External Timers
RunScore connects to clock-based external timers over a serial (RS-232 or USB-to-serial) port or TCP/IP. Set up the connection in the Initialize External Timers dialog — see Initialize External Timers for menu paths. Once connected, the timer feeds times in the background while you continue working normally.
Laptops without a serial port can use an inexpensive USB-to-serial adapter; RunScore just needs the COM port number it shows up as in Device Manager.
Setting up a chip or bib transponder system instead? See Chip/Bib Timing.
Not sure which of these two sections covers your device? Any device that reads a bib number or chip off a runner automatically (mats, ears, readers) belongs in Chip/Bib Timing instead — this section is for clock/timer hardware that produces a time, not a chip read.
Supported timers
Every name below is a Device option in the Initialize External Timers dialog.
This site does not yet have a dedicated page for each timer. Until those pages land, use RunScore's built-in Help menu for cabling, baud rates, and other device-specific steps. The list is here so you can confirm your hardware is supported and pick the matching Device name.
| Device |
|---|
| ALGE Comet |
| ALGE S4 |
| ALGE TIMY |
| Bar Code |
| Carmen |
| Chatsworth |
| Chronomix 727 |
| Chronomix 737 |
| FinishLynx |
| Heuer |
| Heuer 520 |
| Heuer Net |
| Key Board |
| LightBox Timing Clock |
| Macsha |
| NK 2000 XC |
| Psion |
| Summit System |
| Time Machine |
| TimeTech |
| TimeTech Select |
| TimeTech X |
| Ultrak |
Carmen and Macsha are chip-tag protocols, not clocks. They appear in this Device list — matching the built-in Help — rather than under Chip/Bib Timing.
LightBox Timing Clock uses the same protocol as Time Machine; pick either name.
Push Button timers are also external timers, but they're set up from a separate Initialize → Push Button menu item rather than through the Device dropdown above. Setup details are in RunScore's built-in Help until that page is added here.