DAG timing system

Not sure if it's the same system but there was something similar out there before but it depended on microwaves to activate the transponder, and the level was so high that people with certain medical conditions could be in danger.

When you say "internal" races do you mean for club members only? If so, that's a plus for a reusable transponder system - just tell the runners not to forget their chips - "no chip, no time." If I were starting off from scratch and timing events of several hundred or less, I'd go with the AMB system - I was very impressed with it at the RRTC meeting.

It is RFID, not microwave. The finish (or split point) has a single cable strung up and over it (up to 2.3m wide) and the chip is stuc on the back of the number. As the chip costs only $1 it is considered displosable, so we reuse the numbers each race with a 1 or 2% loss rate, which gives us about 3 years life for the numbers (and hence the chips).

Yes, internal is for club members. We do have some visitors, but typically our fields are only about 250 - just at that point where manual timing, series points scores, and reporting is extremely time consuming.

We are also looking at Runtime Software to manage the actual results.

Jim, really looks like you were impresed with one technical presentation of one system, I have been thru many technical presentation of diferent systems.

It all comes down to basic questions.

What you need it for
What density you will have
How much are you willing to spend
Do you need back up
Are you willing to purchase chips all the time

For a running score program Run Score from Allan Jones is the best. If you are in the measuring Business you know him. www.runscore.com

Pedro

Hi Stephen,
We bought the system for our timing business & have developed a love/hate relationship over the past year.
The disposable chips are great. Next to no mix-ups, every runner has their chip if they brought their bib & no hassle with retrieval of chips after the race.
The downside is that there are lots of parts for the system and many things that can go wrong. Support is good but sometimes a bit of an issue with translation from broken English (French company). Good power sources seem to be a must -- we tried the battery method but soon found out we needed to be plugged into generators or outlets.
They are still making improvements to the system & it seems to be easier every race. We have found that we are better off using the system for races that are larger than 300 people.
If you plan on timing enough large events to cover the cost of the system & can "sell" the extra money involved with the DAG chip -- then it's worth it. If you are timing a bunch of smaller races... pull tags!
Jeff

Jeff
thanks for the feedback - especially the battery part - that is a key area we are concerned with as 3 of our race locations do not have any power outlets, and we don't have a generator.... and of course, our races are averaging 300, right on the "do we / don't we" decision point!

I will have to do some more homework.
regards
Stephen

We've been timing races for many years. I do not see the value of any chip system (cost of system - extra costs to race/partcipants) if timing events of less than say 600.

For very large events, it definately makes sense. For smaller events, 500 on down it is simply not worth it. In addition, with experience, it is just as fast overall to use the traditional pull tag/data entry system to produce the computerized results.

Secondly, there is no other costs or time associated with. With chips there is a lot of time involved before and after the race dealing with the chips as well.

I agree with Tom. We have been timing races (as SNERRO) for almost 20 years. We do 40-50 per year. Our crew is 3-5 people on race day. Before race day the crew is 1. Chips don't seem (to me) to reduce the before race work for small races, nor do they require fewer volunteers on race day.

If any of you small race timers have succeeded in figuring out the Champion Chip pricing, I'd be interested in a translation.

Pete