FarmTek Polaris User manual

© 1998 FarmTek, Inc. [phone]
Preparation For Use ROPING (1)
1) Choose the arena configuration (shown on the
reverse side) that most closely matches your
equipment and arena setup.
2) Mount all electric eyes and reflectors so that the
beam is broken by the animal's body – not just its
legs or head.
3) With the timer console OFF (unplugged from
A/C), make the connections shown below.
!Connect a long cord from the steer's electric
eye to the Eye #1 jack on the timer in the an-
nouncer's booth.
!Connect a long cable from the header's electric
eye to the Eye #2 jack.
!Connect a long cable from the heeler’s electric
eye to the Eye #3 jack (optional).
!Connect the gray cord from the horn to the
Horn jack on the timer console. Plug the power
cord from the horn into a 110 volt outlet.
Horn
A/C
Adapter
Power
jack
Time Display
Start
Stop
Status Display
Horn
jack
Eye #1 jack
Eye #2 jack
HEADER
Eye STEER Eye
HEELER
Eye
(optional)
Eye #3 jack
4) Turn on the timer in the announcer's booth by
plugging the A/C adapter into a wall outlet and
into the POWER jack on the timer. If the timer
fails to come on, unplug the A/C adapter from the
timer, and then plug the adapter back in.
5) The current event type (Barrel Racing, Roping,
etc.) is displayed on the timer. If ROPING is not
displayed, select the Roping event as follows:
a) Press SETUP to access Setup options.
b) Press ENTER to pick a new event.
c) Press NEXT CHOICE until Roping is dis-
played.
d) Press ENTER to select the Roping Event.
6) If using the long range (barrel) electric eyes, turn
the Transmitter eye ON. The batteries inside the
Transmitter must be charged before use, or the
Transmitter may be run from electricity using ei-
ther of the A/C adapters provided with the timer.
7) Align the electric eyes:
Long Range (Barrel) Eyes: The opposite electric
eye should be directly in-line when sighting down
either line on top of the eye (left to right align-
ment), and when sighting down the crack on the
side of the unit (up and down alignment).
Reflective Eyes: Tilt the electric eye up/down and
left/right while watching the green light on top of
the eye. When the green light is on, the eye is
aligned. Note the up/down and left/right positions
where the green light turns off. Position the eye
midway between these points to ensure the best
possible alignment. (The red light comes on when
the eye is aligned and there is a strong signal).
Checking Eye Alignment
The bottom right corner of the Status display is
continuously updated with the alignment status of the
electric eyes. When an electric eye is aligned, its eye
number is displayed. If not aligned, an “x” is dis-
played. Eye #1 is the steer eye, #2 is the header eye,
#3 is the heeler. An example is shown to the right:
Alignment Display Shows
All eyes aligned. Eye #1 23
Header eye not aligned (or
beam is broken) Eye #1 X3

© 1998 FarmTek, Inc. [phone]
Timer Operation ROPING (2)
1) When the steer breaks its beam, the timer auto-
matically begins timing from zero. Once started,
further interruptions of the electric eyes are ig-
nored while the timer is running.
2) When the judge drops the flag, press the
START/STOP button to stop the timer.
3) The timer is now ready for the next team. No reset
is required!
Broken Barrier
If the header breaks the barrier, the horn sounds
briefly and the message “Header” is displayed. If
the heeler breaks out, the horn sounds two short
bursts and “Heeler” is displayed. The breakout
message remains on the display until it is automati-
cally removed when the timer starts for the next rider.
Clean Start
If the rider does not break the barrier, the message
“Clean Start” is displayed momentarily when the
steer starts the timer.
By the way…
!The timer “records” a broken barrier only if the
timer is started (steer released). Breaking the
rider's beam without the release of a steer (front
loading the box, crossed by workers, etc.) does
not cause the timer to display or save the fault.
!The timer can be set to sound the horn when the
timer “records” the fault as detailed above, or the
horn can be sounded any time the rider's beam is
broken. See the ADVANCED roping instruction
card for details.
Quick Timer Check
Here's a quick check to verify that each eye, cable,
the horn, and the timer are all working properly:
1) Verify that ROPING is displayed as the event type
on the first line of the Status Display.
2) Confirm that the timer shows each electric eye is
aligned. Then verify the timer shows that each eye
is not aligned when someone is breaking its beam.
3) Check the horn by pressing the HORN button.
Typical Arena Configurations
Reflective
Electric Eye
Reflector
HEADER'S
BOX
STEER
HEELER'S
BOX Tunnel,
Panels, etc.
Reflective
Electric Eye
Reflector
Reflector
HEADER'S
BOX
STEER
HEELER'S
BOX
Long Range
Receiver
Long Range
Transmitter
Reflective
Electric Eye
Reflector
HEADER'S
BOX
STEER
HEELER'S
BOX Panel
Reflector
Reflective
Electric Eyes
Heeler Eye (optional) Heeler Eye (optional)

