If we had three or four companies to choose from for decoders I'm guessing the prices would fall. The problem would be having to buy transponders for every track you went to so you could use their scoring system. I do not think the MRT, MYlaps ect. would agree to a universal system to allow cross use of equipment. In the end the tracks and racers would lose.

Instead of pushing MRT out with this upgrade Mylaps should have tried to make a better transponder worthy of the $100 instead of trying to get rid of the superior and cheaper product from MRT.

In the end tracks have to decide to support MRT or the NEW RC4.

Seems to have worked fine for the personal computer industry.

I still have my $2500 desktop from 15 years ago kicking around out in the garage somewhere, that has 25% of the memory, power, and disk space as my current $400 laptop.

We all benefit with competition; the only one that benefits from a monopoly is mylaps/ambush.

Mind if I load up windows 8 and install a new ssd in that machine. . My point is competition might cause more issues with compatibility that would negate the lower cost to the consumer.

If you don't mind it self-combusting in front of you...

MRT has been selling transponders for about 5 years to my knowledge with no compatibility problems.
MyLaps only did this to force a monopoly on us, and to continue with their ongoing planned obsolescence of their earlier products (including earlier decoders that worked just fine) to keep gouging the RC market - by introduce ing a new decoder and transponder that doesn't do anything (really) the old one didn't do.
Just like their discontinued support of handout transponders, which was done to increase revenue from the sale of personal teansponders - how long do you think you current transpondsr will be good, until their lastest software upgrade makes it obsolete as well?

Lots of complaining about a company that wants to protect their product, R&D and investment. I'm surprised it took them this long to take a stand. Probably had the interest of their customers in mind!

Not many blaming the reversed engineered, copyright violating clones for causing this so called problem!


Bottom line is the RC4 decoder will work with any AMB/MyLaps transponders.


I have one of the very first AMB PT's sold in the US! Been in a 20+ different cars never missed a lap!

Huh! So "the interest of their customers" is to come out with a new decoder ((that costs clubs money) and a new transponder that isn't compatible with there older decoders.

So what brand of revered engineered/cloned ESC - since while you're being high and mighty, you also need to point out that every ESC on the market today can trace their cloning back to the original Novak - do you use?

Novak didn't invent the esc.

)

Amb didn't invent that computerized lapcountong system either.

Who did?

Not really, the large bulk of MyLaps is purposed to things like full scale racing, and athletics etc, our decoders are the same decoder they use for everything, and I'd also guess a lot of the transponder specs are common within MyLaps.

And the 'clones' were actually good because they offered things the MyLaps gear did not, which was a good thing, good enough for MyLaps to then steal at least one or two ideas off MRT in return.

It was an overreaction by MyLaps, and the way they rolled it out in some places was questionable, they really did not have customers in mind with it all, more locking their market back up, and coming up with ways to make people buy more new product again at their inflated prices.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-f...identification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transponder_timing

Hard to say, but it's all RFID, and re-purposing of that technology, which is partly why it seems strange that we can pay $150 for a transponder, because the envisioned future of all RFID products was 10 cents tags.

Admittedly for the sake of the speeds used in motor sports, we do need a powered tag in substitute of a very high powered loop, but even so, finding powered tags being used by other companies still brings up products that are a fraction of the cost of what we pay in RC.

Ever since I looked at the timing in RC, I have thought somewhere along the line, RC got screwed, we got locked in by one company, who charges what they want, and did a whole lot to keep other companies out.

I'll admit RFID readers are likely worth a bit (depending), but the tags/transponders should not be worth as much as companies like MyLaps sell them for (I see something worth about $20-$30 when I look at one).

Like I posted in the MRT thread, get this in check or it's done.

pablo040, my warning to you in the other thread is the only one you will get.

MyLaps decoders/transponders are not RFID. In fact they are Magnetic Induction. They developed this technology for R/C racing in the 80's and it transitioned into any kind of racing there is. It is an incredibly accurate technology. I have used dual MyLaps systems at big races with up 500 entries. Two computers, decoders, coaxial and loops. About 75% of the times were exact the other 25% off by no more than plus or minus 1000th of a second!

The cloned transponder did offer some things the MyLaps didn't like having 20 different numbers to choose from. I guess this was because other racers might have same numbers at sign up and they would have to resolve conflicts.

MyLaps only had the one unique number no one else had!

After reading up a bit I find that RFID uses electromagnetic induction. So I learned something today!