Touch pads

RE: Touch pads

Rob Copeland — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 09:58:59 GMT

Electronic timing can fail for a number of reasons. I’ve found that the main 3 reasons are pad malfunction, poor pad to harness to console connection, bad touch. However the timing console operator should always be on the lookout for this and know when to take a secondary or tertiary time. Pad malfunctions are usually unique to the manufacturer. Omega pads can have a faulty or stuck tape switch or issues with slats. Colorado pads can be under or over inflated. Some pads can have dead spots. Touch pads connect to deck boxes or a deck harness which connect to the timing console. Water, chlorine, copper and electricity don’t play well together. It takes a lot of care and maintenance to keep these components in good working condition. Bad touches can be too soft or finishing on an inactive spot on the pad.

RE: Touch pads

Karl_S — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 09:52:35 GMT

Touch pads fail often. (ok, maybe it's the connections not the actual pad, as Kirk points out.) Angel was almost denied the opportunity to defend his 200 fr title in Rio on account of a pad failure. swimswam.com/.../ The "party line" is that he touched the pad too low, which sounds like nonsense to me, and has been called as much by people who saw the race.

RE: Touch pads

knelson — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 01:17:01 GMT

I would speculate it was a problem with the connection between the pad and the timing system rather than with the actual pad. I know I've been at plenty of meets where touch pads need to be swapped out, so they certainly aren't foolproof.

RE: Touch pads

Allen Stark — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 08:25:13 GMT

I got my results and it is an official swim,they just used the hand timers' results as there was no touch pad results. The timers clearly didn't contact the actual pad,could they have touched the cable to the pad,I can't say.

RE: Touch pads

orca1946 — Sat, 23 Apr 2016 07:19:26 GMT

We also had this problem at the Illinois state meet. We were told swim phone is not the official list. We contacted the meet director, and he is looking into it. You may also want to contact him with race/heat/lane to get further results.