SOL 6

[Paul Frost]

The time taken to punch must be considered important.
It's the only reason why SI units are woken up early for major competitions, to remove the second it takes for the unit to wake up for the 1st punch.
People notice if they are using the newer SI cards that are faster doing the write/read from the control and that's fractions of a second.
One of the most likely reasons for a failed punch is that the card wasn't held in the hole long enough, and again this is a matter for fractions of a second.
So whilst the time lost during punching is tiny compared to mistakes it is important to some, and the better you are the more important it is.
I also wonder if there is a break in concentration when you have to think about and process the orientation of the control, as I'm aware that as I approach I'm thinking about what position/angle I need to be to place the brikke without dislocating my arm.
Most of this doesn't apply to me because I'm so slow and prone to errors, but it is a factor for the top performers.

[Roger]

I find I can punch faster with Emit because the target's bigger. I don't usually go for the back-up pin-prick (except in relays!) but I look for the feedback on the LCD screen.

The screen also saved me from a DSQ at a British Sprint Champs: I noticed a mismatch between the control I was heading for and the number on the screen, and was able to go back and punch the control that I'd omitted. With SI I'd have been a goner.

The one time when I found Emit a nightmare was during the brief overlap between electronic punching and master maps: the card kept getting in the way when I was trying to draw my course. But other than that, I prefer Emit.

[weekatiepea]

I was the organiser for Sol 6 and can confirm that we had someone with an mtr unit at -4 checking that brikkes were working (so it is a bit disappointing that two brikkes failed) and people on both start lines reminding folk to punch the start unit and look for the light (there was only one instance of someone not starting their brikke properly). Some of the hire brikkes had displays but most were without. I'm not sure there was much else we could have done and all but 3 people had no problems.

[mappingmum]

I empathise with the northern clubs when discussions like this arise. People are always quick to contribute negative EMIT experiences.

SOL6 was great. Thanks to all who helped stage it.

[andypat]

AndyPat - how much time did you lose at Lossiemouth from orienteering errors, compared to the minute you lost on punching?

Ha Ha Jon - you must have been watching me at the last control then! I reckon I lost about a minute at Eddie's sneaky last control and pulled my ham into the bargain. But my performance is neither here nor there ( I lost at least 20min by being unfit.....) nor was this a dig at the Lossie event (and certainly not SOL 6 I wasnt there). But I think what the Lossie event did show up was a weakness with emit when the unit isnt able to be set on a flat surface, as in urban areas. Its still better than pin punching though.