[Travis Hoffman]

I have it on good authority that FIRST has been petitioned to permit passive "port saver" devices. One hopes a response either way would be forthcoming prior to next week's regionals.

Requiring the port saver to be removed before coming to the field would yield no benefits over the current "plug the DS into a switch in our pit" methods (other than being cheaper than a $20 switch). Presuming you tether for a function check before each match (if you don't, you should!), you would still have to initiate one engage/disengage cycle at DS Ethernet Port 1 in the pit and one at the alliance station for each match.

I feel the benefits of an "installed all the time" port saver far outweigh the costs. I would suggest FIRST allow any teams wishing to use these devices to do so on Thursday at Week 4 regionals and let FTA's and such determine if there are any adverse effects on comms (I doubt it). If no ill effects are observed, then I feel teams should be permitted to use these devices on Friday/Saturday.

Finally, I might still elect to use the 1 ft. Ethernet cable to female/female adapter solution instead of the port saver adapter installed right at the DS ETH1 port - the cabled solution would further minimize the risk of unintentional forces being transmitted to the reportedly weak circuit board connections of the DS ports relative to a rigid "port saver" that someone might still jiggle a bit in connecting/disconnecting cables.

Next question - would such devices also be legal for installation at the cRIO ethernet port 1? I'm sure that port is much more "ruggedized" than the DS ports, but it would still be nice to have the option of protecting our $750, forced-to-reuse-over-multiple-seasons investment.