The antenna is integrated in a cable bridge which will simply be unfolded. When setting up the ground antenna, please carefully follow the instructions in the separate antenna setup manual.
Barrier
The barrier around the system plays a central role in setting up reliable electronic time keeping. Appropriate barriers fulfill the following purposes:
- Protecting the system from unwanted intrusions by third parties.
- Ensuring that all participants pass the detection line correctly at split times as well as the finish.
- Avoiding unwanted detections of transponders close by.
Without a careful set up of the system, the following problems can occur:
- Spectators and others will, over time, move closer and closer to the system, stand on cables and potentially rip out the cables.
- Runners might miss the finish line detection by passing the antenna on either side.
- Participants who stand next to the finish line will be detected if their transponders (on the shoe or in hand) are within range of the antenna.
Therefore, please pay close attention to the following outline when setting up your system:
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Setup without backup for bibs with two chips |
Athletes should be forced to go over the antenna and should have no way around it. On the left and on the right side, spectators should be kept at least 1 meter/4 ft. away from the antenna. The electric field of the antenna spreads out in a cone shaped angle, i.e. the higher a transponder is, the farther away it can be detected from the antenna. Consequently, other participants standing close to the system with their race pack in hand may trigger detections if the barrier does not create a large enough distance between spectators and the system. As a barrier you may use metal fences, cones, barrier tape, etc.
Note that when using bibs with one chip only, a separate backup line should be placed around 2 meter/6 ft. after the finish line.
The following setup may be used when only one system is available but a backup is required, although in general this is not recommended.
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Setup with backup for bibs with one chip and a single system |
In this setup the ground antenna is split in to 2 segments with 4 antennas each, both connected to the same decoder. In this setup the times may be less accurate since the decoder does not differentiate between different antennas when looking for the highest signal strength.The time may therefore be taken on either the first or second line.
This is a good option for split timing points.