It has been our absolute pleasure to speak with Markus Lindinger and to bring back our old Timer Spotlight Series. Our goal here is to reach out to our amazing Lynx community, find out more about them and their unique stories, and share that with you all to enjoy and relate to. Keep reading for some great information on who Markus is, what he does, and how he uses FinishLynx technology.
Name: Markus Lindinger Professionelle Zeitnehmung (Professional Timekeeper)
Location: Upper Austria
Number of Events: 60-70 per year (about 80-95 days per year)
Can you briefly tell us about your business?
I offer timing for multiple sport events: Road cycling, Mountain biking, Cyclocross, Para cycling, running events, Triathlons, and much more – but mainly road cycling – one day and stage races.
My services include: online registration, chip and photo-finish timing, live-results (based on chip timing and photo-finish), providing data for TV graphics, uploading integrated results to UCI-dataride, and much more.
What is one thing that makes your company unique?
I develop my own chip timing and results software with full focus on the possibility to be processed by a single operator. Many customers are surprised to see me handle the whole timing alone.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your business?
Always keeping up with the rules of the sport and the needs of the organizers. Integrating the continuous changes and additions into my software is the biggest challenge.
What has been your favorite race so far and why?
That was the “Tour of the Alps” this year, just because it was the event with the highest level of riders I have timed so far. Capturing Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali with my EtherLynx is quite cool.
If you could time any type of race in the world, which would it be and why?
It has to be one of the three grand tours or a world championship. As a road cycling fan, it would be a great experience to be a part of the biggest races. Of course, I know that is far beyond my capacities.
When did you start using FinishLynx?
At the beginning, I offered data management for cycling. In 2004, I discovered the EtherLynx 2000 with the ACM Plug-in. That is when my journey with FinishLynx started.
What products and accessories are part of your usual timing set up?
- 1 EtherLynx Vision PRO 6k lines
- 1 IdentiLynx XS
- 2 Microgate MicroGraph display boards
- 1 AGLE start clock
- 5 MyLaps Prochip decoders
- 4 of them integrated in custom built cases for standalone operation of 14 hours and real-time communication over LTE
- 1300 MyLaps ProChips
- 2 Notebooks for timing, 4 further for live timing, etc.
- My van, modified to a full functional office
What are your usual EtherLynx camera capture settings?
Rate: 2000 lines/s
Automatic Capture Object Detection Threshold: 10-15 (25-35 when it rains)
AGC Brightness: 50-68
Frequency: 7
What features would you like to see added to the system?
That would be the possibility to transfer a captured part of the image from one event to another. In some cases when I run more events simultaneously, it can happen that some athletes arrive late while already capturing the next race. In that case it would be nice to transfer the captured athlete to his event from the actual one.
What three words would you use to describe FinishLynx?
Best possible photo-finish-system.
What made you start timing? What keeps you going (favorite part of the job)?
The start was a combination of being a cycling fan, the need of a timer for a race of the local cycling club, and my interest in developing software.
What keeps me going is a lot:
- The fun of being involved in cycling races and other sport events
- The feedback of my customers
- The satisfaction when everything works smoothly…
Wishing a big thank you to Markus for taking the time to participate in out Timer Profile Series. Each Lynx user has their own unique background and style, and we appreciate you sharing your experiences with us!
Interested in being a part of our Q&A? Please send an email to: marketing@finishlynx.com
To learn more about Markus Lindinger Professionelle Zeitnehmung: Click Here
To learn more about photo-finish timing systems: Click Here