Canterbury Little Athletics Centre use electronic timing equipment for all Track events.
These units were purchased from Timing Solutions in 2014 and allow for more accurate recording of
race results, which can be uploaded to our online results system after each competition night.
Timing Gates
We use two sets of Timing Gates, which cover the 50m, 70m, 100m, 200m, 400m and straight-track hurdles events.
The Timing Gates consist of plastic poles, which each have 4 sensors that detect when an athlete
has crossed through the gate. These poles are seated in a weighted base and positioned at the end of each lane.
Each set of Timing Gates are wirelessly synchronised to a laptop, which is set-up at the finish line.
This laptop is running the “Race HQ” software, which is used to record the results before they are uploaded.
The starter gun is attached to a start device that is also wirelessly synchronised to the laptop. When the gun is fired,
the race timer on the laptop is started automatically. As an athlete crosses through a gate, a time is recorded on the laptop for that particular lane.
Once all athletes have completed the race they are walked over to the laptop operator to have their
registration number recorded for the lane they ran in, which associates them with the recorded lane time.
Hand-held Trigger Unit
A manually activated hand-held trigger unit is used to record the longer distance races, which
include the 800m, 1500m, 200m hurdles and walk events.
Again, a starter gun is attached to a start device that is synchronised to a laptop at the finish line. The hand-held trigger unit is also
synchronised to this laptop.
Upon firing of the gun, the laptop race timer will start. As each athlete crosses the finish line, a button on the hand-held trigger unit is pressed, which wirelessly sends a signal to the laptop to record a time. Athletes are sent over to the laptop operator in the order that they finish to have their registration numbers recorded against their time.
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