Pictures of your set-up.

[hubbard47630]

It's become apparent that this system has a lot of configurations which is one of the biggest reasons I like it. I thought it might be helpful to see how others are actually setting things up. I've attached a couple pictures with our two main set-ups. We've gotten 100% read rates with both, but have also gotten a couple misses with both. Two dogbone tags seems to always work. In the top row, the tv is usually further back back our 50' HDMI cable broke the connector off and we had to use the 10' spare.

 

[rtspt.usa]

Hubbard,

where did you get your tv stand?

[hubbard47630]

I got mine from B&H, it's made by Gator Case. We have a 39" Samsung on it and it works perfect. If you read the reviews you'll see a lot of people complain about the tv tilting down and not staying straight. The very easy fix is to flip the head so mine only adjusts up not not. Took maybe five minutes to turn the head around, pull the bolt out and flip the mount, then re-install.



Gator Case- http://www.gatorcases.com/p/230246-2004/gfw-av-lcd-1

B & H- http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/924061-REG/gator_cases_gfw_av_lcd_1_frameworks_standard_lcd_led_adjustable.html

[raceTimerz]

I'm not sure where he got it, but it is similar to what I use here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ADC5SPW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I love it because it is easy and I keep the brackets on the TV the entire time and the stand fits easily in my car.

[mstompro]

Are your overhead antennas linear antennas?  What about the side antenna?

[hubbard47630]

Circular. We're ordering a pair of Thinkify TAL-060 linear antennas to test. We test the read range before every event to make sure we're not picking up ahead of the line or we mark the line and move the antennas back.

[hubbard47630]

Someone just pointed out a major typo, 100% read rates, not 10%. That'd be bad...

[Alan Bingham]

Here's a picture of a couple of kids finishing, notice we used pull off bib tabs, and pinned the chip on their hips, we used 1 tag, 1 chip and had 100% reads.

[Alan Bingham]

http://video214.com/play/KyqWMz1ZG3oFhztfNDYhdw/s/dark

I'm not sure if this will embed, but here's a slide show video of the meet this past weekend.

[Ohio Race Day]

The #1 and #2 runners at the finish line about 7/10 second apart at Sunday's Halloween themed race.  We placed our antennas on either side of the finish line and taped down a floor runner mat over top of the cable.  We missed a couple of tags but nothing to be alarmed about.  One tag for certain was still pinned to the bib number on the guy's chest.  I'll try to get more photos of our layout at the next race.  We continue to tweak things and went with placing the reader closer to the finish line in a bin and then stretched a CAT5 cable and the power cable back to our table about 25' back from the finish line.   That gives us a little more reaction time if a tag is missed.

[Peak Performance Timing]

Hubbard,

What brand is your truss and where did you procure it?

[Brian Agee]

I haven't had a chance to upload all of the videos yet, but after this coming weekend we (all of our timing crews) will have timed 19 races in the past two weeks. Of course some the races from the same event - like 4 races at a XC meet and 5 races at the Springfield Marathon. We've had 100% in all of the events except for the Springfield Marathon, I think we had maybe 3 people that were missed because they placed both RFID tags down on the same shoelace. When the tags are sandwiched together like that they are difficult to pick up. We also have pen and paper with us at the finish, so we made a quick note of their time (captured by the manual backup system) and then got the bib number from the volunteer writing down bib numbers on the Bib Number Capture Sheet and when we found time between finishers we easily added them back into the results. So no problems of course.

Here is a couple of videos from a small race we timed this past Sunday. I tried to focus more on the setup of the hardware than on what happens when people are finishing the race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZviAXJoAGQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcYTUWmj_No

Again, anyone is welcome to come to any of our events. The next larger event we'll be timing is the http://www.whiterivermarathon.com/. Please let me know you're coming so that I can make sure I'm at the race, but here is where we'll be in November:

Turkey Trot Half Marathon	11/22/2014	Paragould	AR
White River Marathon	11/22/2014	Mountain Home	AR
Jingle Bell 5K	11/15/2014	Jackson	TN
Run For A Reason Walk/Run 5k	11/15/2014	Walnut Ridge	AR
My Choices 5k4Life	11/11/2014	Ripley	MS
The Hunger Race	11/1/2014	Mountain Home	AR
BBQ 5K	11/1/2014	Blytheville	AR

