Re: Time clocks

Paul Little wrote:
> "Icebound" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>  > Actually, they do not use as much "existing" ice as you may think.  They
>
> > rip up a good layer of it and basically lay down their own.  They
> > already embed the temperature sensors that they use to feed their
> > computer information during the competition, so they defintely rip deep
> > enough to embed any electronic sensor, should it be useful to do so.
>
>
>
> Well, the term rip up conveys much more violence than is actually involved.
> Hockey ice is commonly 2 to 2-1/2 inches thick. The ice maker coming into a
> skating rink will immediately scrape the ice down to the approx. 1-1/4
> inches thick of typical curling ice, but they don't "rip-up" the ice and
> re-install it. As to embedding the temperature probes, it's a simple thing
> to melt a small hole in the ice near the boards for a small wire. A
> completely different thing to embed a sensor nearly a foot long under both
> hog lines on every sheet, and get the wires to the side of the rink. Might
> be practical in a curling rink, where it can be done at the start of the
> season, but not in a  rink where the installation is temporary.

With the large crew of volunteers they usually have, it would be pretty 
simple to sink any sensor and wires into the ice and then run the wires 
sideways to the installed walkways, and then down the walkways to 
wherever they needed them.  I don't believe a sensor a few inches wide 
and a couple of meters long would be any more problem than a temperature 
sensor.

And the term "rip" is probably more appropriate for AFTER the last game 
of the competition.  Within about 2 or 3 hours, the ice looks like 
several small bombs hit it... Hacks, walk-ways ARE literally "ripped" 
out.  Marking ribbons have been chiseled out, tees pulled. Out comes a 
front-end loader to remove all the crap.



--
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the 
courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
  --- Serenity Prayer