How it works
The SPORTident system is comprised of two basic elements: stations and cards. Stations are placed on the course and each station has a unique control number. Every athlete carries a SPORTident card which records the time and control number as he or she passes the stations during the race.
After the race, the SPORTident card holds the athlete's start-finish time, split times as well as all control numbers. The SiTiming software is used to evaluate this data to create the results. At most events the participant will receive a printout with their result and split times as soon as they hand in their timing card. The results will also be updated on a nearby display.
SPORTident offers two timekeeping solutions: SPORTident classic and SPORTident AIR+. For the SPORTident classic system, the athlete has to "directly punch" the station, i.e. dip the tip of the SI-Card into the hole of the station to record the time and control number to his or her SI-Card.
Originally developed for orienteering, SPORTident classic has been in use for almost 20 years and in more than 65 countries. It is extremely robust and applicable to events of any size.
The newer SPORTident AIR+ system enables contactless timing. It is especially well-suited for applications such as mountain biking, orienteering, trail running and other adventure sports.
Time and control number are recorded to the athlete's SPORTident card as he or she passes the station in a distance of up to three meters. It is not necessary to bring card and station into direct contact. SPORTident AIR+ is fully backwards-compatible with the classic system.
A number of extensions expand the functionality of the classic and AIR+ system. For example, to directly transmit time records during the race, making live results possible.