Farmtek.net

Allegro Electronic Timer Operating Instructions This equipment has been tested and found to comply CAUTION: Changes made or modifications not with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant expressly approved by the party responsible for FCC to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are de- compliance of this equipment could void the user’s signed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is oper- If a ferrite clamp is provided with any cabled pe- ated in a non-residential installation. This equipment ripheral, then the clamp must be installed as shown generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency below in order to maintain FCC compliance of the energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful in-terference to radio communications. However, there This device has been designed to operate with an is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a antenna having a maximum gain of 3.0 dB. Use of an antenna having a higher gain is strictly prohibited per regulations of Industry Canada. The required If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of To reduce potential radio interference to other users, the following measures: (1) Reorient or relocate the the antenna type and its gain should be so chosen receiving antenna. (2) Increase the separation be- that the equivalent isotropically radiated power tween the equipment and the receiver. (3) Consult (EIRP) is not more than required for successful the dealer or radio/TV technician for help. Keep in mind that when the console is first turned The 2005 Allegro timer is powered by four AA al- on after being off for a while (e.g., overnight), the kaline batteries instead of an AC adapter as in the reported battery level is artificially high for the first past. The timer runs 50 to 60 hours on a new set of batteries. Always turn the timer off before changing the batteries and always replace all four batteries at When about 2 to 4 hours of console battery life are the same time – do not mix old and new batteries. remaining, the decimal point is flashed to alert the To check the battery level, press the right arrow timekeeper of the low battery. Note that the decimal button on the timer console. The percent of battery is also flashed when an electric eye in the arena has remaining (“br”) is displayed. For example, if 45% a low battery. Check the console’s battery level as of the battery life is remaining, the display shows: described previously to see if it is the reason the low Turn the Polaris timer on and off using the slide The normal time display is automatically restored in switch located at the upper right corner of the timer about eight seconds, or when the timer starts/stops, Connections on the rear of the timer console have The Display jack is for connection of an optional changed with the introduction of the 2005 Allegro arena display (scoreboard). Additional information timer. The Power jack is gone and in its position is the Input jack. The Input jack is for connection of The Printer jack allows connection of the optional optional input devices such as a bar code reader and printer or computer interface cable. Additional in- numeric keypad to be offered in the future. Do not formation is provided with the printer and computer plug an AC adapter from an older FarmTek timer into the Input jack on the new Allegro. It can cause serious damage! The electric eyes operate over 70 hours from a 9 volt alkaline battery (use only alkaline batteries). The Power lamp on the unit glows steadily while
can cause problems: Do Not Remove the Antennas! the battery is good and flashes when the battery is Placement of the electric eyes and the timer console in the arena and the announcer’s stand can affect To help detect an eye with a low battery, the Al- performance of the radio link. Note these guide- legro timer in the announcer’s booth flashes the decimal point on the time display when any electric 1) Ensure an unobstructed line-of-sight between the antenna on the electric eye and the antenna on the timer console in the announcer’s booth. The electric eyes operate at least two hours after the Verify clear line-of-sight from down at the an- first indication of low battery. NOTE: The two hour tenna’s level – not from your standing eye level. period is from the first time the low battery light 2) Position the timer console at least 2-3 feet from begins flashing. If a unit with a low battery is turned major electronic equipment such as computers, off and then later turned back on, the lamp may glow steadily for some time before it starts flashing again. This does not mean there are two more hours When the electric eyes are setup with more than 100 Once the Power lamp begins flashing, it is simplest
feet between them, a late afternoon sun shining di- to just replace the battery during the next break in rectly into the Photo-Receiver (the electric eye with your event – don’t worry about trying to use the last the antenna) can reduce the working range between the eyes. A simple remedy is to swap the electric When storing the electric eyes for an extended pe- eyes with each other so that the sun shines into the riod of time, always remove the batteries. face of the Photo-Transmitter instead (the electric eye without the antenna). Or, you can construct a shade for the Photo-Receiver – see a sample sun-shield to print and cut out on the web at: http://farmtek.net/sunshield.htm. Two Timers At Once Two complete timers can be used at the same time make sure the one Photo-Transmitter that you turn to provide back-up for each other. However, when on is the older, wired Photo-Transmitter – both the two Photo-Transmitters (the infrared light source) wired and wireless Photo-Receivers will recognize are on at the same time, they interfere with each other at the Photo-Receiver. To prevent problems, set up both complete timers, stacking the electric If the two timers in use are both wireless timers, eyes on top of each other. However, only turn on then in addition to the requirements already men- one of the Photo-Transmitters. Both Photo- tioned, make sure the two Photo-Receivers (the Receivers will “see” the beam, but since the beam is electric eye with the antenna) operate on different coming from just one Photo-Transmitter, there is no channels. The channel number used by the Photo- Receiver is stamped inside the battery compartment.
