Backup Timing

For larger events it is not a bad idea to set up some form of backup timing. This means you will have two separate methods of collecting the data.

Usually you will have a manual backup. Manual timing is any form of time recording where a human records in some way the racer’s time. This can be a stop watch, writing down time of day, or by using the keypad screen on the Zone4 app.

By having someone recording times at the start of each segment by entering the plate number and pressing enter when the rider starts, Zone4 will collect a time independent of the chip system. If for some reason a chip read is missed, we can use the times from the phone to determine start time.

The same system can be used at the finish, but keep in mind enduro racers will be moving quite fast. First make sure whoever is doing back up timing is safe and well back from the trail! They also might have a hard time seeing the plates. To help with this you can either have a caller further up the trail, calling out the plate numbers to the person with the phone, or have someone collecting order of finish. This can be as simple as writing down the numbers in order of finish on a piece of paper, and then manually entering them into Zone4.

By setting up a phone running the app at each timing point, and assigning the phone as a backup device,  you can also turn on chip pings in Zone4. This will give you and indication of when a chip is near a phone, allowing you to confirm if a racer was at a timing point at a time that makes sense.

It can take some work to figure out the different times and get them all to make sense. While it can be a good idea to use a backup, figure out a way to keep it simple and effective.