Chronelec

Chronelec is a french brand of active timing system devices. Official website : https://www.chronelec.com/ Documentation and utility Decoder setting: https://www.chronelec.com/support/ The brand offers several models such as the Elite and the Protime. These decoders can communicate with Wiclax via a USB (serial) port or an Ethernet port.

Connexion

On the Wiclax side, the first step is to create a Chronelec-type acquisition in the acquisitions window.

In the connection window, you can see the menu allowing you to choose between the Protime, Protime Elite, and Protime V2 models. This selection mainly matters when the connection is made through the USB port, as the communication parameters differ.

In the screenshot above, the connection is configured by entering the decoder’s IP address, 192.168.1.11, and port 2008. Note that decoder settings are managed through the Decoder Setting utility, which can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website and allows, among other things, changing the decoder’s IP address.

Chronelec decoders do not operate over TCP but over UDP. As a result, when connecting two readers to the same PC, you must assign two different ports using the Decoder Setting utility.

Remember that the timing hardware and the PC must be on the same IP address range (see the Basic Network Principles page).

As usual, click Connect to open the connection. The acquisitions window displays the loop noise level. It also shows a “connection lost” message if Wiclax stops receiving data from the decoder.

The Read and Set Time buttons allow you to display the decoder’s current time and adjust it from within Wiclax.

Note that time adjustment is not possible while transponder reading is active.

Chronelec decoders can return either race time or the current time of day. For use with Wiclax, it is important to configure them with the option Race time set to the decoder’s time of day. This setting is applied using the Decodersetting software, which is also a Chronelec product.

Most Chronelec decoders do not have internal memory and do not retain passings once they have been transmitted to the computer. To compensate for this, Wiclax creates a log file that allows you to rewind the readings. However, this rewind is only possible on the PC that was used during timing. Note that the rewind feature also makes it possible to view the transponders’ battery status.