Colorado Time Systems Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch Timing System

The Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch Timing System is a swimming timing system made by Colorado Time Systems (CTS) in which each lane timer holds a handheld wireless stopwatch rather than a backup button wired to a console.¹² The watches report their times by radio to a base unit (R-1004-0505) plugged into the meet computer, where a Windows program writes each heat to a result file for a meet-management program to read.³ A pool can run up to ten lanes with as many as three watches in each, and the watches can be started together from the Dolphin Starter Unit or run independently as ordinary stopwatches.²³ CTS introduced the system in 2006 and still sells it.⁴⁵

Role in the timing system¶

Depending on how it is started, the Dolphin serves either as a semi-automatic timing system in its own right or as the backup layer beneath touchpads and buttons. See the semi-automatic timing overview for the shared background: what semi-automatic timing is, how the rulebooks rank primary, secondary and tertiary systems, and how multiple times for one lane resolve into an official time.

What distinguishes the Dolphin from a wired button is where the clock sits. With buttons, one console holds the clock and the buttons merely close a circuit; with the Dolphin, every watch is its own timer, so the system has to keep those timers in agreement. The USA Swimming committee that reviewed the system in 2020 counted at least twelve microprocessors collecting times in a six-lane pool running two watches per lane, and noted that the starter, the base and the watches all continue to synchronize over the air while a race is running.⁶

Where a timing console and touchpads are the primary system, the Dolphin runs entirely separately from them and does not substitute for a pad or a button during a race; the two sets of times meet only in the meet-management software.³

History¶

CTS introduced the Dolphin in 2006, and by 2023 said it had been used by more than 1,600 teams.⁴ A setup sheet from 2007 carries a patent-pending notice, names Hy-Tek Meet Manager as the only way to open the software, and lists a single carrying case.⁷

Two patents cover the synchronization method, both titled “Synchronization of a plurality of devices in a wireless sensor arrangement” and both naming Frederick E. Frantz as inventor with a priority date of February 27, 2006. They are assigned to Cool River Systems rather than to CTS, so they are licensed into the product rather than being the manufacturer’s own; a third member of the same family, US 8,111,588, lapsed for unpaid maintenance fees.⁸⁹¹⁰ CTS began printing the first number on its sheets in 2012 and both from 2014.¹¹¹² The Dolphin Starter Unit article describes the mechanism the patents claim.

The stopwatch itself was redesigned early in the product’s life. The 2008 and 2011 catalogues give a watch of 2.75 × 4.5 × 1 in (7 × 11.4 × 2.5 cm) weighing 5.8 oz (165 g); from the 2012 brochure onward every sheet gives the larger body still sold today, 6.06 × 2.69 × 1.06 in (15.3 × 6.8 × 2.7 cm) at 6.9 oz (195 g).¹³¹⁴¹¹ Split timing arrived at about the same point, flagged as new in the 2012 brochure and absent from the 2008 catalogue.¹¹¹³ Sources disagree on the older watch’s weight: the 2015 catalogue still printed the superseded dimensions three years after the brochures had moved on, and gave 4.8 oz against the same 165 g, which is self-inconsistent and contradicts the 5.8 oz of the two earlier catalogues.¹⁵¹³¹⁴

A hardware revision followed much later. CTS replaced the radio module in 2023, and firmware for the newer units is not interchangeable with firmware for the older ones.¹⁶ The user guide reflects this by listing two certified modules for the same products.³

System components¶

A complete system is three kinds of device plus a Windows program.²

The base unit (R-1004-0505) connects to the meet computer over a standard USB cable and is the system’s link to the software; it receives from the starter and from every watch, and its radio channel is set from the software rather than on the device.³¹⁷ Without it, the software reports that no base is attached.³

The wireless stopwatch (R-1004-0506) is the unit a lane timer holds. Reset sits on the front and a Start/Stop button on each side, so either hand suits.¹⁷ Holding Reset powers it on or off; holding Reset and pressing a side button opens a four-item menu covering the lane number, the timer letter within that lane (A, B or C), whether manual starting is permitted, and the radio channel.¹⁷³ Turning manual start off stops a lane timer starting a watch by hand in the modes where the starter is meant to do it.³

The Dolphin Starter Unit (R-1004-0507) starts every watch at once, either from its own button or from a pulse cabled out of an electronic start system. It is covered in its own article.

