Appearance
SportIdent cards
Audience: Event organisers and operators who want to know what Manager does with a card, and what can go wrong with one.
Which cards Manager reads, what it takes from them, and the problems cards cause on the day.
Which cards Manager reads
Manager reads every SportIdent card a download station can read:
| Card | Card numbers | Punches it holds |
|---|---|---|
| SI Card 5 | 1 to 465,000 in four blocks, and 3,000,000 to 3,999,999 | 30 with times; a 31st to 36th keep only the control code |
| SI Card 5R | 5,373,953 to 5,438,952 | As SI Card 5 |
| SI Card 5U | 5,570,561 to 5,635,560 | As SI Card 5 |
| SI Card 6 | 500,000 to 999,999 | 64 |
| SI Card 8 | 2,000,000 to 2,799,999 | 30 |
| ComCard Up | 2,800,000 to 2,999,999 | 30 |
| SI Card 9 | 1,000,000 to 1,999,999 | 50 |
| pCard | 4,000,000 to 4,999,999 | 20 |
| tCard | 6,000,000 to 6,999,999 | 25 |
| SI Card 10 | 7,000,000 to 7,999,999 | 128 |
| SIAC | 8,000,000 to 8,999,999, and 16,777,215 (a SIAC still carrying its factory number) | 128 |
| SI Card 11 | 9,000,000 to 9,999,999 | 128 |
An fCard (14,000,000 to 14,999,999) can't be downloaded; SportIdent's own software can't read one either.
An older SI Card 6 numbered inside the SI Card 8 range is still read as an SI Card 6 — the station says which kind of card it is.
EMIT cards
Manager also reads EMIT e-cards, at an event set up for EMIT. Settings → Event defaults → Timing card system sets it for new events, and each event can change its own while it's in Setup. An EMIT card is read on an MTR4 or EMIT 250 reader on the same Card downloads page, through the same steps; you're asked which of the two you connected. Two things differ from SportIdent:
- An EMIT card times each punch in whole seconds since it was zeroed at the start, not as a time of day. Manager turns those into times of day from the competitor's start, so an EMIT event should have a start list. A card read before anyone in the event holds it is timed from midnight, and isn't re-timed when you later assign it to someone.
- The last control on the card is taken as the finish.
See Downloading cards.
What Manager takes from a card
A download reads the card's number, its check, start and finish punches, and every control punch in order, each with its control code and time. Manager then matches the card to the competitor holding that number, scores the punches against their course, and works out their result. See Card download and Status and race time rules.
Reading a card's number without downloading it, for example to fill in Card number at the registration desk, reads only the number. See Late entries and the registration desk.
Every download is also kept as a file of its own, so a card read is never only in one place. See Card downloads are always kept twice.
SI Card 5's twelve-hour clock
An SI Card 5 stores its times on a 12-hour clock, without AM or PM. Manager works out which half of the day each punch belongs to from when the card was read, so a morning race and an afternoon one both come out right with no setting to change. An SI Card 5 also records no code for its start, finish and check punches, only their times.
Cards without an owner
A card nobody in the event holds:
- At download, the result can't land on anyone. Assign the download to the right competitor, or add a competitor for the card, from Card downloads. At a low-key event, Manager can enter it for you.
- On the radio, its punches show as Unknown. Click to add a competitor for it. See Unknown cards.
- In a station's memory, it's listed under Unmatched cards. See Station memory.
If the card is in the Competitor Registry, Manager suggests the person it belongs to.
Hire cards and shared cards
- Hire cards go in Settings → Hire card registry. A competitor holding one is marked as being on a hire card, and the download desk is reminded to collect it. See Hire items.
- Two people can share a card if they run at different times. Manager flags the number as Duplicate on the Competitors list, because if both are out at once a download can land on the wrong one. See Card numbers.
- Because hire cards change hands, Manager is wary of using a card's number to recognise a person between events. A multi-stage event matches on it only if you turn on Match on card number, and a bib allocation never matches on a hire card.
Common problems
| Problem | What's happening | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The card has last week's punches on it | The runner didn't clear it at the start. The old punches come first, so their splits are wrong, and an old Check or Finish punch can set the wrong start or finish. | Manager leaves out punches it can tell came from another outing: ones stamped after the card's own finish punch or before its start, and — on a card that records the day of each punch (not an SI Card 5 or a tCard) — ones from a different day. This matters most on a score or scatter course, where every leftover punch would otherwise score. For anything it can't tell, exclude the old punches on the competitor's Overrides tab. See Resolving issues on the day. |
| The card is full | Every punch slot is used, so later punches weren't stored. An SI Card 8 holds 30 and a pCard 20, so a long course or a score event can fill one. | Use the radio punches or the control units' memories for the missing controls, and override the punches on the Overrides tab. Give that runner a card that holds more next time. |
| The read fails, or comes back incomplete | The card was taken off the station too early, or the station lost contact. | Put the card back on the station and leave it there until the reader confirms. |
| All the punches at one control are out by the same amount | That control unit's clock was wrong. | Set a Time Offset on the control. See Time Offset. Check every unit's clock before the event with Station memory. |
| The card isn't recognised at all | Its number is outside every range above, or it's an fCard. | Read it again. If it still fails, type the run in as a manual download. |
| A runner lost their card | There's nothing to download. | Type the run in as a manual download, from the radio punches or the units' memories. |
Looking after cards
A SIAC has a battery for contactless punching, and it runs down with use. Check SIAC batteries before a big event with SportIdent's own software. Keep every card clean and dry.