Alex Simmons/RST wrote:trailgumby wrote:Forget this sort of amateur hour - go to a club that uses transponders, and buy your own.
No point having your own, they need to be compatible and a working receiver and software system in place.
trailgumby wrote:I'd also recommend using a Garmin and recording all your races with it. Besides providing useful training info, it also helps provide backup to settle this kind of argument.
As a commissaire, I would never accept what a rider's own computer says as evidence. Who knows whether it is properly set up / calibrated / functioning properly?
Nothing difficult about it being compatible, and having a working receiver and software in place. I really don't understand the problem, it is very doable if you have the will.
The model car club I belonged to (NSWRCRCC) had exactly the setup I described, being the Dutch AMB i.t. system. We all had our own transponders, I think the units were $60 each and I had two, one for each car I ran, and they were compatible around the country and internationally.
I can't see ANY reason why it would not be feasible to do the same thing in cycling. All you need is a laptop, some software, the adapter and a wire loop to tape to the road.
This was over 10 years ago, I got out in 2001. The systems are only going to be cheaper and better now.
EDIT: Oh, looky
In fact there isn't any reason not to do it in cycling. The US already has, as of 2008. See the following link:
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3941
As for whether a rider's own computer is set up properly, you don't set up Garmins except to turn them on and press the start and stop buttons. Oh, sorry, you can choose 1 or 3 second recording intervals. The rest is calculated by the unit off the satellite telemetry.
Remember this is not a case of a timing difference, or him beating thenext guy by half a wheel, it is a case of his finishing not being recorded at all, if I've read correctly. He has independant evidence, the commissaire in this case has *nothing at all.*