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HMS – Scorers of the World Unite ….!!

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HMS, or rather HMS Excel, has served our sport really well. It is a great asset and it’s in all our interests to get the most fun and service from it that we can. For myself, I’ve used it at every event I’ve done scoring duty. From a design viewpoint, I adore it.

It does have some interesting foibles though. Little streaks of character that show through occasionally.

Why would MYA’s very stable and mature scoring system start throwing up errors which weren’t there when it was originally tested and launched? The answer, of course, is that between HMS and the laptop CPU processors are layer upon layer of Excel and Windows. They are changing and updating all the time.

There are some terrific User Guides – 2026 editions from GB especially. If you’ve not seen them, then print them out from MYA to keep. They are great pieces of writing, but don’t quite (for me) have enough on “common things that can go wrong”. I don’t know why we don’t have a little online User Noticeboard where we can post our hints and tips to share between Clubs. Otherwise what happens mostly for me is someone leans across my shoulder and says, “I don’t do it that way – have you tried this??….”

So – our “starter for five” tips ?? If you email us at the website with experiences and suggestions of your own, we can add them here. Here are my favourites:-

1/ Sorting

In number one position for me is sorting the score table.

Just sometimes ( 2 in a hundred?) you can glance at your score sheet and coincidentally notice the boats are not showing the correct sequence, but scores are correct.

I know that the spreadsheet says it will do a sort of the results when it prepares to “Display for Print”.

But it doesn’t about 2% of the time. Life carries on, but it’s pretty embarrassing when you print out a pile of results to hand around the bar and the finishers are not listed in the correct order.

All you need to do is get into the habit of clicking the blue sort button on column 1 (“Pos”) before you go to the print options. Do it as frequently as you like.

What’s the cause? I’ve no idea.

2/ White Screening

At a couple of Events, I have had the new Windows/11 laptop go into “white screen” with HMS Excel. Everything seems to lock up. Sometimes you can force Excel to quit, sometimes you can’t. Usually a full forced re-boot of the laptop is what you need.

We get the feeling it’s some little problem (shortage of storage for example?) that seems to accumulate within Excel as it remains open.

What to do?? Each time you finish scoring a heat:-

  • issue a save
  • close excel down using the big X
  • reopen a fresh excel ready to score the next heat.

I have scoring buddies who say it’s sufficient to close the spreadsheet (leaving Excel open) and then reopening the spreadsheet. …. Hmm not so sure. It takes the same amount of time to close Excel and reopen it afresh. I’d suggest do that.

What’s the cause? I’ve no idea.

3/ A single WDN/NSC/DSQ/RET Decision is to be Processed

– the HMS heat score table ending up out-of-points-sequence

Let’s face it, pretty frequently one is told about a single DSQ/NSC/WDN/RET decision AFTER you’ve entered the score sheet into HMS.

We all know to run WDN competitors as DNC until they drift down to bottom heat – and even then only when PRO and Board Manager agree – as it can drive a fleet reschedule decision to be evaluated.

Know now – this area can be hazardous…. At our Club, we have spent a longtime looking at these.

The great thing is ,if at your event, the score-entering is lagging slightly behind real life. If you’re right up to date with data entry, NSC/DSQ/RET/WDNs can arrive after you have entered the results from the score sheet.

a/ If you are running behind

the heat score sheet may show NSC/DSQ/RET/WDNetc in the middle of the list. DO NOT enter it like that into HMS like that.

To be safe, what you should do is enter NSC/DSQ/RET/DSQetc into HMS after the last finished boat of the heat.

What you are wanting to see is that the sequence in the points table is in tidy ascending order as you cast your eye down the column. We think you want to eliminate any chance that HMS Excel will attempt to do a “sort” on that column to tidy it up.

b/ Your data entry is smack up to date

Let’s suppose that you do indeed enter everything from the heat score sheet as presented and you maybe have a NSC or DSQ in the middle of the list.

Honestly – I know it’s fag, but stop right away. Rekey all the numbers from the impacted boat downwards, in that particular heat, to get the NSC/DSQs etc down at the bottom of the list. I know it’s tedious rekeying a ton of numbers, shuffling them up one row each. Believe me, just do it.

