Ordering Trackballs & IR boards

[Gary Dillard]

I see the IR board has finally shown up (available and with a price) on the IFI FIRST store.

[Frank Neuperger]

Sportogo says they were the vendor to FIRST for the trackball cover but not the ball.
THe FIRST balls weigh 7.1 to 7.2 lbs. We did this measurement on a really good load cell.

The FIRST cover weighs ~1.5 lbs (weighed by Sportogo on spring scale with 1/10 lb graduations). This would suggest that the FIRST bladder should weigh 5.6 - 5.7 lbs.

The $20.50 Sportogo ball SP01501 weighs 4.4 Lbs (per Portogo) and does not have the "anti burst addative" that makes the PVS have the closed cell foam texture.

The $30 Sportogo Ball SP100001 weighs 4.8 lbs and does have the antiburst addative.

Both of the above bladders at almost 1 lb underweight. We are still on the hunt for the EXACT FIRST bladder.

Note that we did repair the 1.5 inch laceration in our ball by using PVC cement (the stuff for PVC pipes) and a patch made from a deflated 8" PVC ball of similar material (no foam) and clamping overnight. It seems to be holding air. We repaired the tear in the cover using an iron on patch before inflating the patched bladder. Be carefull with the temperature of the iron!