ARA Technical Sub-committee news - July 2008 (1 viewing)
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TOPIC: ARA Technical Sub-committee news - July 2008
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ARA Technical Sub-committee news - July 2008 2008/07/13 18:05
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(This is a copy of an e-mail posted to the ARA Technical subcommittee e-mail list on 13 July)Greetings all,
It's been a while since I posted anything out to the list.
Firstly I'd like to announce the new ARA website. It's the same address - http://rogaine.asn.au - and is an expansion of the technical website I set up last year, its brief broadened due to the termination of the previous ARA web hosting arrangements and the opportunity to provide a range of new facilities to the rogaining community. There is a forum (with a few threads going already), Navlight electronic scoring software downloads (thanks to Peter Squires), an event calendar (the next 6 coming events are displayed on the home page), as well as all the resources from the old website - results from all Australian Championships, current insurance documents, rules and technical regulations, history, news and links. It is intended to be a focus and resource for all rogainers, so please spread the word, register and account and get involved. Above all, if you have a suggestion for an improvement or request for a new feature, please get in touch.
Last year's Australian Championships is a distant (but fond) memory now. Many thanks to all who sent in responses to the review. The report is now available on the new ARA website. See "Latest News" item "ARC 2007 Technical Report" or once it has slipped off the latest news, go to "Technical -> Reports" menu. The most significant issue arising for the coming Australian Championships is the combination of the rules passed at last year's AGM allowing for multiple scoring devices, and the technical hitches that marred the awarding of the open women's category at last year's champs. Under the new rules in fact the team initially awarded would have been declared the winners, since there was a punch missing from one tag in the team that was eventually declared the winners. More details are in the report, but it highlights the necessity of a well-tested administrative system, both in its technical capabilities and the operator's expertise and familiarity with the system.
Electronic punching allows some amazing post-event analysis (see for example the Google Earth dataset Keith Thomas has put together on the recent ACT championships at http://act.rogaine.asn.au/EVENTS/08ACT_24hr/navlight/index.html ), but the primary goal is accurate and prompt results at the conclusion of the event. The incorporation of multiple tags and the capacity to eliminate any advantage from team splitting relies on error-free processing and reconciliation of each team's tags. If you've been involved in the admin of an event with electronic scoring you may have realized just how many "interesting" cases can arise to test the limits of rogaine scoring software. We are indeed fortunate that Navlight has been developed by such a dedicated, capable and enthusiastic rogainer in Peter Squires, and his software and hardware continues to evolve in function and robustness in response to feedback from users.
There was a slight oversight in the rules approved last year for multiple tags - the determination of a team's finish time (and hence ranking against equal point scores and any possible late penalties) must be from the time of the last team member to finish. Again this is a team-splitting prevention measure amongst other things. I will work up some more formal wording for this, but any suggestions or discussion welcome.
Also, any other technical issues that require attention in the rules are welcome to be raised. Electronic devices are overdue for attention, especially now that mobile phones are available which incorporate GPS and maps! I'd suggest we use the forums on the new website to do so. It is so much easier to keep discussions organized and split off new topics as required.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming Australian Rogaining Championships in northern NSW in August!
David Baldwin
Chair, ARA Technical Subcommittee
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Canberra, ACT, Australia |
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