Discussion: Help Me! troubleshooting SportIdent serial master

I'm trying to help someone program some SI units. She has the serial Master (one year old). I know it would be easier with the USB master, but we need the serial master because we're running the timing on a Mac using OR software. However, when it comes time to program the SI units we are having a problem.

Can anyone help us get SI Config to talk to the serial SI master?

have you spoken to erict at sportident.ca? I have a feeling he could help out here - unfortunately he doesn't frequent AP very often.

yeah -- quick question ? Is it a red control? or a printer control? Secondly are you trying this with the MAC running a windows program?

Hi Eric,
It is the Red Master

SI Config is running on the PC.

This is for the Canmore Nordic Center's permanent courses. They are programming the blue SI units to be put out into the forest. The timing is done by the local rental/repair shop that has only Mac computers, but they don't do the programming of the SI.

(PS: I think Magi may have sent you an email directly - she is the one doing the programming)

This is not giving any solutions, but I have tried this exact combination without success, i.e. trying to program V8 units via SI Config and serial port SI master. I tried all the various settings I could find, but no luck.

I have been able to program V8 units with a serial port master using the old SI Manager software. Though I had to use the coupling stick (and maybe I had to change the baud rate setting as well)

Hi guys, I've just reprogrammed a BSF-8 using a RS-232 based red download control (we shouldn't call it a master, because the master is that time-sync thing that looks like a BSF-8).
Things I did:

1) make sure you know the "name" of the COM port. With the old RS-232 technology, it can't tell you where you've plugged it in. You have to now.

2) RS-232 doesn't power the download control. It needs to be turned on with the Service/OFF key.

3) Make sure you're talking to the download control, by setting the REMOTE/DIRECT setting in SI-config to DIRECT. This means you will be reading / writing to the download control, not the control that is sitting on the download control. Of course we don't want to rewrite the download control, so press 'READ' only.

3 (cont'd): If you can read without an error message, then you're talking successfully to the download control. If you do get error messages, verify that the COM port number is accurate. Also change the VIEW from Standard to Expert (in the SI-Config menu), and go to the COM port settings and insure that the Fix checkbox is OFF (having it off will allow the software to try different baud-rates).

Let me know if this gets you somewhere. Please send me an email, because I'm not a regular on attackpoint.

Good luck

PS: You definitely want to use the coupler, because without it you won't get data from one control to the other.