ChronoFEED SIM Help
The simulator. SIM finds FINISH on the network, emulates its decoder or its timer and runs the athletes of its races, so you can try out FINISH or train a team without bringing out the hardware. Nothing to configure in SIM: it follows FINISH — device, track, transponders, races.
- Getting started
Allow SIM in FINISH, launch it, connect FINISH, a first race.
- Scenarios
Training a timekeeper, rehearsing a competition, testing a decoder, passings by hand, the FINISH option.
- Reference by screen
The window reproduced and explained, setting by setting.
- Glossary
Link, simulated equipment, heat, realistic race, intended error, com0com…
- Context help (F1)
From the SIM window to the right section of this help.
The principle: two links, and FINISH does not know
broadcast · device (usual driver) ① state: device, track, transponders, races ──▶
◀──▶ ② the real protocol, on the real transport
(network, or serial port through com0com) ChronoFEED-SIM
link · simulated equipment
- The data link: SIM connects to the FINISH broadcast, like TABLEAU and VOICE. FINISH publishes its device, its track, its transponders and its races there. No passing travels over it.
- The timing link: FINISH connects to the simulated device exactly as to the real one (same transport, same protocol), through its own setting. Its drivers do not know who is sending the passings: what you try out with SIM is what will run with the hardware.
Two modes
| Mode | What SIM does |
|---|---|
| Race | It follows the races loaded in FINISH, gives the starts (when you click, or on its own at a track's pace) and runs the athletes at the pace FINISH expects, with or without intended errors. |
| Manual | You send passings yourself for transponders chosen from the FINISH list: one by one, a whole selection, or in automatic laps with or without errors. |
Seven emulated devices
Transponder decoders: RACE RESULT, Ubidium, MyLaps, Chronelec (network or serial port) and USB Timing Box (serial port). Photocell timers: FDS TBox and Microgate REI2 (serial port). The device is chosen in FINISH; a serial device is simulated on the FINISH computer, through a pair of virtual ports. See The emulated equipment.
The example data
The examples are those of the FINISH help, fictitious: the long track Coupe Hollywood at the Starford oval (400 m), the athletes of SPEEDSKATING FAMOUS (SKF) and HOLLYWOOD SPEEDSKATING (HSK), to import into FINISH: athletes.csv, athletes.xlsx, athletes.json. The computer names and addresses (FINISH-Starford, 192.168.1.20; PORTABLE-SIM, 192.168.1.35) are examples.