meshO Manager

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Downloading cards ​

Audience: Timing operators at the finish / download station.

Downloading cards is the core during-event action: a competitor finishes, inserts their card in the reader, and Manager turns the punches into a result. This page covers connecting the reader, the download, what each result means, and the one-click fixes available right after a download.

Note: This page is about reading competitors' cards at the finish. To recover punches from a control unit's backup memory, see Station memory; for radio punches arriving from the field, see Radio punches.

Before you start: browser and connection ​

Reading a card reader in the browser uses the Web Serial API, which has two requirements:

  • Chrome or Edge (version 89+), or Firefox (version 151+), on a desktop or laptop. Safari, older Firefox and phone/tablet browsers don't support Web Serial and won't show the reader controls.
  • A secure connection. On the computer running the server this is free — open Manager at http://localhost:5154/manager and you're done. On a separate download laptop you must turn on HTTPS and trust meshO's certificate once. See HTTPS and certificates for the full setup; the Card downloads page will tell you (Needs a secure connection) if it's needed and not yet in place.

On a managed Firefox, check it's not switched off. Firefox added Web Serial in version 151, but it's disabled by default under Firefox Enterprise Policies — so a laptop supplied by a workplace or school may show no reader controls even on 151+. Either use Chrome or Edge on that machine, or have whoever manages it allow Web Serial. Firefox also asks permission the first time you pick a port, with its own confirmation step on top of the usual device chooser.

On a separate laptop, reach the server by its IP. Download laptops usually run Chrome, and Chrome frequently can't resolve the server's computer name, so the name-based link may simply fail to load with DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. Use the link tagged IP in Settings → Server → Access links. See Reaching the server: name or IP. (Firefox looks names up through the operating system, so the name link is more likely to work there — but the IP link works in every browser, and it's the one to reach for if anything is misbehaving.)

You'll also need a SportIdent USB reader station — a BSM7-USB or BSM8-USB (the mini Reader) — plugged into the computer.

On a Mac, install the reader driver first. macOS doesn't recognise SportIdent's USB stations out of the box, so no serial port is created and the browser's device chooser comes up empty. Install the Silicon Labs CP210x driver once per Mac — see SportIdent USB stations on macOS. Windows and Linux don't need this.

Note — EMIT events: If your event uses EMIT cards rather than SportIdent, the same Card downloads page handles them. See EMIT readers for the differences.

Connecting the reader ​

Open Card downloads under Event live in the navigation menu (it's there while the event is running), then:

  1. The panel on the left, headed SportIdent, says Connect a SportIdent reader to download cards. Plug the reader into a USB port and click Select device.
  2. The browser shows a system dialog listing serial devices — pick the reader and confirm. (On a Mac, if the reader isn't in that list, you're missing the driver — see SportIdent USB stations on macOS.)
  3. The status chip turns green and reads Listening. The panel now prompts Insert SportIdent card.

You only pick the device once per browser: after a refresh or a replug, Select device reconnects the reader you used before without showing the device chooser. To use a different reader, disconnect first (the ✕ below), then click Select device. The green Listening chip is your "ready to read" signal — if it's amber (Connected) the reader is attached but not yet listening. The ✕ on the chip disconnects it. Once connected, the reader keeps working as you move around Manager — but don't refresh the browser window, or you'll have to reconnect (see Downloads appear anywhere).

One reader serves the whole of Manager. You can connect it here, on the dashboard's Download card tile, on the SportIdent station page, on Station configuration, or from Settings → Hire card registry — wherever you connect it, it's the same reader, and it downloads cards. Disconnecting it anywhere disconnects it everywhere. See Station memory for how card downloads pause while a station's memory is read.

Tip: Above the reader panel, a strip says where a card read on this computer prints its splits, and whether that printer can print now. Check it before the first runner arrives. See Printing splits.

