Discussion: Central Park ISSOM?

Saw this link on Bing homepage today. This guy has a little o-mapper in his blood. I wonder how his map would compare with an ISSOM map of the place. Does one exist?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3p3Gw0XU1k

Nope, but judging by the 1:10000, his suffers from insufficient generalisation ;)

Well the guy's an artist, not a mapper really. And you can buy the finished map of Central Park from his website.

5' Poster Map $35
Folding Map $12.95

It would be fun to hold annual score events on the map.

I think somehow, we should try to get this guy into orienteering!! Seems like his has the right mind-set in that he clearly appreciates accurate, detailed maps!

There is an orienteering map of Central Park, though the bulk of the fieldwork precedes ISSOM. I don't know whether it has been redrafted using ISSOM symbols, nor how much recent updating has been done, but the existing map is generally considered adequate and appropriate for orienteering there.

Yeah but it's not as accurate as his map, which is the most accurate map there is.

If someone has the orienteering map in digital form, why not email it to them?
include something about orienteering and maybe an annual event could be started.

This discussion feels like an AP deja vu to me (map was easy enough to locate). I recall a July, early '80s simple O event there.

Whole map

Left side

Right side

Back 1

Back 2

(when I get a moment, I'll send the above to the makers of the current map - I'd think they'd be most interested unless they already know about it).

I ran there in July 1984 (Friday 13th?) - still have the paper version somewhere...

I have a copy of the map bl posted which I acquired at an event in the UK in the early 90's. I think it was being sold (maybe given away) as a novelty item. It definitely felt it was an exotic item to me in those days (being a map from a different continent!).

I did some map updates back in 1992. can't recall who it was for. Possibly Ed Hicks. There was also an event held there prior to WOC 93. Media was there.

There was a stealth meet of sorts there November 25, 2012. It is hard (or maybe impossible) to get permission.

They did an event there in 2001 for the PBS show Reading Rainbow, episode called The Secret Shortcut. I remember seeing LeVar Burton talking to Chris Cassone about how to orienteer, with the Haweses in the background.

Reading Rainbow episode Orienteering starts at 7:15

The Central Park map is digitized in Ocad. I believe the original was created with pen and ink on mylar. The was a permanent course based on the statues in the park. If I recall correctly Heather Williams was involved with the original map.

HVO has held several meets in the park over the years.The Park Conservancy has strict, rigid rules about what can be done in the park. It is difficult to set courses in the park as you cannot penetrate the ground with stakes to hang control flags/punches or tie flags to objects like railings and tree branches. One event the club made tripods of thin bamboo plant stakes and suspended the control flags and punches from them. Since we could not penetrate the ground with the stakes they easily were blown over.

Parking is another issue as the is no in park parking. Just hope you can find a parking space on a local street or pay dearly for parking in a parking garage. Other option is to take public transportation.

I remember when the "GATES" art display www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJdh-UVstU0 was installed in the Park all of the stands for the flags had to be on the blacktop paths.

Is the reason for not penetrating the ground in case you strike oil and they have to dig the park up?

I have no idea what the real reason is but,,,, maybe they have a lawn sprinkler system installed in some of the areas and don't want it damaged.

So just in case we get hit with that same condition. What would you suggest as a CP base? We have sign frames that we use where we cannot penetrate the ground, e.g. on campuses for pavement CPs, but these things are on the order of $50 apiece and heavy. Perhaps something on the order of $10 apiece can be thought of?

For the WOC93 relay, we had to streamer a long chute across an asphalt parking lot. Somebody (I forget who) built uprights consisting of a 2x2, a plywood base that was maybe 18" square, and two plywood side pieces about 9" tall, so the three pieces of plywood formed the sides of an incomplete shallow box, with the upright in one corner. Since rocks are plentiful in Harriman, they were used to ballast these things, but a sandbag or some jugs of water would also work. Pretty cheap to build. At one point we probably had hundreds of these left over, but I think most of them got tossed in a bonfire years ago.

$12 plastic saw horse from Harbor Freight? I've used my similar one for a local meet finish before. Cheaper sources may be available.

