Epunch
Orienteers use fancy technology to track your visit to each control.
Step #1: Get an "estick"
San Diego Orienteering uses the SportIdent tracking system, the global standard for orienteering. If you do not own an estick, you can rent one at SDO events for a small free. This becomes your personal finger stick (it has a unique ID number), and can be used at all e-punching events, both locally and nationally.
Step #2: Use your estick
Before doing a course, you must prepare your estick by deleting old data and making sure it's working correctly. At the Start, first insert the card in the "Clear unit", and keep it there until the unit beeps and flashes (this may take a couple of seconds). Next, place your it in the "Check unit", which verifies that the card is cleared and writes a check time on it.
When the starter tells you to begin your course, place you place your estick in the start control , which records the start time.
At each control, insert your estick into the control unit until it beeps and flashes. This takes less than a second If you punch at the wrong control or punch out of order, the software will catch you and disqualify you - unless you go back and punch at the correct control, and then punch all other subsequent controls in the correct order. In that case, the computer will ignore the incorrect punch and accept the subsequent correct punches.
At the Finish, "punch" the finish control, which records your finish time.
Step #3: Download your data
After you have completed your course, go to the registration tablen to download your card's contents into the computer database. When e-punch official tell you to do so, insert your E-Stick into the download unit and wait for it to beep and flash. This may take 5 to 10 seconds, because all of the data has to be uploaded to the computer. The official will tell you if you punched all of the controls correctly, what your course time was, and give you a printout of your splits.
All e-punch results for each course are printed and posted periodically during the meet, so you can compare your time and splits against everyone else's. In addition, the splits are posted here on the SDO website.
Step #4: Analyze your performance
In addition to the basic info available on your result printout, the Winsplits website can be used to analyze your performance at a very detailed level.