Speed Climbing Timing - Installation
06/10/2009 10:29 Filed in: Speed timing
Synopsis: This article provides installation instructions and hints for how best to install the speed climbing timing system.
Both timing systems arrived at their destinations for the southwest and northeast divisional championships. Yeah!
Here is the wiring diagram for the system. All the cable to connect these modules is regular CAT5 straight through patch cable.
Tools you'll need for the install:
1) Diagonal cutters (used to trim tie-wrap excess)
1a) pliers - helpful for tightening down the tie-wraps.
2) 3/8" button head bolts: 2 short button head bolts work the best with the 3/8" washers in the package to secure the hand sensors from rotation. Other bolts will work, but the button head bolts have the widest, flatest surface area that's best for holding the hand sensor brackets to the wall. The flanged, martini bolts are a no-go - no surface area to hold the bracket.
3) an extension cord that has at least 2 outlets. I usually bring one of those short 1-2 foot extensions that expands from a single 3-prong to 3 outlets. Heavy duty, flexible...they cost about $10 at home depot. Then I run a regular extension to the expansion extension. An extension to a power strip will also work.
There's enough power cable leading to the display to eliminate the need (in most cases) to run any extension cord up the wall.
4) It would be ideal to plug the system into a filtered power source - something to catch line spikes. Typical UPS or lightening suppressed power strips would be best.
It's quite simple to hook up, but here are a few tips for install.
1) Always attach the left lane foot and hand sensors' BASE jack to the base unit. This makes the LEDs on the starter console line up left and right (unless you flip it over/upside down.) It works either way (you could go from the base unit to the right lane instead), but one way is better. The diagram shows it going from base to left lane.
2) Make sure you bolt the hand sensors offset from the rope - far enough that the loop and slack of the rope that is slapping around as they climb will not break the light beam of the hand sensor. This is a very important installation/ positioning consideration. A fast rope flick in the target area is enough to trigger the sensor, so configure the routes and lanes so this possibility is eliminated.
2a) it's also good to make sure the rope cannot get under the wires leading into the sensors. One of the improvements we made after the regionals was we added another bracket to the back so the sensor can be flipped over. This lets you route the cables to the sensor from the left or the right depending upon what the best way is to keep the cables out of the way of the rope. The hand sensors work just as well in any orientation, so use the one that makes the install the safest to keep cables away from the rope.
3) For the long run of cable from the base up to the left hand sensor, if you are unable to drop the cable behind the wall and come out the front at the bottom, it works good to screw in some bolts along the path on the face wall up to the top. Then you can use the plastic tie-wraps included in the package to secure the cable to the bolts. It's an effective cable chase that keeps them tied back. Same works with running the foot cable along the wall until it needs to come out to the foot sensors.
4) Make sure to leave a little slack in the wire to the foot sensors (don't tie it down to close to the wall), since the footbeds need to move around some where it's comfortable for the climber.
5) The sensors are interchangeable - they all have the same jack configuration. Not all jacks will be used on a single sensor as shown in the diagram.
6) It would be good to tie-wrap the cables feeding into the display base unit to something on the wall close to where they connect to the base. This will provide strain relief and especially, if someone trips over a cable it won't immediate yank the display off the wall or rip the cables out of the display.
6a.) Also makes sense to tie wrap the cables leading into the hand sensor jacks to a bolt in the
wall or something secure so those cables have some strain relief as well. This will make
incidental hits to the cable less likely to cause an issue.
7) If the cables included aren't a length you need, you can use whatever length you want - the cables are basic CAT5 straight-through patch cables which you can buy at CompUSA or home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot.
8) Finally, make sure you have at least one backup stopwatch on each lane - I'd hate to have some malfunction in the system hose up an event. We should have some spare sensors built by nationals.
The demonstration video is still valid for how the system works (in operation) from a starter official's point of view as well as the climbers.
The main things that have changed since that video was done:
1) the hand sensors now have LEDs on the end-cap that light when the sensor is activated - giving the climber some clue that he hit it OK.
2) the starter console LEDs now not only light when the foot is in the footbox, but also will light when the climber has activated the hand sensor.
Speed Climbing Timing Part 1 - Sensors
Speed Climbing Timing Part 2 - Controller
Speed Climbing Timing Part 3 - Integration
Speed Climbing Timing Part 4 - Touch Pad Construction
Speed Climbing Timing Part 5 - Schematics
Speed Climbing Timing Part 6 - Perf Board
Speed Climbing Timing Part 7 - Display
Speed Climbing Timing Part 8 - Hand and Foot Sensors
Speed Climbing Timing Part 9 - Demonstration
Speed Climbing Timing Beta Test Boulder Rock Club
Speed Climbing Timing - Sensor Improvements
Speed Climbing Timing SHIPPED!
