Zone4 Announcer View, often referred to as a Commentator Information System (CIS), is an interface that allows a race commentator or announcer to have a live-updating list of racers crossing any timing point during your race. This interface has been designed so that it can easily run on a tablet or a desktop, giving the announcer the option of being mobile at the race site. If you don’t have an announcer, Announcer View can also be used as a TV display for spectators along with Scrolling TV results.

You can find the announcer view on the results tab, after you have set up your results:

Select the fields that you want to show the announcer, and if you want to set up different result groups or any other options for the announcer you can do that by clicking the More Options button.  The More Options page for announcer results has all the same options as configuring a result set – you can define your racer groups and select various timing options like whether to calculate times from the Gun Start or Chip Start time if that is relevant at your race.  For more information about configuring results, click here.

Additionally, you can find access the announcer view using the settings of any other result set on your race by clicking Commentator View under the Publish & Share menu.

 

Selecting a Timing Point

The announcer view displays a list of racers crossing a timing point.  In most cases, that timing point will be the finish, not an intermediate timing point, but if you want to use the feed from a different timing point then the finish line that option is available and is pictured below.

Viewing the Announcer Data Stream

As racers cross the selected timing point, their name and information will appear on the screen.  Racers are highlighted with yellow when they first appear, and then fade to white over 10 seconds to give a visual indication of how recently they crossed.

The following fields are always displayed on the top line , left to right:

• Bib Number
• Racer Name
• Name of Crossing  – This is relevant if racers are crossing the timing point you have selected more then once in a race.  For example, if you are running a multi-lap race where racers come through the finish on each lap, the name will be either the lap number they’re on, or “Finish” when they’re finishing.  If racers are only crossing the timing point once (as is the case in the example above), then the name of the crossing will always be the same and correspond to the name of the timing point you have selected (usually finish).
• Time: This as a racers total time.  This obeys the settings on the result set that the announcer view was opened from. For example, If the results are configured to use a chip start, it will be their chip time.
• Rank (in parentheses): This is the racer’s rank in their result group (often category) when they crossed this timing point.  In the example above, you can see that Sebastien and Graeme both are ranked (1) despite being in the same results group (Senior Men Distance Free). This is because Sebastian was first when he crossed the line and then Graeme, who started 30 seconds later, beat that time.

The second line, in smaller font underneath the racer’s name, displays racer fields.  The first field is displayed automatically, and is the name of the racer’s result group (aka category).  The rest of the fields on the second line are the fields you have selected to be included on the results set.

Using a Precall Device

Using a precall device allows you to announce who is coming towards the finish as well as who last crossed the finish line. This device is usually set up so racers cross it about 10-15 seconds before the finish line, but can be placed before any timing point and can be set up at any distance before that timing point.

Adding a Precall Device

To add a precall device, first access the Device Setup page for your race. The select the Add Another Device button for the timing point you would like to set up precall on:

This will display a list of devices you can choose from. Once you have added a device you need to set it as a precall device. To do this, click the “timing device” label underneath the device name, and select “precall device” from the drop down menu.  In the example pictured above and below, GoChip loop #5 is set up as the primary timing device at the finish line, and GoChip Loop #32 is the Precall device.

Using Announcer View with a Precall Device

When you have a precall device configured at a timing point, racers will appear at the top of the Announcer View screen (without a time or ranking) when they cross the precall device.  Then, as more racers cross, they will get bumped down the list . If they are still visible on the screen when they cross the timing device (the primary device for that point, usually the finish line), they will be given a time and ranking but remain in the same place on the screen.

If, by the time they have crossed the timing device , they are no longer visible on the screen (i.e. if enough other racers have come through that they have fallen off the bottom of the screen), they will be bumped back to the top of the screen with their time and ranking. All racers will be highlighted in yellow when they pass a device (either precall or timing).

 

Giving other users access to the announcer view at your race

If you have an announcer at your race and you would like to give them access to announcer mode without giving them full permissions to edit and time the race, you can add them as a user in the main settings area for the race.  Click the Add a User button, and then enter the email address of the user you would like to give access to.

When that user signs in to Zone4 they will see your race on their homepage, and clicking the link will take them directly into Announcer View.