Reading a card — the normal flow ​

With the reader listening, ask the user to insert their card:

  1. A progress bar appears, showing the card number and type while it reads.
  2. A result banner replaces it with the outcome — for a clean run, a green OK banner with the competitor's name, class, course, race time, and current place in their class. If the runner is behind the class leader, the gap follows the time in brackets — Place 3 of 34 | Time 47:23 [+1:36] — when the banner is wide enough to fit it on the same line. On a narrow banner, such as the dashboard tile in a small window, the gap is left out and the line stays the same.

That's the whole loop, several seconds per card.

Where the download shows up ​

What you see depends on which screen you're on when a card downloads:

  • On the Card downloads page — the reading progress and the result appear in the panel on the left, and every read is added to the history table on the right.
  • On the dashboard — the Download card tile changes state as the card reads and shows the result in place, so you can leave the dashboard up and still watch downloads land.
  • On any other screen — the result pops up in a small panel at the bottom-right of the window once the card has finished downloading. Routine results fade after five seconds (hover over the panel to hold it); one that needs attention — an Unknown card or a Card reused — stays until you handle or close it, and so does the panel while any card read here is still waiting for an owner.

It's the same result banner each way, with the same one-click fixes (below) when a download needs them.

What the result banner tells you ​

The banner colour and label depend on what Manager made of the punches:

BannerWhat it meansWhat to do
Green OKA valid result — name, class, course, race time, and place are shown, plus the gap to the class leader if it fits (and the points, on a score course)Nothing
Green OK — No start punchNothing recorded when they started, so they were timed from their check punch, or from midnightNothing at the desk — see below
Missing punchOne or more required controls weren't punched; the missing control codes are listedIf it's a class/course mix-up, use the fast fixes
Did not finishDid not finishCorrect if they retired; otherwise investigate later
OvertimeThey got round, but over the class's time limitNothing at the desk
Red Unknown cardThe card number isn't held by any competitor in the eventAssign it to a competitor, or add one — see fast fixes
Card reused — Used by nameThe card's owner already has a result, so this is a second run on the same cardDuplicate the owner for this run, or give the card to whoever ran — see fast fixes
Duplicate downloadThis card has already been downloaded for this competitor, and this read adds nothing to itNormal if you re-read the same card — the existing result stands
Not competing — No course or class assignedThe card matches a competitor who has no class assignedAssign a class and re-check
Not competing — No start timeThey completed the course, but nothing says when they started, and the event doesn't time a run like that from the check punch or midnightGive them a start time — see below
ErrorSomething went wrong processing the downloadRe-read the card; if it persists, see Troubleshooting

For the rules behind OK / MP / DNF and how race time is worked out, see Status and race time rules.

Fast fixes right after a download ​

When a download needs attention, Manager offers one-click fixes on the panel, for the most recent card — the quickest moment to sort it out, while the runner is still at the desk. (Read the next card and the panel moves on; you can still fix any past download from the history table or its detail dialog.)

Unknown card. When the card number matches nobody in the current event:

  • If the number is recognised in the Competitor Registry, a one-click Assign to name button appears — it adds that person to the event and assigns the download in one step.
  • Otherwise, Assign to existing lets you search for the competitor and assign the card to them. The search includes people from the registry who aren't in the event yet; picking one of those says Not entered in this event. Assigning will add them.
  • Or Add competitor opens the add dialog, pre-filled with the card number (and the class Manager inferred from the punches), to create someone new on the spot.

This is also how you fix a wrong card — e.g. someone ran on the wrong hire card. Assign the download to the competitor who actually ran it. If that takes the card off somebody else, or moves another card off the person you assigned it to, a note under the banner says so — This card was taken off name, clearing their result — so nothing changes silently.

Card reused. The card belongs to somebody who already has a result: a runner going round a second course on the same card, or a borrowed card. The panel shows what the owner already finished as, and what this run came out as. Under Duplicate for another run, choose the Class for this run and press Duplicate name to enter the owner a second time for this run, keeping their first result. If somebody else ran on the card, use the search or a different person below it. See More than one run on a card.

