Gopher Football Wants a New Scoreboard

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#2Gopher said:
Don't believe Target Field will be 76% bigger. Will be bigger, but not that big. Main thing they are doing though is to update the software technology. With technology changing so rapidly, the companies look ahead as opposed to making parts to keep the old technology alive. I do get it where TCF needs to do an upgrade as opposed to replacing parts etc.
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When you're talking about area, it doesn't take as much of an increase in height and length to get a substantial increase in the area.
 

I don't know if the dimension of the board would change, but I would guess the technology of LED's would be newer (OLED?) and potentially use less electricity to run, while being brighter and having better color.

A major bonus would be if it were upgraded in resolution. I don't know if 4K is doable, but the more the better.

Those are still improvements, even if the size stays the same.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I mean ... 10 years is a pretty nice warranty and service contract to offer?

They have to stay in business.
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But to not service even if you want to pay for servicing? I got the impression they can't/won't service it. No parts = obsolete. Planned obsolescence.

Maybe there are no legit competitors?
 
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Word said:
But to not service even if you want to pay for servicing? I got the impression they can't/won't service it. No parts = obsolete. Planned obsolescence.
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Daktronics doesn't mfg the individual parts. They design the system, build it, and service it as best they can. If the individual parts themselves go end of life, there is nothing they can do.

The companies that mfg the actual LED's and their controller chips, power supplies, etc. also have to stay in business.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Daktronics doesn't mfg the individual parts. They design the system, build it, and service it as best they can. If the individual parts themselves go end of life, there is nothing they can do.

The companies that mfg the actual LED's and their controller chips, power supplies, etc. also have to stay in business.
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If they are not making the parts, they can find other companies to make the stuff if the other company goes out of business. It's not like the technology only exists at one company. Daktronics could just tell the new company the specs and have them manufacture it. If Honda can make parts available for a 10-year old Civic, surely Daktronics can make them available for a $20 million scoreboard.
 

Word said:
If they are not making the parts, they can find other companies to make the stuff if the other company goes out of business. It's not like the technology only exists at one company. Daktronics could just tell the new company the specs and have them manufacture it. If Honda can make parts available for a 10-year old Civic, surely Daktronics can make them available for a $20 million scoreboard.
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I don't think it's that simple, but I don't think I'm going to change your mind.

It could very easily be true that the specific parts Daktronic designed into our system were indeed single-source components. Particularly, the computer chips that control and drive the system.

You can't go to company B and say "hey, you should make this computer chip that we used to buy from company A", because you don't know the actual internal design of it. You just bought it and used it.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I don't think it's that simple, but I don't think I'm going to change your mind.

It could very easily be true that the specific parts Daktronic designed into our system were indeed single-source components. Particularly, the computer chips that control and drive the system.

You can't go to company B and say "hey, you should make this computer chip that we used to buy from company A", because you don't know the actual internal design of it. You just bought it and used it.
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That's not how that stuff works, but I don't think I'll change your mind.
 

Word said:
That's not how that stuff works, but I don't think I'll change your mind.
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It is how that stuff works, I'm afraid.

Your car engine parts example is not at all the same as electronics.
 



Gophers_4life said:
It is how that stuff works, I'm afraid.

Your car engine parts example is not at all the same as electronics.
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I guess cars don't have electronics?
Delta has airplanes that are 30 years old. You don't think they find ways to source parts (electronic included) for that?
Daktronics could service and make parts. They've chosen not to. It's honestly brilliant on their part as it guarantees every 10 years people will spend $20 million to replace scoreboards.
 

The main scoreboard is older technology, and an energy hog. Plus has inefficient cooling system. There are good reason's to replace beyond energy and functionality. Raising the money to do so will not be easy part, fundraising never is. Would like to see them incorporate some sustainable features in a replacement if possible, it is starting to show its age with dead spots. Better to figure this out now before it craps out.
 

Word said:
I guess cars don't have electronics?
Delta has airplanes that are 30 years old. You don't think they find ways to source parts (electronic included) for that?
Daktronics could service and make parts. They've chosen not to. It's honestly brilliant on their part as it guarantees every 10 years people will spend $20 million to replace scoreboards.
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Honda designs those chip, they're custom. Boeing designs those chips, they're custom.

A custom chip is vastly more expensive than an off the shelf chip. The tradeoff is, if one fab says they don't want to make your chip anymore, you can take the design someplace else. Off the shelf is far more cheaper, if you can make it work for your system.

Therefore, my assumption is that Daktronics uses off the shelf chips. I don't know this for fact, it's my guess.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Honda designs those chip, they're custom. Boeing designs those chips, they're custom.

A custom chip is vastly more expensive than an off the shelf chip. The tradeoff is, if one fab says they don't want to make your chip anymore, you can take the design someplace else. Off the shelf is far more cheaper, if you can make it work for your system.