© 1998 FarmTek, Inc. [phone]
Keypad Features ROPING (Advanced)
Accidental Timer Stop
If the timer is accidentally stopped during the middle
of a run, the rider can still be accurately timed by
pressing the RESTART button. (The timer continues
timing even when stopped.) As long as RESTART is
pressed before the ride is completed, no time is lost.
Previous Time Recall
Use the PREV and NEXT keys to scan back and forth
through previous times. Broken barriers, “No Times”,
and penalties (if entered) are saved with each time.
The previous time display is removed after about ten
seconds, or by pressing any other key. You may view
a previous time even while the timer is running.
No Time
To record a “No Time,” press the NO TIME button
after stopping the timer. The message “No Time” is
displayed, and if using the optional printer, a “No
Time” message is printed. The “No Time” is also
displayed whenever the rider's time is recalled later.
Penalties
Entering a Penalty
To enter a penalty, press the SCORE/PENALTY
button. To accept the default penalty that is shown,
press ENTER, otherwise, key in a new penalty, fol-
lowed by the ENTER button. (Note: pressing the
decimal point button moves the input cursor to the
right of the decimal. However, zeros to the right of
the decimal do not need to be entered).
After the penalty is entered, the Time display is up-
dated to include the penalty. The Status display shows
the original time and the penalty value. If a score-
board is connected, it displays the time including
penalty. If a printer is connected, an additional line is
printed showing the penalty and time with penalty.
Correcting Mistakes
To correct a mistake while entering a penalty, press
and hold down the CLEAR TIME button until the
timer beeps and the penalty value is cleared to zero
(about one second).
If ENTER has already been pressed, simply start the
penalty entry process over – the new entry replaces
the previous penalty.
Steer Electric Eye Type
The first line of the Status Display shows the type of
electric eye the timer is using for the steer score line.
By default, the timer assumes a reflector type eye is
used. However, as soon as a long range eye is con-
nected and turned on, the timer immediately switches
to using the long range eye.
EYE TYPE STATUS DISPLAY
Reflector Eye ROPING
Long Range Eye ROPING

© 1998 FarmTek, Inc. [phone]
Customizing Your Timer ROPING (Advanced)
The POLARIS timer has many features that can be
customized to meet the particular needs of you and
your arena. These items are changed using a “menu”
of different setup options. Changing settings is easy:
1) With the timer stopped, press the SETUP button
to access the setup options.
2) If the desired option is displayed, do what is in-
structed on the display (usually, just pressing the
ENTER button). Otherwise, press NEXT
CHOICE to show the next available option.
Note the following:
!You can exit Setup without making a change by
pressing the SETUP key, or by selecting the
Exit Setup option when it is displayed.
!To help you identify the settings currently in use,
an asterisk (*) is displayed next to an item when it
is the present setting.
!Changes you make are permanently saved until
changed again using the Setup menu.
Common Setup Options (change these as outlined above)
Following are a few Setup options that you may want to change. Use the procedure described above to change
these items. In addition to the items listed here, there are other options that can be changed to customize your
timer. If the timer is not doing exactly what you need, chances are, it can – call us for assistance!
Rider’s Box Options
The POLARIS timer can use either an electric eye
barrier or a rope barrier on the rider’s boxes. Your
timer was preset for whichever option you purchased.
You can switch between barrier types by selecting
one of the following two setup options:
1) Eye Barrier – Using an electric eye barrier on
the rider’s box(es).
2) Rope Barrier – Using a rope barrier with
barrier release on the rider’s box(es).
Time Expired Horn
To speed up the roping and reduce cattle fatigue, you
may want to set a time limit. By choosing the Set
Final Horn option, you can enter a time limit after
which the horn automatically sounds and time stops.
When the Set Final Horn option is chosen, the
timer displays the current horn time setting and asks
you to key in a new time. To keep the horn time al-
ready displayed, press the ENTER key. Otherwise,
key-in a new value followed by the ENTER key. To
correct a mistake, press and hold down the CLEAR
TIME button until the timer beeps and the time is
cleared to zero (about one second).
Front Loading Rider Boxes
If your arena requires the rider to pass through the
barrier beam as he rides into the box – and this causes
the horn to sound each time – you can change when
the horn is sounded by choosing between the follow-
ing two options:
1) Horn with Rider – Factory default. The horn
sounds any time the rider's beam is broken and the
timer is not running. For example, the horn will
sound as a rider front loads the box.
2) Horn with Steer – The horn sounds only if
the rider breaks his beam and a steer is released.
(The steer must start the timer within two seconds
after the rider's beam is broken.) This option
sounds the horn only when the timer “records” a
fault as described on ROPING card #1
Yet another way of controlling when the horn sounds
is to change the Auto Eye Off setting.
1) Auto Eye Off – Select this option to automati-
cally disable all electric eyes after each run. The
timekeeper turns the eyes back on when the next
rider is ready by pressing the EYES ON button.
2) No Auto Eye Off – Factory default. The elec-
tric eyes are always enabled. No button presses
are required between riders.