A decoder that gives no passings
The decoder is connected (green light, it answers commands), it sees the transponders on its own screen, and yet no lap appears in FINISH. The log tells you why: every passing that does not become a lap is written there with its reason.
Example: the morning of the Coupe Hollywood, at the Starford oval. A RACE RESULT decoder installed indoors, without GPS, has just been switched on; the pair “500 m Women — P01” is loaded, and Sofía Arrieta is doing a warm-up lap with chip 1_BLANC.
1. Where to look
- The Configuration module
Configuration module: the status (“Connected”), the number of Passings received, the dot of the STA line on the track drawing, the Log and the Latest passings.
If “Passings received” is increasing, the decoder is talking to FINISH: the problem lies between the frame and the race. If it stays at zero, see below (nothing arrives).
- The log
Every refused passing is written there, with the reason and the values. Repetitions are grouped: one line, then at most one every 10 s “(and N more times in 10 s)”.
2. What the log says: at the equipment
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| “passing ignored — loop Channel=2 LoopID=1 (transponder …) matches no line (lines: STA Channel=1 LoopID=1, …)” | The identifier of a track line must be the one the decoder sends, as read in this message. Correct it in Track and loops. (With a single line, it receives everything.) |
| “passing ignored — line L2 (…) is disabled in the track” | Check the line's “Active” box in Track and loops. |
| “passing ignored — unreadable frame (reason): text received” | The reason says which field is the problem. Report it () with this line. |
| “passing ignored — no. 12 (…) already received: resent by the decoder” | Normal in small numbers (a resend after reconnection). |
| “the decoder has no date (no GPS, “0000-00-00”) …” | Indoor decoder without GPS: its passings are dated with the computer's day. Set its clock (step 3). |
| “the decoder has neither date nor time set … brought to the computer's clock” | Its clock started from 00:00 at power-on: set it (step 3). |
| “protocol 1.0 (the decoder accepts 1.0 to 2.6)” then “protocol 2.6 requested” | Nothing: FINISH requests the right version itself. |
3. What the log says: at the session
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| “Passing ZD0011A (STA at 08:05:07.123) not assigned: no race loaded” | Load a race. In training, check the free sequence so that a first passing starts free practice. |
| “… not assigned: unknown transponder (no. …): no athlete or transponder in the database” | The transponder belongs to nobody: check its code in the athlete's record, the Athletes tab or History › Transponders. |
| “… not assigned: X is in no loaded race”, “its athlete is in “1B”, not in the active race “1A””, “its athlete's race (“1A”) has not started” | Load or activate the right race; give the start. |
| “… refused by “500 m Women — P01”: race not started / duplicate / less than 2 s since the previous passing (debounce) / lap below the minimum / passing too old (check the decoder's clock)” | The race received the passing and refused it: the reason says which of its rules. “Passing too old”: the decoder's clock (step 3), or the limit for passings in the past. |
| “Passing … not processed: “Passings OFF”” | Set the Passings switch back to ON. |
4. This morning's case
- Read the log
“the decoder has neither date nor time set … brought to the computer's clock”, then “Passing KZ7AC1A (STA at 00:42:17.006) … refused by “500 m Women — P01”: race not started”.
Two things: the decoder's clock shows a few minutes past midnight; and the pair has not had its start yet (this is the warm-up: refusing is normal).
- Set the clock
Equipment settings… → Device commands → Set the clock (confirmation). Then Read the clock: the gap with the computer is a few milliseconds. Check Set the device clock on connection so you never have to think about it again.
- The detailed log, if needed
Still nothing? Check Detailed decoder log (Protocol options). It applies immediately, without Apply: every frame received (“← #P;12;KZ7AC1A;…”) and every command sent (“→ …”) goes to the log. There you read the channel and the loop of each passing, to copy into Track and loops.
Uncheck it afterwards: the log fills up quickly.
- Recover the lost passings
If a race was missed during the search: load it, then Recorded passings… → the period → select its start and its passings → Replay the selection…. Everything the equipment delivered is in the database, even if refused.
5. Nothing arrives at all
- Is the Decoder switch ON? Is the status “Connected” (otherwise: address, port, cable, firewall; “Disconnected (retrying in 3 s)”)?
- RACE RESULT: is the decoder in operation mode (Start operation)? Push or pull mode? Is the loop power (Read) not at 0%?
- USB Timing Box: it only receives its own loop.
- With SIM: is the Accept ChronoFEED-SIM box checked (Broadcast)?