"Turn off the box!!!"

[Inquartata]

Does anyone know whether it's possible to disable the sound on Favero boxes? Every time someone takes too long to hook up for a bout the more querulous fencers ( including a coach ) start whinging about the noise. Can't tell 'em to STFU and deal with it, and there seems to be no provision for turning off the audio---or even turning it down....

Is there a chip that can be unplugged or something?

[mifencer]

Can't you just turn off the power? Isn't turning off the power button the same amount off effort as in turning of the sound in a SG box? Also, with the Favero's (1's & 5's), after about 8 or 10 times when BOTH sides are off-target, the box goes into a little chirp mode (and not the full annoying beep).

Does anyone know whether it's possible to disable the sound on Favero boxes? Every time someone takes too long to hook up for a bout the more querulous fencers ( including a coach ) start whinging about the noise. Can't tell 'em to STFU and deal with it, and there seems to be no provision for turning off the audio---or even turning it down....

Is there a chip that can be unplugged or something?

[Inquartata]

I'm talking about disabling the sound at least for the whole night. Otherwise it has to be turned off and on and off and on every time a fencer unhooks or changes a weapon. And the boxes are sensitive to minor intermittencies in body cord-to-sabre connections, so a lot of times we get the flickering yellow lights DURING bouts as well...and complaints about the beeping. From at least two and often three boxes.

It's a minor pain in the tuchus, but still a pain. I'm just sick of the snappish remarks every time we switch fencers.

[MTD]

I'm talking about disabling the sound at least for the whole night.

The Favero scoring boxes have no control to disable the sound. It would require a user alteration to the circuitry, but it could be done. Of course, it has to be your own box, not a box with which you discover you have been assigned to referee!

[Inquartata]

Could it be accomplished with, say, a large hammer?

[MTD]

The Favero scoring boxes have no control to disable, and later re-enable, the sound.

A hammer will work, but it requires a certain delicacy to destroy the buzzer or its connectivity to the circuit board without cracking any trace on the board or attachment of any other component on the board. Might I suggest the use of a claw hammer, and the use of the claw to rip the buzzer off the board?

[Unmarked]

Switch to the epee setting.That's what we always do to make our boxes shut up.

[Purple Fencer]

Switch to the epee setting.That's what we always do to make our boxes shut up.

Dude....you;re talking to a (fellow) sabre fencer...you can't make that much sense!

*ducks & runs from Inq*

[Inquartata]

I am saddened to learn that Favero did not provide for this difficulty.

Switching to epee is no less trouble than switching the box off entirely.

Purple Fencer delenda est.

That is all.

[Purple Fencer]

Purple Fencer delenda est.

That is all.

Uhhh...translation please??

[CvilleFencer]

Uhhh...translation please??

Delenda est basically means something must be destroyed. In this case, you. The Phrase is Latin/Roman in origin and was made popular by a particular war advocate named Cato in around 150BC. It seems that Cato lived near some Carthaginian kids that kept tossing the ball onto his lawn and then trampling his flowers.

He called together a bunch of the Carthaginian parents to talk about their children’s unruly behavior and maybe secure one of the more attractive young boys as a personal servant for a few years for compensation for his troubles but the fun loving Carthaginians stuck him with the bar bill and snuck out the back driving Cato completely over the edge. Cato began a bunch of anti-Carthaginian campaigning stirring up old prejudices and misconceptions about the Carth peoples and urging the senate onto another spate of looting and plunder, this time in the direction of Carthage. The basic platform of his pro-war party was compassionate conservatism in the name of Romes National Security and as such he supported such defensive measure against Carthage as plowing the fields with salt, poisoning the wells, killing all the men and enslaving the women and children after a good bout of raping and torture (after all, they did not need oil back then).

Cato's work is still around and his full name is in modern times mistranslated and shortened to Cato "The Elder". The correct translation is Cato "Grumpy Old Bastard" and tends to not get used as much, but it is somewhat apropos that Inq admires him enough to be dropping his quotes, don't ya think!

[Zelda]

Ok, what is so hard about hitting a button after the last hit???? surely you ALWAYS up one end of the strip? And why cant the ref do it??? (Sorry I forgot you are sabureurs, logic doesnt come into it!! )

Zelda - who has a migraine and really should be lying down in a dark room with lots of painkillers.

[Inquartata]

Ok, what is so hard about hitting a button after the last hit????

We do ( usually ) 10-touch bouts on the sabre strip at my club. That means each one takes about 30 seconds fencing time, then one or the other fencer has to unhook and another hook up. Multiply that by 3-5 hours per practice. It's a lot of button-pushing. Add in more if anyone experiences body-cord problems. More if there are two boxes going.

And why cant the ref do it???

Are you blessed with refs who actually move from their rooted position once in awhile where you fence? Clasp them to you with hoops of steel! We are lucky if ours will get out of their chair while they direct....

That's when we have a ref.

Zelda - who has a migraine and really should be lying down in a dark room with lots of painkillers.

Ah, no wonder you do not sympathize---you are of the same sort as our beep-sensitive coach!

[Inquartata]

Cato's work is still around

And so is his Institute...the one he founded after his job with the Green Hornet was outsourced.

[telkanuru]

Cathago delenda est is actually a grammatical construction with the absolutely wonderful name of the 'passive periphrastic'. It uses the past tense with gerundive to indicate a thing to be an imperative. It should here be noted that the phrase 'passive periphrastic' made me like Latin a lot more then I did. Yes, I'm that much of a geek

[melihop]

Cathago delenda est is actually a grammatical construction with the absolutely wonderful name of the 'passive periphrastic'. It uses the past tense with gerundive to indicate a thing to be an imperative. It should here be noted that the phrase 'passive periphrastic' made me like Latin a lot more then I did. Yes, I'm that much of a geek

ack.. suddenly i feel like i am in latin class again!!! ACK! thats not till first channel TOMMARROW!

[telkanuru]

Oh, come on! Passive periphrastic! How is 'Passive periphrastic' not a great phrase? It just rolls off the tongue! Passive periphrastic!

[Inquartata]

Fractionally epiphenomenal of linguistic expropriation! ( How odd, a Greek word used to describe Latin grammar! )

[telkanuru]

And this is where I remind you that you should never use big words when diminutive phrasology will suffice. But I'm sure you knew that, so it's really a floccinoccinihilpilification (gosh, I hope I spelled that correctly).

[MTD]

floccinoccinihilpilification

Watch thouse hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian words. Please.