Web connections at matches for TM

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
#1

I didn’t want to hijack this thread about the TM and the data it produces.

I’m interested in how you all connect the TM web service to the internet at matches so people on the outside can see the match scores. Most of the venues we are at are schools with firewalls/proxy servers so standing up web servers inside and being able to publish an address are hard.

I have the Verizon Mifi box, and can do a no-ip.com point to get to the box. Is that a viable way to connect and allow the 1000’s of you to get access to the scores?

In a related note, those of you that do webcasts of the live action, what internet setups do you use?

Thanks!

#2

I have a web server running on the world wide web. If the computer that is running Tournament Manager is connected to the internet, it just publishes to the web (i.e. http://www.gabrielse.net/upload_script.php). So far I haven’t encountered any problems with it being blocked or filtered and we’ve run the software on the Baltimore City network, the Baltimore County network, a private school network, and on a college network. I think that is the best way to use the web publishing capabilities since all the information is available on the world wide web, and if a wireless network is setup all the teams in the pits can view real time results and reports customized for their teams.

When we are in a building with no internet access we setup a LAN. All that involves is putting an unsecured wireless router on the table with the computer running Tournament Manager. Then I have a web server installed on my laptop. The computer running Tournament Manager simply sends the web publishing information to the web server (i.e. http://192.168.1.100/upload_script.php). Teams can still access the information at the event, but no one can view it on the web. Typically, I manually export the data to the web when I get home so teams can show off their results.. Teams can still access the information at the event, but no one can view it on the web. Typically, I manually export the data to the web when I get home so teams can show off their results.)

#3

You definitely don’t want to do that. The good news is there’s other options ready to go.

The TM basically makes a request to an outside webserver to publish the data. If you’re able to browse the web in IE, you should be able to use the publishing in TM (though really restrictive schools might interfere with that - twitter.com is probably blocked by some which would make the Twitter feature not work, obviously). If there’s a proxy server set up in your Internet Options the TM will use that (we’ve tested that).

Josh already pointed you to his setup which is pretty nice. I also have one that I run at www.vexscores.com. I use that site for testing the TM, and several other events have used it to publish their results. If you’d like to make use of it, drop an email to register (at) vexscores.com and give me the name of your event, the dates it runs, and the location and I’ll send back a URL that you can plug into the TM for the “Custom Webserver” field in the setup.

The last time I did webcasting for the FRC Midwest regional, I used ustream.tv, and that seemed to work pretty well. If you plan to webcast, you’ll probably need a full-time volunteer to keep an eye on it. I’ve yet to find a webcasting solution that doesn’t randomly disconnect now and then and require a manual restart.

#4