Manchester indoor clubs

[mike]

Are there any? if not, would there be any interest in setting one up? I've written a of letter to ask at the local schools with large gym's and such and one church hall so we'll see what happens with those.

I know Batley buggy club run indoors at chadderton, I'm not sure if the Bury club have an indoor venue - in the words or Top Gear "how hard can it be?"

[Alan Reeves]

Bury do run indoors during the colder months, what area of Manchester are you thinking of?

[mike]

I'm in Eccles and I've been thinking of trying to start something up for a while now. I'm not really talking a mega serious thing, more a place to introduce people into RC racing, a bit of fun where anything upto 10th is allowed with simple lift on/off jumps so on and off road cars are catered for.
I was thinking of 1 night a week and then if the interest is there, a Saturday or Sunday once a month. There are a couple of model shops in the area that I'm going to contact to see if they have any input into the idea.

Just thoughts at the moment.

Knowing where to get the prefered carpet and timing gear would be a good thing, stuff like track marking could be cobbled together in the first instance.

[Si Coe]

You might want to talk to Dave at Roundabout (if its still open) as he has timing gear and I think carpet too from Roundabout Raceway.
Timing gear is super expensive if you need to buy it new.

The current situation is that there aren't really any clubs in Manchester itself (ie inside the M60). Stockport race at Cheadle on Thursdays but the track is really a bit small for buggys so its most a TC club.
With them on Thursdays, Ribble Valley on Fridays (which is popular if a little far away), Bury on Sundays (outdoors in summer, indoors in winter and alternating with Chadderton) and the new Chorley club opening next Saturday you are also limited on dates unless you don't mind clashing.

Venue wise any decent sized hall would do, but some schools are funny about evening rentals if students might still be on site. You either need a large van to haul the carpet, markers etc or space on site to store it, which can also be an issue. Finding indoor venues for Bury the biggest obstacle was storage.

Don't forget you need space for the pits, and preferably near the track rather than in a corridor! Access to sockets is handy too.

Running a meeting in the evening is a push. The time the hall is rented will include setup and take down time, which is always longer than it need be as nobody ever helps. The larger the track the longer it takes.

You need to leave about 3 minutes between races for people to switch off and get out to marshal. It shouldn't take that long but it does. That means if you run 5-6 heats, 3 rounds and a final (a typical club meet) you are talking about 3 hours minimum plus setup, take down and booking in time. Most places want you out by 11, most won't open till 6 (to ensure students are off site) so its a mad rush.

So in answer to how hard - actually it is pretty hard!


But if you aren't put off - its still a good idea. I'm a teacher in Rusholme, and lots of my students are interested in my cars and racing, but can't get out to places like Bury to race. A club actually in town itself, midweek, might well be what they would be after.....

[gazhillAE]

If you can make it nearer Stockport and mid week I'd be willing to put time and money in as will someone else I know

[Alan Reeves]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

You might want to talk to Dave at Roundabout (if its still open) as he has timing gear and I think carpet too from Roundabout Raceway.
Timing gear is super expensive if you need to buy it new.

..

Pretty sure thats now been moved on

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

You might want to talk to Dave at Roundabout (if its still open) as he has timing gear and I think carpet too from Roundabout Raceway.
Timing gear is super expensive if you need to buy it new.

Dave sold everything and it is now in Croston. http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102197

The current situation is that there aren't really any clubs in Manchester itself (ie inside the M60). Stockport race at Cheadle on Thursdays but the track is really a bit small for buggys so its most a TC club.

We've also started running on Saturday afternoons, the first week of each month, basically to coincide with the one week of the month Urmston doesn't run.

You need to leave about 3 minutes between races for people to switch off and get out to marshal. It shouldn't take that long but it does.

At Stockport we are down to one minute between races. We don't have a tall rostrum for people to climb down from, but it shouldn't take 3 minutes. It used to be 90 seconds+, but the timing quietly got reduced so the drivers got used to it.

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by mike

Knowing where to get the prefered carpet and timing gear would be a good thing, stuff like track marking could be cobbled together in the first instance.

For new stuff, the carpet everyone uses is GT Track, available from the manufacturer Eco Track and Access, a cheaper alternative is the Eco event carpet from the same company.

Timing gear, the standard equipment used at most clubs is the AMB system, just make sure you are sitting down before clicking the link http://www.bbksoftware.com/pricelists/amb-bbk-sales.htm At Stockport we developed our own system because of the cost. A cheaper alternative is the iLap system http://www.rclapcounter.com/page1/page1.html

To get you started really all you need is any old computer, a copy of the free lap counting software from RCTiming http://www.rctiming.com/index.shtml and someone to press the number keys on the keyboard. Some people will moan about manual lap counting, but anyone decent can manually count laps almost as accurately as an automatic system and should be perfectly acceptable for club meetings.

