I measured my first race course around 1980.
At that time the minimum permissible length of a calibration course was ½ mile or 1 km. As with many beginners I was daunted by the prospect of having to steel-tape a calibration course of that length. The nearest calibration course from my home was atop Columbus’ Hoover Dam, and it was somewhat over 3000 feet long, with a PK nail set in the dam concrete. It was 15 miles from home.
At that time I was conferring with a local surveyor who had a number of steel tapes ready to sell. He had never heard of the calibrated bicycle method, and was interested. While we were talking about it I mentioned my reluctance to take on a ½ mile taping job. He offered me the free use of one of his firm’s Wild D13S Distomat total station rigs, complete with target and tripods.
I used the rig to establish a cal course near my house. It was something just over 3000 feet as I recall, and has since been paved over. I now use a 1000 footer in the street in front of my house.
This experience convinced me that a shorter permissible calibration course length would be a boon to measurers, and it came to pass.
I can lay out a 300 meter cal course single-handed in less than a half hour, and I doubt that I’d have an interest in electronic marvels, especially those with calibrations that are simply the unsupported word of the manufacturer.