A split timer for the Palm Pilot

Version 1.0

April 26, 1999

Copyright Ó 1999 by Kc Brock and Henry Hedberg

All Rights Reserved

Table of Contents *

Section 1: Installing Lickity Split *

Section 2: Creating a StartList *

Section 3: Timing a Race *

Section 4: Exporting Race Results *

Section 5: Starting Another Race *

Section 6: Limitations and Tips *

First the file Lickity Split.prc must exist on your PC. It can be acquired at various shareware sites.

Run the Palm Install Tool (C:\Palm\Instapp.exe).

Click on Add and browse to the location of the Lickity Split.prc file and click Open.

Click Done.

Next time you Hotsync with your Pilot, Lickity Split will be installed.

Procedure is similar. Run the program InstallApp. Click on the Select button. Set the List Files of Type to All Files, locate and select the Lickity Split.prc file and click Open. Click Install. Again, the application will install at the next Hotsync.

Simply tap the new icon on your Pilot after the application is loaded to start Lickity Split.

Lickity Split Icon

The first screen you see will be the Lickity Split Timing Screen. From here, you need to create or import a Start List. See the next section for how to create Start Lists.

To get to the StartList screen to create a new StartList using Lickity Split on the Pilot, use a shortcut N, or go to the Menu (by tapping the silkscreen Menu button) and select New StartList.

Click OK to continue. This will erase any StartList data that may exist in the database (but not the ones that may be stored in the MemoPad).

This is the StartList Screen. The default StartGap is 5 seconds. This can be changed before you begin to enter racers by tapping the five, erasing it with a backspace, and entering the desired StartGap.

Enter Name and Affiliation by tapping in the space next to them. It is not required to enter the Name or Affiliation. You are limited to 8 characters to represent the Name, 3 characters to represent Affiliation.

You may change the Bib to any three-digit number. It will automatically increment by one for the next racer. The StartGap always begins with zero and will also automatically increment by the StartGap amount for the next racer. When you are done entering a racer, tap the Accept button and the # Racers Entered will increment so you know how many racers have been created in the database.

When you have finished entering the StartList, tap the Done button to return to the Timing Screen.

You may also create a StartList using MemoPad on the Pilot. Tap on the MemoPad icon and tap New. The memo can have any name on the first line. The second line must contain the word Start. The next lines must have the bib number, dash, Name, dash, Affiliation, and return. Below is an example StartList in MemoPad.

After the memo is created, you can start Lickity Split and select Import StartList from the Timing screen menu. Select the correct memo, note you can choose different categories of memos in the upper right corner. Enter the StartGap and click OK. These racers will be loaded into the Timing form unless there are problems with the format of the memo.

Similarly to creating a StartList in MemoPad on the Pilot, a StartList can be created in MemoPad with th Palm Desktop. Create a new memo with the following format:

Here is a screen shot of what the memo will look like in Palm Desktop:

The next time you HotSync, the memo will be loaded onto your Pilot. Then you will be able to import it when you run Lickity Split. See the page 9 for how to use the Import StartList menu option.

After creating a StartList from the New StartList menu option, you may wish to save this list to MemoPad. To do this, go to the menu option Export StartList, or do a shortcut E.

You will be given the opportunity to name the list. You may enter any name you want up to 35 characters (do not use the word Start by itself – this is a reserved word) – this name will be recorded on the first line of the memo in MemoPad.

Tap OK and you will return to the Timing screen. A StartList in the appropriate format will be created in MemoPad for later import.

Export in Lickity Spli MemoList in MemoPad StartList Memo

After you have created or imported a StartList, you can begin to time racers.

You can tap the Number buttons or enter graffiti bib numbers in the Number graffiti box to put a bib number in the Bib entry section. You may need to tap on this section to activate it for entry.

With a valid bib number entered, you can either Show that racer’s most current lap information, or you can Time the racer by tapping either of the Timing buttons.

To show the latest information for a racer, enter the racer’s bib number and tap Show.

Here is an example of tapping in 51 and tapping the Show button. Racer 51 is moved to the middle of the list, and this racer’s most recently completed lap is lap 0, meaning 51 has not completed the first lap yet and the StartList information is showing.

All the completed laps for different racers can be shown by using the Browse forward and back buttons. The Lap # is displayed in the upper right hand corner and the current racer is highlighted. Lap 0 is the StartList.

Here is an example of entering bib 52 and tapping the Time button. Racer 52 has just completed lap 1 and the split calculated is 3 minutes and 54 seconds (behind the current leader for lap 1). Racer 52 is in 5^th place in comparison to all the racers that have completed lap 1 so far.

At any time during the race, the race results (Bib, Racer Name, Racer Affiliation, Lap, Place, and Split information for each lap) can be exported to MemoPad. This functionality was designed for the end of the race so that if there are discrepancies in timing information, they can be challenged directly after the race is over.

Go to the menu options for the Timing Screen and select Export Race Results or do a shortcut R.

You may enter any name you want up to 35 characters– this name will be recorded on the first line of the memo in MemoPad.

Here is what the exported Race Results will look like. The first line is the name of the memo. The second line is blank. The lines that follow are the records for each racer: Bib-Name-Aff-Lap0-Place-Split-Lap1-Place-Split-Lap2-Place-Split, etc. The splits are all in seconds.

To end the current race and start another, either clear the database by choosing New StartList from the Timing Screen menu, or by importing a StartList. This will clear the other database information and all the new splits will be relative to the new leader.

This product has only been tested on the Palm III organizer. There are no guarantees for operation on earlier or later Palms. Please let us know the results if you decide to test it.

Limit on number of laps: 20 laps.

Limit on number of racers: 250 racers.

Limit on Bib numbers: 3 digits, 1-999.

Limit on Name: 8 characters.

Limit on Affiliation: 3 characters.

Limit on Export filename: 35 characters, do not use the word Start by itself for the Export StartList filename. Start is a reserved word used when importing the list.

3Com Palm III Battery Life: Typically 2-3 months on two AAA batteries, according to 3Com.

You may leave the Lickity Split application or power off your Pilot at any time and return to time racers. The clock will remain accurate to the nearest second.

In cold weather, you may want to use a chemical heat pack to keep the screen dark – it gets lighter as it gets colder.

In wet weather, you may consider operating your Pilot inside of a ziplock bag. Another option is a GPS case – REI has one in which the touch screen continues to work pretty well. The bag is a little tacky to the touch of the graffiti pen. The bag remains flexible in cold weather. See http://www.rei.com/ and search REI’s site for WaterProof GPS case. At the time of this writing it lists for $22.95. The bag has a blue backing, but clear front. (Lickity Split is not affiliated with REI.)

There is a newer GPS type bag out there, created specifically for the Pilot. See http://www.aquapac.co.uk/homeframe.html. It's sold in Europe, but you can get it shipped here for $15. The case cost is approximately $19.