Race Services - Split Second Tips

Split Second Timing - Tips and Tricks

You should be using the current version of the Split Second USSA/FIS software. (It is possible to use the Club version of Split Second, but doing so requires somewhat different procedures and suppporting data files. We recommend using the USSA version.) Split Second stores your timing and registration files in the folder C:\My Documents\SplitSecond\Alpine and Snowboard\, which you can access using My Computer or the Windows Explorer on Windows if you need to access files directly. We refer to this folder as the Split Second data directory, as it contains all your race data files as well as supporting configuration files used by the software to support registration, timing, and reporting operations.

Contents

Turning Off Autosort

If you are running a masters race with age classes that do not conform exactly to the standard 5-year masters classes and start order rules of regional and national events, you MUST turn off the Autosort feature!! Specifically, you need to do this for Far West masters races, which use 10-year age groups and a special second-run "Open" class, and for Intermountain masters races with the second-run men's "Super Seed" class. Otherwise, SST will quietly "scramble" your competitor order when you generate a start list or results reports by applying the built-in national masters rules.

To disable automatic sorting: Click on the pull-down Edit menu at the top of the window, select the Options page, and clear the check mark on the Automatically Sort when generating reports option. Click OK to save this setting. SST will now ask you whether you want its built-in sorting rules to be applied whenever you generate a report - you can still say yes to obtain the default behavior, but Just Say No if you have already sorted the competitors into the desired order by other means.

(See the FW and Intermountain pages for details on how to sort start lists and results reports for their age class rules.)

Submitting Masters Results

Masters races are not scored competitions in the USSA ranking system, so race organizers do not need to submit results to USSA. However, the masters divisions generally wish to obtain results data files for their own use, such as web site publishing and season scoring. Similarly, results data from regional and national masters events should be submitted to a designated representative.

Unfortunately, the usual Send Ski Data operation in Split Second cannot be used to mail the results data directly from a masters race. (The standard XML results format is not generated correctly by SST and is useless). Instead, make a copy of the Split Second data file for a race onto a floppy using the standard Save As operation in the File pull-down menu at the top of the SST window, if someone is on site to receive the data file directly. Otherwise, send the results in an email message and manually attach the race data file(s) from the SST data directory C:\My Documents\SplitSecond\Alpine and Snowboard\ (use the standard options in your email program to add the file attachment).

Installing Points Lists Files

You can download the masters points list using Split Second using the Load Points List operation on Factors/Lists page of a masters race. This will download and unpack the current masters points list file into a folder in your Split Second data directory. (Specifically: C:\My Documents\SplitSecond\Alpine and Snowboard\Points Lists\Masters\).

Workaround for officials list problems: There is a glitch with the handling of the officials points list (NLOnnn) for masters races, which you may encounter if you try to enter the data for a recently-listed official from the usual data entry screen. The workaround for problems with the officials list is to manually copy the current officials list file from the main Split Second points list directory C:\My Documents\SplitSecond\Alpine and Snowboard\Points Lists\ into the Points Lists\Masters subdirectory where the masters points list is stored. The copy in the Points Lists\Masters sub-folder is needed to get the choice displayed on the SST Factors/Lists page, while the copy in the main Points Lists folder needs to be in place to support the lookup service used by the data entry assistance feature as you type the first few characters of an officials name. If you do not have a copy of the latest officials points list, you can download the NLX national points list files for ranked USSA competitors by creating an Alpine race and using its Factors/Lists page to download and install the USSA rankings lists.

Links and Contacts

US Ski Association - Alpine Masters - USSA masters information, links to timing software and points list downloads, member lookup, etc
Split Second Timing - the standard USSA alpine timing software
TimingGuys.com - discussion boards for timing topics
Glaivestone Software - ACES - ACE Scoring masters software

Contact Information
Deb Lewis
Director of Race Services and Scoring, Far West Masters
Email: Deb Lewis