# Chip timing. Do you have this?



## Todd_H (Nov 20, 2009)

There is always a debate going on about chip timing here in Colorado. This recent discussion gives a bit of the back story: ACA releases statement on Chip Timing System | 303Cycling News

Essentially what happened was the ACA/BRAC purchased a timing system that was expensive, it doesn't work or kind of works occasionally, there have been issues communicating with the vendor (they only speak French apparently), racers are required to purchase $35 chips or rent them for $10 per race, promoters pay $800 (I think) to use the system, etc.

Racing is huge in Oregon/Washington and I'm wondering if you all use timing chips at your events? If yes, are all of your races chip timed or just major ones? Does it work? If not, how are results scored?

Just curious. Thanks.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

Todd_H said:


> There is always a debate going on about chip timing here in Colorado. This recent discussion gives a bit of the back story: ACA releases statement on Chip Timing System | 303Cycling News
> 
> Essentially what happened was the ACA/BRAC purchased a timing system that was expensive, it doesn't work or kind of works occasionally, there have been issues communicating with the vendor (they only speak French apparently), racers are required to purchase $35 chips or rent them for $10 per race, promoters pay $800 (I think) to use the system, etc.
> 
> ...


I'm not from Oregon. I'm from Colorado, and I have experience working with timing & scoring systems - mainly with karts, sportscars and RC cars. They're all pretty much the same, operating with the same types of transponders, detection loops and so on. The softwware used will vary a bit, but the hardware is basically the same.

And they all "work".

It's been my experience that when clubs have trouble with T&S systems it's largely user-related and not the fault of the system per se. It could also be that transponder chips aren't being used correctly.

To properly score a race properly using old school methods you'd need a small army of volunteers using several stopwatches each and keeping everything written down on a scoring sheet. Compared to electronic scoring, pounding nails with a small rock is a more sensible solution to a problem.

Do you know what company supplies the hardware and software?


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

I was a sort-of ringer for a Ski to Sea team a couple years ago. That's a multisport relay race with seven legs. We had a laminated thing that we passed at each handoff point. It actually worked really well. While the race is massed-start, it's really big, and massed-start means everybody, from pro teams to recreational teams, and the handoff points are spread around an entire county.

I've been chip timed for cyclocross. I've also done 'cross without chip timing. And I've done some faster massed start races and some corner marshaling.

It seems to me that chip timing works really well for timed events. I think for massed start events in which the riders are either in a pack or getting dropped, its usefulness depends on whether anybody cares about the times, and whether different groups can get mixed up together or not. So for a road race - meh. For cyclocross, it seemed helpful. For the Ski to Sea or a time trial, awesome.


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