Have just returned from helping out on a race and had a major problem with connectivity as described below.
System A was a Timy connected via its serial port to a USB to serial converter, and worked flawlessly.
System B was a Timy connected to a the computer via USB direct.
Thankfully the problems occurred on system B only. After establishing connectivity in SS set up and test, and assuring that the 'Timy control' page was fully operational we started the race. Almost immediately SS left a racer in the start gate - the USB signals were not getting through. A check with the 'Timy control' page showed that the signals were not getting through, and I would close the connection, then open it again , and all would be well for a few racers, then the connection would be lost again.
The only solution within the pressure of keeping the race going was to quit SS and run system B on the TIMY alone using the Stopwatch program rather than backup. Clean solution to a dirty problem, but fine as it was system B.
After the race, I uninstalled all of SS and the Alge Flash drive, and even the SS dongle driver, then loaded it all again, and for a 15 minute period of testing it looked like all was OK, but no once I got back to a race I lost continuous connectivity, and again had to resort to timing only on the TIMY. (f course this works fine from a timing point of view, but you would not have any friends in the race office if this were system A.)
We have preciously extensively used TIMY connections via USB, starting last year, and including last Whistler Cup with 4 TIMY's running simultaneously and over 200 racers per side. No dropped signals.
So now what is wrong? Well, there was one change from the previous use which I thought was subtle. At Whistler we use amplified USB hubs. For the above race I did not bring this, and did not think I needed it. Am interested to know if this or some other bug is the problem. I would not be happy to know that my system A depended on the amplification of a USB hub, unless the power were protected at least. In the mean time I expect that I will return to USB to serial converters, even though the setup can be irritating because of driver problems, com ports etc, the execution once running has always been flawless.
I'd love to hear about other experiences in this regard
Original Post