Speed Climbing Timing Schematics (shipped v1)
Speed Climbing Timing Installation
Speed Climbing Timing - Laser-based Hand Sensor Design
Speed Climbing Timing Lessons Learned
Both timing systems arrived at their destinations for the southwest and northeast divisional championships. Yeah!
Here is the wiring diagram for the system. All the cable to connect these modules is regular CAT5 straight through patch cable.
Tools you'll need for the install:
1) Diagonal cutters (used to trim tie-wrap excess)
1a) pliers - helpful for tightening down the tie-wraps.
2) 3/8" button head bolts: 2 short button head bolts work the best with the 3/8" washers in the package to secure the hand sensors from rotation. Other bolts will work, but the button head bolts have the widest, flatest surface area that's best for holding the hand sensor brackets to the wall. The flanged, martini bolts are a no-go - no surface area to hold the bracket.
3) an extension cord that has at least 2 outlets. I usually bring one of those short 1-2 foot extensions that expands from a single 3-prong to 3 outlets. Heavy duty, flexible...they cost about $10 at home depot. Then I run a regular extension to the expansion extension. An extension to a power strip will also work.
There's enough power cable leading to the display to eliminate the need (in most cases) to run any extension cord up the wall.
4) It would be ideal to plug the system into a filtered power source - something to catch line spikes. Typical UPS or lightening suppressed power strips would be best.
It's quite simple to hook up, but here are a few tips for install.
1) Always attach the left lane foot and hand sensors' BASE jack to the base unit. This makes the LEDs on the starter console line up left and right (unless you flip it over/upside down.) It works either way (you could go from the base unit to the right lane instead), but one way is better. The diagram shows it going from base to left lane.
2) Make sure you bolt the hand sensors offset from the rope - far enough that the loop and slack of the rope that is slapping around as they climb will not break the light beam of the hand sensor. This is a very important installation/ positioning consideration. A fast rope flick in the target area is enough to trigger the sensor, so configure the routes and lanes so this possibility is eliminated.
2a) it's also good to make sure the rope cannot get under the wires leading into the sensors. One of the improvements we made after the regionals was we added another bracket to the back so the sensor can be flipped over. This lets you route the cables to the sensor from the left or the right depending upon what the best way is to keep the cables out of the way of the rope. The hand sensors work just as well in any orientation, so use the one that makes the install the safest to keep cables away from the rope.
3) For the long run of cable from the base up to the left hand sensor, if you are unable to drop the cable behind the wall and come out the front at the bottom, it works good to screw in some bolts along the path on the face wall up to the top. Then you can use the plastic tie-wraps included in the package to secure the cable to the bolts. It's an effective cable chase that keeps them tied back. Same works with running the foot cable along the wall until it needs to come out to the foot sensors.
4) Make sure to leave a little slack in the wire to the foot sensors (don't tie it down to close to the wall), since the footbeds need to move around some where it's comfortable for the climber.
5) The sensors are interchangeable - they all have the same jack configuration. Not all jacks will be used on a single sensor as shown in the diagram.
6) It would be good to tie-wrap the cables feeding into the display base unit to something on the wall close to where they connect to the base. This will provide strain relief and especially, if someone trips over a cable it won't immediate yank the display off the wall or rip the cables out of the display.
6a.) Also makes sense to tie wrap the cables leading into the hand sensor jacks to a bolt in the
wall or something secure so those cables have some strain relief as well. This will make
incidental hits to the cable less likely to cause an issue.
7) If the cables included aren't a length you need, you can use whatever length you want - the cables are basic CAT5 straight-through patch cables which you can buy at CompUSA or home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot.
8) Finally, make sure you have at least one backup stopwatch on each lane - I'd hate to have some malfunction in the system hose up an event. We should have some spare sensors built by nationals.
The demonstration video is still valid for how the system works (in operation) from a starter official's point of view as well as the climbers.
The main things that have changed since that video was done:
1) the hand sensors now have LEDs on the end-cap that light when the sensor is activated - giving the climber some clue that he hit it OK.
2) the starter console LEDs now not only light when the foot is in the footbox, but also will light when the climber has activated the hand sensor.
Speed Climbing Timing Part 1 - Sensors
Speed Climbing Timing Part 2 - Controller
Speed Climbing Timing Part 3 - Integration
Speed Climbing Timing Part 4 - Touch Pad Construction
Speed Climbing Timing Part 5 - Schematics
Speed Climbing Timing Part 6 - Perf Board
Speed Climbing Timing Part 7 - Display
Speed Climbing Timing Part 8 - Hand and Foot Sensors
Speed Climbing Timing Part 9 - Demonstration
Speed Climbing Timing Beta Test Boulder Rock Club
Speed Climbing Timing - Sensor Improvements
Speed Climbing Timing SHIPPED!
Speed Climbing Timing Schematics (shipped v1)
Speed Climbing Timing Installation
Speed Climbing Timing - Laser-based Hand Sensor Design
Speed Climbing Timing Lessons Learned
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