At 04:33 PM 8/29/00 -0700, Giles Douglas wrote:
>Now, since we're in the computer-enlightened Bay Area, all we need is for
>some enterprising soul to donate a PC and write an application that enables
>us to enter scores and cones for the drivers on course, and we could have
>instant results at the end of the rungroup (well, almost).
>
>(Unless someone already tried that and it didn't work?)
>
>Don't suppose the timer apparatus has a RS232 port or something for the
>ultimate hands off system, does it?
Hi Giles -
I've looked into this for another club that I'm in. The JACircuits timer
does have a data port (or at least an option to have a data port
installed), and there is software available to capture the output from the
timer and take care of timing and scoring.
However, there are two significant issues to automating timing and
scoring. One is the data entry problem. All of the T&S software that I
looked at require driver information (at a minimum, class and #) to be
entered before that car can do a run. If that takes 10 seconds per driver,
that means that we will need to spend around 42 minutes entering data for
our typical 250 driver event. If we eliminated onsite registration and
went to pre-registration only, we can get all the data into the computer
before the event. Of course, that means that some poor soul gets stuck
spending their time entering all the data...but the end result is pretty
good, as shown by how well it all works at the Divisional.
The second issue is one of training. Operating the PC is a skilled task,
probably requiring more training than any other trailer job. If we're
having problems with people learning how to sort cards or operate the
timer, how are we going to get enough trained people to operate the
computer? Also, we need to train a bunch of people to set up and put away
the computer, too, along with some people who can troubleshoot whatever
problems may occur.
Now, there are ways around the data entry problem. I read on team.net that
some other region/club is putting together a networked T&S system, so they
can have multiple data entry stations to speed up registration. We could
go to pre-registration only events. We could do something fancy with bar
codes and big databases. However, all these take more specialized
knowledge, or more money, or more equipment, or more people to make
happen. Also, since they are all more complex, they are more likely to
break down, causing more delays.
Anyways, just some food for thought...
Jim Ochi
jochi@liquidaudio.com
|