I understand that First plans to ship the new control systems (to teams that requested it) by early December. My question is, what will they ship? I assume the CRIO at the minimum, but what about the driver’s station? Will they ship an Ethernet camera? How about all the required peripheral stuff, like the power distribution block, sidecars, wireless access point etc? Does anybody know?
I would guess what the beta teams got (CRio, PD, digital sidecar(2), camera, router, whatever they are calling the new driver station radio, driver station) but probably not the joysticks
The “unnofical” word is that the new controllers will be shipping really soon. Can you say November!
Here is a link to the actual contents…
http://www.usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/DRAFT%20CONTROLS%20KIT%20-%202009%20KoP%20Checklist%20(110408).pdf
And for those teams in the DC/Baltimore/Morgantown/Pittsburgh area, Team 1629 (GaCo) will be holding a Controller Clinic on Sunday Dec 14th to make sure you get your systems built as painlessly as possible.
The goal of the GaCo clinic will be to get all those “Early Ship” teams up and running with their control systems just like the Beta Teams did. So although there will be some quick “presentations”, the real focus will be on each team assembling and programming their OWN controller at the clinic.
And since GaCo is kinda out in the “sticks”, we thought teams might like to come out to Deep Creek Lake on Saturday, spend the day on the Ski Slopes at Wisp Mountain Resort, stay overnight at an area hotel and then get stuck into building on Sunday. End the day by crusing home with your working control system. Sine it’s already snowing here, there should be plenty of snow at the tubing park, boarding half-pipe and various slopes. We even have a high-speed mountain coaster.
Here’s is a link to more info. and a registration page.
http://www.gearsinc.org/node/247
Here’s a google map link of where we are located.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...z=8&iwloc=addr
Here is some area tourism info:
http://www.visitdeepcreek.com/category.php?category=223
http://www.wispresort.com/
Hope you can come and join the build-a-thon.
Phil Malone
Mentor: FRC, FTC, FLL
actually it is an official word that 150 of them shipped today and more will go out tomorrow.
Aye, I can confirm that I am watching this Fedex tracking # like a hawk! ETA is … tomorrow?! :ahh:
Are there other teams out there still waiting for their control systems? Our team registered right away, paid the fee with a credit card and indicated we wanted our control system with the pre-ship. I have not heard anything from FIRST about our order and wonder what the delay is.
Anyone else out there in the same situation?
Getting anxious, antsy and nervous!
I would suggest that you call or email team support at FIRST to verify you have not left out a step or fallen through the cracks. I beleive that once it ships notice will be sent to the team’s shipping contact that includes a FedEx tracking number.
APS
I don’t believe we have recieved an email either. We’ll probably wait a few more days before calling in.
-Vivek
Don’t wait! If there’s a problem, you want to deal with it immediately. After December 5, there will be no more early shipments, and you’ll have to wait to get your Kit of Parts next year.
So, should we wait until the 5th before calling?
Are the tracking numbers sent when the package is shipped or before?
thanks, Vivek
p.s. who get’s the tracking number?
Our control system has also not shipped. I just shot off an email to them making sure everything was in order. You shipping contact should receive the email.
Don’t wait! If there’s a problem, you want to deal with it immediately. After December 5, there will be no more early shipments, and you’ll have to wait to get your Kit of Parts next year.
Where did you get this Info Alan Anderson? Nothing shipped after December 5th? I just got this back from a FIRST rep.
Thank you for your e-mail. I have looked at your information on TIMS and everything seems to be in order. Please note that when the shipment for your team goes out your team’s shipping contact is emailed with the tracking information. If your team’s shipping contact has not received an email yet it is because your shipment has not gone out yet. The early shipment of the control system is going out on a rolling basis, as of now I do not see your team on the list of shipments that have been made thus far. Also, please note it will take several days to get all the systems out. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
FRC Team Support
Do not want to confuse teams out their with misinformation, if anyone has other information please post.
That is correct. That is the last day FIRST is shipping them out early. After that date, you will have to wait until Kickoff to receive your control system.
The December 5th date was posted on Bill’s blog (he’s the FRC Director). http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2008/11/theyre-off.html
I just talked to FIRST and December 5th is the last day to sign-up for early shipping, not the last day they will be shipping kits.
If you haven’t received your kit yet, you should verify that you are paid and signed up for early controls shipment before Dec. 5th. Then just wait for your not so early “Christmas”. 
so what happens when we requested it early and paid all in the first day, but still havn’t gotten it. Can we get our money back cause at this point we don’t get to do anything with. Maybe a day early if it even gets here by kick off.
Anthony, they didn’t charge (~$60) unless they shipped, which they didn’t.
Which brings up another point… we paid registration by the 17th, and I called to verify our information was okay on December 5th when I was assured everything checked out and to be patient.
Today we received this:
Greetings Teams:
Our records indicate that you requested early shipment of your control system and paid before the deadline. However, some portion of the shipping information (address, shipping account information, etc.) was inaccurate and prevented us from shipping your kit as planned.
Over the past several weeks we have attempted to contact you via email and telephone in an attempt to fix the information. As we have received no response, we were left unable to resolve the issues associated with your team’s shipment. At this point we must move forward and ship your control system kit with the rest of your Kit of Parts (KOP). Your KOP will be received at your Local Kickoff, or your chosen location if you selected “Team Pays” in TIMS.* We are very sorry but we are unable to accommodate any exceptions.
Important: If you have selected “Team Pays” in TIMS you must correct all shipping errors or we will run into the same shipping issues and you will not receive your KOP! Remember, shipments go to all Shipping Contact’s Shipping Address.
We thank you in advance for you understanding.
Good luck at the 2009 events and…
…Go Teams!
(emphasis added by me…)
I don’t know who they were “attempting to contact” but it wasn’t me (main contact) and it wasn’t our shipping contact.
I understand this took a phenomenal effort by FIRST to get as many early controls shipments out as they did, but I’m still more than a little upset that we verified our information and were patient like we had been told, just to find out there is no way to get our controls systems now. 