VEXNET KEY & Extension Leads R7) i) ii) etc

[e-LEMON-ators_5119z]

A USB extension cable may be used for the sole purpose of remote mounting of a VEXnet key.
The key must be mounted in the following manner.
i. The VEXnet key must be mounted such that no metal is touching the key above the
VEXnet logo.
ii. We highly recommend that no metal may be within 2” of the top of the VEXnet key.

hello, i have a usb vexnet key mounted on an extension lead, i was informed at a regional this year that i had placed the USB cable and key in an illegal manor (mounted to a bar of metal with no metal touching the vexnet key above the logo ) by another team member, now i remembered this today and looked in the manual and the above quote shows nothing of the illegal manor, please can somebody post some feedback about mounting of USB VEXNET keys on extension leads

cheers
Liam Grazier !

[Ephemeral_Being]

If you use a USB Extension Cable, the tip of your VEXNet Key must be 2" away from any metal.

If you DON’T use a USB Extension Cable, then you can just stick it in the Cortex wherever that may be.

We used the USB cable for our first year and half of the second, and then stopped once we realized it just gave another point of potential disconnection with no realized increase in performance. I would not recommend using a USB Cable during a competition. We use one during programming because it’s difficult to remove the key from the Cortex, but during every match the key is securely taped onto the Cortex.

[e-LEMON-ators_5119z]

thanks for the feedback, but it says

ii. We highly recommend that no metal may be within 2” of the top of the VEXnet key.

To me that means it is not manditory and in competition i could use a vexnet key on extension and have it mounted anywhere (ex the metal on robot logo rule)

[MGOD]

The 2 inches is a suggestion. There is no specific rule that states that you have to. You could place it in a metal box if you wanted to.

However, it seems there is a rule about having metal touching the key above the logo.

[e-LEMON-ators_5119z]

ok <10CHAR>

[edjubuh]

I would expect-and hope- that refs read this in such a way that if a team has connection issues with an extension cable, and doesn’t meet the guidelines (the 2" rule), little to no leniency will be given.

[drdanielfc]

@edjubuh

I would expect-and hope- that refs read this in such a way that if a team has connection issues with an extension cable, and doesn’t meet the guidelines (the 2" rule), little to no leniency will be given.

Leniency is rarely given with connection issues, at least that has been our experience. What kind of leniency do you mean?

[edjubuh]

@drdanielfc

Leniency is rarely given with connection issues, at least that has been our experience. What kind of leniency do you mean?

I don’t know about other states, but Indiana is often notorious for VexNet dropouts. This year, we’ve gotten a lot better about ensuring better connections but as sometimes both teams on alliance end up dropping out, somebody (at Zionsville, a la me) ends up making sure there’s nothing wrong on our end . Usually there’s not, but the point is we try to make sure that there’s nothing wrong on our end. If ends up being that either or both of the teams had improperly set up bots, then typically they’re waved away. It’s all highly circumstantial, but we try not to simply ignore it when somebody starts complaining they have connection issues in-match.

[drdanielfc]

@edjubuh

I don’t know about other states, but Indiana is often notorious for VexNet dropouts. This year, we’ve gotten a lot better about ensuring better connections but as sometimes both teams on alliance end up dropping out, somebody (at Zionsville, a la me) ends up making sure there’s nothing wrong on our end . Usually there’s not, but the point is we try to make sure that there’s nothing wrong on our end. If ends up being that either or both of the teams had improperly set up bots, then typically they’re waved away. It’s all highly circumstantial, but we try not to simply ignore it when somebody starts complaining they have connection issues in-match.

We were having quite a few issues in our Connecticut competitions too but the refs basically say “sucks to suck” and in several instances have waited out the last 30 seconds or so of a match with all 4 robots disconnected sitting still.

We also had another issue where field control kept disabling robots in the middle of matches. You could even see the light change on the panel. The refs decided that these weren’t big enough problems to merit rematches :mad: