SCORERS' UPDATES
by WSTIMS creator Dave Clark
NEW AGE DIVISIONS New Age Divisions require WSTIMS update
WSTIMS 97 ALERT! How to survive until the '97 version arrives
WSTIMS in Windows How to do it.
WSTIMS and CVJ Using WSTIMS with Corson Video Jump
Undocumented WSTIMS Features
8/97 At the summer meeting of the AWSA Board of Directors at Nationals in West Palm Beach the Age Divisions were changed for Men and Women 4 and older. This new structure of Age Divisions went into effect immediately following the 1997 National Championships, -- hence they are in effect NOW.
The changes will require that you update your WSTIMS system prior to scoring another tournament. In the download section you will find the file WSNEWDIV.EXE. It is a self extracting module containing a revised "Divisional Control Table" for the WSTIMS system.
If you download this file to the same machine you score on, then just run it from a DOS prompt (or click on it from File Manager, if you have Windows) and it will unpack immediately. If you need to get it into another machine -- or to pass a copy on to others who may need it -- then you will need to copy this WSNEWDIV.EXE file onto a floppy disk, then run that on the machine you have WSTIMS installed on -- and that MUST be done from a DOS C:\> prompt to ensure that it unpacks properly from that floppy disk.
Copies of the file are also available from the Tech BBS at (847) 699-7041, or from the USAWATERSKI.ORG web site.
If you know of others in your area who will be scoring tournaments yet this fall, please be sure to advise them of this change, and/or pass on a copy of this revised file.
Until the updated release 3.2 of WSTIMS becomes available in a few more weeks, here are a couple of alerts you need to be aware of, in utilizing the existing WSTIMS release 3.1 in the interim. Please note that most of the potential problems lie in the conduct of Record Capability events.
First, for AWSA-Sanctioned tournaments which have some class "L" or "R" events, with release 3.1 you should NOT select the "IWSF" rules option on the tournament setup screen, and should NOT use the IWSF division codes IM or IW or IB or IG in such tournaments. These options should only be used in tournaments which are run wholly according to IWSF rules, according to the IWSF championships format as laid out in the Official IWSF rulebook. Using these options at an AWSA tournament will cause undesireable results, such as the inability to get NOPS scores, and so forth.
In the meantime, you need to be aware of all the pertinent differences in the IWSF rules which do apply in such "L" and "R" events, and manually override as necessary, whenever situations which involve any of those differences arise. As to the jump timing tables, you should note that the new IWSF tolerances are now the same values as the AWSA Tables have been for the top speeds, so the AWSA Division codes and the use of the equivalent MPH speeds, will deliver the correct IWSF rules results with the existing WSTIMS release 3.1.
In the upcoming release 3.2, the specification of event classes "L" or "R" will invoke the necessary IWSF rules provisions in the execution of Slalom and Jumping events, and will also include the new IWSF Jump timing tolerance values for the metric KPH speeds.
Finally, if you are running a tournament with the new Corson Video Jump distance measurement system, please note that the WSTIMS jump timing charts will not be produced correctly with the timing chart report program as distributed in WSTIMS release 3.1 last summer. I have produced an updated version of the module JMPTIM.BAS which will produce a correct chart from WSTIMS jump event logs which are run with the VJ option, and have placed this on the AWSA Tech BBS which you can download if needed in the short term. The number for that BBS is (847) 699-7041.
The 1997 version of WSTIMS will include the ability to set up and run in Win3.x and Win95. This offers several conveniences such as multiple copies of WSTIMS and running Video Jump and WSTIMS simultaneously on the same computer.
The components of the new WSTIMS which accomplish this are included in the self extracting file WSUP312W.EXE (356K). Documentation is included.
This add-in does several things in addition to fulfilling the interface with VJ -- it also includes an update to the Divisional control table which now allows OW and IW to jump at 5.5' (1.65m) ramp height, has the revised jump timing tolerance tables for the IWSF Kph speeds, and has a revision to the boat time charting program to support WSTIMS jump event log files that result from this VJ interface. This new add-in will also establish a Windows desktop group with several icons to help you access the WSTIMS program, the documention files, and the demonstration mode. Just follow the intructions -- EXACTLY -- which will display when this self-extracting archive is run on your machine, and it'll go right in.
This add-in should be installed onto a PC which has had WSTIMS31 already installed. WSTIMS31.EXE contains the base system from last season. Please note that this is NOT the final 1997 season release, but rather just a revision to provide the VJ interface and to allow the package to integrate more smoothly in Windows systems. The updated WSTIMS release 3.2 for 1997 will be available in a couple more weeks. wsup31zw.exe and wstims31.exe are available in the download area for those who would like an advance look.
For use with VJ, I position this window low on the overall screen, so that when it is activated, the WSTIMS window appears low, and the original VJ
window distance boxes are still visible above that. Then when the user
Alt-Tabs to bring up the WSTIMS window on top of VJ, the resulting
distance(s) are still visible right there so that they can be easily
repeated into the WSTIMS screen, along with the boat times. Then just
Alt-tab back to VJ for the next cycle. And so on and so on ......
Used it that way a couple of times, and it worked quite well.
Give this a whirl and see how it works for you.
WSTIMS and Corson Video Jump Meter System Not well documented, but the existing WSTIMS jump program (release 3.1) will accept jump status codes of "V" or "B" in addition to the usual J/P/F codes. The "V" code indicates a successful jump, where the outcome distance is input directly on the screen (in both metric and feet), rather than being calculated. When this code is input, after digesting the times, the option list will then include an entry for "Enter Video Distance", rather than the normal "Calculate Jump Distance". When selected, it then just opens two input fields at the bottom of the screen where the operator enters the feet and meters.
If you run WSTIMS in a window (rather than full screen), then you can toggle back and forth between VJ and WSTIMS on that one machine. Position the WSTIMS window low on the screen, then when it's on top, you can still see the derived VJ distance values above that window, and just input as described above. For anyone who's comfortable with Alt-Tab task switching, it's a piece of cake. Just don't try to minimize the VJ window, tho -- that leads to mucho grief. Works fine to just Alt-Tab swap up the WSTIMS window on top, then Atl-tab again to switch control back to the VJ.
Now having said all that, here's what the "B" code is for. That does Both. Means it will behave exactly like the normal "J" code, taking you thru the normal meter reading input and distance calculation process from those meter readings. However, upon "Accepting Calculated Distance" option, the program then enters an edit mode with the resulting derived meter and feet distance values supplied as the defaults. You can then either accept those values as is (enter/enter), or edit in revised video distance values, as appropriate. This mode is handy when you're using a mixed setup where the VJ system is set up to cover only the long end of the range, and the meters are used for anything shorter. For those who want to set it up that way.
Hope this helps you understand the various possibilities.
WSTIMS 3.1 has an alert built into both the Slalom and Jump event management programs. If either timing segment's "Index" value (which is really the Z-statistic for the distribution for a sample size "n", for the number of passes in the current event) exceeds +/- 4 or more, then the "TMST" indicator at the bottom of the competitor selection screen will light up and flash.
This was included so that there would be some "real-time" indication when a timing pattern that is out of compliance with rule 1.12, begins to surface. When the TMST flashes it is a signal to the scorer/operator to pull up the new Timing Pattern display. Especially in R tournament situations the Chief Judge and/or Chief Driver might want to be notified if this happens.