Electronic Punching

As in 2002, we will be using the SPORTident electronic timing system to record the times of teams at each checkpoint. SPORTident provides the premier system for timing orienteering events, adventure races, mountain marathons, mountain bike orienteering events, coroporate challenges, mountain races and many other activities.

These cards cost £17.50 each and should you be unfortunate enough to lose an SI-Card that you have hired from us and are unable to hand it in at the end of Day 2, we will have to charge you £17 for the lost card. A Control Box and Si-Card will be on display in the registration tent so that you can familiarise yourselves with the system.

At each checkpoint, you will come across a Control Box, which is a very small red 'brick' with a cylindrical hole in it. It will be labelled with the 3-digit code of the checkpoint and this MUST MATCH the code provided on your checkpoint descriptions, otherwise you are at the wrong checkpoint! At most locations it will be on the ground beside the kite and attached to it by a piece of string. Dip the tip of your Si-Card into the cylindrical hole and providing the box is working correctly you will see an LED flash and hear a 'beep' which confirms that the checkpoint number and your time has been recorded on your Si-Card.

If You Have A Problem
The Si-Card replaces the Control Card that you would normally punch at each checkpoint and the data from it is used to verify that you have visited the correct checkpoints. If a Control Box fails to 'beep' and the LED does not flash, it is possible that the Control Box is malfunctioning. THERE WILL BE NO NEEDLE PUNCH AT A CHECKPOINT. Check that the Control Box is not upside down otherwise the punching process will probably not work. If it becomes clear from competitors that a Control Box is faulty, the checkpoint will be voided. If you lose your Si-Card we will only be able to give you a time for the day if you can convince us that you have visited all the checkpoints. Under these circumstances, you will not be eligible for a prize.

Saturday
When we hand you a hire Si-Card at registration it will have been cleared of any previous data. You will dip your your Si-Card in a Control Box as you start to record your start time. After repeating this process at each of the checkpoints, you will also record a time on your Si-Card as you finish. We will download the data from your Si-Card at the finish while you wait and hopefully will be able to hand you back the Si-Card almost immediately, cleared and ready for use on Sunday. Please be patient if things don't always run smoothly.

Sunday
At the start on Sunday, you will NOT use your Si-Card to record your start time as this will already be recorded elsewhere. At each checkpoint, use your Si-Card to record a time and also record a time when you finish. We will download the data from the Si-Card while you wait. Should you be unfortunate enough to lose the card, we will record your team number and you will need to tell us how/when you will pay us the £17.

Results
The information from the Si-Cards will prove that you have been to each checkpoint but it will also hopefully provide us with split times at each checkpoint. These may not be displayed during the event, but it will allow us to publish splits on the web site on Saturday and Sunday evening.