What’s the cause? We don’t know, but we suspect it’s avoiding HMS Excel doing it’s own sorting.

4/ At a large Event, Multiple NSC/DSQ/RET type decisions for a Single Heat arrive at once

This is tricky. It feels like (3) above, but maybe it has a problem type all of its own.

Our feeling is that you need to process these into HMS one at a time. Do not enter these adjustments as a group.

Our little local method which seems to keep the Doctor away, is to enter one adjustment then enter the Print sequence, but exit print again before going to paper. Then put the next adjustment in.

What’s the cause? Well … as a group of programmers we have our theories … but really we have no idea.

5/ Altering the Print Layout as the Event Progresses

It’s tempting as the scores pour in to think you can improve print legibility by adjusting margin sizes, flipping between portrait and landscape etc etc

Don’t. Just don’t…..

Leave it to the authors of the HMS spreadsheet and leave it alone.

Let us know your Hints and Tips by contact us via the “Contact” page of this website.

Beginner’s Guide to Transmitter Selection… Get Your Hands on All of Them Before You Decide…. !!

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(Photo 1)

Have you seen all this kit photographed side by side before? If not, read on… Four transmitters here. (Comments included below about Flysky, which I installed at the club today)

Whenever I find myself in a discussion at the Club about selecting a transmitter, I always say it’s a very personal choice. Figure out what works best for you, not what I, or anybody else, would recommend. We are all different. You’ll use these things for a long time, so choose with care. The big brands all work, all have success stories, all have horror tales (undated!). Figure out where service and support can come from too.

(Photo 2)

So I always say, “We all have different sized hands and fingers, you have to go and compare them, FEEL them in your own hands”. It’s not that easy to arrange though, is it?? Not even at a model shop. Really you need to line them up and pick them all up for a good “feel” in about a 60 second window. I don’t know why I hadn’t done this before. You form impressions very quickly.

(Photo 3)

How do you measure hands anyway?? Tape measure? Glove size? I do it by people I shake hands with. You know pretty quickly if the hand you are shaking is smaller/about the same/larger than your own hand. I reckon my hands are quite large and on the 75th percentile in my handshaking experience. My domestic Steering Committee though has very delicate lady-hands and surprisingly she offered to help on this exercise this morning. The amazing thing was that in the end we came to the same opinion, hand size variation or not. In this house,…. that’s unusual on any subject!

(Photo 4 – like something from Gulliver’s Travels)

This is frankly very difficult to arrange on a Club race day. I suddenly realised that I have four of common models here in the “lab”. Only Flysky is missing today in this measuring test, but the rest are here. Last Sunday, I installed Howard’s brand new Flysky on his IOM. Interesting for me – I didn’t have the scales with me, but comments about the way the Flysky “feels” are written below.

I’m spurred on by the fact that I have a new boat coming this year. There is a need to figure out my radio strategy.

The “How Do They Feel in The Hands” Test

I have here today, a Radiomaster Pocket, a Futaba T6, a Futaba T10, and a lovely Spektrum DX8e. You can see all their photos above, side by side for comparison. Zoom in !!

They can all do the job, but how do they feel?

Size and Weight

First surprise for me. The DX8E is really by far the largest here height, length and breadth – plus it has the spike antenna sticking out (which by the way, can hamper picking it up single handed by the lifting handle). I hadn’t realised how much bigger, but when you handle them all in 30 seconds it’s obvious. One for big hands perhaps. However, it is NOT the heaviest.

Radiomaster 400g

Futaba T6 650g

Spektrum DX8e. 700g

Futaba T10 750g

Next surprise : that Futaba T10 is smaller, possibly more modern, denser tech than the T6…. because it’s maybe 10%+ heaver than the sister model, but really surprisingly 5%-10% smaller in most dimensions. Noticeable in the way it feels ….

(Note also that the two Futabas have distinctly different size antennae modules – you can see in the photos. I assume the T10 is a newer, next generation, pricier antenna, …more modern tech that performs about the same but takes less space. I’ve searched for antenna specs for these two models to see if they perform the same, but have not found anything so far. Let me know if you find them. In the end, the Spektrum antenna spike is probably about the same order of size as the Futabas, which is no measure of performance. Sticking out at a right angle does make a difference to shore side handling though.)

