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2.2
Camera Setup
The camera can be placed inside or outside the track. A good starting point is 15-18 feet back from the
nearest lane and 10-12 feet up. The stock lens has a zoom range of 4mm to 12mm which supports
distances to the track between of approximately 8 to 25 feet. Position the camera so the finish line is
centered in the preview area. The higher the camera is positioned, the easier it is to determine the
athlete’s lane and position. Refer to the Start-Up Instructions for more details.
Lens Adjustment
The camera comes equipped with a manual zoom lens. There are 3 rings on the lens which adjust the
zoom, aperture and focus. The inside ring controls zoom, the middle ring controls the aperture, and the
outside ring controls the focus.
To adjust any of these settings:
Launch the
FT-FAT
application with the camera connected.
Click
Capture & Review
.
Cancel the Configuration dialogue. The camera image should appear automatically
Position the camera to show the finish line
Loosen the thumbscrew on the zoom ring and rotate the ring.
Tighten the thumbscrew when you are satisfied with the image.
Repeat the previous two steps for the focus.
When adjusting the zoom, it is also necessary to adjust the focus. With a runner standing in lane 1 and
lane 8, adjust the zoom and focus so you can see the torsos of both athletes.
2.2.1.1
Len Aperture
The lens aperture, or iris, controls the amount of light reaching the camera sensor and it should be
adjusted based on a variety of performance tradeoffs. For most purposes it is recommended that this
position be set about 20% away from the Open position. The adjustment is made with the middle thumb
screw on the lens. This adjustment has a range from Open to Close and is labeled O on the Open end
and C on the Closed end.
Fully opening the aperture will soften the image (i.e., slightly degrade the lens resolution), but will allow
for the lowest possible exposure time and reduce motion blur. It may be necessary to further open the
iris in environments with very low light levels such as night meets or poorly lit areas. For extremely
bright situations such as direct sunlight, the camera image may be saturated white unless the aperture is
further closed. The camera’s automatic exposure and gain settings are generally capable of
compensating for these different conditions. See
Camera Settings
in Section 4 for information on
controlling the camera’s settings.
2.3
Computer Setup
The FlashTiming System can be set up to work with one, two, or three computers. One computer is
sufficient when there is adequate time between races for the capture official to review the video and
record the times. Determining the athletes’ times in lane races take very little time. Non-lane races take
longer to review due to matching the finish order to the athlete numbers.
If using meet management application, such as Hy-Teks’s Meet Manager, and the meet is pre-seeded,
updates to the heat sheets may be made in the meet management application before recording the
results. This may take some time and using a second computer to review the video can help reduce the
