Taking Home Tetras
 

Watching the closing ceremonies at the Championships, I noticed the tetras on all of the fields except the Einstein field being placed on carts and wheeled away. For some reason, at that moment, I had a sudden urge to take one or two tetras home. Does anybody know if this would have been possible?

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I believe the fields stay "together" (as in grouped all the parts) to be used in offseason competitions. So no, unless they were broken, than perhaps.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

If disassembly after Kickoff in Manchester was any indication, then yes, they get shipped with the field to whereever the field winds up.

You'd have had a better chance last year with FIRST Frenzy. Once those balls popped, they made great hats. And they were able to be grabbed pretty easily too.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

hahahahah, i think this is quite funny. i thought i was crazy, but i had the exact same thoughts! I wanted one of those tetras too! lol. I guess i know there are 2 crazy people out there ; ) haha cya next year!
Ben
TEAM 281

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

They travel with the fields but if you ask a coordinator he might let you take one home...that's how I got one of the boxes from Stack Attack :)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I scored myself a tetra, but it was a broken one out of the newton/galileo practice field.. 0:)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

my guess is no, they only had enough for each field, the only thing first had extras of was the clovers, and these tetras have to travel to quite a few offseason competitions, so i doubt they would've let you take it.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

At the NYC regional, a tetra was broken by a robot, and part of my team took home part of said tetra. Then again, it wasn't a complete tetra...

you're better off building your own.

And they don't taste very good either... >_<

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I got a game piece from ever year I have been in FIRST. I have a yellow ball from 04 and a bin from 03 but no tetra :( but there is always the off season when one is broken beyond repair.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Top 5 ways to come away with a competition Tetra:

5. Tell FIRST that you will return all the balls, bins, and floppies you have collected over the years in exchange for a Tetra.

4. Inconspicuously trade it for one of your team's white PVC tetras held together with duct tape and zip ties.

3. Tell your driver to forget about winning, just try to get a tetra so hopelessly tangled in your arm that the field reset crew lets you keep it.

2. Pay off a your little brother/sister to run out onto the field and hug a tetra, then cry hysterically if they try to take it from him/her.

1. Rig a bungee system from the catwalk on top of the Georgia Dome. Bungee down to just the height of the center goal at the end of a match, grab a tetra off the top, and pull yourself back up. Then, run.

Or just take one. Ask first. (pun intended)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Well I could see first keeping the bins from 2003 for like storage and stuff, but a few reason besides offseason competitons they would keep them for maybe next year? Or maybe the VEX competion next year as goals maybe?

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

:D Our team was actually given a red one and a blue one from the practice field. They were broken but they even gave us the bolts to fix them.

Dave

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I am wondering for all you who took tetras from the practice field, who you asked if you could have them. All tetras that were damaged were repaired, and if a single leg was damaged beyond repair (the t-nut stripped out) then a replacement leg was put in. FIRST has specific instruction that the tetras are part of the field and do not go home with people. Taking a tetra without proper authorization is the same as stealing.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

The ones we took from reigonals were BROKEN, the plastic rings were destroyed, PVC bits cracked, if any of you were there at NYC reigonals, you saw how some of those robots just spun and threw those tetras about. Actually, that'd make a good game... see how far a robot can launch a tetra.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Hmmm, stealing tetras might be a little obvious, but stealing signs might be a little easier, not that i did it :rolleyes:

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

i thought in 2003 you could take the bins, and last year i know they gave out the popped balls unless the people at the places i went to were just nice and didnt listen to FIRST and 56 accually was able to get a kick ball at nats but it may have been because it ended up stuck in our chain and we had to take it to the pits to get out.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

All I know is that me and a couple guys from other teams played poker and used broken clovers from the practice field as chips... not that anyone went home with said broken clovers... ;)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Ya, know, if you really want one, just paint a practice tetra with red or blue paint. It'll look the same, and won't be a hassle to get.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I helped clean up and tear down archimedes and newton during the award ceremony and the guy overseeing said to make sure the tetras get packed away with the field and dont take them.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

still, I thought broken tets just went in the garbage anyway

anyone know different?

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Nope. They're all repaired. A leg would go in the trash if it was cracked in half, or the nut inside stripped.

Otherwise, all the legs are reused.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Isn't each tetra something like more then 15 bucks with the 4 clovers and PVC combined? That's some pretty expensive stuff for robots to be breaking so easily.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

why doesn't anyone read what a guy who knows the answer says?

Dez was there :p

We have our own tetras and found that a good way to weigh them down is to get some lengths of copper pipe inside some thin walled pipe for the tetras and it is reasonably accurate. now just paint ;)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

they were handing them out at the champs... even for off season.. .they still have aLOT of tetras..

the tetras we got were broken clovers.. but thats no bigge.. we still scored like 4 of them..

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

what would you do with it? i mean i understand floppies from a while ago, we have some here that serve as bed pillows, the black, yellow, and purple balls from last year and 00', and the soccerballs, and the crates (great for storage, they stack nicely), but tetras? what do you plan to do with those?

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

They'd be momentos to remember this year by.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Lol, I've got a "broken" tetra from the UTC Competition. I've actually got it mounted to my wall. Lol its like a 3D Poster lol! Thanks FIRST!

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Sorry everyone let me clarify. I have a broken tetra because I completely put one together from pieces that were already thrown in the garbage. That's how I made a complete "broken" tetra". I just wanted to clarify it lol.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

What if they were taken at the end of an off-season event? I can't imagine where the fields would go after the season of off-season events.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

To another offseason event :)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

thats a good question, where will they keep them after noone's using them?

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I asked one of the field attendants when they were packing up if I could have a spare tetra. I had gotten a box from stack attack like this but that year they had a bazillion boxes after there was such a big scare that they would all break. The field attendant told me that the tetras were going with the field to be used at offseason competitons and can be rented from FIRST. So no getting tetras this year... but now that you know what they look like exactly, you can just spray paint your own. :)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

Just curious but when all is said and done (lets say kick off next year) What does FIRST do with all the field elements, Do they all sit in storage, are they sold, or do they get recycled some how?

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

At FLR I took one caus one of the field attendents said I could have one. Then when i was half way out with tetra over arm a guy from FIRST ran over and took it back:( He said they had to go to the Florida Regional
So im not the only one that wanted the tetras.....:)

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

i took home a bin from the 2003 nat champ. used it as luggage on the way home.

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

I have an element from every year...soccer ball from 02, bin from 03, 10 pt ball from 04...so of course i needed a tetra....

The one i got was laying next to the practice field (or what was left of the practice fields after closing ceremonies) I asked the lady that was standing around all the stuff and she said that it was un-repairable and she said i could grab it. A couple of zip ties later, its as good as new, kinda....so yea thats how i got my tetra

Re: Taking Home Tetras
 

when the First field staff disassembled the field at the Israeli regional they gave away the tetra's. i guess they didn't wanna ship them back all they way from Israel.

so we got four tetras ,two blue ones and two red ones.
but we accidentally broke a red one . :ahh:

i think all the teams from Israel got a few tetras home.