Services

Complete sports timing & results solution

Castech's complete sports solutions are founded on hundreds of races experience over almost two decades.

We provide certainty through the provision of not just one level of backup, but multiple over-lapping systems, which enable us to recover from any eventuality. While there are various ways of providing timing, we rely on proven techniques combined with careful inclusion of new technologies.

Live Results

Our results can be published LIVE to the web, on our site www.onlineresults.com.au. Our web sites are custom designed so we have complete control over the content. This means while other sites force their links, advertising & format onto events listed with their site, we can provide both a standard format but can also optionally provide custom content, and importantly, control over advertising and links, ensuring your branding and web traffic is protected. Options should you wish to explore them, also include publishing on your own sub-domain of our site (eg. yourevent.onlineresults.com.au), your own domain or built into your own site.

Venue wifi

In addition to the internet results service, we are able to optionally provide an in-venue WiFi service. The standard service provides an identical web site to that on the internet, which can be optionally extended to provide other event specific information such as communiqués or Media releases. The WiFi is specially designed as a ‘captive portal’, meaning users are automatically redirected to the intranet when they connect, they are in an environment secure from official event computers, and attempts to access the internet are politely redirected back to the event site. Complementing this service, ‘internet café’ terminals can be located in the venue, allowing casual browsing of the information.

Scoreboards & Displays

We are able to provide scoreboards in a number of configurations depending on your need. Firstly, we use easy to see clocks attached to the finish gantry or on stands near the finish where a gantry is unavailable. These clocks can display elapsed time, rider number and place for timetrial events, and elapsed time for mass start events. Additionally they can show the lead riders time on each lap and the time since the leader has past.  
We can provide full colour LED boards that are 1.2m x 0.9m. These can be arrayed to 2.4m x 1.8m in size as above. The board can be a leader board, show riders name place and time as they cross a timing point, or be a score board in multiple configurations (for sports like Cricket, Football, Netball etc). The board can also be used to display video, logos and ads.
 

Photo-finish: the most precise timing

Photo finish is accepted in the timing industry as the most precise form of finish timing available. It is regarded as superior to high-speed video, transponders and light beams because it eliminates variability, providing visual proof of results to a fraction of a second.  Which is why it's used in horse races, where millions of dollars are at stake, and sporting events when there must be no doubt who won. Photo finish technology is used in Olympics, World Cups and many other elite events. Photo Finish is typically used where the sequence of multiple finishers is critical. In the finish image to the right, the bikes were just 16/10,000th’s of a second apart. When you need to know , only a professional photo finish camera can give the required level of precision.

Downhill (timetrial) timing

Our downhill timing devices work to a precision of 1/10,000th of a second internally, allowing reporting to 1/100th of a second. They are homologated to time very high speed events such as the bobsled & luge to 1/1000th of a second, and are widely used in professional sports timing. At the start we normally use the same setup as many international DHI events, with a wand style start gate, connected to a start clock to provide consistent starting intervals. At the finish we have two ‘light beams’, where one is used consistently as the primary finish, the other records backup times if required. Other configurations such as pressure switches & light beam starts are available if required. While we normally prefer wired connections from the start to finish for our primary connection, we can operate wirelessly or using times from precisely synchronised clocks. We have all available, and normally use more than one at each event to provide additional redundancy. Optionally, mid-point split times can be provided. Having mid-point times creates excitement in the crowd for the elite level riders. Our implementation of intermediate timing can be via an intermediate ‘light beam’ or transponders. Consideration needs to be given for when and where intermediate timing is valuable: where transponders are used there is additional logistics in handing out & collection. During much of the racing, many riders are on course with various overtaking, making sencible use of the additional volume of information difficult.

Transponder timing

There are many transponder systems on the market, we use the JChip system because it provides good quality at a reasonable transponder cost, and has been used in many races worldwide. JChip uses an ‘active’ transponder technology, which means there is a battery in the transponder. An active transponder system provides greater reliability where transponders move quickly over the finish, as is the case in cycling events. Indicators of the need for an ‘active’ transponder include increased speed, and use near metal (eg. bikes or cars). We are yet to find a non-active transponder technology with adequate reliability for cycling events such as the MTBA national series. We can optionally use the MyLaps/AMB ‘active’ transponder system, however understand that the transponders are over 6 times more expensive, which as well as meaning we need to pass on some of that cost, it creates a greater problem with unreturned transponders, while producing the same result.