CTS Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch

1. Not all teams operate with the Dolphin electronic timing system.  These instructions are provided as a reminder / consideration for those teams who do use it.

2. Connect base unit to computer with USB cable, open the Dolphin software, and then open Meet Manager.

3. Confirm that the meet file is configured properly for using Dolphins:

   • [Set-up] → [Timing Console Interface - Pool 1]

   • Confirm that ‘Colorado Time Systems Dolphin’ is selected → [OK]

   • If you plan to take splits on your first event, select ‘Colorado Time Systems Dolphin with Splits’

4. Open Dolphin software and move the CTS Dolphin window to your second screen.

Note: If your second screen is unavailable or not working, you can still run the Dolphins from your main laptop.  Open the software and leave the window open– it can be minimized or not in view, but should not be closed.

5. Ops Check Dolphins.  On each wireless watch and the wireless starter unit, press and hold the [Reset] button to turn it on.  If the system is operating correctly, the Dolphin software should have a green light on for each lane that has a wireless watch assigned to it.  Check their battery status while you have the Dolphins on.  Replace batteries if needed.  If there is still significant time before the start of the meet, you may wish to turn off the Dolphins to conserve their batteries once you have ops checked them.

6. Set Up Dolphin Starter.  Connect the Dolphin Starter to the electronic starter.  Test to verify that the electronic starter starts the Dolphins.  Make sure the ‘Reset’ button is pressed on the Dolphin Starter after testing is complete.  Turn off to preserve battery life if the meet start is significantly later.  (Just make sure it is turned on again before the meet starts!)  

7. Select Data Set.  A Data Set is a set of results for a given meet or session of a meet. Each time a race is completed, the Dolphin system creates a result file in C:\CTSDolphin. The first 3 characters of the file name are numbers from 001 to 999. These three character numbers define the Data Set number (Meet Number).  The last 4 characters of each result file are a number from 0001 to 9999 and this is the Race Number. Each file within a data set has a unique race number.

   • In Meet Manager, select [Run] → [Interfaces] → [Timer (CTSD) Pool 1] → [Select Data Set stored from CTSD]

   • The interface will display a pop-up window with the date and time and the number of races that have been stored for the current data set that MM is pointing to.

   • Click on the Next Meet or Previous Meet buttons to select the appropriate data set. Because there is a date and time shown for when the first file in the data set was created, you can usually figure out which data set to select.

   •  If new data sets with a new data set number have been added since starting MM, you can click Update Data Set and all data sets will be refreshed for selection.

   • Once you have the correct data set displayed, click [Close].

   • If you are unable to find the current data set with today’s date, you may need to point MM to the correct location.  Click on [Update Data Location] → navigate to C:\CTSDolphin 

     • You should be able to locate the test files that you created when you ops-checked the system.  Use the time and date stamp of the files to help you.  Once you have located the files you created today, click on one of them, note the first three numbers of the file,  and then close the window by clicking  [Open].

     • You should be back to the Select Meet pop-up.  The first three numbers of the file you just noted are the meet number.  Use the Previous Meet and Next Meet buttons to locate the meet number you noted in the previous step.  You should see today’s date and the number of races stored from today (your test races).

Note: If you accidentally close the Dolphin software window and restart it, you may need to select the correct data set again.  Every time the Dolphin software is started, it starts a new data set by scanning the files in C:\CTSDolphin to figure out what the highest data set number is and resets the race number back to 0001.