Australian karters have the opportunity to assist in moving the sport into a new era by purchasing their personal transponder.
By purchasing a transponder from their Club or State Office at a discounted price (*this price may vary slightly depending on the location) competitors will have the opportunity to see all lap times from race events using the new AKA timing system, which is currently being rolled out across the country.
The sooner karters begin to purchase their own personal transponder the sooner they will be able to able to benefit from a faster roll-out of the new system.
Many karters have been asking questions about the use of personal transponders, detailed below are the answers to many of these questions.
*When do the transponders become compulsory?*
Officially the 1st July 2010, however some clubs are looking to get established
earlier, as are the organisers of some major events, such as the Victorian Open
who has listed that all entrants must have their own transponder. The National
Karting Council has made this a requirement at the Nationals, and it is understood
that each state will make it a requirement at their State Championships. There
are lots of individual clubs that are already committed to total transponder
race meetings in 2010 long before the July date.
*I race Yamaha and Rotax classes throughout the year and need a transponder
that does both classes, is the chargeable type the one that I require?*
Yes, unless it is a SEC (electric start) Yamaha. In short, to use the non-chargeable
transponder you need an ?on board? battery
*Can I swap my transponder between classes at a race event?*
Yes, but remember that if you are out in the field because of a breakdown, then
you need to get your transponder back to your second kart prior to the start
of its racing, and that is totally your obligation. There is no requirement
for the grid marshal, or any official to wait for you to get back, so should
your classes be back to back it may be a problem.
*Is the transponder able to be used by different people in different classes
or just the one person?*
The AKA is looking for each person to have their own transponder, different
people would cause a similar problem as above, for example if a junior breaks
down on the far extremity of a track, and Dad is on the grid ready to go out
then there is no obligation for officials to hold up the meeting while they
wait for a transponder, and it could also limit any data collection.
*Where can I buy my transponder? And at what cost?*
In the first place, from your club, who can get them from their State Office.
The Association sourced a very competitive price which they now sell to each
state for, however, from there each club/State is free to set its own price
to their members so people should ask their individual clubs for their price.
*What is the benefit for me in buying a transponder?*
There are too many to list but here are a few.
- Better lap scoring with less people required particularly for major events
that have large fields
- More efficient race management from the entry collection to the actual race
track
- The supply of statistics for all concerned, including the individual karter
on his own personal AKA web site
- Instant data display will be available by those clubs who wish to display
it at race meetings (providing the club has a wi-fi unit).
- Real time race information by karters on their own lap tops in the pits (providing
the club has a wi-fi unit).
- Lifetime storage of race results, both individually, and collectively
- Better availability of actual statistics for the National Body to construct
future requirements of our sport
/Plus many more/
*Where can I see all of my results and lap times? And how quickly will they
be there?*
Direct and live at race meetings on your own laptop, (providing the club has
a wi-fi unit); on the AKA Web site basically as soon as the club uploads the
results to the AKA server, (which can be done live if so desired) and on Mylaps,
the AMB Information site, as soon as the results are uploaded to the AKA Site
they will also go to Mylaps.