Notes on using Sports Indent Si

Bill’s Notes Using Sport Ident (Si) from a Planner/Organiser’s viewpoint (Revised – 06/02/2019)

 As from February 2019 we have numbers 93-99 and 121-159 for use in the East (Powys) and 160-223 in the West (N. Ceredigion) inclusive of stakes and Si Stations (i.e. 40 stations East and 64 West) + Clear, Start and Finish Units and Yellow Stakes and Check  (hand held by Organiser or Starts Team at a bigger event).  The West and East will have 1 set of Clear, Start, Finish and Check each.

 So when planning your Courses you can allocate in OCAD in advance any of these numbers to a particular course relevant to your “area”. Please ensure that the number on the stake corresponds to the number displayed on the station on top of the stake! Clip the kite onto the stake using the stake clip provided (just positioned under the number). Stating the obvious, I would ask that any controls on or near paths are put out on the morning of the event to reduce the likelihood of theft/vandalism etc. Please note that each combined stake, unit and kite will currently cost £120.45 to replace.

 The relevant Si Co-ordinator (Bill in the East, Steve in the West) will need to be sent the courses, course lengths & climb + control numbers (preferably in an OCAD Text file format) used on each course at least a week before any event to input all the information.
 Competitors may come to you at Registration to Hire a Sport Ident (Si) Card (aka dibber) - this will cost an additional £1.00 on top of the Entry Fee. Entry fees are currently:- POW Juniors £1.00, Seniors £2.00; all other Juniors £2.00, Seniors £4.00 (£6.00 for newcomers that are not BOF members). I have done a Spreadsheet with Registration details on it for each Planner so just email me for it).
 Record their name and the number of the Si Card (dibber) they are hiring (even if it is their own Si Card, it is important to record this) on the relevant sheet. With the POW Hire Si Cards (we have 55 at present, 2011285-2011339inc), these are a 7-digit number of which the first 4-digits will be all the same (2011), simply add the last 3-digits in the column on the sheet provided.

 From a safety point of view, it is important to record when a competitor returns (we are now writing down their completed course time so that Results are available prior to uploading on the website) and if they have hired a dibber and returned it then also tick their name in that relevant column.
 We are also adding now in the column provided the person’s finish time. This will allow all competitors a quick view of where they are position-wise. Full results will be up-loaded onto the Club website later that day.
 If the competitor uses a Hired Si Card: for newcomers remind them to place the dibber on either index finger. I have attached a “Slip Knot” cord to each dibber to considerably reduce the likelihood of them losing it! Replacement cost is currently £30.00.
 Make sure that the competitor “dibs” at the “Clear” Station first of all. Once it has cleared the previous event’s data it will “bleep” and will also “flash” to confirm this.
 Before the Start make sure that the competitor dibs into the “Check” box.
 With Si you don’t necessarily have to keep to 1 minute intervals, but in the interest of fairness of competition, do not let anyone go (who is on the same course) within a minute of each other! With POW members, if they are on the same course, please keep a 3 minute gap between them on starting off (this reduces the chances of “following” and so gaining an advantage).
 When the competitor is about to set off please remind them to dib the “Start” box before setting off on their Course, otherwise they will be shown up as dns (did not start) in the final Results.

 

 Remind every competitor to dib the “Finish” station and then go to “download” (probably at Registration) even if they have not completed their course. It is possible to have the Finish Unit well away from Registration, rather than have the start and Finish in the same place. This is normal practice at events throughout the UK, so I would encourage this at our events.

 

 Having downloaded, issue the competitor with a tear-off sheet of paper with their “Splits” shown per leg and overall time taken. However, remind them that this Result is PROVISIONAL only on the day until all the Results have been downloaded later onto the Laptop. The Si software will then automatically match the course entered and check that competitors have visited each control on their course and in the correct order. The competitors can check the “Splits” Control order against your Control Descriptions order so they will know whether they have visited the correct controls in the correct order!

 Finally, it is imperative that the relevant Si Co-ordinator is given all the Registration sheets at the end of the event so that when he gets home and downloads the results into the Si software on the POW Laptop, he can marry up the Dibber numbers and include all the necessary information (i.e. Name, Class, Club and Course).

01st Nov 11  by Terry Smith