Setting up a redundant timing system?

Hi Ulrik,

I believe that the answer to your question lies in Rule 165.20 of the Competition rules of the IAAF:

There should be at least two photo finish cameras in action, one from each side. Preferably, these timing systems should be technically independant, i.e. with different power supplies and recording and relaying the report of the starter's gun, by separate equipment and cables...

It goes on to state that one camera should be designated as official prior to the start of the competition, and that the times and places from the other camera should not be considered unless there is reason to doubt the accuracy of the official camera of if you need to resolve an uncertainty in the finishing order (ie. an athlete is obscured).

Practically, in my mind, this means two cameras, one on each side of the track. Each has its own UPS backup and its own set of cables going out to a start transducer (ie. two sets of cables and start transducers. In Australia, we generally tend to run with this type of setup from State level competitions and above, with some exceptions when the equipment and manpower is available. In fifteen years of using this type of setup I have never personally seen both systems go down at the same time.

Regards,
George.

For a championships meet i will have three FinishLynx cameras and two IdentiLynx cameras setup on two redundant systems. I will typically have two FinishLynx cameras on the inside and one on the outside, as well as an IdentiLynx camera on each side. One of the inside FinishLynx cameras, the outside camera and an IdendiLynx camera are on one system and the other FinishLynx and IdentiLynx camera are on another system.

I use two remote start sensors. I usually have them configured to the same channel. This way, if one start sensor fails, the remaining sensor will still trigger both systems.

Obviously with more equipment, the system becomes very versatile, but it also is way more complex. Also with a one man show, a redundant setup can get a little tricky to operate. I can usually handle it, but I would be more comfortable with a second operator.

Chris

for Mt SAC, we usually had 2 cameras on the same system, one higher than the other, with a redundant system on the other side, separate wired starts.