The emulated equipment
SIM emulates seven devices, each one in its real protocol and on its real transport. You do not choose it in SIM: SIM emulates the device set in FINISH (Timing mode). To test another device, change it in FINISH: SIM stops its own and starts the new one.
Choosing the simulated device
- In FINISH, the mode
: Decoder (or Hybrid) for a transponder decoder, Photocells for a timer (see the four modes). In Manual mode, there is no device to emulate.
- The device
Choose the device to try in the FINISH list, then Confirm.
In SIM, the Simulated equipment light shows the new device and its port; the photo changes.
- The connection
Set in FINISH the address and port (or serial port) the SIM guide gives, then the switch to ON.
The seven devices
| In FINISH | Technology | Protocol and transport emulated | SIM port | Code sent for a transponder |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RACE RESULT | Decoder | TCP, text (test and operation modes, like the real one); announces itself on the network | 3601 | the printed code (derived from the number when possible) |
| Ubidium | Decoder | gRPC over HTTPS, memory and recovery; announces itself on the network (the FINISH automatic search finds it) | 443 | the printed code, like RACE RESULT |
| MyLaps (Prochip) | Decoder | TCP, binary P3, memory and recovery | 5403 | the number (failing that, the ProChip code “KZ-01234”) |
| TAG Heuer / Chronelec (Protime) | Decoder | UDP or serial port (9600 baud, 8N1), with its acknowledgements; SIM answers the computer that sends it commands. Passing time: time since Start or time of day | 2008 or COM11 | the number |
| USB Timing Box | Decoder | serial port, 19200 baud; clock set on the rising edge of DTR | COM11 | the printed code, like RACE RESULT |
| FDS TBox | Timer (photocells) | serial port, 115200 baud; three radio transmitters and an input memory (see TBox radio transmitters) | COM11 | — (one signal per lane) |
| Microgate REI2 | Timer (photocells) | serial port; signals on the channels set in FINISH | COM11 | — (one signal per lane) |
- Network device: SIM listens on the real device's usual port; if another program is using it, it takes a free one and displays it — that is the port to enter in FINISH. SIM and FINISH can be on the same computer (address 127.0.0.1) or on two computers on the same network. The SIM installer allows it through the Windows firewall, so that a FINISH on another computer can connect to it.
- Serial device: only on the FINISH computer, through a pair of virtual ports (see com0com); the SIM port is chosen in the link card.
- A Chronelec: SIM takes the link set in FINISH (UDP network or serial port) and the time it expects; you can choose them in the link card.
- The code sent is always the one FINISH will find in its database for this transponder.
The start signal
SIM always gives the start like the gun connected to the device, through the signal FINISH expects from that device:
| Device | Signal sent |
|---|---|
| RACE RESULT | a passing of the FINISH pulse code (99999 by default), on the “Gun” loop if there is one, otherwise on the finish |
| Ubidium | a marker (the device's button) |
| USB Timing Box | the box's start pulse |
| MyLaps | a manual passing of transponder 255 |
| Chronelec | the manual input, transponder 000000, on the box of FINISH's “Gun” line (otherwise MAN): a start if that line is set to “Gun” (the “Cell (255)” button sends the photocell input) |
| FDS TBox | a pulse from the start radio transmitter, which comes out through its input (Radio_A) on the channel the TBox gives it |
| Microgate REI2 | a signal on the start channel set in FINISH |
With a timer whose start channel is disabled in FINISH, SIM does not give the start: give it in FINISH.
Loops and lines
SIM sets up the fake decoder with the loops FINISH publishes (identifier, distance after the finish, signal): each race's finish line, the other loops as intermediate lines. FINISH with no loop set: a single loop, the finish, receives everything. A loop the device cannot represent is skipped and the log says so (“Loop … skipped: …”): for example, the Chronelec protocol only knows boxes STA, BOX, B01–B99; a network decoder expects hexadecimal identifiers. RACE RESULT transponders shorter than 4 characters are ignored by the fake devices.
Why “as for real”
FINISH does not know it is talking to a simulator: it connects to the fake device with its usual classes and links. What you try out with SIM — the address, the port, the firewall, the loops, the channels, the engine's behaviour with missed passings — is exactly what will run with the hardware. It is also why an active fake device behaves like a real one on the network (see the limit of the protection).