kevden45 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Hey im thinking of starting a rc car club. does anyone no where in the uk you can get lap timers? are they expensive? can you live without them use any other method for lap times etc. the club would be in the north east of englnd and hopefully would be free for everyone to race it would be indoor and on carpet/wooden floor. any advice is appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Proper AMB/MyLaps timing systems are insanely expensive as in thousands for a full system. And they no longer make handout transponders so everyone has to buy a personal one or you have to buy a set of a club thats closing. There are a few Infra-red systems that are a lot cheaper, but they are not as reliable and very rare. The easiest method for starting is the old fashioned, if a little inaccurate, way. Get a laptop, a bunch of number stickers (available from the BRCA) and a line of tape on the track. When a car goes over the line, press the corresponding button on the laptop! Obviously you still need the timing software, but Lapsfree is, well free, so its a good place to start. The first thing you should do is contact the BRCA though. They are the sports governing body in the UK, and whilst you don't need to involve them, its a good idea to. Mostly thats because membership is not that expensive, and it offers very useful insurance against people getting hurt. Unless the club is on your land, most venues are going to ask about insurance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaun17 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Omg ive been thinking about doing this but i just dont have the capital to start it off...were about are you gunna be getting your capotal from as you would need money for land rental electric the usual stuff ect ect. as for lap timers get a few people with stop watches hahaaa :s also were abouts in the east you planning to do this..? cus if its anywere ear norwich i would love to be a volunteer and give you a hand :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) TBH its not that difficult and you don't need a lot of capital if you want to start small. You will need: 1) A venue. Indoors that means a hall, outdoors a field. Halls can be booked very cheaply depending on size, school gyms work very well, but be aware of the surface. Smooth polished floors are hard to drive on, so you'll want some carpet and that adds a lot of cost. 2 ) A track. Old fire hoses or gym ropes make cheap track markers. Ask the local fire station for hose and its normally free. For our indoor races we actually use plastic guttering as the track marker as one of our members is a builder! 3 ) A laptop and some number stickers. Doesn't need to be a fancy laptop either. You can get free timing software for PC's of virtually any age. That is lilerally all you need. In fact, some of my favourite race meets were ones in a empty field in the middle of nowhere, with rope marking the track and the race director timing on a laptop plugged into his cars lighter socket! Everything else comes later. However, one easy route to getting some assistance is to talk to your LHS. A thriving club means money for them, so a good shop might well get involved. Around me many clubs are affilated with a model shop, or even run by them - my club is supported by JE Spares, whilst Roundabout Models have their own club. Edited January 12, 2011 by Si Coe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe of loath Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Also: Check there aren't any similar clubs around. If you want to start a 1/10 on road club, and there's one 5 miles down the road, you won't get many people racing. You have to go for something that's not around locally, and that way you'll get the membership you need to stay afloat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Also: Check there aren't any similar clubs around. If you want to start a 1/10 on road club, and there's one 5 miles down the road, you won't get many people racing. You have to go for something that's not around locally, and that way you'll get the membership you need to stay afloat. True, but: Sometimes it can work to your advantage. If there is a local club that races say on Friday nights, you could well offer to run meetings for them on a different night, and use their venue, equipment etc. Places with permenant tracks often do this, and whilst the track and equipment belong to Club A, Clubs B and C rent it out and run meetings on other days. That is how Moto Arena runs things for example. One thing thats a very good idea is to go and check out a few clubs. I'm guess neither Kevden or Shaun have masses of racing experience, so it would be good idea to see how a race meeting is run. People will expect the meeting to go a certain way, and whilst its 'your club, your rules' if you want members its better to stick to rules they are used to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger906 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 id firstly check that you can get enough people together to race and at least cover the cost of materials over the year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe of loath Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 True, but: Sometimes it can work to your advantage. If there is a local club that races say on Friday nights, you could well offer to run meetings for them on a different night, and use their venue, equipment etc. Places with permenant tracks often do this, and whilst the track and equipment belong to Club A, Clubs B and C rent it out and run meetings on other days. That is how Moto Arena runs things for example. One thing thats a very good idea is to go and check out a few clubs. I'm guess neither Kevden or Shaun have masses of racing experience, so it would be good idea to see how a race meeting is run. People will expect the meeting to go a certain way, and whilst its 'your club, your rules' if you want members its better to stick to rules they are used to! That's very true, although it may spread membership slightly, but that depends how keen people are on racing multiple times a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmanluke Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Been there. Done that. Never doing it again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perruzo Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 where about in the north east? there is already a few indoor clubs in newcastle.