Favero Machine not Responding

[bobb121]

I encountered this at the club last night. Fencer A & B attack together in sabre and get no light, both remise and lo light. Finally both get a light.

What would cause this. I have also seen this in the WC DVD's.

Armourers please chime in on this.

[Nolano]

The scoring box is typically the least likely thing to cause any problems. Because of the way saber uses a fail safe circuit, like foil, I'm not sure if this is a box problem.
Is it a reproducable problem?

[rsy]

How about the anti-whipover circuit as the explanation?

-r

[Robert Smith]

Now that someone else mentions it, it occurs to me that we've had similar incidents at foil. Rare, but quite puzzling when they occur. It seems to occur on simultaneous hits - on target hits, I think - , and both fencers are surprised not to get a light. It's like the machine was just taking a very brief nap. The machines are around four to five years old, have the "new" timing chips and hook up to a home-made floor bungee system that may be more "noisy" than reels, or less, I don't know.

It's such a rare occurrence that we just shrug and carry on, but I'm wondering if it's an unaddressed bug. I don't know enough about the hardware, though; does the machine poll each line periodically? Does it do them simultaneously? What's the likelihood of simultaneous hits, both in the same polling interval? What's the chances the code doesn't handle that situation correctly? Or are we all just a little bit deluded. It's not a big concern, as it's rare, maybe once in every 1,000 - 5,000 points, but it does happen, and it seems reasonable to place the blame on one component rather than two simultaneous failures, and the obvious choice for that one component is the box.

[HDG]

Now that someone else mentions it, it occurs to me that we've had similar incidents at foil. Rare, but quite puzzling when they occur. It seems to occur on simultaneous hits - on target hits, I think - , and both fencers are surprised not to get a light. It's like the machine was just taking a very brief nap. The machines are around four to five years old, have the "new" timing chips and hook up to a home-made floor bungee system that may be more "noisy" than reels, or less, I don't know.

It's such a rare occurrence that we just shrug and carry on, but I'm wondering if it's an unaddressed bug. I don't know enough about the hardware, though; does the machine poll each line periodically? Does it do them simultaneously? What's the likelihood of simultaneous hits, both in the same polling interval? What's the chances the code doesn't handle that situation correctly? Or are we all just a little bit deluded. It's not a big concern, as it's rare, maybe once in every 1,000 - 5,000 points, but it does happen, and it seems reasonable to place the blame on one component rather than two simultaneous failures, and the obvious choice for that one component is the box.

In foil, I might chalk this up to chest protectors and new timings...

[BrodeurNJD30]

I have seen this alot in sabre, and would say its cause of the anti whip over tech. A smart fencer will keep going cause the action doesnt stop till there is a halt. if both stop and do nothing the reff should just call halt and establish where the center is, and start as if they called a simle. A touch cannot be awarded cause if a referee cannot create a light. They can however negate a light for various reason i.e. scoring with the guard, on the flesche, or hitting the floor in epee or foil.

[KD5MDK]

I have seen simultanious hits not register on a relatively frequent bases (once a week?) in sabre on Favero boxes.

[Robert Smith]

In foil, I might chalk this up to chest protectors and new timings...

Nope, no chest protectors, and I think we're all used to "new" timing by now. I know that occasionally a hit to the sternum will bounce in that way, but that's not what's happening here.