Cards nobody has dealt with yet. An unknown card's banner is replaced by the next card read, so Manager keeps count: while any download is waiting for an owner, N cards to assign shows under the reader panel (and on the dashboard tile) with Show beside it. On this page Show filters the history table to Unassigned; on the dashboard it lists them.

At a club training or other event where nobody enters beforehand, Manager can enter unknown cards itself and show the result straight away — see Low-key events.

No class (Not competing). If the card matches a competitor with no class, pick a class under Assign class and re-check and Manager re-evaluates against that class's course.

No start punch (still OK). Nothing recorded when they started, so Manager timed them from their check punch, or from midnight when there was none, and placed them on it. The banner says No start punch and offers nothing else. Their splits print marks the start as a stand-in — Start: 09:27:15 (check punch), or (no start) from midnight — and Edit competitor's Result tab shows the same beside the start time, with an info icon that explains it. If you know the start they really had, add it as a start override on the competitor's Overrides tab.

No start time (Not competing). They got round, but there's no start punch, allocated start or start override, and the event has its no-start-time fallback switched off. Under Give them a start time, type the time they started and Save start time, or press Use check punch to start them at the check punch on their card. Manager records it as a start time override and scores the card again. No splits print for a read with no start time, because the slip would carry no times; once they have one, you can print theirs from the Prints tab of the competitor.

Missing punch (MP). If the punches don't fit the assigned course:

  • When the same punches do satisfy another class's course, Manager suggests it — OK for W21A [Hard 2] — with a Change class button to accept the reassignment in one click. This is the common "started in the wrong class" fix.
  • In a class whose runners are allotted different variations of a forked course, when the punches fit a different variation of the same course, Manager says so — OK for variation B of Course 1 — likely a wrong variation allocation — with Assign variation B.
  • Otherwise, use Change class and re-check to choose a class yourself and re-evaluate.

The MP slip waits while you do this. Most mis-punches are a wrong-course mix-up, so printing straight away means printing twice. An arc around a small printer icon on the banner counts the window down (20 seconds by default); correct the class and the corrected slip prints at once. Press the ✕ beside it, or open any dialog about that runner, to end the wait with nothing printed. Full detail — including the setting — in Mis-punches wait before they print.

The card download detail dialog ​

Click any card number (on the panel or in the history table) to open the Card download detail dialog. It shows when it was downloaded and the punch-by-punch breakdown — every control, code, and split — alongside the class, course, and status. From here you can, for any download (not just the latest):

  • Assign an unassigned card to a competitor (or add a new one), or Assign to name when the card is known to the registry
  • Change class/course — re-evaluate against a different class or course, and Re-check
  • Unassign the download from its competitor, which clears their result and leaves the download as Unassigned — then assign it to whoever really ran
  • Delete the download entirely, after you confirm. The competitor's result goes with it; the backup file on disk is kept, and the deletion is recorded in the audit trail.

Use this dialog when the quick panel actions have already scrolled past, or when you need to see exactly which controls were punched and in what order.

The download history table ​

The right side of the page, Card downloads, lists every card read, newest first: Download time, Card number, Competitor, Class and Status. Search it with Competitor / card, and filter it by Status (OK, Unassigned, MP, DNF, Not competing, Disqualified, Overtime). For each row you can:

  • Click the card number to open the detail dialog
  • Click the competitor name to open their Edit competitor dialog — or, for an unassigned card with a provisional (italic) name, click it to add that person and assign in one step
  • Change the class inline with the dropdown in the Class column
  • Print splits with the printer icon (see below)

The status column shows the competitor's current status chip, the course, or an orange Unassigned chip. A Manual chip beside a card number marks a manual download, and Radio one read over the radio network.

Downloads appear anywhere ​

You don't have to stay on the Card downloads page — once the reader is connected, it keeps reading as you move around Manager, and each result shows up in whichever form fits the screen you're on (as above).

