Photocells and lanes
With a photocell timer, a signal does not say who broke the beam. For each lane, FINISH keeps the queue of expected athletes and gives each signal to the first one; the Lanes panel shows these queues and the animated track, and the Photocells tab shows what became of each signal. Both exist only in Photocells mode.
1500 m Women — P02 · lap 3 · expected 13:58:21.4NEXT
1500 m Women — P02 · lap 3 · expected 13:58:21.9NEXT
13:57:50.087 · PC2 → BROUWERS, Saskia (1500 m)
- The title, Update (recompute the queues from the races in progress), detach the panel into its own window (second screen) or dock it on the right.
- How the queues are kept.
- The two queues: the card of the first expected athlete has a blue outline (“NEXT”).
- The latest signals received, and the corrections.
- The animated track.
The Lanes panel
Docked on the right of the main window (adjust its width by dragging its left edge) or detached into its own window.
- The modes: Prediction (the order follows the expected time of each athlete's next passing, adjusted to their last lap); Without prediction (athletes added and removed automatically, the existing order is kept); Manual (the operator sets the order; only the athlete who has just passed changes queue).
- Moving an athlete: drag their card (even into the other lane), or with the keyboard Ctrl+↑ ↓ (up, down), Ctrl+Home / End (to the top, to the end), Ctrl+← → (to the other lane). A queue set by hand shows “Operator's order”; Auto order hands control back to the expected times.
- Latest signals: Remove (false signal: nobody passed, the athlete becomes the first expected again); Give to (this signal belonged to another athlete). A handle above the list adjusts its height. A second signal from the same lane within 300 ms is a bounce, and is ignored, unless the next athlete of that lane is expected at that moment (overtaking on the line).
- Overtaking (Prediction mode): the order follows the expected time, so a faster athlete moves ahead of the one they catch, and ahead of the one they lap in a mass start. When two athletes cross the line one behind the other in the reverse of the expected order, a single Give to is enough: the wrongly given signal and the other athlete's signal are swapped. An athlete whose passing was not seen (two athletes side by side, a single signal) no longer takes the others' signals once half a lap late; they are found again at the next lap, in the other lane, and their missed passing is estimated at the expected time (“estimated end”, noted in the log).
- The animated track: positions estimated between two passings, adjusted at each signal. Blue outline: the next one expected in their lane; red: late compared with their prediction. Orange zone: lane change; dotted lines: start line of each pair. Cap: the color of the start position; border: the color of the pair. Chips: athlete's avatar shows their photo instead of the initials.
- Track dimensions (toggle button): length (that of the races), length of a straight (0 = auto), width of a lane, finish line after zero (500, 1000, 1500 m: 50 m; 10,000 m: 0), center and length of the changeover zone; track configurations to Save, Open…, Export…. A race whose track length differs is not drawn.
A false start or a restart empties the race's queues: at the new start, everyone starts again from their starting lane.
The Photocells tab
Where: Timing, Photocells tab (Photocells mode only)
The signals received (photocells and starts), most recent first, read from the database: you can go back to before FINISH was launched. Period: last 15 min, last 1 h, last 2 h or between two times; Refresh. Columns: signal time, date, type, lane (1 inner, 2 outer), loop (PC1, PC2, BOX…), channel, what became of it (“→ C01 (1000 m)”, “bounce ignored”, “no athlete expected in this lane”, “passing removed by the operator”, “ignored (Passings OFF)”; empty: not processed by this FINISH; “replayed” badge), equipment.
Replay the selection… (Ctrl or Shift + click) gives the signals back to the races in progress, in order and with their original time: each goes to the first expected athlete in its lane. Confirmation (default answer: No). A signal older than the limit for passings in the past is refused by the race.