RFID Race timing system

What the RTUS automated RFID race timing system does

The RTUS times every athlete through the UHF tag integrated into their numbered bib. Allocate the bibs to entrants, and the system records each one as they cross a timing point, links the read to that athlete's entry and posts results to the event website. There are no stopwatch times to read off and nothing to transcribe by hand after the race.

It works on the 865–868 MHz UHF band used in India with EPC Gen2 (ISO 18000-6C) tags, and it is supplied with international standard bibs and UHF tags, so the reading side and the consumables match from the first event.

Who buys the system rather than the service

• Timing companies that want their own equipment instead of hiring it for each event
• Triathlon and duathlon organisers who need swim-to-bike and bike-to-run transition splits
• Cycling events with repeated lap crossings
• Sports academies and stadium meets running races back to back
• Township, campus and multi-city run series that reuse one system and one results page

If you time only one or two events a year, the per-participant RFID race timing service may suit you better than owning equipment.

Setting up a timing point

Bibs arrive with the tag already fitted, so race-day work is about read-zone geometry rather than assembly.

• Make the capture zone wide enough that two athletes crossing side by side are both logged.
• Angle the antennas so each tag passes through the beam rather than skimming its edge, and keep the frame clear of metal railings.
• Brief athletes to wear the bib flat and unfolded on the chest, outside any jacket.
• Map tag EPCs to bib numbers in your registration database before race-pack collection, then read-test a few packs on site before the first wave.

Timing points are commonly built with ground mats such as our UHF mat antenna; the RFID antenna and read-zone guide explains how gain and polarisation shape the zone.