Pepe

I am the DL for my son's wolf den. Our mtg schedule is agreed upon by the parents involved usually a week after school starts in the summer. We make it easy, like the firt and third thursday of every month. The den leaders, CC and CM meet once a month to plan the pack mtgs and pack activities. All of the dl's try to schedule their den mtgs at the same time so we can use our church's mtg hall at the same time every month. As a DL, I go through the program guide at the beginning and then plan out all the achievements for the year. The parents get a copy of the plan for the year and must bring it to each mtg ina folder or binder. This keeps everuone omn the same page. I communicate all activities via email and emergencies are handled by phone.

Thanks for the correction on the Stearns Method. I spoke to our CM again at length and I've come to the conclusion that he is going to do whatever he wants without bringing it to a vote. With that in mind, my son, his friends and I are going to build the 2 lane PWD track for our use outside of the BSA. Most of his friends are in his den and live in the neighborhood. It's going to serve as a great project as far as teaching them some skills and they can have their own races when they want. I am paying for the whole thing so it's going to be my own personal track. I have looked for applications on the net and the free ones are not what I envision the application to be. They are not well thought out and are not user friendly. So, I'm going to write my own and start small with a 2 lane version. From reading other posts, there are plenty of packs out there running only 2 lanes. I hope my project can benefit them when done.

I have the excel spreadsheets foe the streams. Are there some for Pn and round robin?

I use craft paint, such as Plaid. Dryes very quickly. They also make a clear varnish.

I would like to write a software application geared towards smaller packs that cannot afford some of the expensive derby apps that are out there and are looking to manage races easily. The software would: 1. Be open source (free to use) 2. Be limited to running 2 lane races with no max on racers 3. Use VB .NET 2008 and MS SQL 2005/2008 4. Have features that would be helpful, such as certificates. 5. Not have the ability to control timers/gates but would accept time entries. I have the logic needed for creating a streams method of racing but am looking for opinions as to which other medthods are better/prefered and would create more fun for the kids, such as Perfect-N Type Charts and Round Robin. Which would you recommend and could you possibly explain the logic behind that method? This will help me in setting up the logic. If you are a small pack, i.e. less than 20 kids, would an application such as this benefit you and what features would you like to see? Thanks

The plastic/pvc track is very similiar to the supertrack sold by supertimer.com. My thought was to use 3/4" pvc for the support structure and insert 1/2" emt pipe into the pvc for added weight and support on the bottom and upper sections. I've done this before on some other projects and if done correctly, it's very stable. The supertrack system uses cords to string the support structure together and tighten it up. I like the use of plastic and pvc because its lightweight, very portable and the cases to store everything would be small compared to those used for storing 8' aluminum or wood track sections. The $200.00 is not really an issue because a majority of the parents that I spoke to personally are willing to contribute to the cause and we would have no problem raising the funds. The CM, agreed to present the topic at the pack meeting and did not. At the pack mtg I presented the pros/cons sheet I had made up as a handout. The CM did not distribute the flyers nor was the topic presented to the parents. It was not an issue of running out of time as we had plenty of time. When I approached the CM afterwards, I was abruptly told that it's a dead issue and that we're not going to build the track. BTW, the CC is the spouse. I was accused of sabotage because I was "not trying hard enough to get the loaner track" and that "I was doing that to get the new track built". That's not the case. The CC at the other troop is trying to get us the track but is hitting some walls of his own. I sent out the rules and like last year, it stated that cars from previous years could not be re-used. They had to be built new from the kits provided. I heard from another den leader, as I suspected, that he used his car from previous year and re-painted it. He broke the rules but I cannot prove it. I'll look at the PNP. I have the excel spreadsheets for the Stream method.

Thanks for the info on BetaCrafts. The cost of 2 lanes is actually about the same as the plastic. I was going to support the upper 10' portion of the track with wood anyway as it the "take off ramp" and the rest is on the ground as a straight run. I like the branding idea but true, if the brand is not deep enough, it can be puttied over and painted. I just had a parent email me asking if she can use the same car. I don't mind if they use the same design, just re-create the car using a new kit.

Thanks for the input. We do let the other pack run the race for us and would just setup the location. Our derby rules state that no car from previous years can be raced but I know our CM broke the rule. Interesting idea about marking up the cars. I see your point on the 4 lanes and have no problem building it to 4 lanes. My problem is the CM and the pack management. If I was CM, i would be soooooo much different. (I am venting here, sorry.)

Hi: We are a small pack of about 20 active kids and are planning our 3rd derby. Once again this year we will be borrowing a track from another den which has been very gracious to us. I have asked our cubmaster to reconsider building our own track, nothing too expensive. I found everything I need to build the 2 lane track from plastic parts with no electronics for about $200.00. The whole setup is made from plastic and pvc which makes it very portable and easy to maintain and is upgradeable up to 6 lanes. We were supposed to discuss this at last month's pack mtg and bring it up to a parent vote but NO, it was never mentioned. Our CM decided that we would again borrow one. Most of the parents that I spoke to were on board to build our own 2 laner since we are small there is no need for 6 lanes. I am in charge of running the event and have been accused of trying to sabotage the event. At this point feel like quitting as a DL and taking my son to another pack. I suspect that the CM wants a wood track so that he can race his car again as his son's car. I know that last year he took his own winning car, repainted it and had his son run it. BTW, his son won by a landslide. Any suggestions? Have you had the same experience? Would you build the track made from plastic? Small pack - would you build a 2 laner? Thanks for your input!