Phoenix Sports keeps track of cycling times

Track cycling is an extraordinarily complex sport, where timing and accuracy is essential. It’s a niche that Phoenix Sports has learned through vast experience.

As the official timekeepers of the UCI Track World Cup Series 2003-2005, the UCI Junior Track World Championships since 2001 and all current USCF Road & Track National Championships, the company’s Velodrome Management System (VMS) is constantly being tested and refined.

Composed of an integrated hardware/software/cabling solution, the system focuses on the core priorities of timing, infrastructure and data flow. Once contracted, the company provides the track with all necessary timing equipment and related hardware, a complete software package and a comprehensive cabling and installation guide. There’s also on-site consultation.

Developed and continuously refined throughout a period of several years, the latest release of the system controls all data flow during the event, including timing, scoreboards, real-time WiFi and TV output, announcer screens, results and UCI Reports.

The system includes an audit trail manager for forensic data tracking, an integrated IP-based commentator screen for announcers and pressrooms and an integrated WiFi module that allows anyone at the venue with a wireless-enabled PC to monitor results in real time. Outputs are available in many formats including HTML, Acrobat PDF, Excel, Lotus, generic text, etc.

The software automatically records all time-of-day impulses, while a built-in time calculator allows athlete records to be modified and manual times from backup systems to be entered.

There’s support for most major brands of display scoreboards and message centers. The system outputs serial data via IP packets with all the data needed to design custom scoreboard interfaces. The companion Sockmon program is a networked redirect program that allows multiple brands of displays and TV graphics devices to be connected without affecting system performance.