At our Y, we have the old-fashioned analog pace clocks, which can be a bit hard to see when your goggles get fogged up during practice.
But we also have a 6-lane Daktronics digital timing scoreboard with timing pads, etc., but it's only used for meets.
I am hoping that some engineering types out there might provide answers for the following questions:
Do any reputable vendors make an inexpensive timing console that would work with our scoreboard and let us run the normal clock function in one of the scoreboard lanes? Obviously, our $1500 Daktronics console will do this, but the aquatics director was told to remove the console from the pool deck after meets because the humidity of the pool environment is really hard on electronics. Is there something cheap that we could use as an alternative?
If not, does anyone have experience with portable digital pace clocks? Again, the Daktronics and Colorado Timing Systems and similar corporate Big Boys make deluxe customizable versions of these that allow for all kinds of neat little tricks, but alas they tend to cost in the >$1000 range. We don't need all the bells and whistles. All we need is an easy to see, digital clock that our team can afford. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
Or, maybe there's a crafty electrical/electronics tech among your members that could construct one.Most Dak scoreboard cables are a standard twisted pair with a phono plug into the console and a 25 pin male into the scoreboard. I’m not sure what the maximum run is, but Daktronics could provide specifications.
Yeah, it's Larry Day's clock. I have two of them and take at least one to every practice. They work very well.
It depends on how big a team. I've run practices in four lanes before using two clocks, each set up midway between each pair of lanes. Works well.
For big teams, I agree.
We just have three lanes. Do you put it on the bottom right by the wall so people can see their times when they touch? Do they start by looking underwater and waiting till the send off? Or do you synchronize it with the old fashioned wall clock and use the underwater one just for finishes?
We just have three lanes. Do you put it on the bottom right by the wall so people can see their times when they touch? Do they start by looking underwater and waiting till the send off? Or do you synchronize it with the old fashioned wall clock and use the underwater one just for finishes?
When I have the pleasure of working out with someone else, I just put it on the deck, between the two lanes, a convenient distance from the edge of the pool. Use it just like a regular pace clock. Bonus: The digits are big enough that even half-blind people like me can see them through foggy goggles.
If I was trying to run 3 lanes, and wanted to save money, I'd try one clock, sitting up a bit, perhaps perched on a pull buoy, perhaps two feet behind the middle lane. I think everyone would be able to see it from there. It would be somewhat more portable than, say, a regular, full-size pace clock. (But if your situation allows it, you might also consider this puppy for $100. It doesn't look bad.)
Personally, I only use the clock underwater when I am working out by myself, and then only for backstroke sets (always) and sprint freestyle (sometimes). The rest of the time, I put it on the deck.
