Sierra 2000 O-Fest


Electronic Punching

by Evan Custer

SportIdent electronic punching (EP) will be used at five of the events at the Sierra 2000 O-Fest: the Spooner Lake B-meet, the Spooner Relay, the A-meet at Sawmill Flat, and both days of the A-meet and Pacific Region Championships at Burton Creek. These will be the first major orienteering events held in the United States to utilize this technique.

How It Works

Electronic punching replaces the conventional needle punches used with Tyvek or paper punch cards. Instead, participants carry an electronic card, or e-card, also called a "finger stick." It is a small plastic object that contains a microchip and is worn on the finger, held in place by an elastic band.

The e-card is round and is inserted in a hole in the control unit, which is situated on a stand at each control site. After the control number and time are recorded on the e-card, the control unit beeps and flashes. You must wait until the unit beeps and flashes to insure an accurate recording of the punch. This takes less than a second, and is much faster than manual punching with a conventional punch.

Getting an E-Card

If you do not own your own e-card, you must rent one ($2 per day) for the events in which EP will be used. There is no option of using manual punches and conventional punch cards on these courses. You can also buy an e-card for $26.50 plus tax.

Using an E-Card at an Event

Prior to using an e-card on a course, the data from the previous event must be erased by inserting the card in the clear station, which is an EP unit situated near the pre-start. Then, at the pre-start, you place your e-card in the check station, which checks to be sure the card is cleared, and writes a check time on it.

There are two different ways for the start time to be determined using e-punching. Both methods will be used at the O-Fest. The first is to punch a start unit at the start, which writes the start time on the e-card. This method will be utilized at the Spooner B-meet. For this method, it is not crucial exactly when you start, since the actual time you start is written on the card and will be used to determine the elapsed time.

The second way is to have pre-assigned start times, which will be programmed into the computer prior to the event. This method will be utilized for the A-meet days at Northstar and Burton Creek, and also at the Spooner Relay. You will line up at the start line like at regular A-meets, and when the whistle sounds at the appropriate time, you will begin navigating your course.

At each control, check the control number on top of the EP unit, and then insert your finger stick in the unit until it beeps and flashes. In case it does not flash or beep (highly unlikely if placed in the unit for the requisite time), punch your map with the conventional punch hanging from the control flag.

If you accidentally punch a wrong control, or punch a control out of order, but then punch the correct control, and punch all other subsequent controls in the correct order, the computer will ignore the incorrect punch, and accept the correct punches. The punches must be taken in the correct order, because in addition to the code number, the time of the punch is recorded, and all punches must be taken in chronological order.

At the finish (except for the final leg of the relay), you must punch a finish control at the finish line. This records your finish time. (For the relay, because of the mass start, the timing of the final leg will be by conventional manual timing in order that finishers may sprint to the finish and not have to stop to punch their card.)

After punching the finish control, continue in the finish chute until you reach the data-transfer control unit. When instructed to do so by the EP official, insert your finger stick into the unit, and wait for it to beep and flash. This may take 5 to 10 seconds, because all of the data has to be uploaded to the computer. The official will tell you if you punched all of the controls correctly, and what your time was.

If you have rented an e-card, and this is the final event in which you are going to use it, return the card to the official.

The results will be printed out periodically and posted.

Reminders

You must keep your card in the unit until it flashes and beeps in order to record the data onto your card. Failure to do so will result in a mispunch.

You should not borrow someone else's card, or loan your card to someone else. The card carries a unique ID number, which has been assigned to your name in the computer database. If you use a card that is not yours, the computer will produce incorrect results. This is a time-consuming hassle to fix, so please do not loan finger your stick to someone else.