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypercabbage7 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Been there. Done that. Never doing it again! why bud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Well I must admit as a club admin myself my first thought was 'NOOOOO - Don't do it!!!!!!' but then I thought that sounded a little negative! The truth is you can't please all of the people all of the time. For a club to work, it needs members not just racers. People who turn up, race and go home are no use except for numbers. What you need is folks who come early, set the track up, help organise heats, post up results, explain stuff to newbies etc, then at the end stick around to pack up. Clubs with permanent tracks also need folks to turn up on non-race days to mow the grass, mend the rostrum, paint the track markers etc. And they need people to run race control, handle the books, organise dates for meetings. And all the while the 'turn up and race without helping' crowd will be moaning that you are doing it wrong (but can't be bothered to help you do it right!) It takes pretty thick skin to run a big meeting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevden45 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 im' from a placed called newton aycliffe, it's just near darlington, county durham. There isn't anyway within 20 miles to race at all. I have access to a indoor hall it's not the biggest but i think it wouls work still. The club i used to go to was in hurworth grange darlington in a similiar sized hall but that has gone now which was unfortunate. It was really just for some fun get some like minded people together have a good time set up a little competion championships and race! Overall cost of the hall would be free because i knoe people on the committe but i know there will probablys be other things to buy if people could tell me what they are i would be appreciated thanks for you input guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz c Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Do you not fancy starting a 1/8 nitro club instaed m8 lol. I cant find anywhere. There migt be a track opening in sedgefield so I have been told . There is a 1/10 racing at seaham but no nitro:whistling: daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si Coe Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Do you not fancy starting a 1/8 nitro club instaed m8 lol. I cant find anywhere. There migt be a track opening in sedgefield so I have been told . There is a 1/10 racing at seaham but no nitro:whistling: daz Now this is an example of where starting a club gets complex. One glance around here would reveal masses of people with a Hyper or a Trophy. But there aren't many nitro buggy clubs. That seems strange because there is clearly a demand. However - Nitro need a lot of space, so a big field is a minimum requirement. But they tend to carve the ground up pretty badly so the big field can't really be used for anything else. They also make a lot of noise, so the field needs to be somewhere well away from neighbours who complain. And believe me, if you run a big race meet all day every Sunday people WILL complain. They complain about the noise for electric meets! So you've got a field, and its nowhere near any houses. Great - but its also nowhere near the electricity you need for the timing gear, or running water for a loo. So you'll need a generator, and a portaloo, or more likely a hedge! Your big track will need a big rostrum. For a full sized 1/8th track standing on bench isn't nearly high enough. Nitros also need a pitlane or more often ramp for refueling. Some hose or rope might be fine for track markers, but its not going to stop a runaway 1/8th, so around the outside you'll be needing a fence. Running Mardaves in a village hall is easy, 1/8th buggies is much more challenging, hence less 1/8th clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe of loath Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 If you want to start a nitro club, it might be of interest to you that Swindon MCC run on some waste ground on an industrial estate. It's cheap, easy to get to, and nowhere near any houses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilza1 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I am in the north east would it be suitable for 1/8 scale nitro buggy's like hobao hyper 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilza1 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I am in newcastle with 1/8 scale nitro hobao hyper 7 we could start a club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erevo Maxx1 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 ask to buy a quarry for 1/5th racing lol Only system I'd say the]at works is the Tag heuer one at my kart/rc track it works but it cost thousands cos it's got speed traps aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevden45 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 What iif i found some sort of outside lkand built a track that can be erected every meeting, it's basically for fun down the industrial estate where i live has plenty of waste land so that may be good. I havent got a nitro buggy YET lol. but will be getting one I have a mad rat though don't mind coming last just would like to have some fun with like minded people and have a good day all around would anyone be up for that if I found a suitable area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz c Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 What iif i found some sort of outside lkand built a track that can be erected every meeting, it's basically for fun down the industrial estate where i live has plenty of waste land so that may be good. I havent got a nitro buggy YET lol. but will be getting one I have a mad rat though don't mind coming last just would like to have some fun with like minded people and have a good day all around would anyone be up for that if I found a suitable area? Where you at m8 ? daz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perruzo Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) If you are just interested in having a bash with like minded people then you are more than welcome to come along to one of events. We have bashes across the North East on a regular basis and all are welcome. see www.northestbashers.co.uk or get in touch with me, kieranbolton or cybermenace for further info Edited January 14, 2011 by perruzo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilza1 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 would a hobao hyper 7 be suitable for the washington pit bash on 30th january.It is nitro 1/8 scale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perruzo Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 would a hobao hyper 7 be suitable for the washington pit bash on 30th january.It is nitro 1/8 scale Yes mate, its just a informal meetup. i think that most people attending are running largescale but there is always a few smaller cars too. Whereabouts in the toon do you live? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilza1 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I live in gosforth melton park. Place called gosforth park is where I go its a massive car park nobody is ever there one of the bashes could be there. My email is [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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