A chip that cannot be seen by the antenna cannot be read, however good the mat is. More lost times come from where the tag was worn than from anything wrong with the equipment.
The rule behind all of it
The tag wants to be on the outside of the person, clear of water and metal, and facing the way it will pass the antenna.
A UHF tag has no battery. The reader powers it and then listens for a very quiet answer, so a body, a soaked shirt or a bike frame in the way costs you both halves of that exchange. An active tag carries its own battery and announces itself, so it forgives far more — but a tag buried under three layers and a race cape is asking for trouble either way.
Common placements, and what each one costs
- Ankle — reliable, because it is low, clear of the body and close to a mat on the ground. It wants to be on the outside of the ankle, snug enough not to spin round and not so tight it marks.
- On the bib — convenient, because the number and the chip arrive together and nobody has to hand anything back. It depends on the bib staying on the front and staying flat. A bib folded up under a jacket, or turned to the back, is a tag that has gone quiet.
- On the bike — fork, frame or number plate, depending on the tag. Keep it off the frame's metal where you can and make sure it is not shrouded by a bottle, a bag or the rider's leg.
- Swim — wrist or ankle under the wetsuit sleeve is normal, but water is the hardest thing UHF has to fight. Talk to RFID Timing about the right tag before running a swim on tags you have not used in water.
Tell the competitors, in one sentence
Most lost times are self-inflicted at registration. A line on the entry confirmation and a sign at the desk does more good than anything you can do at the mat:
Wear the tag on the outside, on the front, and do not fold, cut or cover it.
Do not let anybody run with the tag in a pocket, under a bag strap, or pinned to the back, and do not let them cut a bib down to fit — the tag is usually part of what gets cut off.
Handing them out
A chip has to be against a person in Podium before they start, not just in their hand. The handing out and the recording are two jobs and it is the second one that produces results. See Where chip codes come from.
- Hand out in number order where the tags are encoded in number order. Then the rule does the recording for you and there is nothing to type.
- Every swap gets recorded at the moment it happens. A tag swapped at the line and written on a hand is a tag that scores the wrong person. Do it there and then, one at a time on the entrant.
- Check the "Not ready" list before the gun. It is the list of people who will get no result, and no chip is the main way onto it.
Getting them back
Decide before the event whether you are collecting tags, and tell people at the finish. A collection funnel has to be part of the finish layout, not an afterthought once the winner is through — see Running a finish.
Tags that walk home are next season's missing tags. If your club reissues the same tag to the same racer each time, the carry-over route depends on getting them back (Entrants, numbers and chips).
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