hi all! I asked and asked and asked around for contest scoring software for our heli event next month. No one came up with anything, and everyone said Excel "can't possibly do what you need", so of course I took that as a challenge.

Over the pat week and a half i've created an excel spreadsheet (with macros of course) which takes the pilots raw data, sorts them into classes, creates the flight order for the flightlines, handles up to 8 rounds of data per pilot, creates class standings at any time during the data entry, checks for missing and duplicate round/judge scores, and at hte end of the day gives each pilot a printout of all of his scores for all of his manuevers with an average score per manuever. lastly, it allows changing the maneuvers for different years, assuming the # of maneuvers per sequence does not change. It also supports up to 100 pilots per class, follows the rules on tie breaking, knows the difference between rounds A and B of FAI, etc. Everything i could find in the rules or think of from running other contests is in the mix!

I'm looking for folks to play with it to "try to break it", to see if we can find any problems i missed in all my debug time so i'm sure it runs fine for our contest. of course, i'm also offering it to anyone who'd like it to use for their own events.

If you'd like to give it a shot, please just email me and I'll send it your way (i'm out of town starting 10;30am on friday through monday, so it may be a day or three before you get it.)

send email to

[email protected]

with "heli contest software please" in the subject of the email and "for annmarie" in the body. the emails will be set aside for me to get to when i get back, or if i can figure out how to get my buddy, Auto Responder, to consistently send files as attachments without failures, then you'll get it sooner courtesy of Auto.

Hope to get lots of useful feedback!
AMC

Dan Munroe has written a software program for the AMA/FAI contests. We have been using it for several years.

It sounds like you spent a lot of time with your spreadsheet. Is it for AMA/FAI classes or something lse?

Sounds like you put in a lot of hard work on this program. We have a contest comming up next month and I would love to use your program. I sent you e-mail. When I get it I will go through it and give you feedback. Thanks again for offering it to us!

Dan

Hi Chopper! Yes, I was unaware of Dan's until after i posted this offer....it is for AMA/FAI, and is likely similar to his.

I've asked for a copy of his so i can compare and hopefully learn...and also offered him a copy of mine to see if he wouldn't mind testing it, making suggestions, etc!

amcross
Thank you helping further the RC hobby like you have been doing..
Great Job.

Thanks so much, Ron! As i'm learning more about helis, I hope to be able to be more beneficial in some of these areas also.

I have a question this is not related with this string, but it does do with helis that I think your company sell.
The Caliber 30.

What do you think of this Heli?
Will there be a 50 size that is not so expensive like the one over sea's?

Hi Ron!

Our guys are ECSTATIC over the Caliber 30. It is really a great flying bird with a reasonable price tag. Mike has already placed one on back order for himself!! :-)

I can't comment on possible future products, sorry.

If you have any input, on this or Mike .
Please do....
Thanks again.

AnnMarie,

I just want to thank you for being a part of our site and forum. Keep the good tips coming. How is Mike's flying going?

Scotty,
He's loving it and having a blast. Hope everyone comes and joins us for his first heli contest on 5/11 and 5/12 in champaign IL!!

Anne Marie,
Have to ask. Did Mike not consider that this is Mother's Day weekend when he planned the event? That sort of makes it troublesome for some of the contest pilots to attend. Just wondering the reason behind holding it on that date.

David

Hi David!
Yes, he did. Unfortunately, there were other constraints that forced this date, including weather, time of year, and other obligations before and after.

We did not realize it is also U of I graduation which is unfortunately affecting hotel availability. :-(

Thanks to the troubleshooting help of some folks, I have an updated copy of the software now available (the "delete all existing data" button is now visible for example, and the flight order printouts actually handle the separate classes like they're supposed to....

If you'd like an updated copy, email to [email protected] with "contest software please" in the body of your message and "for AMC" in the subject, and we'll get it to you as rapidly as possible.