scoring machines

[NWNJFC]

What is the best scoring machine ? Which ones have problems?

[Mergs]

Oh, have you opened a can of worms! In order to answer that question, you need to decide what is the most important aspect(s) of a machine that you are interested in. For instance, you asked about trouble, do you mean how often do they break? (I assume so). If that is the case, then any of the new solid state ones will answer that. But if you couple that with cost, # of features, ease of use, etc. and rank them in importance, then it becomes easier to answer your question.

Having said that, I would say from my perspective that the Favero units are the best buy, but only if you order them directly from Favero. Yeah, right now the Euro sucks, but still they are WAY cheaper than anything you can get here. Just don't get their power supply. You can get one here much cheaper.

If you are a real cheapskate (like I am) and like to work on your own stuff, I would say get their wall unit and then on the underside, drill and mount plugs for the floor cords and piste ground, and then install your own power connector (which you can be sure, then that it will connect with your power supply! or just hard wire it). A bit more expense for the parts, but still cheaper than buying the table model.

IMHO.

P.S. You have to adjust a little to the yellow off-target lights (instead of white, but at $1.20 apiece, you could figure out a way to replace them all with white LED's, there are only about 50 - 60 of them!). Good luck.

[KC]

I too am interested in learning what is the best bang for your buck...

[neevel]

Overall, I'd rate the SG series (SG-12, etc) as the best out there right now-- well made and well proven with extensive use all over the world, durable metal case, and a large, bright display. The one downside is that they are more expensive ($600-700 USD from US vendors) than some of the alternatives.

The two less expensive brands to seriously consider are the Eigertek and the Favero.

The Eigertek costs $350 from American Fencers Supply, and is made in California. It's a light, compact, and (from a technical standpoint) elegant design. Necessary firmware upgrades (either bug fixes or to incorporate any rule changes) are free. It has small but bright colored and true-white LEDs for the display. In addition to the power supply it comes with a battery adapter so you can run it off of a 9-V battery. The plastic case is durable and its size makes it very portable (you can fit the box, a couple of Uhlmann reels, and floor cords in a knapsack). The chief downside is that, since it is compact, the display is smaller than the SG-12 or Favero. I also might like the sound to be a bit louder (you can adjust the tone, however, to avoid confusion from adjacent boxes).

The Favero F-01 is a physically larger machine, and its best feature is a large, visible display made up of banks of LEDs (it uses yellow LED for the off-target lights, though). The plastic case is not a thick as the Eigertek's. If you're going to be using it in a permament facility, there's a less-expensive wall-mount model for $350 in the U.S., or else the table-top version (with normal 3-pin plugs) for $400. On top of that, there's a new F-05 model which incorporates score and clock displays with a remote control, listing at $650 or so. You can purchase any of these direct from Favero in Italy for about $120 less list price (factor in shipping and any duty that might be assesed, and your savings would probably be $70-80).

If you have the money, you wouldn't be throwing it away to go with the SG-12. Of the two less expensive boxes, I lean towards the Eigertek myself because of the size, stronger case, and better support, but choosing the Favero for it's bigger display would be a reasonable decision.

Right now, the above three are the ones really worth considering, IMO. The current offerings from Leon Paul, Allstar, and Uhlmann are older designs, caught on the wrong side of Moore's Law and hence not price-competitive. The Triplette boxes don't have a good reputation among most of the other national-level armorers I know. The Russian Amico boxes aren't upgradeable and are not as well assembled (the tiny RS-01 was neat when it came out, but I can't reccommend it over the Eigertek). PBT has a $400 3-W box, but I don't know enough about it to make an assessment.

-Dave

<small>[ 07-01-2002, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: neevel ]</small>

[MikeHarm]

I have an Eigertech, it works really nice, I haven't had any problems with it so far.

[Puppet Master]

With the FIE changing the timing every couple of years I'd lean toward the Eigetek, my club has some they're nice. Can you send the sg 12s off to get upgraded?, if so it must be overseas. The only reason I'd go with the sg 12s is for the bigger lights.

[neevel]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Originally posted by Puppet Master:
<strong>With the FIE changing the timing every couple of years I'd lean toward the Eigetek, my club has some they're nice. Can you send the sg 12s off to get upgraded?, if so it must be overseas. The only reason I'd go with the sg 12s is for the bigger lights.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Blue Gauntlet (to be more precise, IIRC, Ted Li) handles servicing of SG-12s in the U.S. The firmware for the SG-12 is socketed, not soldered, so you can replace it yourself just like for the Eigertek. The difference is you would have to pay for the new firmware, whereas for the Eigertek "necessary" (i.e., bug-fixes or rules changes that become officially implemented) upgrades are free.

BTW, the free upgrades for the Eigertek are DIY installation-- you are sent a new chip to put in yourself (instructions will be included, and it's very simple to do).

-Dave