JackBurch wrote:Please Help Me!! What would you like most in both an air hall and 25m pistol facilites? What have you seen that works best in layout and conveinence factors? What mistakes in these areas have you seen and what would you do to correct those instakes? Any other ideas.
Thanks,
Jack
Re 10m ranges - Likes:
- Proper ventilation; air-flow from shooters/spectators to the target line, not the other way round (as most architects seem to think)
- Proper lighting. most of the ISSF rules are pretty clear; then people try to find their way around them. 300lux all over (not just at the firing line and half-way down range), target backboards a light neutral colour (not dark).
- a PA for the Chief Range Officer - saves shouting on ranges of more than about 10 bays
- Ranges with provision for display of the progressive scores
Re 10m ranges - Dislikes:
- Daylight that comes in; a 10m range should be a big lightproof box that is then artificially illuminated to the required constant level.
- airtight boxes that smell of BO
- cramped bays. There is a temptation to squeeze in a few more bays at the cost of narrower bays
- uneven lighting on the targets (sure they might be 1500lux at the centre, but 2000 at the top of the card and 300 at the bottom of the card)
- cramped area behind the shooters. The ISSF requires 5m minimum and for a competition with EST this is still not enough, even less so for rifle.
- stupid individual lights for each target (yep, I know that's what is in the ISSF diagram - but it's not the only (or best) way). The individual lights are tedious to set up to give good illumination (and then get bumped out of position...), often spill light sideways (a distraction to other shooters), etc.
- unclear firing lines. Now that the bench edge is to be 100mm forward of the firing line, this is even more important.
- Locating a 10m range adjacent to a 25m range without proper sound reduction (Sydney was almost a disaster until the glass partition wall was added (bearable), Barcelona has (had) a soundproof galss wall and air-lock style access between the 10m and 25m ranges, Atlanta a separate building)
- Carpeting on the firing bench - presumably, health and safety considerations will eventually ban this
- Noisy bullet traps - some regiser over 100dB
- Metal waste tidys on the range (again noise). I have seen a shooter drop an empty pellet tin into the waste tidy just as another shooter was about to fire a shot.
- locating C02/CA bulk cylinders on the range. There can be a lot of noise when someone charges a cylinder during the match.
- Lack of seating near the firing line for the shooters
- Lack of seatng for the range personnel
Re 10m ranges - Mistakes:
- Lousy lighting
- Lack of light-trap access/es
- noisy doors to the range
- lack of space between firing line and spectator area
- lack of planning and layout to cope (well) with Finals. For paper targets there will need to be
1 an on-range area for scoring,
2 scoreboards for progressive scores,
3 clear access between the 8 bays used for the Finals, the scoring area and the scoreboard, and last but not least
4 room for the spectators where they can see it all
- lack of proper ventilation
- lack of additional power outlets. E.g. for Finals on paper targets we use a scoring machine, LCD projector (sometimes two) for the score display, computers to record the scores and drive the LCD projector, a printer...
Re 25m ranges - Likes:
- bay partitions that let the Range Officers see what the shooters are doing. Solid partitions are a no-no
- sufficient space between the targets and the backing targets on ranges using turning targets (the new ISSF rules requiring 1m will result in somebody getting seriously hurt when (not if) the targets operate while somebody is patching the backing targets)
- Clear target numbering
- Clear bay numbering
- Clear firing line marking
- Lack of shadows on the targets
- Easy-to-use timers. At a major competition, not all the Range Officers will be 'locals' familiar with the operation of the timers
- Remote switch for the timer, enabling the RO to be where he/she needs to be (not with their back turned to the shooters). At least a flying lead about 5m long; some ranges are installing radio-remotes for this.
- Being able to shoot the 25m events!
- Having a Function Testing range
Re 25m ranges - Mistakes:
- the reverse of the above
Re 25m ranges - Mistakes:
- Lack of easy (and safe) access to the backing targets
- High maintenance turning target mechanisms ($$$)
- Shooting bays too dark
- (conversely) Shooting Bays too bright (e.g. Bisley in the middle of the day - it has/had almost clear overhead)
- Poor drainage. My home range can get a few inches of water over the downrange area in heavy rain (b----y nuisange for the scoring crew) and in some spots any water that gets in to the firing area can pool there for days
- Sharp shadows on the targets
- Fixed firing line benches. This is difficult (not impossible) to avoid with EST - there is no excuse for them on turning target ranges. Fixed benches will be too high for some, too low for others; and a nuisance for vertically challenged shooters when they try to come to the 'ready'
- Lack of spectator area
Regards,
Spencer