Subject: ACF newsletter IV.3 Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 08:01:38 -0800 (PST) From: Gaius Stern To: acf-newsletter@uclink2.berkeley.edu ACF Newsletter IV.3 Dec 1997 editors Gaius Stern & Rachel Marshak Most of this issue will be devoted to some fo the many buzzer companies available on the market today. I am amazed to find so many companies I had never heard of. Those mentioned in this issue are those I know best (alphabetically) with a few more randomly included. Other stories include results from Cal Tech, Big Bowl, an addendum to the Illinois update from before, and announcements for BYU and Wisconsin. ALso included is a tournament wins/seconds record for the West Coast ACF. --------- CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS FROM ILLINOIS BEYOND ZEBRA Iowa wrote me to set straight the record on three points: > 1. Their prelim loss was to KKVD, not Kentucky > 2. NKVD (7-2) lost to Springf. Heights and a team OTHER than Iowa > 3. The top two teams at this event were "Masters teams" so Iowa was the top "regular" team. GORT (Masters) WINS TECHNOPHOBIA, TIE for SECOND, BYU, UCLA (From Richard Mason) "Technophobia Two: Judgement Day" was held at Caltech on November 21-22. Teams attending came from BYU, UCLA, ASU, Stanford, Berkeley, Caltech, and UC Riverside. Also playing was a Master's team, Gort. The tournament consisted of an eleven-team double round-robin: the first round-robin used NAQT Series F questions, the second round-robin used packets submitted by the teams and/or written by the tournament staff. Each of the 22 rounds was untimed and contained 22 questions. The first place team was GORT (17-3), the masters' team consisting of James Anderson and Chris Goheen. Second place went to BYU A (15-5), consisting of Nephi, Ken, Erik, and Dave and UCLA (15-5). The UCLA team was Pat, Christian, Oz, and Alex. A priceless treasure known as the Maltese Falcon was introduced as the travelling trophy for this and future Technophobia tournaments. The Best Submitted Packet Award went to BYU A. The four all-star players were Peter Freeman, Brian Moore, James Anderson, and Patrick Friel. Each of them received, in addition to glory, a Large Homemade Cookie. A warm welcome is due to UC Riverside for braving the hazards in their first invitational. The top scorers follow: Individual Team PPG +15 +10 -5 Games Points 1. Peter Freeman ASU Pink 102.7 17 191 22 20 2055 2. Brian ASU O&Y 68.0 10 136 30 20 1360 3. James Anderson Gort 64.0 18 116 30 20 1280 4. Patrick Friel UCLA 57.5 6 115 18 20 1150 5. Adam Stanford 53.6 6 98 21 18 965 6. Chris Goheen Gort 52.5 15 102 39 20 1050 7. Ken BYU A 46.5 6 73 15 16 745 8. David Levinson Berkeley 42.7 6 91 29 20 855 9. Tanim Caltech 41.4 1 31 7 7 290 10. Christian Edstrom UCLA 40.8 8 52 22 13 530 BERKELEY WINS BIG BOWL in repeat of ANNUAL RIVALRY Despite their inability to coordinate travel arrangements, the Berkeley representatives managed to get themselves across SF to play Big Bowl over Thanksgiving Week at STanford this year and won the annual contest. In emulation of the football game, Big Bowl is a match of Berkeley and Stanford teams in a best of 5 matches. The format is very causal and occasionally correctly followed. The schools alternate hosting responsibilities and obtain clean questions by request from the QB community. Round 1: Round 2: Round 3: rounds 4,5 Cal 380 Cal 385 Cal 335 played for fun Stanford 285 Stanford 250 Stanford 300 with mixed teams Some of the Berk participants were Steve, Philip, ANdy, and Nick. The Stanford participants included Eliot, Eric, Rachel, and Doug. CLubs might find an annual grudege match with a traditional rival an effective recruitment advertising ploy. Several other schools have such annual contests, Iowa-Iowa State, and some schools in VA. UT-DALLAS WINS A SOUTHWESTERN QUIZBOWL TITLE Sorry that details are unavailable. ALl I know is that UT-D won this event in a field that included Oklahoma, Arkansas, and some Texas teams. The host for the event was Univ Oklahoma. Eric BEll was the TD. Robert Margolis won MVP. Details would be appreciated from a participant. WEST COAST ACF STANDINGS If any of these are in error, please write me back and let me know. I will repost the correction along with the Texas and Midwest versions. 1st 2nd 3rd UCLA Cub Cup Stanf/Berk BYU Caltech WIT5 upper Stanford BYU Lyceum JV Stanford BYU Berk NAQT Sectional Stanford Berk Caltech CalTech Techno Gort (masters) TIE: UCLA, BYU ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1. BYU will hold its 5th Perpetual Motion tournament the last weekend of January in Prov, Utah. This event is the oldest QB Invitational in the Rocky mountain states. The event is FREE and BYU usually makes a special hotel arrangement for participants. Particpating teams are asked to write a round for the tournament, although if a question exchange goes through with Wisconsin, newbie teams may be allowed to just play. For details, write to Norm Gillespie at 2. Wisconsin will again hold its ELvis tournament also the last weekend of January. This event has in past years attracted a large field from many states. The 1998 event will be the 11th Elvis, which makes it one of the older tournaments in the nation. For details, contact Mark Zimmer . 