Finish Lynx Timing System
As one of the premiere Finish Lynx operators in the Pacific Northwest I have become a resource for numerous track & field teams around the region. With a background in electrical engineering I can comprehend the underlying technologies involved in an advanced Finish Lynx timing system. The most basic setup of Finish Lynx is not terribly complicated once the basics of the system are understood. As the system becomes more complicated, two things happen: the system becomes way more flexible and way more complicated.
The finish lynx system runs on an IP based Ethernet backbone. To keep everything running smooth it is important that the network is well managed. Each component in the system requires available space in the IP scheme. To fully understand how the system operates you need to have good grasp of IP networking.
Understanding all the backend technologies make setting up and running a lynx system much easier. More importantly, however, is that it makes trouble shooting problems easier. This is why I have become a local recourse with this technology.
The system we use at Willamette University is a complex system, one of the more so in the Pacific Northwest. We have three Finish Lynx cameras, two Identi Lynx Cameras and two chip readers. This gives us great flexibility with what we can do. The chip system is typically used only for cross country, however, there are possibilities of using it for track in the future. For a typical meet, where the priority is on achieving good times, we setup each of the cameras at a different location on the track. This allows us to run the sprinting events with a tail wind no matter the direction of the wind. For a championship type event, all cameras will be setup on the common finish line. Two cameras are setup on the inside, one a primary system and one a secondary redundant system. The Third camera is setup on the outside of the track and gives a reverse angle of view on the primary system. This makes breaking ties in the sprints much easier.
If you are interested in hiring me to run a Finish Lynx System please contact me. My typical rate is $500 per day.
