Discussion: Ski orienteering permanent courses

The Canmore Nordic Center installed 100 orienteering posts a couple of years ago. They also purchased 40 SI control boxes. They've been running foot and mountain bike orienteering for two seasons and each year are doing more and more promotion of the orienteering.

This winter they will be setting ski-orienteering courses for the first time! So if you are passing through Canmore be sure to give it a try.

I wonder how the SI controls will handle the cold - any ideas? (they are in "sleep" mode all of the time, so each punch "wakes up" the control and the control immediately returns to sleep)

mmmm that'll be interesting to see AZ! keep us posted!
and it'd better be in place by December 4th 'cause I'm gonna be there!

Hopefully some snow will fly - either the real stuff or out of guns. Ski O on 'Frozen Thunder' could be a challenge... All 940m of it (for those that haven't heard this loop was made mid October from snow stored under sawdust since last winter) I see they groomed it yesterday but have no idea what kind of condition it is now in! Lots of sawdust, I have heard...

So there IS MTBO in North America! How about some of you planning a trip to the Oceania MTBO Champs next October. Will be in Victoria, Australia. Dunno what region North America is in, but it borders the same ocean doesn't it!

Well, there's even a North American MTBO event (OK, just a local one) next Saturday (Nov. 13) ... listed here on AP.

We've had MTBO in Ontario and there have been events in Alberta too. But it's not big here. Amongst other things, we've had issues with insurance so the entry fees have to be pretty high.

Gruver I'd love to come for that... heck, like you say, we're still bordering the same ocean!!! but I'll be in Oz in march 2012... so can't really afford going there twice :-(

...issues with insurance. How do you get on when you slide over snow on devices with no brakes?

Snow is soft ;-)

Re the SI units: I think the one-cell units use a battery with lithium-thionyl chloride (LiSOCl₂) chemistry that is rated for operation to -65C. Hard to say, though, how well they'll do: There might be other components that can't take it. One good way to find out...

Yes, but it's a dry cold in Alberta.

A couple years ago we used SI units for ski-O at Empire State Games in Lake Placid. It was not too cold and boxes were installed just a night before but out of 20 at least 2-3 did not wake up.

Is it possible those units were the old style with alkaline (alkaline manganese dioxide) batteries? I found a reference that says those are rated to -20C (-4F).

I've always put mine the night before and they're fine - but again, this is BC here, not Alberta! And we're talking one night... AZ is talking a whole winter!

I guess AZ you'll have to try it and report!

It will depend upon the grade of the electronics too. Consuner stuff is only rated to 0C, commercial used to be -20C, Military grade, -40 or -70, can't remember...
And battery life definately drops with temperature.
Condensation could play havoc also.
An interesting experiment actually.

Current versions of BSF-7 & BSF-8 (ie. those with lithium-thionyl chloride (LiSOCl2) chemistry as cedarcreek correctly states) are rated to -15 C, but have been used successfully in colder temperatures, for example a recent race in the Ural Mountains in Russia, where it was -25C.
Operating temperature range of the battery itself is -60/+70C though the output voltage and the available current of the battery is reduced at lower temperatures. This will result in an earlier depletion.
The latest control from SPORTident - the SIAC1 - is rated to -20C.
Please feel free to contact me for further questions at erict@sportident.com