Transponders for mass cycling events

Winning Time also has an active transponder timing system. AMB has the product with the longest history in the U.S., but reported poor service. Winning Time's system is newly developed, but highly supported in the U.S. and tested overseas. J-Chip does not have a U.S. support division that I am aware of.
Jenna

We have been timing the LOTOJA for a number of years. This year there are going to be over 1700 riders. The first year we used the Winning Time passive system. We missed a few riders using it. The read height was not good enough. The chips were on the rider's ankles and when they crossed the line with the pedal in the 12 o'clock position we didn't get a read. If is was at the 9 or 3 o'clock position we got most of the reads. At 6 o'clock we got all the reads. Passive systems are more prone to interference and not near as precise.

We have since moved to the AMB Activ and now ChipX system. I wouldn't time a bike race without ChipX. We've used it at several bike races this year and it has been great. The reliability and read heights are the difference. As for their customer service... They have had their issues. I think it is improving slowly.

As far as costs goes, they are encouraging individual racers to purchase a personal chip. This passes the cost from the timer to the athlete. Apparently it is working pretty well in Europe. I think that is a great idea, but it has long way to go here in the States. Too many people are used to the model developed by ChampionChip, where the race timer provides the chip.

I have heard AMB has worked out something with US Cycling where riders can now register a personal chip with US Cycling and that information will be transmitted to the race timer when you register for the race. I am not sure if the registration is going to be limited to AMB transponders. As a race timer we haven't seen anything official about that yet. Apparently the folks at SportBase Online are going to be selling AMB ChipX chips soon.

Advertised read height for Winning Time's active system is 6ft.

I would agree, an active system is the way to go for cycling.
Jenna

Our sources indicate that USA Cycling and Sports base Online have received information from AMB and Times-7. We are not sure about Winning Time. No decision on any aspect of those proposals has been acted on yet.

You can expect that USA Cycling, Sports Base Online, Bike Reg, etc will need to be able to deal with several different vendors of transponders,chips, and tags.

A common file transfer format such as the Lynx .evt, .ppl, and .lif file may be adopted to ease the ability of end users to create rosters and file results.

I have developed and tested a system using passive RFID tags. This past weekend it was used in parallel at the Ontario Provincial MTB championships and all laps were successfully captured and within one second of the usual timing system used (photo cells). The tag was attached to the riders plate and I used two antennas. One for the lap lane and one for the finish lane. I have also successfully tested it for road racing with the finish area 24 feet wide (two antennas, one on each side) and with cyclo-cross. The tags cost about 10 cents each if ordered in bulk.

Not that lap times in MTB XC need great accuracy, but 1 second doesn't seem to be great accuracy for timing, maybe its ok for identification?

The 1 second difference was due to the entering the start time and antenna positioning at the finish. The system provides the time in thousands of a second.

I don't want to get into a discussion of precision, that is not going to go anywhere. While the timing device may be accurate to the 1 thousands of a second, the importance here is the accuracy of the input device, ability to deal with collisions (in the case of RFID), etc.

My experience is, for road racing, an active system is, presently, the only way to go. I've collaborated with three Spanish companies and all are using AMB Active with excellent results.

But, apart from capital cost, the next big problem is that (I'm told) the devices have non-replaceable batteries and an approximate 2-year life-span.

If this is correct, a timing company must either charge a lot or go to many events to recoup the cost.

Seamus,

AMB does not have replaceable batteries (and their warranty runs out long before the battery is supposed to), but they have the most widely used system. Both Winning Time and Chronolec have systems which have replaceable or rechargeable batteries. Life for Winning Time is supposed to equal more than 2 years and cost is $3-$5/chip for replacement of batter and seal. Chronolec's chip life for sports timing is 4-5 year battery cycle between charges which have to be done at the factory by induction.

Your right, it isn't "cheap".
Jenna

The AMB Pro chip is supposed to last 5 years. The folks at AMB are telling me they are working on a replacement program, where you would get some sort of discount when you trade in your AMB chip for a new one. No details yet. Hopefully it'll similar to replacing batteries on other systems.

I have also heard rumors the AMB is going to be offering a chip that will work for a year at a substantial discount off their current prices. I have not been able to get my contacts at AMB to confirm this. I'd be interested in something like this.

They say the AMB X will work for 5 years, but they said the same thing about AMB "Active" but many died after 2 years, even in the middle of events with no notice. They chips were out of warrenty, and AMB didn't do anything about it for a while and left timing companies to fend for themselves. AMB X has not been around for 5 year yet so there is no way to learn how long a chip will last. Either way, I wouldn't mind a chip that could last longer than 5 years.
Jenna