The one exception is a card number box. In Edit competitor, the dashboard's Quick competitor actions, the Competitor Registry and Settings → Hire card registry, click into the card number box and insert a card: its number is filled in, and the card is not downloaded. A small reader icon in the box says when it's taking a card. Click anywhere else and the next card downloads as usual.

Warning — don't refresh the browser window. Navigating between Manager's screens keeps the reader connected, but reloading the page (or closing the tab) drops the connection — you'll have to click Select device to carry on, though you won't have to pick the device again. Cards you've already read are safe: they're stored on the server the moment they download. It's only the live reader link that has to be re-established.

Cards read over the radio network ​

A card read by a radio download station at the finish reaches Manager over the meshO network, with nobody at a desk. The station reads a card again and again while the runner stays near it, and more than one meshO Control can hear it, so one card arrives as many readouts — some with records missing. Manager puts them together and keeps one download per card:

  • It waits for the whole card. A card is downloaded as soon as every record on it has arrived, from any of its readouts. If records are still missing, Manager waits until nothing more of the card has been heard for half a minute, then downloads what it has.
  • A fuller read replaces a shorter one. If more of the card arrives later — the runner goes back to the station, or you read the card here at the desk — the fuller read takes the shorter one's place on the same competitor, and the shorter one is removed. You don't need to delete anything first. The removal is recorded in the Audit trail, and its file stays on disk.
  • A read with nothing new is a duplicate, and isn't stored at all.

A card read over the radio shows a Radio chip beside its card number in the history table and the detail dialog. If records were still missing when it was downloaded, an Incomplete chip sits beside it: the result may be an MP or DNF the runner never earned. Read that card here at the desk — the desk read holds everything the radio read did, so it replaces it, and the chip goes with it.

When a fuller read leaves the result as it was, nothing more is printed — the runner already has (or is about to get) the slip it would print.

Printing splits ​

The printer icon on each history row prints that competitor's split times, where this computer's splits go — the strip at the top of the page says which printer that is, and whether it can print now. To print automatically on every download, turn on Automatic print splits on download — globally in Settings → Printing → Splits print, or per event under Edit event details → Printing. See Printing splits for the whole picture: what a printout contains, where printers can be, and which computer prints where.

Hire items ​

If a downloaded card is one of your hire cards — or belongs to a competitor holding a compass, a map board or anything else you lend — Manager prompts you to collect it all so none of it walks off. That prompt, and how to manage what you hire out, are covered in Hire items.

Manual downloads ​

Sometimes a runner has no card to read. A manual download lets you type their run in yourself, and Manager then evaluates it exactly as it would a card it had read — status, race time, splits, placing. Typical reasons:

  • A lost card. The runner finished but the card didn't come back. Type in their start, finish and controls (from the finish unit, the station backups or the radio punches).
  • Two runners went round together on one card. Copy the download of the card that was read onto the runner who didn't have one.
  • Testing. Try out a course, a class or a results screen with a made-up run before the event.

Open the competitor's Edit competitor dialog and go to the Download tab. The button at the bottom of the tab is:

  • New manual download… — when the competitor has no download at all.
  • Edit manual download… — when the download on the tab is a manual one.

A competitor who already has a card read gets neither: a competitor holds one download, and a card read is the record of what their card held. Correct it on the Overrides tab instead (see Resolving issues). If the read on their record isn't theirs at all, unassign or delete it from the card download detail dialog first.

The form has a Start and a Finish time and a list of Controls, each with its code and time. Times are hours, minutes and seconds (type the digits — 103015 is 10:30:15); fractions of a second aren't used. Leave the start or finish empty if the run didn't have one, just as a card wouldn't. When you're making a new one, Copy from a download at the top fills the form from any other download in the event — this is how you copy a partner's card. Copying only reads it: that download isn't changed and stays with the competitor it belongs to. Editing doesn't offer a copy. When you're starting from nothing, Fill from course adds a row for each control of the runner's course, in order, ready for their times.

Nothing changes until you click Save. Manager then evaluates the run and the competitor's result updates. Cancel leaves everything as it was.