[hubbard47630]

It's made by On-Stage Stands, LS7730. I got two of them at Guitar Center for $149 each. The trick is they only come with 2- 5' top truss sections. I bought two so I can extend mine. They don't recommended going over 10' but we have zero weight on them as opposed to a 16 light set up which they are designed for. The only part is you will have to order an extra center connector to use all for 5' truss sections. It's part #94354 and is only $16. We use the extra to tripods to hang banner with. Great purchase overall and very easy to set up and use.

http://onstagestands.com/products/view/117542

[Ohio Race Day]

Shoot I just deleted somebody's comment by mistake.  Sorry ... whoever that was.  :)

[Peak Performance Timing]

That's what I was wondering. How you got greater than a 10 ft span. Thanks.

[Alan Bingham]

[Alan Bingham]

I posted our manual system, mainly for those who wanted to see one of our battery power units using a 200-watt inverter and a 12v-35 amp-hour sealed lead acid battery purchased from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/UPG-D5722-Sealed-Battery-UB12350/dp/B001VV0318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414692412&sr=8-1&keywords=35+ah+battery

http://www.amazon.com/Whistler-Pro-200W-Watt-Power-Inverter/dp/B003R7CAX8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414692594&sr=8-1&keywords=200+watt+inverter

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-022-0148-DL-WH-12-Volt-Management/dp/B000CIPHUI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1414692620&sr=8-8&keywords=battery+tender

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-081-0069-8-Cigarette-Disconnect/dp/B0041CDPQO/ref=pd_sim_auto_38?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QR4V5YV67D3MR7X175H

http://www.amazon.com/Stack-On-PB-16-16-Inch-Multi-Purpose-Black/dp/B000M2HECS/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1414692679&sr=1-1&keywords=plastic+tool+box

I have 3 of those along with a 4-station battery tender.

I also fund that the connector with a quick disconnect had a fuse in it, I went to the auto parts store and switched out the fuse in that cord to a 40 amp fuse, the 200 watt inverter has it's own overload protection circuit in it, and I think there is a fuse in the cigarette lighter plug attached to it to protect it, anyways, I wanted something that would be well beyond blowing rate on the cable, as all other things that would plug into the battery would have it's own protection built into it.

[Alan Bingham]

Oh, I built my inverter to power a single PA speaker the JBL-eon 510

http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Self-Powered-Two-Way-280-Watt-Ultra-Light/dp/B001LTTP1E/ref=sr_1_cc_7?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1414692955&sr=1-7-catcorr&keywords=JBL+eon

this battery pack pictured above will power this speaker for over 10 hours. (I set up 3 of these for the 2 speakers and the 3rd is for the mix board and wireless mic transmitter).

If you are going to use this for your rfid timing system, I suggest you get a 400 watt inverter, I did not have enough power to run 2 computers, the printer and the network switch and 1 reader on the 200 watt unit. Luckly I brought 2 of the batteries to the race with me.

[Alan Bingham]

You might notice my phone, I have it set up charging because when its setup to act as a hot spot, it uses up the battery quickly, so I am able to access the internet and upload results from my timing table.

Pictured are spare bar code labels, and pull off bib tabs (you get them from rainbow racing in the cross country section). http://www.rainbowracing.com/onlinestore/catalog/13

[Brian Agee]

Here is a couple of videos of the XC meet we timed last week:

http://youtu.be/2AkCiwESBd8

http://youtu.be/kgtr4b6JpQE

[Tim Irvine]

  

I use one of these too. I got mine on sale for around $126 bucks on Amazon back in 2011. I have not extended mine, but I have thought of it. One thing I do is I offer an option for races to have a custom banner for their finish line. Actual cost for (2) 10x1 banners runs around $75, so I mark that up a little for my time for doing the layout and it looks polished. Plus the race can put sponsors on it. Any other time, I am using my my generic banners that of course promote me only. It makes for better finish line photos and I find people will take photos in front of my finish line since I began doing this a few years ago.

