian McGreevy

iTrader: (10)

Brad Johnson used a Novak GTX.

Champs Guy

[QUOTE=miller tyme;3908177]Too read these comments from people involved in the event makes one wonder where 28 years of experience went?? These all sound like basic issues...Temperature swings effect wood...should have had a backup computer... it's only the championships and windows is renowned for reliability
and amb is a new system never used before no one should have known about the width issue!


I'm one of the two announcers at the Champs. I'm also the audio/visual guy at the Champs. I've been a DJ for twenty years and have supplied the audio equipment for 10 years. I'm the guy who misses practice and qualifiers so someone is there for the racers. I'm the guy who stays up all night for that third practice that Ian says he'll put on for you and then doesn't show up.

I DJ'ed two weddings at the Holiday Inn over the last few months with no issues at all. There was no way for me to know that a voltage spike would destroy my surge protector (20,000 joules should handle it). Past events are usually a pretty good indicater of future events.

I wish the surge protector hadn't been destroyed by the power spike. I wish I didn't have to replace both tweeter coils in my speakers. I wish I hadn't had the wires in my mixer fuse together. I wish my $120 microphone wasn't destroyed. I wish I hadn't had the left channel of my 500 watt power amplifier get fried by the power surges. I don't need a better microphone next year so I don't have to yell out lap times. I need freak accidents not to happen. That equipment is part of my livelyhood. It's the best available and I lost it due to a monster surge.

The sub-floor was perfect in the beginning. The carpet was perfect in the beginning - and the end. This year a Union professional laid the carpet. Next year a Union professional with also lay the floor.

The loop was perfect in the beginning. The fire marshal said we had to have clear fire lanes for the first time in 28 years. An eight foot lane makes that 12 foot line become a 20 foot line. Sorry, we missed that one. We moved hundreds of feet of cables in an hour and forgot about the loop and it's specifics.

Back in the day, Mr. Bill and I sat and hand entered each racers name into the computer for the reshuffles and mains. The new software is amazing and not the problem. Quite frankly, without Brandon, I don't know what we would have done. The software is still brand new and has constant new versions. I don't think this thing comes with a manual. If any of you want to go back to the old software, I know every line of programming in that one.

The 28 years of experience is still there, Mr. Miller, but we have new challenges with each new upgrade. We wanted to make this the the best Champs ever. The door prizes were the best ever. The carpet was the best ever. The layout was the best ever. The sponsors were the most and best ever. (Orion gave away free batteries to anyone who made the show with their batteries. Parma gave away free competitive bodies - hundreds of them. Parma gave an airbrush to the Concourse/Best Paint winner.Spektrum gave away a brushless system.) The internet coverage was the best ever. The racing was some of the best ever. And, if I dare say, John Vodila and I gave you some of the best announcing ever.

Issues popped up. Decisions were made, that in hindsight, were not the best way to go. This wasn't the Champs we shot for. Next year, it will be the best Champs ever. Anyone who misses it, will just have to wish they were there as they listen to it on the web and read about it in Radio Controlled Car Action.

Michael Smith

smyka

after frank brought me and jiles (sp) out to dinner we went and looked at the sub floor after the carpet was removed and the first thing he noticed was the loop you had two loops running in the same groove with no resistor in the middle of either of them and they were 18 inches apart.


after talking with jiles he said that the problem with the missed laps was probally a couple of things one the loop needs a resistor in it if you look at the new amb yellow loop it has it build in to the middle of it . second you can not run two loop sin the same channel with out interferance he said they need to be ten feet apart . third you should not have a big speaker near the decoder box. \ all we are trying to do is help it seems like the last couple years this has been a problem and we finally noticed some stuff that was wrong we just want you to know what it is ..

steveM3

This was my 3rd year at the Champs and I always have a good time racing no matter what. Here are my comments that I hope will be addressed to bring drivers back next year. These are not complaints; rather, take them as suggestions for the future.

1. I was shocked there were no practice times on Wednesday. People pay a lot of money to race at Cleveland and they can't see their times from the start? I have never been to a Birds or Vegas and got on the track and not had times to look at. Good move allowing 2 rounds on Wednesday!

2. Run the B mains before the A mains (like Vegas). The top 20 deserve sponsor recognition and this gives time for A main drivers to prepare.

3. The tech crew was not properly trained. I saw guys that had their motors torn down and they were missing shims and ripping the end belt off without taking the brushes out first.

4. Mix up the classes so that stock and 19 turn TC are not so close. This is the first time I had to rush to make my second qualifier at a national event. Why not mix 12th scale with TC to give racers time? I must have ran up and down those stairs 20 times.

5. This race is missing the key element of "professionalism". At Vegas and the Birds, the crew has racing shirts on and everyone is so nice and friendly. I wasn't getting that vibe from anyone on the crew. Any question I asked was responded to with a very smart comment and it seemed like they didn't want to be there. This is my perception, others may feel different.

6. Next time, have the state fire marshal approve the area on Tuesday instead of during the race and ALWAYS have a back up power source. I don't think this was fair for you guys and I think the marshal could have handled this much smoother. Your crew did a great job rearranging everything.

7. It was very difficult to know when we were going to start the next round, which made it hard to charge at the right time. A 30-minute break turned into an hour.

8. Consider doing a raffle at the end of a day instead of in between a round of qualifying. It was a big distraction. Maybe during the pizza party?

9. There should be open track on Wednesday with time slots for classes just like the snowbirds. This way the groove comes in quicker and you get more track time. At least have an hour of open practice everyday before rounds like Vegas.

10. Hire a professional announcer who can call traffic effectively for front-runners.

11. Set up qualifiers after practice rounds according to lap times. They did something like this at Vegas so you start out racing in a qualifier with racers with similar times.

12. Resort after round 3.

13. Got to eliminate Paragon. The Birds did it, Vegas never had it and traction was just as good in Vegas with Jack the Gripper. I don't mind Paragon but it is becoming more hated by the day and my roommate is not coming back because of it.

14. I wasn't a fan of the curbing and I think there are many that would agree.

15. Seek counsel from Vegas and Birds programs. You may want to consider hiring someone to manage this race for you. You have to keep this race going after 28 years.

I appreciate all the effort that went into this race. We know that people worked hard, stayed up all night, went the extra mile to make things happen; that is all very much appreciated so we can all race and have fun. Don't take any offense to these comments. This race has grown beyond 12th scale club racing and change is inevitable.

I will be back; it would be nice if others will be supportive and do the same.
Thanks