jakfrost1 Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 I have 4 of the new(er) Kindle 5's and my iPad and want to use them to score the upcoming Steel Match at my club. I plan on using the iPad as the 'Master' and each of the 4 Kindle's for each of the 4 stages, ( small range, no room for more just yet...). I have a 'TravelMate' portable router to be able to 'synch' the devices. Its a 2 day shoot with 6 squads, 3 per day, ( 0900, 1200, 1500 start times each day ) total of 60 shooters, 10 per squad. So each tablet will stay at its assigned stage, and the scorekeeper will just select the squad coming into his stage, and score them accordingly. After the squad has completed the stage the scorekeeper will bring the tablet to my iPad and I'll 'synch and pull' the scores to the iPad. Ditto for each of the 4 stages. I figured would be a reasonable approach to using the tech to score the match but despite my reading hundreds of forum postings I am still unable to find the answer to the questions...is this a reasonable approach? How do I make the iPad the 'Master'? ( just call it Master? haha), and what are the potential pitfalls using this method of utilizing the hardware? Appreciate you long time, 'been there, done that' kinda of experts chiming in to help out a newbie!! Cheers, Jim W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanb Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 You make it a master by syncing the registration down from the PractiScore site, setting up the stages and then guarding it with your life. The stage tablets get synced to this one at the beginning and then you sync the scores back to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathanb Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Oh and if you’re not registering on PractiScore.com and then pulling down registration you’re in for a long start as you’ll need to manually enter it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Jim, You don't have to do anything to designate one tablet as the master though I name my master tablet (under import/export) Steel Master. I name each of the stage tablets based on the stage they are on. For example at WSSC last week we used 16 iPad Minis as scoring devices. I named two of them Roundabout-AM and Roundabout-PM - that way I know which tablet went to which stage and if it was for the morning or afternoon flight. Is your travelmate battery powered? If so I'd take the master to each stage and pull scores periodically. That way you won't have a delay while the scorekeeper brings the tablet to you. If you have other questions about using PractiScore for steel challenge matches shoot me an email at zack@uspsa.org and I'll help you out. I didn't see this post until a buddy called it to my attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexor40cal Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Jakfrost, listen to the Master (Zack), he will not lead you astray........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakfrost1 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Thanks Zack! I just finished the match and all 4 Kindle Fire’s worked great using the Trip Mate Hoo Too Titan portable router and my iPad as the ‘master’. I ‘pulled’ the scores to the iPad after every stage and at the end of the day I had every score on every stage for all 44 shooters filled in! Miracle of miracles!! But...now when I go to ‘Post to Practiscore’ on the ‘view results’ page on the iPad and hit the ‘Post to Practiscore’ button it says ‘compiling scores’ or some such thing with the ‘spinning wheel’ for a few seconds. When I go to the Practiscore sight and click on ‘view results’ all I get is a message that all matches must be registered with Practiscore in order to be posted. I did register the match and have the ‘pin number’....what am I missing? Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaylanGivens Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 If your range wifi doesn't have Internet access, you'll need to use a hotspot from your phone to upload the scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakfrost1 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Yea I get that...and waited till I got home to the house router/internet to hit the ‘Post to Practiscore’ button. It already has the PIN# filled in correctly, and the little dialogue box with the spinning wheel comes up saying “preparing match results for posting’ and then goes away. When I check my club for ‘match results’ it says ‘currently only showing match’s registered with Practiscore’ and hitting the ‘update’ button does nothing. Tried everything I can think of...the match was created by me in Practiscore a month ago, all shooters were registered in Practiscore, and I have the PIN#, etc. What more does the ‘annoyingly frustrating site’ want from me? I did everything EXACTLY the same as the previous match last month that we hosted at my club and everything went as it should, albeit with some swearing on my part, but that was part of the learning curve I suppose. This new ‘feature’ has me stumped, and a lot of shooters waiting not so patiently for the results to be posted....argggggg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaylanGivens Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 (edited) Send an email to support@practiscore.com Edited June 25, 2018 by RaylanGivens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakfrost1 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 OK, figured it out...a member who had apparently been thru a similarly frustrating experience, i.e., looking for his club’s match scores, under the ‘Match Scores’ tab, revealed that that is the wrong place to look (?). Up in the far right hand corner of the opening page of the app is a little ‘menu’ indicator, click on that and one of the choices there is ‘scores’. THAT will show you the match results for all the matches recently posted. Scroll down to find the hosting club and bingo, there they are. So the learning curve goes up...slowly :). Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakfrost1 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 (edited) Well got thru the weekend as Stats Director for a SCSA match and it went pretty well, couple of lessons learned...DO NOT allow stage tablets, ( Kindle Fire 8 HD ) to be ‘updated’ with changes like division, catagory, etc...by the stage scorekeeper, it sometimes causes a duplicate on the master, ( iPad 4) when pulled for scores, causing a headache for the SD. I guess the solution is to have the scorekeeper write on a piece of paper any changes and then the SD can make the changes in the master, although the change won’t show on any of the scoring tablets and the shooter might complain at every stage that he is in the wrong division, ( change ‘might’ to ‘will’, haha). Question: When the Match Director comes to you and presents a late arrival, ( basically a ‘walk-on’ ) and says he/she will be getting a ‘speed pass’...is it reasonable to have to go to each stage with the updated master to now ‘pull’ the master to the stage tablet to get the walk-on data on the stage tablet, and repeat this at all 8 stages? I don’t really like pulling the master onto a stage tablet, but not sure why it bothers me...OR should I just send a runner to each stage to update each tablet manually from a scribbled piece of paper? Comment: I am now thinking it might be worthwhile to consider purchasing an Android platform master to replace my personal iPad 4 that I have been using since there are enough subtle differences in presentation between the 2 platforms that it might be easier, ( and safer, iOS version of ‘delete a shooter’ is slightly different on both I found out...). Any suggestions or recommendations? We are using Kindle Fire 8 HD’s for scoring tablets now... Cheers, Jim Edited July 1, 2018 by jakfrost1 Editorial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBurgess Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 My solution for late arrivals is to add them to the master then sync an extra nook and hand that to them and make them carry it stage to stage.That way nobody has to do anything in each stage tablet. This is for USPSA matches with no fixed staff so I dont want people messing with the stage devices Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakfrost1 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 Thanks Mike, sounds like an excellent solution! Just have to acquire an extra ‘device’... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaylanGivens Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 I'm not sure how iOS tablets work, but using Android I add the new shooter to my Master, then go to the stage for the new shooter and press the spinning arrows icon (Sync) on the scoring stage. Saves all the backing up, synching, and going back to the scoring stage. I do allow stage tablets to update divisions, USPSA numbers and other shooter details... When I pull the scores from that stage tablet it will update them without doubling the shooter... If you press the "^" Mark on the sync screen you will see that the shooter was modified and what was modified. I'm not sure how a mixed environment of iOS and Android tablets would work, we are all Android... During large matches, where staff shoots early, we bring in an iOS tablet to follow shooters and squads as it has a better interface than the Android tablets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakfrost1 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 Thanks Raylan, so I guess as far as the 'best android' for a master tablet usage...just pick one and go? Anyone have good experience with something that would come with, ( or allow a bluetooth 'case/keyboard' accessory ) a keyboard. I can type pretty quickly, ( remember Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing? Came on a 'floppy disc' to me...), so it is a big advantage to not have to have 1/3 of my screen taken up by a keyboard. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaylanGivens Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 4:48 PM, jakfrost1 said: Thanks Raylan, so I guess as far as the 'best android' for a master tablet usage...just pick one and go? Anyone have good experience with something that would come with, ( or allow a bluetooth 'case/keyboard' accessory ) a keyboard. I can type pretty quickly, ( remember Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing? Came on a 'floppy disc' to me...), so it is a big advantage to not have to have 1/3 of my screen taken up by a keyboard. Jim The last new Android tablets we bought were Samsung Galaxy TabA 8.0 2017 models... They are good sized... easy to read... and work well with PractiScore... Not sure how well they would work in an Apple environment, but they work well in our Android environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euxx Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 4:48 PM, jakfrost1 said: Thanks Raylan, so I guess as far as the 'best android' for a master tablet usage...just pick one and go? Anyone have good experience with something that would come with, ( or allow a bluetooth 'case/keyboard' accessory ) a keyboard. I can type pretty quickly, ( remember Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing? Came on a 'floppy disc' to me...), so it is a big advantage to not have to have 1/3 of my screen taken up by a keyboard. Jim There is that https://blog.practiscore.com/android-tablets/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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