Time for a change??

djberriman · Post by **djberriman** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 4:08 pm

Great thing about xl is you can copy your backup file on to any other pc running windows with xl and off you go in the event of a disaster. Up and running in seconds. No need for any complicated kit and it can be run by anyone with a pc pretty much.

djberriman · Post by **djberriman** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 4:12 pm

Update on my advice re ups, probably totally pointless. I had thought ups's were quite clever and would correct any voltage issue however it appears I am wrong. You learn something new every day.

I have a bit of kit on test in the office and some days it is complaining about the power, which was very confusing, on checking its because the mains is currently 256V here (BAE must be having a slack day). If I pull the plug on the ups so that it runs on batteries everything is happy as that outputs 230v. I've checked the mains and a 2nd ups and they are all giving 256V which is slightly above the norm.

So I guess the only really answer is to check the output of your genny and make sure its correct and cross your fingers unless any leccy techy knows a better solution.

djberriman · Post by **djberriman** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 4:18 pm

Just another quick one the power transfer switch I am testing which spotted the issue above is clearly an answer. It refuses to provide power to the kit connected as the input power is out of range.

Mark Shaw · Post by **Mark Shaw** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:03 pm

A good quality generator should have an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) fitted to avoid spikes or brownouts. If it's being serviced annually then there shouldn't be any issues. It is possible to purchase a standalone AVR but you might as well put this cost in to getting a better quality generator. If the cost of a good quality generator is too expensive then hiring one for the weekend might be a viable alternative.

ukkayaker · Post by **ukkayaker** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 12:25 pm

alldaypaddler wrote:Totally agree the should be an online payment system - there's got to e a way to work this out. Does it necessarily have to be Paypal?

The perfect solution would be to create one payment gateway, with several merchants (IE. each slalom organiser/club). This would allow each event organiser to login and check their balances without the need for each club to setup and establish their own online account (with PayPal etc.). However, PayPal does not support multiple recipients (without expensive customisation) and others such as Google Checkout do not offer this feature at all. Should this be what the system needs, it may therefore be better to look at enterprise solutions offered by banks (such as HSBC ePayments) or third party companies which already have the infrastructure to handle payments and recipients. However this is where the costs start to become higher!

The other (and perhaps simplified) and viable approach is for each event organiser to have a online merchant account (as some already do, with Paypal for example), and the developed solution would alter the receiver of payment depending on who the event belongs too. Obviously the initial setup time to create the accounts takes a small amount of time (the process to receive payments requires bank account validation), but once setup it's good to go and would be a matter of simply altering the account code depending on who the money goes too! It also would allow the use off the shelf solutions from PayPal and Google Checkout.

Just my thoughts on a potential solution.

Matt

djberriman · Post by **djberriman** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 9:43 am

One answer would be for the BCU slalom committee to have an account. All entry fees go direct to them and they send the organiser their cut rather than the other way round.

jim croft · Post by **jim croft** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:10 pm

Do you want to take ove the Slalom Accounts Manager's Job?

djberriman · Post by **djberriman** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:50 pm

Nope I don't Jim, it was just a suggestion as to how the problem could be solved, clearly that would create more work, might need a salaried/expensed position, there are all sorts of issues with that suggestion but it is nether the less a suggestion as to how the issue could be solved.

That said actually it would be possible to design it so that it did not create much work, for instance on a entry/payment being received it would email the organiser confirming the entry etc. After the event had run the system could automatically email the organiser and the admin person at the slalom committee with a break down of entries and total received. So there would be one extra piece of paperwork to deal with.

The organiser could then complete their normal return including those details and send any fees due (due to fees paid by cheque/cash) or claim their payment.

So done correctly it would not require a huge amount of work from anyone but it would create some extra work. There would obviously periodically have to be some sort of reconciliation done.

With all due respect to all concerned do I really have to put a disclaimer on all posts or are we all capable of having a discussion about things? And you might wonder why its hard to get more people to volunteer and get more people involved?

boatmum · Post by **boatmum** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 5:04 pm

Here here

One of my most favourite quotations

Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly. ~Francis Bacon

Mark Shaw · Post by **Mark Shaw** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 7:02 pm

Don't get me started on salaried/expensed positions - we should be looking to remove these from the sport not give people the excuse to add more of them - one is enough for a sport that is already making a loss!!

lesf · Post by **lesf** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:23 pm

Ideas only - feel free to criticise:

Why not just allow clubs to charge a booking fee on top of entry fees to cover the cost of running an online payment facility (paypal or whatever they choose)? It's common enough out there in the real world for buying tickets etc - any fee should be kept reasonable and just cover the costs incured.

Competitors simply pay their fees through their online bank / phone banking into the host clubs account - no charge. Before you shout about the glaring lack of security of this . . . the host club sets up a second separate bank account (to their main one) just for entry fees, details of which are available on request from the organiser. The organiser (or their treasurer) empties the account every few days lest any miscriants happen to get the account details and seek to rob it. I know of one organisation that that uses this system.

boatmum · Post by **boatmum** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:40 pm

Out of interest does anyone else know how other sports deal with this? Eg do sprint do this the same way as slalom or do they do something else?

With swimming we used to enter competitors is the club so in effect the club would collect the money and make a block entry. I don't actually think this would work for slalom but it demonstrates how other sports do things

djberriman · Post by **djberriman** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 12:31 pm

A booking fee is a good idea, I see no issue with that for the convenience and you are saving the cost of a stamp.

Bank transfer is also possible, I don't see any issue with lack of security, the only thing someone can do to my knowledge these days is set up a DD and remove money but that is guaranteed by the DD scheme and also you have to have a DD facility so you'd be in hot water if you did it. Perhaps I'm wrong. Just cause someone did it to Mr. Clarkson to prove a point doesn't mean it will happen in the real world. Most business invoices contain bank account details for payments.

Club entries are all well and good but that still requires a cheque and getting a club cheque is fraut with issues and honestly its bad enough getting money off half a dozen people for polo.

Neil H · Post by **Neil H** » Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:27 pm

boatmum wrote:Out of interest does anyone else know how other sports deal with this?

With swimming we used to enter competitors is the club so in effect the club would collect the money and make a block entry. I don't actually think this would work for slalom but it demonstrates how other sports do things

Slalom and swimming go hand in hand for me. That's why I always wear goggles and flippers - that's not why I can't get in many boats though!