The Track

Items to Bring

• A heat gun (for helping to get the track sections together)
• Rubber mallet
• Air can for cleaning dust out of lane lasers

Lessons Learned

• If the starting laser won't stay on it could be because it is too weak (it has a life expectancy of about five years and was bought in December of 2009).
  
• If the computer doesn't record the correct results it could be that the cable connecting it to the track has a poor ground.
• If a lane fails (has a dash at the finish line instead of a digit) it could be that the LED at the finish line is misaligned or is blocked by dust).
• If there are problems suspected with the start trigger mechanism, you can find a wiring diagram here or in a Google Docs document called Derby_Starter_Diagram stored in the "Events/Pinewood Derby" folder of the Pack 95 administrative account

Weigh-In & Impoundment

Items to Bring

• An accurate scale
• Ruler
  

Triage

Items to Bring

• Glue gun
  
• Drill
• Hammer
• Screws, etc. (for adding weight)
  

Race Coordination

• Den leaders do impoundment.
• Den leaders assign certificate awards.
• Den leaders carry cars from impoundment to the track start.
• Impoundment brings check-in list to those running the finish line.
• Those at finish line pass lane assignments to start.
• Start double-checks lane assignments with finish.
• When both start and finish are ready, run race.
• Den leaders carry cars from the track end back to the start.
• Final results are passed to den leaders so winner's certificates (previously assigned) can be discarded (and replaced by trophies).
• Final results are passed to MC (or den leader) so awards and certificates can be distributed.
• Results must be saved for later reporting to District.
  

Finish Line

Items to Bring

• A laptop with a serial port to connect to the track and a video/monitor port to connect to a projector.
• A screen to project race results onto (or a big white wall in a convenient location).
• A RS-232 cable to connect to the projector.
• A projector.
• A projector table.
  
• Paper lane sheets, which are tables useful for documenting lane assignments for each race.
• Duct tape to secure wires running across the floor.
• Extension cords
• Pencil or pen
  

DerbyMaster
Derbymaster is the software used to do the race timing and ranking. Refer to DerbyMaster Notes for more information.

Plan B
If electronic timing is not possible, it will be necessary to fall back to plan B. Here are the basics:

• Two qualifying races for each car, plus a final with the top six.
• Scheduling may need to be done manually. Assign lanes randomly. Mix up cars so same ones are not run against each other in second qualifier.
• Record lane assignments for each race.
  
• Record placement for each lane (1st, 2nd, etc.).
• After two qualifying rounds, total placements for each car (a 1st and 3rd place results in a total of 4).
• Any ties for the top six places are broken by a run-off.
  

Trophies & Certificates

• Have den leaders be responsible for deciding which car gets which certificate.
• The certificates are in a Google Docs document called DerbyCerts stored in the Files/Events folder of the Pack 95 administrative account.
• Trophies are available at Burlington Trophy.