Therefore, my assumption is that Daktronics uses off the shelf chips. I don't know this for fact, it's my guess.
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This will be my last post on the matter. Companies spec the chips and then just find a chip make to make them. Or LED buls - same thing.

Regardless of off the shelf or custom, they could order up new parts. Might cost triple of original, but if it saves the U 20 million dollars and helps us get 5 more years out of the scoreboard that would be a nice option to have. Anyway...this is my last post on this.
 



Word said:
This will be my last post on the matter. Companies spec the chips and then just find a chip make to make them. Or LED buls - same thing.

Regardless of off the shelf or custom, they could order up new parts. Might cost triple of original, but if it saves the U 20 million dollars and helps us get 5 more years out of the scoreboard that would be a nice option to have. Anyway...this is my last post on this.
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Again, you are wrong. Companies EOL (end of life) part numbers all the time. They want people to buy the new part number, not the same old part for 20, 30+ years.

It is easily possible that whatever off the shelf part(s) Daktronics designed into our system, have gone EOL since the stadium opened. Meaning the system was probably designed back in say 2007 or so.

Your proposal that Daktronics could go to that company and say "hey, we'll give you 10x the original price if you'll just make a new batch for us anyway", is not a thing.

Any anyway, coming back full circle, Daktronics doesn't want to do that. They want the U (and all their clients) to eventually pony up for a brand new system, every X years.
 

60's Guy said:
View attachment 20151And I'll bet those four ads provide the revenue to pay for it. Do those ads change? Like could I get 100 advertisers and rotate them every 10 seconds? Scoreboard probably provides revenue to the Twins and the advertisers money also pays for purchasing and installation of it.
But the AD thinks if somebody would just buy him one it'd be easier.
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Our AD is an absolute icon. Put some respect on his name. If Mark Coyle was your father, you'd be blessed.
 

oregon just passed auburn for the largest. change the paradigm and go all giant fremont street above the field
 

I'm really surprised I haven't seen a billionaire or someone else with endless money buy an unnecessarily huge, stadium-sized Daktronics screen and watch TV on it to flex.

Feels like a hip-hop star, Russian oligarch, or Jerry Jones move.
 

fmlizard said:
I'm really surprised I haven't seen a billionaire or someone else with endless money buy an unnecessarily huge, stadium-sized Daktronics screen and watch TV on it to flex.

Feels like a hip-hop star, Russian oligarch, or Jerry Jones move.
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Where do you think Jerry Jones watches TV on weeknights? At Jerry World, man. 😅
 

WriterGoph said:
Our AD is an absolute icon. Put some respect on his name. If Mark Coyle was your father, you'd be blessed.
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Can you imagine how awkward a Mark Coyle-led father-son chat would be? He can barely speak clearly about Gopher sports - imagine the birds and the bees talk!
 

Tvans022 said:
Have you not attended a Gophers game at Huntington Bank Stadium? There are ads on the sides of the scoreboard. They do indeed change, and you can see 4 ads on each side of the board during games.

Google Image Result for http://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com/nfc/images/tcfbank09955.jpg

images.app.goo.gl

Google Image Result for https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/e46ba2e/2147483647/strip/false/crop/4806x3204+0+0/resize/1486x991!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffcc-cue-exports-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Ffccnn%2Fbinary%2F111319.S.STP.GOF

images.app.goo.gl
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How dare you use facts to get in the way of his axe grinding!
 

Dave H said:
How dare you use facts to get in the way of his axe grinding!
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Yep, those side advertising boards were added last time they did a scoreboard update. The board was bigger, but most of the space was usually used for ads.
 

pharmacygopher said:
I thought one of the reasons the stadium has an East-West orientation rather than a conventional North-South was to have the open end with a view of campus/downtown. If that was true, I don't envision a giant board being put up that blocks that view.

I do hope at some point they address the East side. Maybe add one of those thinner ones that run the width of the stadium.
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Yeah I wouldn't want to completely block the view but could at least make it a little bigger.
 




60's Guy said:
I'll disagree and I'll keep my dad over all others.
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So you are just going to ignore the fact that your baseless whining about the AD and advertising was destroyed? Just gonna keep posting and not even acknowledge it then?

Cool...
 


pharmacygopher said:
I thought one of the reasons the stadium has an East-West orientation rather than a conventional North-South was to have the open end with a view of campus/downtown. If that was true, I don't envision a giant board being put up that blocks that view.

I do hope at some point they address the East side. Maybe add one of those thinner ones that run the width of the stadium.
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Just put the new width in front of the visitor seats.
 

Word said:
Can you imagine how awkward a Mark Coyle-led father-son chat would be? He can barely speak clearly about Gopher sports - imagine the birds and the bees talk!
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You embarrass yourself on every post, every time. If you moved to Iowa, the average IQ of both states would go up.
 

highwayman said:
You embarrass yourself on every post, every time. If you moved to Iowa, the average IQ of both states would go up.
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That's rich coming from you.
 

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