Are there any affordable professional FAT timing systems available anywhere?

You won't find anything that qualifies as an official FAT system for less than about $2,000. The school I coach at has a FinishLynx (we purchased a lower end system for about $6,000) we use for meets but for scrimmages/time trials for our sprinters two methods I've found to be nearly as accurate is the SprintTimer app for iOS:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sprinttimer-photo-finish/id430807521

Or using the timer module (an extra in-app purchase) in Coach's Eye:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/coachs-eye-video-analysis/id472006138

With SprintTimer you can use two iOS devices (it only works on iOS) such as an iWatch and iPhone or iPad and iPhone and have one device start you (they have pre-recorded starter commands) and the other device set up on a tripod at the finish to capture your finish time. You could set it all up yourself and get pretty accurate times. This is probably the best option for timing yourself with a bit of work and is worth the $4.99 if you already have the iOS devices to run it on, obviously it's expensive if you don't already have any iOS devices.

With Coach's Eye if you film the starter you can get the exact frame where you can see the smoke appear from the starting gun and that's when you start the timer in the app, then you can fast forward to the finish to get times for each athlete. I've done this at track meets and gotten the exact same times for athletes in the 60m or the 100m as the FAT system did. Coaches Eye works for Android and iOS and is worth the few $ to get the additional timing module. The only problem is you need a couple of people to do it: someone to start the athletes with a starting gun and someone to film the race. This is my preferred method for timing scrimmages and time trials these days, it takes no setup, I just have my phone and another coach start the athletes with a starting gun.

matt_london_413 wrote:

Other than the ones that are I think 9 or 10 thousand, are there any FAT timing systems out there that the general public can buy?

And if there isn't then why isn't there?

Wouldn't we all benefit from an affordable FAT timing system?

And I don't believe freelap is the equivalent to an FAT timing system. I don't think they are the same. I could be wrong about that though.

Why would the general public need or want FAT?

Ever try Dartfish?

I don't know what he charges but it's the off season for him so he might work for cheap rates.

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/santa-claus-holding-stopwatch-photography-close-up-45473272.jpg

Mr. Pedantic wrote:

1. Why are you referring to a 400m dash PR in a post about 60m and 40 yard dash pursuits?!?!?!

2. If your go to is "broken 60"...does that mean your PR is, like, 58? That would be sad...I bet my PR at age 13 is faster than your lifetime PR.

I refereed to 400 because its the amount of running you have done in your life, and also refereed to 60 as i know you have always been stuck in the slow heat for your entire life and its a waste of time to say anything faster.

computer genius wrote:

thelogicvessal wrote:

Watched his videos. There is no way he can break 12. My sister can run faster.

its ridiculous how oblivious you are to matt's clear talent at that weight. watch your mouth twig before he makes a dash video running towards you with his fist

you obviously haven't seen pics of his sister

computer genius wrote:

Mr. Pedantic wrote:

1. Why are you referring to a 400m dash PR in a post about 60m and 40 yard dash pursuits?!?!?!

2. If your go to is "broken 60"...does that mean your PR is, like, 58? That would be sad...I bet my PR at age 13 is faster than your lifetime PR.

I refereed to 400 because its the amount of running you have done in your life, and also refereed to 60 as i know you have always been stuck in the slow heat for your entire life and its a waste of time to say anything faster.

And how, pray tell, could you prove or disprove your claims?

Also, have you ever heard of the term "projecting"?

I guess it would help if you were more specific about what you are trying to do Matt and what you mean by a "professional" FAT system? The absolute minimum you can get a true FAT system for is about $1,500, Flash Timing and Eagle Eye are examples of some of the cheaper options. You can google them if that's what you are interested in, but these systems are designed for running track meets, not just timing one person running 40 yards, they require 2-3 people to operate (with a starter), 1-2 computers and are designed to efficiently manage a track meet with hundreds or thousands of participants, that is what you are paying for.

If you are looking for something more accurate than Freelap then you might look into a light beam based timing system like the Brower timing system, but that's still going to cost over $1,000. There have been some new players in this market and they all still cost around $1,000 from what I've seen. As others have pointed out they shouldn't have to cost this much given today's technology, but they do. It's a small market I guess.

One last parting thought I'll throw in is even high end "light beam" timing systems like Brower are not as accurate as you might think they are. The fundamental problem is which part of the body is breaking the light beam? I've timed and filmed thousands of flying sprints and the light beam systems are very frequently off by 2-3 hundredths of a second when compared to high speed video, and the reason is because it is very often not the torso breaking the beam but a knee, leg, hand or arm in front of the torso breaking the beam at one, but not both gates, it all depends on where the sprinter is in their stride cycle when the pass the gate. There's just no way to get the height of the beams set so that it is always the torso breaking the beams, especially if you are timing multiple athletes of different heights. It doesn't seem like much, but for timing something like a flying 10m sprint .02-.03 seconds is the difference between an athlete that can run 11.0 versus one that can run 11.3 in the 100m, i.e. not accurate enough to measure meaningful improvement from week to week or month to month for training sprinters. In this sense I think the Freelap system is probably just about as accurate and significantly easier to setup for a workout as the more expensive light beam based systems. In the end high speed video is absolutely the most accurate way to time sprinters for short distances, because you can view exactly when their center of gravity crosses the finish line (and start for flying sprints), which is why virtually all true FAT timing systems use some kind of camera system and a human operator to mark the exact moment a sprinter's torso crosses the finish line.

I know this is an old thread but I have a FTFAT200 system I needed to sell. For a used system like this, would someone please give me a ballpark what I should ask for it?

Thank you!

Hi! I am looking for a used FAT timing system. I am doing an event to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis (MS Run the US) and I just a home track meet and XC meet each year that I have to source out. I would love to get my hands on a timing system. All would be used for charity purposes.

Hi! I am looking for a used FAT timing system. I am doing an event to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis (MS Run the US) and I just a home track meet and XC meet each year that I have to source out. I would love to get my hands on a timing system. All would be used for charity purposes.

I wish I could donate this for your event but I'd really like to be able to sell it.