The questions people actually ask, in the words they ask them, with the short answer first. Each one names the page with the rest.
Do I need a start mat? No. A wave start needs a gun, not a mat — everybody in the wave is timed from the gun. A start mat only buys you chip time, each person timed from when they crossed, which matters in a big field and not in a small one. See Running a start.
Somebody crossed the line first but is placed behind someone. Why? A standard race is ranked on chip time by default — each person from their own start crossing, not from the gun. Somebody who started further back can finish behind you on the road and still beat your time. To rank by who crossed first, set the race's Ranked on to Order across the line, or to Gun time to time everyone from the gun. See Results and publishing.
How do I publish results / make them public? You do not need to — a race is public from the start. To hide one, untick public on the event's Results tab and press Save. An event with every race hidden does not appear on the public site at all. See Results and publishing.
How do I tell Podium which box is the finish? Two steps. Give the box a timing point name where it stands, then say which point is the finish. In Podium PC: name it in the reader grid on Readers, then choose it as Finish on the Scoring tab and press Save. On the website: Race setup, the Timing points card. See Timing points.
Podium PC has no Scoring tab. Tick Advanced settings on the Settings tab. The Scoring tab only shows with it ticked. See Podium PC.
What should the gate be set to? Leave it at the two-minute default unless you have a reason. It must be longer than anybody stands on or near the mat, and shorter than the fastest lap. A triathlon transition mat that people come back over within a minute needs it lower, around thirty seconds. See Timing points.
How do I record the gun on the day? Podium PC: the Scoring tab, Gun, then Now as the field goes. Podium Mobile: the By hand screen, Wave start. Or set it on the website beforehand under Race setup, Wave starts. See Wave starts — the gun.
Half the field has no finish time. That is the mat, not the runners. Every box keeps its own log, so pull the reads back before typing anything in — typed times are for the handful still missing after that. See Getting back reads you missed.
Can I import my entry list from Excel? Yes — save it from Excel as CSV first (File, Save As, choose CSV), then import that. See Entrants, numbers and chips.
How do I enter handicaps? Per person: click their name in the Entrants card and fill the handicap box beside the race. Or for everybody at once, a handicap column in the file you import. Then tick handicap on the race's results. Written as h:mm:ss, m:ss or seconds. See Results and publishing.
One rider has an extra lap. Look at that rider's reads and which points they are on. A second mat that should only watch, or a lap mat covering the start line, is fixed in the setup and the laps recalculate. If they really went over the mat an extra time, exclude that one read on the website's Raw data tab — it stays on record and put back undoes it. See The lap count is wrong.
A read is plainly wrong. Can I take it out or change it? Yes, on the website afterwards: Raw data, Chip times, find the read, then exclude or correct…. Or put the right time straight into Splits. Each asks why, is marked, and can be undone. A time typed with By hand at the event is different — it only fills a gap. See The raw reads, and changing a result by hand.
Does Podium work with no internet at the venue? Timing does. Boxes keep their own logs and the apps store every read on the device, and results catch up to the website when there is signal. But the field — races, entrants, guns — comes down from the timing server, so fetch it before you lose signal. See The results are not on the website.
Can I start and stop a 4G box from the website? Yes — and only from the website. RFID Boxes, click the box's card, Start reading or Stop reading. Podium PC and Podium Mobile cannot, because they hold no link to it. The box acts when it next reports, so check the command list to see it confirmed. See Commanding a box from the website.
How many devices can connect to one box? Three at once over the network, and one over Bluetooth. See What Podium will not do.
What are gun time and chip time? Gun time runs from the wave start. Chip time runs from that person's own start crossing. See What the words mean.
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