Transponder Systems
Generically, there are two types of transponder timing systems; active and passive. An active transponder consists of a battery-powered transceiver, connected to the athlete, that emits its unique code when it is interrogated.
A passive transponder does not contain a power source inside the transponder. Instead, the transponder captures electromagnetic energy produced by a near-by exciter and utilizes that energy to emit a unique code.
In both systems, an antenna is placed at the start, finish, and in some cases, intermediate time points and is connected to a decoder. This decoder identifies the unique transponder code and calculates the exact time when the transponder passes a timing point. Some implementations of timing systems require the use of a mat on the ground at the timing points while other systems implement the timing points with vertically oriented portals.
Read more about this topic: Transponder Timing
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