While I have always been in the "USE SERIAL CONNECTION" camp to avoid sadness to Split Second. I decided to do some testing as the cold hard truth is that I cannot purchase any new laptop with a serial port and my timing computers are getting on in years.
For the test I used a TIMY PXE connected to a Dell XP Pro machine with a not so special USB cable, plugged straight in, no hub. For impulses I connected a start clock that was set to throw a pulse every 30 seconds. For SST I used Club program with 3000 competitors loaded and set for autoload of competitors. This test was also looking to test the lifespan of the start clock battery so this is what I got.
760 competitors, 6 hours 20 minutes of pulses from the clock to the TIMY with no drops and all competitors with the same time. This ran at night and no other functions were being performed on the computer. I plan to repeat the test with power supplied to the start clock to see how deep I can go. I also plan to repeat the test with max competitors in the NATIONAL/FIS program.
As stated I have always been less trusting of USB but hoping that improved TIMY firmware and updates to SST will overcome problems of the past. Your mileage may vary.
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