class mate repair / upgrade?
 

Hi All
I sent our teams clasmate in for repairs about 2 months ago, after being lost ,found , missplaced, trasferd to another dept., forgot about, rediscoverd and looked at, I am told that the usb port was damaged and not repairbale without replacing the motherboard,($225.00):yikes: i asked what a new unit would run and was informed that they are no longer available but a new more powerful replacment was ($470.00)
I asked if this was FIRST approved and was told that several team have been using themsince late last year during competition

Can anyone give me any input on this?:confused:
tring to have fun.....

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

George,

Have them send it back to you and try to replace the USB port on your own, unless the motherboard it self is broken you can get USB ports all over the place. I don't have ours in front of me but it cant be anything special and available from mouser.

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

If the motherboard hasn't been damaged, as Mike said, you might be able to simply solder a USB pigtail onto it.

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

In addition to the other responses, it would be helpful to send all of the details to FIRST so that they can see about improving the experience for the future. Hopefully this is a rare occurrence, but the details will help investigate it fully.

Greg McKaskle

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

Thanks All
I do intend to contact FIRST and ask about the legality of the new system
also let them know the story, CLT seems to have it together and I think our case is a fluke,
The money is not a problem and there are many upgrades (if they are legal) that are of intrest
http://ctl.helpserve.com/index.php?_...ticketid=12840
I did intend to look at the old classmate and repair it for a backup

Anyone have any experance with the new system vs. old?

I wonder what system the rookie kits now come with?

still tring....
Geo.

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

If this is for use as the DS, you did catch Bill's blog about a month ago, right?

Greg McKaskle

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

No, I did not, got a demanding day job and my own thing going,
the wonderful guy ( Brenton Elledge) that used to keep up on tech went to grad school,
the tech team members graduated, and the next generation move to Yuma

swinging in the breeze here
could you narrow it down a little?

Geo.

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

According to Bill's Blog, GDC is seriously considering changing the rule so that Classmate is not required for the 2011 season. You can use your own laptop or netbook computer.

See this thread.

"Teams will not be restricted to the Classmate as their driver station in 2011 assuming that certain criteria are met and all relevant rules are followed. More details on this rule will be available in the Game Manual when it is released."

Re: class mate repair / upgrade?
 

Thanks!
I see sections 1-6 are now available, What timimg!

Geo.