Announcing a competition
The long track Coupe Hollywood, from the first pair to the last final time: what to check in FINISH and in VOICE, and what the stands hear at each moment of the race.
The “SONO” computer runs VOICE, plugged into the public address system and connected to FINISH-Starford. The voices for the athletes' languages are installed.
1. Prepare
- In FINISH: the announced races
Each race has a Speech synthesis box in its record (race list); it also shows in the header of the current race. Check it for the races to announce.
- In FINISH: the bell
: Use the bell and Broadcast the bell (ChronoFEED-VOICE rings it).
- In FINISH: the athletes' language and options
Athletes tab, Speech synthesis (ChronoFEED-VOICE) view. For the public, simple options: Name, Position, Lap time, To go, Final time — these are also the ones VOICE uses for an athlete without options.
- In VOICE: the start
Settings, Announce race starts, delay 5 s.
- In VOICE: the bell sound
Settings, Bell WAV file (or
LastLap.wavin the VOICE folder); Listen to set up the public address system.
2. A 500 m pair, second by second
“500 m Women — P03”: Justine Pelletreau (announced in English) in the inner lane, Saskia Brouwers (announced in Dutch) in the outer lane.
| Moment | What VOICE says | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 13:42:08, gunshot | — | The start is held back… |
| 13:42:13 | “Pair 3” | … and said 5 s later, in the computer's language (the race has pair number 3). |
| 13:42:18 | the bell | Justine is approaching the line to start her last lap: FINISH sends the bell, VOICE rings it. |
| 13:42:19 | “Justine Pelletreau, First position, Last lap! 10.6” | First passing (100 m): name, position, to go, lap time. |
| 13:42:22 | “Saskia Brouwers, Tweede positie, Laatste ronde! 10,8” | In Dutch, by the Dutch voice; said after the previous sentence. |
| 13:42:53 | “Justine Pelletreau, First position, 34.3, Final time. 44.9 seconds” | The finish: always the position, the last lap, the final time in full. |
| 13:42:57 | “Saskia Brouwers, Tweede positie, 34,6, Eindtijd. 45,4 seconden” | The final time is never discarded: it waits its turn. |
With a quartet (two pairs on the track) or a mass start race, passings come thick and fast: VOICE keeps one announcement per athlete and discards what becomes too old. Final times go first.
3. A mass start and an elimination race
- In a race of ten athletes, the position is only repeated if it changes; the name is not repeated if it has just been said. If announcements pile up, reduce the public options (for example, without the lap time) in FINISH.
- Elimination: at the bell, VOICE says “At the end of the next lap, 1 athlete will be eliminated.”; at the passing, “Lotte Verhaegen, uitgeschakeld” in the athlete's language. These sentences are never discarded.
- A team pursuit: VOICE talks about the team (“Red, First position, 2 laps to go, 31.4”), one sentence per team and per lap.
4. A timed race
For a race that ends on time (“20 minutes”), VOICE says the rounded remaining time (“4 minutes remaining”), then, in the last ten seconds, only the countdown speaks: “5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Finish!”, “Finish!” at the exact moment of the end, on FINISH time. If “Finish!” is out of step with the display's clock, adjust the lead time for each word.
5. Records
VOICE does not announce records: FINISH knows them and sends them to the displays, but there is no record announcement in VOICE. To salute a track record, type it in Say a message (“New Starford track record!”): it goes before the laps and stays in the message history for next time.
6. During the competition
- Mute during a ceremony or a speaker's announcement: nothing automatic any more, the queue is cleared; typed messages still go through.
- A race that must not be announced on this computer: uncheck it in Races received from FINISH.
- An annotation (penalty, disqualification) to announce: Settings, Announce annotations.
- The log shows everything that was said, cut off or discarded.