[timgrummell]

Here's a photo of my basic finishline setup, very similar to yours Tim. Only thing yours definitely appears to be a decent bit taller than mine. I actually changed the upright poles in mine, I had some nice strong stainless steel poles which I cut about a foot longer than the existing aluminum ones. I tend to anchor mine down most of the time, especially if there is any risk of wind etc. I actually get more business just hiring out the clock and gantry than chip timing of races itself, quite a few smaller local races like the more professional look at the finish, and can do manual timing themselves. I definitely wouldn't risk going wider with the clock suspended on the middle of the gantry! I think in time I'll make up new tripod stands for the gantry, with just two legs on each, and made out of steel instead of aluminium. I'd still need it to be easily erected by one person, and to fold up enough to fit in a normal car boot.

Tim do the banners weight much in total? I might be interested in getting two finish ones off you, biggest hurdle for me is weight for postage from the States to Europe!

[Tim Irvine]

The banners are super light. I only use 2 bungee little cords 2 on each end to hold them in place. I love it because it looks good, but it also covers up any cords I have to run over head. I put 2 lb pound kettle bells on each leg (80 pounds total) to hold the structure down. It has held up to wind pretty well. I also replaced the upper part of the tripod with the light bar pole that came with the truss. It is a little longer than the upper part of the tripod, and the same size.

[Tim Irvine]

The clock I use is a light weight Mile Marker Clock. It is only one sided, but works great. I will at some point get a double sided clock, when I can find a steal of a deal

[blueridgetiming]

Scenic finish at Natural Bridge, VA. 

Do to some false advertising with electricity, I only used the Thinkify200.

[Tim Irvine]

Yeah that's not fair LOL

[Ohio Race Day]

We timed a race today in freezing rain.  The system performed well.  I placed the RFID reader in a bin near the finish and ran power to it and the CAT5 back to the computer in the van.  Two antennas were placed on each side of the finish line and the TR200 antenna was place a little further back.  The TR290 was back further still but it didn't matter because it did not connect again.  This is about the fourth time in a row that it hasn't connected via bluetooth.  It worked in my test last night but not on race day.  I'll keep trying to figure out the exact order/process in which to reliably fire it up.  It makes a difference when it's running.  We missed only one tag out of 139 due to runner error but I was able to manually capture her time and bib number.  The scene was a little messy (big rocks in the way, wet snow & mud) with set up taking place off and on in cold rain but here are some photos of how things looked.

https://plus.google.com/photos/114364840817731264465/albums/6084636599848425121

[Tim Irvine]

Thanks for sharing Ohio. I like the blue cones too. Is your clock in a waterproof enclosure?

[Ohio Race Day]

The clock is rated at IP64.  Dust proof, water resistant.  It survived the rain that day.  Here is my video of it ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GmTcQqq8Mo

I've only had it 8 months and had to take it in the other day for a power supply computer chip issue.  A local commercial instrument repair place did the work for $64.  The Chinese seller was trying to trouble shoot the problem from half-way around the globe and using his best Engrish but we weren't getting it done quick enough so I found a place to work on it.

[Brian Agee]

You may already know this, but an inexpensive UPS battery backup will keep your main reader powered on for many hours. So if you ever find yourself without power, just run your reader with the UPS battery backup.

[Nicholas Johnson]

We had a MASSIVE storm pretty much right after setting up and lost four 12x12 tents and our inflatable finish arch that NORMALLY span across where the runners come in, so pardon the thrown together look of this finish set up, BUT I wanted to share our plan that has now gotten 100% reads for 4 races in a row!   

We finally bit the bullet and got a few hundred of those HUMTAGS, and some truss and then just ran the truss along the ground for 12 feet (the perspective of this picture makes it look shorter) to ensure that the foot lands several times in front of the antennas.. The Chips are on straps on the runners right ankle and it simple WILL NOT MISS ANY.   Those chips are completely waterproof and have a layer of plastic that acts the same as those foam spacers to separate the chip from wet skin..  Its finally perfect. We can just start the race and kick back!  

ALSO, we have a volunteer take a picture of each finisher as they come across and as you can see the time clock faces the camera as a built in backup for getting times.. So every finisher picture has their finishing time in it! 

(again, there was an arch and a lot more festive looking finish line before the storm, ha)

[Tim Irvine]

Impressive. How long does that tent take to setup? How many people?

[Edward Schrank]

Does anyone have a good source for the tall pylons?  Expensive at Lowe's/Home Depot when you add the base!

[fred]

trafficsafetywarehouse.com

About $11 for 42" cones, plus $7 for plastic weights that I filled with sand, but could be filled with water or lead shot instead.

