Saseeding and trailseeker

[Hennie VR]

Years back they used timing chips to time riders. This same system is still being used in road races to time more accurately. Why can't this system be used for timing mtb events anymore?

 

It picks up your start time when you cross the timing mat and stops it when you cross the mat at the end as well. The system can even pick up riders that takes short cuts if they put another mat at halfway etc.

 

Now we have a system that also uses a chip but is dependent on a person that has to scan your board at the end. And to be quite frank I have had my board miss scanned on many a occasion. I now ask the person scanning to make sure he/she scanned my board and sometimes you even get a rudeish "it did pick up" answer, which is understandable if 2000 riders ask you to make sure their board is scanned.

 

The question is: Is this the best system to be used for the mtb events? Can the system be improved? Does the system get upgraded? or should we just settle and be happy with the system as is?

[Stretch]

Years back they used timing chips to time riders. This same system is still being used in road races to time more accurately. Why can't this system be used for timing mtb events anymore?

 

It picks up your start time when you cross the timing mat and stops it when you cross the mat at the end as well. The system can even pick up riders that takes short cuts if they put another mat at halfway etc.

 

Now we have a system that also uses a chip but is dependent on a person that has to scan your board at the end. And to be quite frank I have had my board miss scanned on many a occasion. I now ask the person scanning to make sure he/she scanned my board and sometimes you even get a rudeish "it did pick up" answer, which is understandable if 2000 riders ask you to make sure their board is scanned.

 

The question is: Is this the best system to be used for the mtb events? Can the system be improved? Does the system get upgraded? or should we just settle and be happy with the system as is?

 

despite what everyone thinks mat rfid systems have huge read error...far greater than the new rfid passive systems. Technically they dont need to scan your boards, I guess that is a failsafe.

 

as for your start time when you cross the mat, well you know that wont work...if you are at the back of batch A your start time will be technically 30 sec later than the front guys...yet at the end you are all jostling for a finish based upon how the race was raced

[Hennie VR]

SA Seeding website no longer available!

 

Hopefully they are updating their system/website!

[andydude]

despite what everyone thinks mat rfid systems have huge read error...far greater than the new rfid passive systems. Technically they dont need to scan your boards, I guess that is a failsafe.

 

as for your start time when you cross the mat, well you know that wont work...if you are at the back of batch A your start time will be technically 30 sec later than the front guys...yet at the end you are all jostling for a finish based upon how the race was raced

 

Not so sure about your first paragraph and your second paragraph is wrong. With electronic timing, everybody in the same batch gets the same start time and not when you actually roll over the line, therefore the first guy over the finish line will have the fastest time.

[Ostifer]

Not so sure about your first paragraph and your second paragraph is wrong. With electronic timing, everybody in the same batch gets the same start time and not when you actually roll over the line, therefore the first guy over the finish line will have the fastest time.

@Andydude - I believe you are 100% correct.

 

Furthermore (my 2c worth), a race properly timed should (in my opinion) be able to - for each rider using the timing technology correctly - produce their actual riding time (Time between crossing of start and finish line) and Official Race Time (Time between crossing finish line and start time of the batch that they actually started in).

 

Where a person started out of batch - whether they moved up or down - they could be identified and then - at the instruction of the race officials either be removed or denoted as starting out of batch.

 

Official Race Time should then be the time used for seeding purposes.