UPDATING THE ALGE TDC 8000/8001 ASSIGNED START TIMES USING THE COM TO FILE PROGRAM

MANY TYPES OF TIME TRIAL RACES LIKE CYCLING, MARATHON, X COUNTRY USE “ASSIGNED” START TIMES. THE COM TO FILE SOFTWARE WILL ALLOW YOU TO UPDATE AN ALGE TDC 8000/8001 WITH THESE TIMES.

THE ALGE TDC 8000/8001 IS CAPABLE OF RUNNING 4 RACES SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE SAME BIB NUMBERS. MAKE SURE THAT YOU SCHEDULE YOUR RACES IN SUCH A WAY THAT THERE IS ENOUGH TIME TO SWITCH WITHOUT HAVING SERIOUS OVERLAPS. YOU CAN OF COURSE SWITCH RACES ON THE FLY WITH THE TDC AS LONG AS YOU DON’T THE CLEAR THE RACE.

THE COM TO FILE PROGRAM WILL ALLOW YOU TO SEND THE START TIME DATA TO THE TDC 8000/8001 USING A BIDIRECTIONAL CABLE.

DB9 FEMALE TO 5 PIN DIN


PIN 5 GROUND - PIN 2 -PIN 5 DIN
PIN 4 – 6 JUMPED TOGETHER ON DB 9
DB9 PIN 3 -PIN 3 ON 5 PIN DIN
DB9 PIN 2 -PIN 1 ON 5 PIN DIN
DB9 PIN 8 - PIN 5 ON 5 PIN DIN
DB9 PIN 7 - PIN 2 ON 5 PIN DIN


YOU WILL UPLOAD THE RACES ONE AT A TIME INTO THE CORRESPONDING RACE ON THE TDC.

1) START THE TDC 8000/01 AND CLEAR THE FIRST RACE
2) CONNECT THE PC TO THE TDC WITH THE CABLE
3) OPEN YOUR EXCEL FILE WITH THE DATA THAT YOU WISH TO UPLOAD. YOU MAY HAVE TO CUT AND PASTE ONE BIG START LIST INTO SEVERAL SEPARATE LISTS BASED ON YOUR BIB NUMBER RANGE.
4) THE ONLY COLUMNS YOU NEED ARE BIB NUMBER AND START TIME
5) SORT THE DATA BY START TIME
6) COPY THE DATA INTO THE CLIPBOARD
7) OPEN COM TO FILE
8) SELECT TABLE
9) PRESS LOAD TABLE
10) RIGHT CLICK ON TABLE
11) SCROLL TO THE TOP TO EXPOSE THE SAMPLE TIMES
12) DOUBLE RIGHT CLICK ON THE TOP BIB TO BRING UP THE WORKBOOK DESIGNER
13) PASTE YOUR NEW DATA INTO THE SHEET
14) CLOSE THE DESIGNER
15) PRESS SEND ALL TIMES
16) THE TABLE WILL UPDATE AS IT SENDS THE TIME TO THE TDC.
17) THE TDC WILL PRINT THE START TIMES (UNLESS YOU TURN THE PRINTER OFF)
18) REPEAT THE PROCESS FOR THE REMAINING RACES. THE TDC MUST HAVE A CLEAR RACE TO SEND THE DATA TO.
19) THE START TIME DATA MUST BE COPIED AND PASTED INTO THE TABLE AND THEN SENT FOR EVERY RACE.
20) YOU CAN USE THIS FEATURE TO UPDATE START TIMES IF YOUR RACE IS DELAYED. KEEP EACH OF YOUR RACES IN A DIFFERENT SHEET TO MAKE IT EASY TO COPY AND PASTE.

AS NOTED ELSEWHERE, YOU CAN USE COM TO FILE TO SERVE AS AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN A COMET OR TIMY AND THE TDC. START TIMES COLLECTED BY THE TIMY CAN BE DOWNLOADED, AND THEN REUPLOADED INTO THE TDC.

MAKE SURE YOU PRACTICE THESE CONCEPTS PRIOR TO RACING. THE DATA CAN BE OVERWRITTEN AS NEEDED.

Cable layout

s4-bidirect-data-cable.gif (32 Kb, 31 downloads)

COM to File is also very useful for downloading the net times from the TDC into Excel after the race. You can query the TDC from the program. All of the "classment" options are available. Recording the data dumps it into the generic excel "tabelle" that can then be cut and pasted into your sheet.