Things to know:

  • A card read is never changed. Only manual downloads can be edited. In the history table a manual download is marked Manual beside its card number.
  • Editing replaces the manual download. The version you replaced is recorded in the competitor's Audit trail tab, and its file stays on disk, so it can turn up in Import from Backup.
  • Deleting it. Delete at the bottom of Edit manual download removes it, once you confirm. The result it gave goes too — the competitor falls back to what their radio punches say, or to no result — and New manual download… is offered again. Like any deleted download it's recorded in the Audit trail and its file stays on disk.
  • A manual download belongs to the competitor you made it for. It's never matched to anyone by card number, and it never changes the competitor's card number. Correcting their card number afterwards keeps it.
  • Times are whole seconds. Copying a download that recorded fractions of a second (SIAC beacon punches) drops the fractions, and the form tells you. The check punch isn't copied.
  • Nothing is printed automatically, because the runner isn't standing at a download desk. Print from the competitor's Prints tab if you need to.
  • Not at the entry desk. The registration desk shows a competitor's download but doesn't offer manual downloads.

Import from Backup ​

Downloads are stored in the event database by the server as they're read. If downloads were taken on another machine, or you're rebuilding an event, Import from backup (top right of the history table) scans the disk for card-download files Manager hasn't loaded yet (or were deleted) and lets you pick which to bring in. If everything on disk is already loaded, it tells you so.

When a card won't read ​

If a card fails to read, the panel shows a read error rather than a result.

  • Ask the runner to remove the card and try again.
  • Check the reader is still Listening (green chip) — reconnect with Select device if the chip has dropped.
  • Try a different USB port or cable if reads keep failing.

A card that won't read in one reader will usually read in another; if a specific card fails everywhere, it may be faulty. Its run can still be entered from the finish unit's station memory or the radio punches as a manual download.

If the reader stops taking cards although it still shows as connected, Manager raises an alert — The card reader has stopped reading cards, although it is still connected — and another when it recovers. Disconnect it and connect it again. Other messages you may meet when connecting:

  • The reader is no longer attached to this computer — it was unplugged. Plug it back in, then Select device again.
  • Failed to open port. The device may be in use by another application — close other software that uses the reader, then try again.
  • Port is already open or in an invalid state — refresh the browser window and select the device again.

EMIT readers ​

If the event's Timing card system is EMIT, the same page reads EMIT cards. The timing card system comes from Settings → Event defaults for a new event, and can be changed in the event's details while it's still in setup.

  • The panel is headed Reader. After you pick the device, Manager asks Which reader did you connect? — EMIT MTR4 or EMIT 250 — because the two talk differently.
  • The prompt reads Read card instead of Insert SportIdent card. Everything after a read — the result banner, the fixes, the history table, printing — is the same.
  • With an MTR4, Status shows the unit's number, whether its battery is LOW or OK, and the range of readouts it holds, and Re-read all asks it to send every readout in its memory again. A card Manager already has comes back as a duplicate and changes nothing.
  • EMIT records times in whole seconds from the moment the card was cleared at the start, and the last control on the card is taken as the finish. Manager turns those into times of day from the competitor's start time, so enter EMIT runners, with their start times, before their cards are read.

The browser needs are the same as for SportIdent (Chrome, Edge or Firefox 151+, and a secure connection).

For problems noticed later ​

The fast fixes above are for the moment of download. For anything you spot after the runner has gone — a result that needs an overridden status, punches to edit, a competitor to re-evaluate — work from the competitor's record instead. See Resolving issues on the day.

Downloading a card after you've finished the event ​

Downloading is only available while the event is live, but that isn't a one-way door. If someone walks out of the forest after you've clicked Finish event — or turns up the next day with an unread card — open the event and click Restart event in the app bar. The event goes live again, you download the card as normal, and you finish the event a second time afterwards.

The late download gives the same result it would have on the day: the card carries the times of day the competitor punched, not elapsed time, so it doesn't matter when you read it. See Restarting an event you've already finished.