[mike]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm not put off but obviously there will be help needed if people are willing. The emphasis of this club will be fun rather than championships, bringing new people into the sport without making them feel they need to spend a fortune.

Mike

[mike]

Originally Posted by terry.sc

For new stuff, the carpet everyone uses is GT Track, available from the manufacturer Eco Track and Access, a cheaper alternative is the Eco event carpet from the same company.

Timing gear, the standard equipment used at most clubs is the AMB system, just make sure you are sitting down before clicking the link http://www.bbksoftware.com/pricelists/amb-bbk-sales.htm At Stockport we developed our own system because of the cost. A cheaper alternative is the iLap system http://www.rclapcounter.com/page1/page1.html

To get you started really all you need is any old computer, a copy of the free lap counting software from RCTiming http://www.rctiming.com/index.shtml and someone to press the number keys on the keyboard. Some people will moan about manual lap counting, but anyone decent can manually count laps almost as accurately as an automatic system and should be perfectly acceptable for club meetings.

If the place you're on about is in cheadle with a guy who looks like a history teacher and likes vintage tamiya then I've been down a few times in years gone by.

[Alan Reeves]

Originally Posted by mike

If the place you're on about is in cheadle with a guy who looks like a history teacher and likes vintage tamiya then I've been down a few times in years gone by.

That's Terry

[mike]

Sorry, no offence intended.

What sort of size track/hall would be required to suit indoor 1/18th to 1/10th? would 1/10th be too big? could you use the wooden floor and carpet? I have a load of 3x2 and blue lay flat hose too if that could be used. I think that scrounging stuff for track marking is the easy bit but I need ideas and help on other bits - for the first few weeks, would it be ok to just run to the clock and count your own laps/have someone counting them?

[gazhillAE]

Originally Posted by terry.sc

Dave sold everything and it is now in Croston. http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102197

We've also started running on Saturday afternoons, the first week of each month, basically to coincide with the one week of the month Urmston doesn't run.

At Stockport we are down to one minute between races. We don't have a tall rostrum for people to climb down from, but it shouldn't take 3 minutes. It used to be 90 seconds+, but the timing quietly got reduced so the drivers got used to it.

So the one in Cheadle runs Thursday and sats now?
What about this place in Urmston where is it??
How big is the track?
Any Other places you can let me know about that are being ran on the quiet

Thanks

[mike]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

So the one in Cheadle runs Thursday and sats now?
What about this place in Urmston where is it??
How big is the track?
Any Other places you can let me know about that are being ran on the quiet

Thanks

The Urmston club I know is a long established 12th oval track run by a cracking bloke called Alan who's been doing it since the dawn of time. It's a very friendly place like the Stockport/Cheadle club with a relaxed atmosphere - just like the buggy club I'd like to start.

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by mike

If the place you're on about is in cheadle with a guy who looks like a history teacher and likes vintage tamiya then I've been down a few times in years gone by.

Cheek!

And it's not much vintage Tamiya either, vintage race buggies and pan cars are my thing.

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by mike

What sort of size track/hall would be required to suit indoor 1/18th to 1/10th? would 1/10th be too big? could you use the wooden floor and carpet? I have a load of 3x2 and blue lay flat hose too if that could be used. I think that scrounging stuff for track marking is the easy bit but I need ideas and help on other bits - for the first few weeks, would it be ok to just run to the clock and count your own laps/have someone counting them?

Stockport runs on an area 15m x 8m which is as small as you can go these days. It's just about big enough for todays buggies but buggy drivers these days seem to want to bolt in more power than needed and try and manhandle the buggies round, buggies are faster round Stockport with a 10.5 or 13.5 but you are never going to get drivers to swap motors just to run indoors. Bigger areas are better, but of course cost of rent goes up as well.

Nothing wrong with the wooden floors, many buggy clubs manage to run happily on wood floors as can be seen here at Ludlow. 30 years ago at Stockport we were running on the polished wood floor with Hornets and Frogs with no problem, so surely buggy racers these days should be capable of getting round the floor.

For lap counting it is a lot easier with a computer to do the timing and recording the laps. Honestly, you just need the cheapest working PC or laptop you can find and the software is available for free, and add a cheap printer if you want to print out the results. We used to use a laptop that was donated to us by a club member as his company was throwing it out, ask around as lots of people have an old PC they no longer use.

[terry.sc]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

So the one in Cheadle runs Thursday and sats now?
What about this place in Urmston where is it??
How big is the track?
Any Other places you can let me know about that are being ran on the quiet

Thanks

Never checked out the club listing at Centralbooking then?

Here ya go, Urmstons website http://www.urccc.co.uk/