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Board » General Discussion » Programming Start

Is it possible to program the start of the race more than 1 hour in advance? Can I set the course and delay for 8 hours and have the boat start the race?

Hi Steve,
Yes it is possible...What you need to do is..ie:the next race starts at 12.00 midday UTC,Set your delay for 8 hours at 03.30 UTC( dont forget to set your course and tick the delay box).Your command will go off at 11.30 but your boat wont be released until 12.00.
Thanks for your help. I will do this.
Note that the new command must be set to fire within 1 hour before race start (i.e prestart). Commands that executes before towback are ignored.
Hello Kalle,
Another question then. I have set start times via DC for two races now (Asian Sprint the latest) that did not fire. I set them in Brainaids DC editor and the start time for the DC was within 1hr of the race start. I even went to the race and refreshed the DC to be sure it was there. When I check in about 30min after the start, I was still on the line and the start DC command was gone (fired?). Should I be setting the start DC in the race instead of the DC editor? Should I set the fire command for exactly the race start time instead of minutes before?

I'm not a winning skipper, but I like to be able to throw water balloons at the top guys right at the starting line when I am as close as I will get :>))

Thanks for any tips!
SP
ShamPir - I use Brainaid's DC Editor mostly for starting practice races and I have always set a DC in SOL first, then opened the editor. To me an Editor means there has to be data somewhere to be picked up first?

No doubt someone with more technical expertise than I can clarify but I would always set at least one DC in SOL before you start using Brainaid's Editor.

:-)
Both the official SOl client and brainaid's toolbox DC editor send DCs to the SOL server in exactly the same way (http post to the same url). Infact I can't see how the server would even tell the difference (maybe referrer url or something, but thats it - and it would need to be looking for it, and why?).

So it isnt a matter of where the DC is sent from. Anyway, if you confirm it is there within the SOL client, the server must have registered it...

Edit: No there does not need to be DCs in there already to edit either RC... infact when you edit them in brainaid's editor, it actually deletes them and resends new ones. Only way to do it AKAIK there is no 'modify' command, only post and delete.
I have successfully created a bunch of DCs via brainaids toolbox (and now my own toolkit also ;-))



--- Last Edited by Aaron Gage at 2011-02-06 15:34:26 ---
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__
I have no Idea, what happend in your case. But i can confirm, that DC's via Brainaids Site works pretty well allmost allways.
But are you sure to give the right date and the Time in UTC?
I once wondered why my DC didn't fire, when finding myself on the Rocks some hours later... and at last i find my DC in the List, where it belongs... scheduled for some months later because i confounded Month and Day on Brainaids Site. :-(
Thanks all... I'm not sure either as I have already made the mistakes mentioned and have taken to writing down my DCs on paper before transposing to the Editor.

In retrospect, I can only think I may have set the start DC time inaccurately for UTC and that would have put it out of the 1hr pre-start window. In any event, I will keep at it and try to convince myself that all others need that extra time at the start in order to stay ahead of me to the finish! ;>))

See you in the Volcano Run!
SP
This thread has given me yet another idea for my toolkit:

1) Dedicated START DC, which will automatically be set say 30 minutes before start of race. (it grabs all the information available on races each login) - so you enter START twa/cc value {port/stbd} - tack is optional

2) Ask for comfirmation of 'long range' DCs, say more than 1 day out. (only once if u sending many obv)

As it is now, it offers more syntax options which may help stop some problems, like you can specify the delay as per brainaid's toolbox (date/time), the SOL client (decimal hours) or in the form d.h:m:s for days hours minutes seconds from when you click 'send'.

Edit: DONE!
enter the word START as the delay, and a random time between 30 and 10 minutes before the start time is sent as the time to fire... No more missed starts ;-)


Sorry it will still be awhile before available to all, though I am looking into having a completely Web based version live brainaid's toolbox. (of some features) If anyone knows good free hosting site ??

--- Last Edited by Aaron Gage at 2011-02-12 08:14:57 ---
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__

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