Hello everyone-- i was wondering about the rules for power outside of the pits. We are trying to run a scouting system of 2 dell laptops, and i need to know if i am allowed to plug in. Thanks.
If you can find a free outlet, yes. You most likely won’t be able to run something like a 50ft cable from the nearest outlet to where you sit, but most places have a places with outlets somewhere you can occasionally “hijack”.
Outlet convenience outside the pits will depend on the event and venue, but I would not count on it. You may be able to find a place to plugin temporarily outside the stands, but running an extension cord across walkways and stairs to get to where you are seated in the stands could present a serious trip hazard in busy areas.
For our scouting setup, we have used older robot batteries (not good enough for competition) to power laptops, tablets, and for recharging phones. We have a kit built up that includes fuses, an inverter, and 12v DC automotive outlets. I would suggest you look into a similar off-grid setup.
In the PNW district, there is a blanket rule to never plug into any outlets in the gym. If anything is found plugged in (cell phones, etc), they are confiscated until the end of the day. The intent is to make sure no circuits shared with supplying the field power are overloaded. In many cases this is overkill, but some older schools have very limited power to school gyms, and the last thing they want is the field losing power due to a tripped circuit.
We use old robot batteries and a DC-> AC Inverter. Easily powers 2 laptops. Swap robot batteries every so often (when it hits 12 volts).
The only outlets near the field will probably be either in use, somewhere that using them could pose a trip hazard(under the floorboards in front of the bleachers), or would require an extension. Something like this might work; it’s basically a phone power bank for a laptop.
I think more frequently teams modify car AC-DC adapters to have an Anderson powerpole end where the plug is for power.
True. I saw one of those on a robot cart recently. But others already suggested that, so I was trying to give another idea.
Be careful with inverters. Most of them are not true sine wave, and can kill certain types of electronics with switching power supplies, like laptops. If you do use an inverter, I recommend spending a little more to get a true sine wave one. Also, please make sure the DC side of your system is well insulated, fused, and safe.
On the note of power, in Long Beach, I noticed two pits were shared between one 20 Amp circuit. If I recall, we used to get dedicated 20 Amp circuits to each pit, but not this year. I’m glad our neighbors did not have any power tools, or we would have tripped it. Our pit can come pretty close to pulling 20 Amps between 12 batteries charging, two 150W halogen lights, 9 computer monitors, 3 computers, a vacuum, and a copier.
Who would expect the Circuit Breakers to have a breaker-friendly pit? 
I’ve plugged my MacBook Pro into a modified sine wave inverter and it had no negative effects. I would think that most modern laptops could handle modded sine wave, with adapters that can handle different voltages and such.
Pun intended?
I wouldn’t hesitate to use a switching power supply for a computer. I use one whenever the power goes out, because the vast majority of UPS devices have switching power supplies. If you want to run a stereo or other application where the high harmonics will cause a problem, get a true sine wave inverter.
Power use outside of the pits is usually venue specific. At the CINTAS Center where the Queen City event happens next week, for example, teams are not allowed to use the outlets in the seating areas. There will be “charging stations” for teams on the mezzanine outside the arena, we see mostly phones, tablets, and laptops there. Also, there is an assigned scouting area with outlets for equal access for all teams in the upper levels of the arena.
Check your local listings for each event venue policy. Be sure to ask the planning committee, event managers or pit admin, don’t just assume that you’ll have access to power outlets. We are still visitors at the venues.
Actually we are paying customers, at least for the most part. :] Having said that, you only get what you pay for. Venues have drastically different rules and power availability. Dave has good advice.
In what I believe is a departure from 9 (possibly more) years of past policy, teams at Buckeye this year were prohibited from using the power outlets in the stands. The reason cited was “The Fire Code”, although it’s not obvious to me why an AJH would prohibit use of fully-NEC-compliant outlets. In previous years many teams used that as a source of power for their scouting efforts.
Common practice. Site safety concerns to prohibit action that you do not want for other reasons. :]. How ever one valid safety concern could be tripping hazards of extension cords stretched across passageways or congestion in a passageway.
At Buckeye there are many ways to mitigate that risk; it’s not necessary for cords to cross passageways or cause congestion. Just one of the many things that I (speaking only for myself here) don’t understand about this particular regional. I appreciate the planning committee and their efforts and I understand that most of these issues are probably out of their control, but still…
Not going to disagree with that.
After they kept making that announcement to the pits, some of my team members decided that they want to build their own UPS for the stands using old competition batteries and an inverter. I shot down the 4-cycle portable generator idea…