Bench Height

As you’d expect, when laid flat on the bench the Radiomaster is the lowest height here.

Perhaps more of a surprise is how that dimension on the T10 is noticeably less than the (older tech?) T6. Photo below…

I thought I had long-ish fingers, and when I pick up the transmitters in two hands (I.e. normal handling), my fingers have to curl away and park themselves somewhere. It’s about personal comfort and you will be different to me. Unexpectedly, the largest finger “wrap around” dimension (DX8E) was for me not the most comfortable. The Radiomaster was a bit small for my finger wrap-around test. The surprise for me was that the smaller T10 seemed a more comfortable fit in that regard than the T6.

Flysky:

As written above, I didn’t have the Flysky with me when I tested the others at home, but I did install a new one last Sunday on Howard’s One Metre. It’s more compact in my hands than I remembered …and lighter than I remembered. I’d say in physical dimensions improbably sits in between the Radiomaster Pocket and the Futaba T10J. Weight-wise … hard to say without the scales but it seemed quite like the Futaba T6k weight to me. The cabinet of the unit is a little more angular, less curvy than some.

Balance and Centre of Gravity

This was spotted by my dearest with the small hands. More of an observation than a showstopper….. The centre of gravity of these units varies quite a lot and changes the way the balance feels in your hands. Important? Probably.

I’ve spoken to a competition radio control glider pilot about where they like transmitter centre of gravity in their sport. He says a general principle is that they like the centre of the gimbals to be at the centre of gravity – to give it a more balanced feeling when they fly. So as a result the top transmitters that they like look slightly as if their gimbals are a bit more centred than we might be used to. Try googling for a picture of a FrSky X20 transmitter and look at the gimbal positioning.

The DX8E feels like most of its tech is under the screen and the rest of the box is empty. The natural way for my wife to hold it was at a 45 degree angle with the edge closest to her being the lowest.

The next one feeling that most of its lump of technology is centred nearer one’s body is the T10. It’s not as marked an effect as the Spektrum, but it is of course just slightly heavier.

Those are the two heaviest, so you might expect them to stand out for “balance”…. the Futaba T6 is very light actually …and the Radiomaster absurdly light.

Do you want “light”?? I’m less sure than I was.

Flysky : I’ve no data about balance and centre of gravity, but it felt very good.

The Immeasurable Feel, Sturdiness or Robustness Impressions

We hang on to our joysticks, don’t we – are you a thumber or a pincher?? I don’t know how to measure the way the joysticks feel, but these four are different. Try them and see. I tried two Radiomasters last week, one with normal gimbals under the joysticks and one with “Hall Gimbals”. I could certainly tell a difference, but I think you just have to feel for yourself.

Strength : Honestly – I think you could throw my Radiomaster over your shoulder and it would bounce and be fine. Amazing robustness.

The Spektrum manages to feel really robust in a strong thick plastic kind of way. Yes it does feel sturdy. It has a textured surface too which maybe helps this impression. A small thing, but the DX8E battery compartment feels the best here.

So that leaves the two Futabas. How can I explain this? They don’t feel flimsy or weak, but in a blindfold test I think you’d mark out Spectrum and Radiomaster as somehow feeling more sturdy than the two Futabas. However, something else is going on here too…, the T10 feels more …. sexily finished. I can’t describe it, but somehow in your hands it feels more – oh I don’t know. It’s very clever, and the Steering Committee agrees. There’s just something more sophisticated about the way it is finished and feels. I’m not going to do all this again with wet hands and see if it comes out the same, but you’d have to wonder.

Conclusion

This is an exercise that’s really worth doing for yourself sometime. Maybe I should take all the transmitters to the AGM for a group test.

There’s a bit of a price war going on. The Spektrum DX8E was the priciest half a year ago, now it is very competitive for radio sailors as the DX6E. Likewise the others also seem to bob up and down on price but the Radiomaster Pocket is always an amazingly keen price. Maybe when the ship from China has just docked, stocks are high, prices are keen.

My Steering Committee said that it was typical that the one I choose for me happens to be the priciest !!