[Brian Agee]

Here is what I bought: http://www.crowdcontrolstore.com/plasticstanchion8pack.aspx

The pack of 8 cost $182.77 with shipping.

See the video in this thread: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/agee-race-timing/crbMzpqwlhY/s2z1CHLxLQMJ

[Tim Irvine]

I like the yellow ones

[Edward Schrank]

Thanks Brian. Trafficsafetywarehouse wanted 90.00 for shipping for the pylons. Ouch. I like your stanchions (and the price!)

[Alan Bingham]

[Alan Bingham]

[Alan Bingham]

[Thomas Osullivan]

And our read rate was almost 100%.  I think we missed two out of almost 400.

[Kenneth Peters]

This is our setup after a 25k in 20mph winds.  We love the wood rolling cart to story everything in and use as a table.  Also love the finish arch.  We like how our sign and TV hang on it and it allows us to run our cables over the finish so nothing is on the ground.  WIll be replacing flagging holders soon with the ones Brian had in his video, will look much nicer!

[Tim Irvine]

Kenneth, this is very similar to my setup also. I use 2 20 pound kettle bells on each leg to give it weight and keep it free standing so I don't have to use tie downs like you do. However this past weekend, the wind I had was so bad I had to remove the banners and eventually take the whole truss down because it was in danger of blowing over most of the race. I was wishing I had some tie downs then. I am now going to store some in my timing trailer, but for 95% of my races the two kettle bells do the job pretty well. The TV mounted high is pretty cool too.

[Kenneth Peters]

I use 4, 5 gal buckets of sand.  It is a pain, but I have had the finish line up in 40 mph winds and not had to take it down.  I wish we had a little box trailer to keep all of it in, but we are a school so we don't have much to spend on the system and most race profit goes back into the team.

[Brian Agee]

Sylamore 25K/50K setup: http://youtu.be/gL-TAgAq2dI

We did not put the TV's up because the forecast called for rain the entire day and temps below freezing. People were amazed when they walked into the results kiosk and their printout was already waiting on them. :)   The turnaround station (laptop, TR200, single antenna, camera, and camcorder) all fit in a small tub and I had everything setup so that all the volunteer had to do was set up the tripods that hold the antenna, camera, and camcorder and then open the software and click on "Start Listening" and "Attempt Camera Connection" and then put the lid back on it and forget about it until the last person passed by the 25K turn around. You can see photos and videos below. 

I asked him to place the antenna in the inside of the turnaround and that everyone needs to cross within 6 feet of the antenna, however it looks like they just threw it down where they thought people would pass by and they didn't force everyone to pass close to it. This was provided as a luxury anyway, so it didn't matter much, but the system did capture well over 90%.

25K Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/AR/Allison/2015Sylamore25K

50K Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/AR/Allison/2015Sylamore50K

Video of 25K split: http://youtu.be/dhWYNrlTeqQ

Finish line video: http://youtu.be/02_tcZ_lTwQ

Photos of finish and 25K split: https://plus.google.com/photos/106228445469232052694/albums/6118401081794091937

[Brian Agee]

Probably already know this, but the antennas pointing down towards the ground will cause a lot of misses. I would put them higher off the ground and of course reading parallel with the ground (or even very slightly pointing up). Is that a 50" TV? I love the rolling cart idea! :)

[Kenneth Peters]

Thanks Brian, I did know this but thanks for checking.  This is post race and my wife had already started taking the finish line down.  We kinds through it back together to get a picture.  The TV is actually just a 32".  We wanted a 50" but could not get approved for a TV that  sizes and a second one for the results kiosk.  

Have you used the new poles for the finish line chute?  We ordered ours today and I am hoping the finish line will look a little nicer with those instead of step-in t-post.  

[Kenneth Peters]

I know this has been said before but what height are people putting their antennas off the ground?  Thanks for your help!

[Ohio Race Day]

There are lots of photos of set ups on this group page.  Here is mine for shoe tags.  We place the antennas about knee/thigh high.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/agee-race-timing/o9XtC0Aah2U/fkRGdRCGSygJ

[Brian Agee]

Check the 1:00 mark of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-TyOoZ4iDo

[CHudsonHRT]

I had intended to take more pictures of the setup, but time did not cooperate with me. This was our "its gonna rain" setup. 

[Tim Irvine]

WOW, you have a command center type setup. Very nice!!!

