{"id":3531,"date":"2022-12-27T16:55:11","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T14:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/?p=3531"},"modified":"2022-12-27T16:57:04","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T14:57:04","slug":"locked-and-unlocked-chip-timing-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/timing\/locked-and-unlocked-chip-timing-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"The Difference Between Locked and Unlocked Chip Timing Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we talk about chips, or RFID timing<\/a><\/strong> for races, you might have heard of locked systems or incompatibility between components. In this article we explain what to look out for and go through the difference between locked and unlocked systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How does an RFID timing system work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Essentially there are 3 components to all systems. There are the tags (also known as chips) that receive and transmit electromagnetic signals between antennas or mats, which in turn communicate with readers that decode the signals to readable data that\u2019s then sent to the timing software.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read more about how RFID systems work <\/span>here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Locked RFID Timing Systems<\/span><\/h2>\n

When a manufacturer creates a system they can choose whether to \u2018lock\u2019 the signals between the tags, antennas and decoders such that they only work together. Therefore, a race organizer must purchase and use the same type of equipment from the same manufacturer if they are to use a locked system.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlocked or Open RFID Timing Systems<\/span><\/h2>\n

An unlocked system can be mixed and matched to suit the organizer\u2019s (often existing) hardware. This means that you don\u2019t need to throw-away and upgrade all the components in a system all at once – you can refresh the tags, then later upgrade the antennas or purchase new decoders. Unlocked systems are obviously more popular with organizers that don\u2019t have the revenue to upgrade all at once – or those that inherit one type of tag from one race, and one type of antenna from another.<\/span><\/p>\n

Summary – Locked and Unlocked Chip Timing Systems<\/span><\/h2>\n

Always be aware of the type of system you are looking at using – can it be used in conjunction with other manufacturers hardware? Is it open and unlocked, or is it locked?<\/span><\/p>\n

For a comparison of Timing Systems – <\/span>see this article<\/b><\/a> which includes a downloadable comparison spreadsheet.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we talk about chips, or RFID timing for races, you might have heard of locked systems or incompatibility between components. In this article we explain what to look out for and go through the difference between locked and unlocked systems.\u00a0 How does an RFID timing system work? Essentially there are 3 components to all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocked and Unlocked Chip Timing Systems | RaceID Organizer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is the difference between a locked rfid timing system and an unlocked one? find out what you need to know for your race.\" \>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/timing\/locked-and-unlocked-chip-timing-systems\/\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Locked and unlocked chip timing systems | raceid organizer\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is the difference between a locked rfid timing system and an unlocked one? find out what you need to know for your race.\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/timing\/locked-and-unlocked-chip-timing-systems\/\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RaceID organizer\" \>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-27T14:55:11+00:00\" \>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-27T14:57:04+00:00\" \>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Template-featured-image-blog-21.png\" \>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"762\" \>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"372\" \>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erik sj\u00f6beck\" \>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik sj\u00f6beck\" \>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/timing\/locked-and-unlocked-chip-timing-systems\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/timing\/locked-and-unlocked-chip-timing-systems\/\",\"name\":\"Locked and Unlocked Chip Timing Systems | RaceID Organizer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-27T14:55:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-27T14:57:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/raceid.com\/organizer\/#\/schema\/person\/09d33df2c031014a077b9c289aa526c3\"},\"description\":\"What is the difference between a locked RFID timing system and an unlocked one? 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