3. Witchita State has moved their tournament to March 14. 4. Stanford will run their annual Cardinal Classic VII on the weekend of 14 Feb. For details, write Sarah Kline If you want to announce your tournament, write me back. BUZZER INFORMATION (part 1) As promised, here is part 1 of the info on buzzer systems. ACF has no official position on the buzzers, but the West Coast office endorses two systems: "Quiz-wizard II" manufactured by Creative Electronics and the "Quik-Pro" manufactured by Specialty Design Corps. CBI endorses the Zeecraft Challenger system, which I think has handgrips poorly modeled for quizbowl. ALso, I find the self testing mechanism a hinderence. If your school has already purchased one of these systems from the newsletter listing, please let me know which one (and if you like it). I am going to ask the most popular companies to offer a bigger discount to future customers. Creative Electronic Design "Quizwizard II" Designed for High School Certamen. System is a box with 12 or 16 thumb activated buzzers held in hand at end of long chords. Only the moderator can tell who rang in from display (i.e. players can not see). System can be set for individuals or teams of 4 players each. System is delicate, so be careful with it. _______________________________________ \ | / | ________\|/_____ (each team has 4 buzzers) | | | (This drawing not to scale) | |------__ | 1st A2 | |-----| A2 |_| | 2nd B4 | | |------ | 3rd C1 | | | | | |------__ | reset x | |-----| A3 |_| | | |------ ---------------- you ring in with thumb Major advantage: also tells who rang in 2nd and 3rd. Can play as teams or as individuals. Special features: System tells who rang in 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd. PRICE HAS GONE UP. The prices below might be available with a special request for a discount through me. Price: x8 players = $420 ***** Ask for an ACF newsletter x12 players = $495 discount, or say Gaius x16 players = $575 referred you Address/phone: Creative Electronic Design Inc. 2565 Celia Dr. Beaver Creek, Ohio 45434 - 6815 (513) 426-1506 Funtronics Power Play System IV This system can be ordered in sizes of 8 or 16 players. Each player signalls by striking a small 2.5 inch wide disk (very durable, they say) to ring in. The system is able to tell who slapped second in case the first player gives a wrong answer. The system also keeps score of each team throughout and of each player. ESI Associates 21 East 1575 North Orem, UT 84057 (801) 765-1980 toll free (888-386-8766) Fax (801) 765-1981 http://www.funtronics.com/ e-mail: feedback@funtronics.com. Groupics Lit'l Buzz System This is a no frills system. It is 7 inches by 5 by 1.5. Pretty small and it has small lights on teh console to identify the players. The buzzer is a 2 person system, but it can be connected to up to 3 other like systems so that up to 32 players could compete if one had multiple systems. It runs on batteries or with a plug to the wall. Major advantages: easy to carry Special features: can run on batteries, can expand for more players Price: $199.99 (this price might not include the hand held buzzers) Address: Groupics 2502 Derbyshire Court West Lafayette, IN 47906 1-888-497-2637 (757) 424-4021 http://www.groupics.com e-mail groupi@groupics.com Electramatic Inc. "The Judge" Comes in a briefcase. Players hit "footpedals" to signal an answer which lights up green or red light corresponding to each buzzer. Locks out all other responses until reset. Major advantage: Very durable and portable. Special features: None Price: x8 players = $350 x10 players = $375 *** A 5% discount used to be available for ACF newsletter readers. Ask for it, if ordering this system. Address/phone: Electramatic Inc. 1815 Jefferson St. N.E. Minneapolis, Minn 55418 (612) 781-9588 Logitek Electronics "Quiztron" This system accommodates 8 players. A pyramid shaped light of either blue or green plastic sits in front of each player. They make a dull beep when players ring in on thumb-activated buzzers. Major advantage: whole room can see who buzzed first Special features: None Price: x8 players = $355.00 x10 players = $403.00 x12 players = $390.00 x 15 players = $438.00 Address: Logitek Electronic System 3320 Bering Drive Houston, TX 77057 1-800-231-5870 713-782-4592 e-mail: logitek@broadcast.net UPDATE: http://www.logitekaudio.com/contact.html http://www.logitekaudio.com/index.html e-mail info@logitekaudio.com Homemade systems by Fred Aldridge I have 3 of the current units left. They are solid state with LED indicators, audio tone and 8 hand held switches, 4 per team. Batteries and a carrying pouch are included. So far they have proven to be very reliable. If you buy one and have a problem, you may send it back to me. If the problem is a part failure (other than batteries) I will repair the unit and return it. If the problem is due to damage, I will repair it and charge accordingly. If you are interested you can send a check for $149 plus $5 for shipping and handling for each unit to me and I will ship it UPS. Fred and Towana Aldridge aldridge@iquest.net MORE NEXT ISSUE ! Gaius Stern and Rachel Marshak ---------