Devices
or how to make everything work properly
How does the tracker work?
Turning on and off
+ Turning on
+ Turning off
+ Frozen dots
Checking battery and charging
+ Connecting to power
+ Battery level
+ Charging LED
Other aspects
+ Storage
+ Returns
+ Loss
What to do with the device before the event starts?
For the participant
Receiving the tracker
To be able to use the tracker, you must first receive it. How this looks depends heavily on the event - each has slightly different procedures. Sometimes you will receive the tracker already in the starter pack bag, sometimes they will be issued in a different place, sometimes you pick it up just before the start. Sometimes they will already be turned on, and sometimes you will have to turn it on yourself. The device number you receive is not related to your start number, but is assigned specifically to you - don't exchange it with a colleague or spouse
Checking if turned on
It's very easy to determine if the device is turned on, although it may require taking it out of the bag if it's packed. In a turned-on tracker, the LEDs light up - blue and green. The blue one may blink or stay on continuously, the green one blinks - less or more frequently (if it's just catching signal). Between the green and blue there is also a red LED. If it blinks, one of three things is happening - either the tracker is turning on, turning off, or has below 10% battery (then it blinks very slowly)
Turning on the tracker
You received the tracker and made sure it's not turned on - time to turn it on. When do we turn it on? Best at least 30 minutes before the start so it has time to catch as many satellites as possible, and also so we have time to verify remotely that everything is working. You can turn it on in two ways - classic, with the button indicated by an arrow located on top of the device, and emergency, in case the button is too hard to press - by connecting to a power source. The power button is deliberately hard to press to avoid accidental turning off - it's best to press it with something hard, part of your equipment or a fingernail
Charging the tracker
If the event is longer than two days, the device needs to have the option to be charged. Charging is via USB-C cable (the most popular standard), however it doesn't work with Fast Charge and USB-C <-> USB-C cables. If you only have such cables - we always send organizers a few 'classic' cables to distribute to participants who need them. So if you're going for several days - check about charging. Although we monitor and are able to remotely extend battery life (at the cost of frequency and quality of measurements), we won't achieve miracles, a week without charging won't hold out. To save battery you can turn it off during longer stops - but you must remember to turn it on
Packing the tracker
It's quite important where you hide the device. First of all, choose a place from which it won't accidentally fall out. But also try to keep it as much on top as possible (i.e. not in the bike frame), away from other electronics, NRC foil or other things that may interfere with GSM or GPS systems. The better packed, the statistically better the device will catch signal and send positions, and less often it will 'freeze'. It also helps save battery used for catching GSM connection and GPS satellite location
Tracker freezing
The device may sometimes freeze. This happens especially in areas with weak GSM coverage, in mountain valleys or in case of a poorly hidden tracker. If you notice that your dot shows a position from a long time ago, you have several options. First see if there are many such dots on the transmission in this area - if so, you're probably in a place with weak coverage and there's a good chance it will come back on its own later. If not - you can try to restart. Turn off, wait until the LEDs go out, turn on again. And it's best to hide it in a different place than before. After restarting, it should appear within a few minutes