We use concrete filled ice cream containers (with a hole in the middle) for sticking controls around school and uni campuses where there are only paved areas. They are damned heavy though and you cannot carry more than about two at a time.

we have some solid wooden 'X's with a hole for the control stand/stake for the inevitable controls in completely paved areas for sprint races. Can't tell you the specs offhand but while heavy enough to stay in place I'm guessing they'd be significantly lighter than tRicky's concrete ice cream, heavier than plastic saw horses or how I'm picturing jj's described design but smaller than the former and maybe simpler to make than the latter?

my guess is the thing about not penetrating the ground is a literal interpretation of a rule intended to prevent more significant digging/disturbance... however given the stereotypical view we have in the rest of the world regarding the US legal culture, you're probably better off using your time looking for alternative control placing methods than arguing whether a small stake in the ground making a hole that will probably close in the next rainfall goes against the intent of the rule...

We use a 4 piece ply wood sawhorse that we assembly at the site

http://www.parkstreeto.com.au/2014/sprint-into-spr...

Scroll through the photos to see a number of pictures

Wonderful, Mr. Wonderful!

At NAOC 2012 we used buckets filled with gravel to make anchors for our finish chutes across the gravel pits since it was too difficult to get our fiberglass stakes into the ground.

We also have some wooden stands - I think about 2' x 2' piece of plywood with a block in the center with a hole drilled in the block in which the post of our stands go. If you're interested in details I can see if I can get specs. We (well one of our club members) made about a dozen of these for a sprint event one year.

Was looking to buy something that I can then carry. $12 plastic sawhorses are perfect.

We just did an event where we tried to use plastic "traffic cones". They have a hole in the top and the theory was to just use the cone to hold the regular control stake vertical (more or less). These didn't work because the cones were too short and light---they were made for athletic use and not traffic. However, I think the concept might work but real traffic cones (taller and made of rubber) would need to be used. And, if you could just borrow them----

They just leave them lying around on the streets you know...

Excellent marketing !! There is even a mobile version of the Central Park (artistic) map for iPad and iPhone.

I've been thinking of welding a 1/2" black iron (not galvanized) floor flange to an old disk brake rotor from a small car, and then threading an ~8" (0.20m) piece of grey schedule 80 PVC NPT-threaded pipe. Then I'd have a hose clamp or thumb screw near the top of the 8" piece to tighten against the metal spike in our normal PVC stand.

If you unscrew the PVC from the base, it would stack easily. It would be a bit heavy, but you could carry several. It should be adequately stable with that much weight so close to the ground.

I've got four rotors and two drums saved. I just need to set up the welder and try it.

Similar to tRicky's solution, we have old paint cans half filled with concrete with a 6 to 8 inch (15-20 cm) pvc pipe vertically embedded in the center. The metal spike on the end of our pvc control stands slides into the pvc in the can. But, the one caution is to never leave the bases untended without a stand and control inserted - the concrete-filled paint can with a piece of pipe sticking out of it looks too much like an IED* and could result in a panic or very unhappy police / security. For our sprint race a year ago on a major university campus, we made a few new ones using small plastic buckets we picked up at the hardware store and stuck "Orienteering USA" stickers on the side - they look cleaner and less like a home-made bomb.

But, like tRicky's, they are heavy to carry very far. Maybe you could stack a few on a hand truck and wheel it around, since Central Park has a lot of paved paths. You could also reduce the amount of concrete in each bucket and supplement with a locally available resource - gravel, rocks, water. It does not take much concrete to get a surprisingly low center of gravity - our original ones have way (and weigh) more than needed for the job. You could also use shorter-than normal stands to further lower the center of gravity, so what if people have to stoop to a 25-50 cm high punch instead of a convenient 50-100 cm high one.

IED = shorthand for improvised explosive device

The pipes in ours were also designed for our older style flags, whereas our newer ones have a thinner spike and don't tend to stand up quite as straight in them.

If you aren't worried about theft or IOF specs: helium balloon anchored by SI unit.

A little red wagon might be easier than a hand truck in an urban environment.