The S4 timer has maximum memory of 8000 times. No times will be transmitted to the PC if this limit is exceeded. Times will still be printed out ( one very good reason why the FIS/USSA requires a directly connected battery powered printer on all timers). The S4 manual deals with this situation on page 12. Please take the time to read it. You CANNOT deal with the problem once the race has begun! All S4 timers shipped from PST are set to ask the CLr JA question upon start up. By pressing the Red and Yellow buttons together you are clearing the memory. You will not use up the 8000 splits under normal circumstances. You may however if you have a tremendous number of false pulses do to faulty wiring, poorly shielded PC connections or static discharges. The FIS requirement of shutting down the timer and performing a resync for the next run certainly cuts down on the possiblities of memory overflow as well.
To set the S4 on Clr Ja
1)Hold the toggle switch up and turn timer on
2)Release toggle
3) Press toggle up once the timer stops the start up routine
4) Clr NEIN (no in german) will appear
5) Press the Yellow button once and CLr JA (yes in german) appears
6) Press Red and Yellow together to confirm and save Clr JA
7) The timer will now ask Clr JA when ever it is turned on again
Changing batteries should not cause the timer to lose the programming. Please be vigilent. Never let anyone start timing a race without clearing the memory.
You then need to make sure the S4 is set in Program 3 and you should be all set.