Frequently Asked Questions
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... and the Answers |
| What do I get when I order a Timer AC4 timing system?
| The system ships complete ready to race, just add batteries! The Timer AC4 Console pictured above contains the integrated 12-button keypad and ultra bright LED Displays. A set of our track proven Infrared technology Beam Emitters and Track Sensors are included for setup on separate start and finish lines. The Emitter/Sensor pair will provide a lane width at the start or finish lines of up to 50 feet wide leaving plenty of room to position these devices back and away from the speeding cars. Two interconnect cables are included to connect the Control Console to the starting line and finish line Track Sensors. These cables are designed to allow the start and finish lines to be located up to 100 feet from the Timer AC4 Console providing flexibility to position the race event booth between the start and finish lines. |
| Can I use wireless to the track sensors?
| Yes, the Timer AC4 can use our T-Link Wireless or standard hardwired cables to connect the track sesnors to the timer. Purchase both and the hardwires can be used as backup in the event the wireless system is damaged during a run. |
| What batteries will I need?
| The Timer AC4 offers a choice to connect the 12 volt DC source to the Control Console. An AC Adapter for events where AC power is available, Alligator Clips to connect to a 12 volt automotive battery, or a Cigarette Lighter Plug to run the timer from the cigarette lighter off a nearby 12 volt negative ground vehicle. The IR Beam Emitters use four-AA size batteries in each unit and last 60 hours or more. The AA-size batteries can be Alkaline or Ni-Cad rechargables. |
| Is there an option to display seconds only in place of minutes & seconds?
| Yes, the Timer AC4 has two display timing formats available, a minutes & seconds format (M:SS,FFF) or a seconds only format (SSS.FFF). The elapsed time can be displayed as M:SS.FFF or as SSS.FFF (where M is minutes, S is seconds, F is fractions of a second). |
| How hard is aligning the sensors at the start and finish lines?
| Place the Timer AC4 into Alignment Mode and the Display monitors the alignment at the start and finish lines. Position the Emitter/Sensor pair into position by eyeballing their alignment. 95% of the time, that's all it takes and is verified by the Timer's Display. Each Emitter/Sensor pair is represented by a digit on the Timer's Display which counts when alignment is incorrect. If the digit counts quickly, the alignment is way off. The closer the alignment, the slower the digits count until the digit stops counting completely to indicate proper alignment. |
| Does sunlight interfere with the sensors?
| RaceAmerica's IR Track Sensors and Beam Emitters are designed to be placed a up to 50 feet apart and operate from total darkness to full, bright sunlight. No need to re-align the sensors everytime the sun comes out from behind the clouds. The IR Beam Emitters generate a dual high-frequency infrared signal which is frequency locked by the Track Sensors. Since sunlight does not contain these frequencies, the Track Sensors separate the sunlight from the Beam Emitters signal eliminating the annoying problem common to sensors with a low-tech solution. These are not purchased infrared devices, RaceAmerica designed these from the ground up. |
| How do I stop the timer if a car spins out on the track and does not finish?
| No more running over to the finish line to block the finish line beam. Determine the maximum run time and program it into the AC4 to automatically stop the appropriate timer or simply press the Manual Stop key when the errand car should be next to cross the finish line. The timer will select the next timer and stop the timer immediately. If you prefer to indicate the car as Off Course, pressing the Off Course key will stop the next timer and set the time to the preset 'Off Course' time. |
| What if a worker walks through the finish line and stops a timer? Or I pressed Manual Stop or Off Course at the wrong time?
| Sooner or later it's going to happen, a timer is stopped by mistake. The Timer AC4 continues to keep track of time even if the displayed timer has stopped! Pressing the Continue key will immediately enable the stopped timer and update the timer with the correct elapsed time as if it was never stopped. This is a great feature to keep the Autocross event moving along, even if the score keepers slip up every so often! |
| What if a worker walks through the start line and starts a timer? Or I pressed Manual Start at the wrong time?
| Sooner or later it's going to happen, a timer is started by mistake. Press the Ignore key to end the timer and mark it to be ignored. This is a great feature to keep the Autocross event moving along, even if the score keepers slip up every so often! |
| Can I use the Timer AC4 to time multi-lap events with a common start/finish line?
| Yes, the new AC4 can operate with separate Start and Finish beams or one common Start/Finish beam for laping events. |
| What if a Track Sensor or Beam Emitter gets damaged? Will the timer operate without them?
| If a Track Sensor or Beam Emitter is damaged, the Timer AC4 can continue to be used in Manual Mode by disabling the sensors on the control console. The Timer AC4 will continue to time cars using the manual start and stop keys on the console. A simple keypress as the car crosses the start line will start the next timer. A keypress of a second key as the car crosses the finish line will stop the next timer. Timer AC4 continues to time up to four cars at a time using Manual Mode to manually start and stop the four timers like four sequential stopwatches. |
| Can I hook up a PC or a Laptop Computer to the timer and capture the results?
| The serial communications port on the Timer AC4 console can be connected to a timeslipprinter, a Laptop, or PC to capture the results with software running in a computer. The following software packages are fully compatible with Timer AC4 and interact with many unique Timer AC4 features. Select a package below and download the demo version of the program:
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AXWare for Windows
from Axware Systems.
Click here or on the Axware logo to download a demo version of the software package designed for the RaceAmerica Timer AC4 or Click here to visit the Axware Systems website. |
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| What if I want a Large Display?
| An external display connector on the Timer AC4 is designed to connect to one of our Large Digital Display units now available. When a car crosses the finish line, the display is updated with the run results for the crowd to review. The Large Digital Displays intelligently interface to RaceAmerica timers as well as many non-RaceAmerica timers and race management software from many third party vendors. |
| What other features does the Timer AC4 have?
| Two other convenience features are included to aid the management of the race event. If all goes wrong on the track, press one button on the keypad to stop all activity on the timer. This allows the ability to restart the timer and the drivers and continue with assigning run numbers. Another feature is the ability to reset the entire timer. This is helpful after setup is complete and the sensors have been triggered during setup starting and stopping timers. One key press and the timer is reset for the first run to begin. |
| What do I do to order a Timer AC4? |
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Not sure which Autocross model
and options you need?
Click here to fill out our simple
6-step quotation form to help us match the system to your racing requirements. |
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| Want to download a copy of the Timer AC4 Owner's Manual?
| Click here to download the Owner's Manual in Adobe's Acrobat Reader format (PDF file). If you do not have Adobe(R) Acrobat Reader loaded on your system:
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