Note: Older wired electric eyes may not “recognize” the wireless Photo-Transmitter. In this situation, Each wireless electric eye produced by FarmTek is 2) On the timer console, press the Eyes On button
permanently programmed with an electronic identi- and hold the button down until a series of dashes fication code. No two units have the same ID code. ( “-----”) is shown on the display (this will take The ID code is transmitted along with other infor- mation whenever the electric eye beam is broken or 3) Walk through the electric eye beam. When the restored. For a set of wireless electric eyes to work beam breaks, the electric eye sends a message to with a particular timer console, the timer console the timer console. The timer console displays a must know the ID code of the electric eye being four digit ID code for a few seconds, then the normal display is restored. That’s it! The timer is If you use a different set of electric eyes or a differ- ent timer console than usual, you must have the Note: If the dashes remain on the display, the timer timer console “learn” the ID code of the electric console did not receive a transmission from the eyes being used. You may also want to perform this electric eye. Make sure the eyes are on and visu- procedure if your timer console and electric eyes no ally aligned, then walk through the beam again. If the timer still fails to receive an ID code, move Follow these steps to force the timer console to learn the eyes closer to each other and closer to the the ID code of the electric eyes being used. 1) Set up the electric eyes and the timer console for normal operation as per the Barrel Racing in-
structions. (Note: The Check Eyes alignment
indicator on the timer console will not update un-
til after the ID code has been set.)
1) Attach each electric eye to a tripod. Place the eyes sighting down the crack on the side of the electric on opposite sides of the arena to form a start/stop line between them. Extend tripod legs fully to en- 4) Turn on the timer console using the slide switch sure the electric eyes are high enough to be bro- located at the upper right corner of the timer. 5) When the timer is first turned on, the entire dis- 2) Turn the electric eyes ON. The power indicator play is lit for about one second, then a time of lamp on each unit should glow steadily. If the in- "0.000" is displayed. If the timer fails to come on, dicator is blinking, the battery is low and should turn the power switch off and verify the batteries 3) Align the electric eyes. The electric eye on the 6) Walk through the electric eye beam at least once opposite side of the arena should be directly in- to force the eyes to send a message to the timer line when sighting down either line on top of the console. This makes the Allegro console update electric eye (left to right alignment), and when its electric eye alignment indicator (see below).
The Check Eyes indicator is shown on the time dis- 1) As the rider enters the arena and breaks the beam, play when the electric eyes are not aligned or anytime the timer automatically begins timing from zero. 2) When the rider finishes the run and again breaks Important! When setting up the electric eyes, always the beam, the timer stops and shows the rider's take the time to align the eyes as outlined in Step 3 time. The timer is now ready for the next rider! above– even if the timer indicates the eyes are Note: After the beam is broken, it is ignored for aligned. This ensures a strong alignment instead of a about 2 seconds to allow dust to settle. The Start/Stop button starts and stops the timer just The Allegro saves times and penalties for the most as if the electric eye beam had been broken. recent 100 riders. Press the left arrow button to scroll backwards through times and the right arrow to move forward. Previous times are identified on If the timer accidentally stops during the middle of a the display by the presence of the Prev Time indica- run, the rider can still be accurately timed. Pressing the Restart button resumes timing as if the timer had never been stopped. As long as the Restart but- When viewing a previous time, its position relative ton is pressed before the ride is completed, the time to the current time is displayed as long as the arrow is not lost. To alert you, the timer console beeps button is held down. For example, “1” is shown while the left arrow is pressed for the most recent previous time. “2” is shown while the left arrow is pressed for the second previous time, etc. Previous Some events require the rider to pass through the times are displayed for 8 seconds or until the timer beam several times during a run. For these events, starts, stops, or another button is pressed. After 8 the eyes can be disabled during the run, then re- seconds, the original display is restored. enabled before the rider finishes. To disable the electric eyes, press the Eyes Off button. While the eyes are disabled, the Eyes Off indicator is shown Pressing the NO TIME button enters “no run” in the on the display. Press the Eyes On button to re- timer’s memory and prints “-- No Time --” on the enable the electric eyes and remove the Eyes Off optional printer. This ensures an entry is present in timer memory and on the printer for each contestant Penalties can be entered while the rider is on course The preset time value for each penalty is 5 seconds. or after a run is completed. Each press of the Penalty To change the time value for a penalty, press and button adds 1 penalty to the current run. The Penal- hold down the Penalty button until the timer beeps ties indicator displays the total number of penalties and the current penalty value is displayed. Press the recorded. Up to five penalties can be added to a run. left arrow to lower the penalty value and the right arrow to increase the penalty value. When the desired While time is running, the time shown does not in- penalty value is reached, press the Penalty button clude the penalties. When time is stopped, the time again. The new penalty time value is permanently value of the penalties is added into the time shown. saved until changed again in this same manner. Trouble Shooting Suggestions • Verify both electric eyes are on and aligned. If the • Ensure a clean “line of sight” between the timer power light is flashing, replace the battery. console and the electric eye with the antenna. • Check the battery level (see page 1). • Reset the electric eye ID Code in the timer console • Move the timer console and the electric eye with the antenna away from large metallic objects or po-

Source: http://farmtek.net/bpolegro_allegro/Allegro%20Manual.pdf