[CHudsonHRT]

I have less than 2500 in the trailer right now. I found it very cheap or I would not have a setup even close to this, but it made setup extremely fast. 

[Crystal McCullough]

My husband made me a set of award podiums, and thought I'd share an almost-finished photo:

And just for fun, here's what they look like pre-paint, with me being a dork:

The last step will be adding numbers to the front. I've asked FB folks to weigh in on number sizes here, and would love your feedback, too: https://www.facebook.com/BeGoodSports/posts/820478271338739

[Tim Irvine]

Pretty cool Crystal. 

[Anders]

Really nice podium Crystal. A little tip if anyone else will make something like it... Make no 2 a little bigger than no 3 and no 1 a little bigger than no 2 so will you be able to stack them and save place in the transportation...

[SR Aaron]

Our current start/finish setup for larger events, eventually want to add ground mats to the mix.

[Ohio Race Day]

Nice looking set up, Aaron.  I like  a clean finish line.

[Chris Hubbard]

Weekend with multiple races at the same time.

The first is 'Run the Ravines' outside Indy. Tough 3.4 mile trail run. 

20' Inflatable start/finish, shoe tags, Motorola FX7400, Motorola AN400 Antennas, 22" Touchscreen Results Kiosk

 

Second race was 200 miles away in Boonville, Indiana '4 Miles for 4H' 
15'' tripod truss, shoe tags, Motoroal FX7400, Motorola AN400 Antennas, 22" Touchscreen Results Kiosk

[Tim Irvine]

Great look Aaron!!!

[blueridgetiming]

Setup for 215 person 5k this morning. I did turn the clock after the start and narrowed down finish line for the finish.

Also, had results "kiosk", but more just results scrolling on flat screen behind the blue tent.

I thought I had a bunch of misreads, but it turned out that a ton of people decided to run through the line numerous times.

[Ohio Race Day]

Volume warning on the video.

We timed a 5K 10K this morning.  The DJ was way too loud even after I told him to back it down so we could talk.  I crank our music when we are doing sound ... but this guy ... wow.

Any way.  We ran two mat antennas and two sets of side antennas on two separate computers independent of each other.  RFID tags were on the back of the bibs.  The primary system worked well.  It missed a couple runners out of 90 some total.  But we only had side antennas on one side.  The second independent system only got 4 out of the first 7 finishers so we shut down the readers and used it for manual timing.  Maybe the antenna signals were conflicting some how.  I'm unsure.  We have another race this evening so I might try it again if the rain holds off.  Here's a quick video for Brian Agee.  :)

https://youtu.be/KxKfT7PBR7U

[Tim Irvine]

Great Video Ohio, man you weren't kidding about that DJ. I had a really bad DJ experience in 2012 and since then I tell RDs up front the DJ can't be anywhere near me. 

[sheppard]

ORD, were you running the TR200 as backup in addition to your partner's system?  How many of the first 7 finishers did it pick up?  The three that the FX7400 missed?  The tags could go dark for a second or so depending on how Brian programs the reader search mode and session, so if the read zones are too close together the runner has passed by before the tag goes live again.

https://support.impinj.com/hc/en-us/articles/202756158-Understanding-EPC-Gen2-Search-Modes-and-Sessions

Norm

[Ohio Race Day]

Thanks Norm and Tim,
I received a reply via email from another user that is testing something similar.  We'd like to get two independent RFID systems performing well along side each other.  A larger 5K with ~700 participants is coming up in the fall and we'd like to have it ready for that.

The primary was a mat antenna and two side antennas hooked to a FX7400 and the TR200 with its side antenna.
The secondary was a just mat antenna and one side antenna hooked to a different FX7400.

But the TR200 antenna (on primary) was past/behind it all. 
The secondary missed 4 out of the first 7.  The primary may have missed 1 out of the first 7.  I can't recall and I didn't grab a video (which usually catches our conversation and swearing, too.) LOL.  But we didn't miss the same tag so Norm's theory has some weight. 

[Alan Bingham]

What is a HUMTAGS?

[Ohio Race Day]

Alan,
He's talking about HuTags.  http://www.hutag.com/

[Ted Finch]

HUMTAGS are special HuTags that give out a melodious note when used, they soothe the frantic race timer and keep the runners happy!! ;-)
Ted

[Ohio Race Day]

Our finish line set up