All three device types share one radio channel, numbered 0 to 15; a unit left on a different channel simply never appears in the software.¹⁷³ Each takes a single 9 V battery, which CTS rates at upwards of 40 hours; the software shows signal strength and battery level per unit, and CTS advises replacing any battery reading below half before a meet begins.¹⁷³

Modes of operation¶

CTS describes three modes, and the distinction between them is what determines how the resulting times may be used.²³

In semi-automatic timing, the starter unit is cabled to an electronic start system, the start pulse launches every watch at once, and each lane timer stops their own. In the manual synchronized mode the cable is absent and an official presses the starter’s button as the start is given, which again launches all the watches together. In the fully manual mode the starter is not used at all and is left in the case; each timer starts, stops and resets their own watch exactly as they would an ordinary stopwatch.³²

The three are not equivalent under the rules, although only the first involves a cable. Reviewing the system in 2020, USA Swimming accepted the electronically started mode as semi-automatic timing, declined to treat the hand-started synchronized mode as semi-automatic, and regarded the fully manual mode as no different from conventional watches.⁶ CTS’s own sheets present the fully manual mode as the one intended for collecting backup times at large meets, and state that it satisfies the backup-timing requirements of World Aquatics (given as FINA on sheets before 2022), the NCAA, USA Swimming, the NFHS and the YMCA; that compliance claim is the vendor’s.²¹¹

Software and operation¶

The Dolphin software runs on Windows 7 or later, is downloaded from the CTS site rather than shipped on media, and installs its own copy of the manual alongside itself.³¹⁶ It must stay open for the length of a session, though it may be minimized, because nothing arriving from the watches is recorded while it is closed.³

Five sub-screens divide the program.³ A live screen shows each active watch, whether it is running, stopped or reset, and the finishing time for each lane once all of that lane’s watches have stopped. Here the software resolves multiple watches itself: one watch stands alone, two are averaged, and with three the fastest and slowest are dropped and the middle time kept. A signals screen carries the per-unit radio and battery readings. An events screen holds up to 999 events, each with a number, a name, a round, a heat count and a split count. Each watch is told its event’s split count beforehand, which is how it distinguishes a press at a lap from the press that ends the race, and the figure can be typed in or loaded from a CSV file that meet-management software can generate. A settings screen covers printing, the base, logging, the scoreboard and general preferences. A log screen replays earlier races and prints them.

Lane numbering can run 1 to 10 or 0 to 9, and changing the setting makes each watch renumber itself rather than requiring the deck to be rewalked.³ A timer with no swimmer can blank the lane by pressing Reset after the start, which shows dashes and tells the operator the lane is empty; pressing a side button resumes timing without having lost any accuracy.³

Writing a result file is tied to the reset, not to the finish. When the starter unit is in use, the official’s Start/Stop followed by Reset is what writes the file; without it, the file is written only once every lane timer has stopped and reset their own watch, so one timer who forgets will hold up the heat until the operator forces a reset from the software.³ A forced reset issued too early costs any watch still running its final time, although whatever splits it has already sent are kept.³

Up to ten splits can be recorded per swimmer per race, taken by pressing a side button at each touch.²³

Logging must be switched on before anything is saved, and up to five formats can be written at once: plain text, CSV, XML, and the DO3 and DO4 formats meant for meet-management software, the latter adding splits.³ Files default to C:\CTSDolphin.³ Their names begin with a three-digit number identifying the data set, which is how a program distinguishes one session of a multi-day meet from another.³ The rest of the name encodes the event, the heat, the round and a race number, giving a form such as 001-002-001T0003.do4.¹⁸

Beyond files, the software opens a TCP/IP socket on any of five ports, with a command set that lets a connected program push event information in, read race times back out, choose whether splits are included, and reset the timers.³ This is the path by which meet-management software drives the system live rather than watching a folder.

Firmware for the base, the watches, the starter and the scoreboard adapter is loaded through the software over the radio, one device type at a time and with the base always first.³ The file extensions distinguish the generations: .DBC and .DB2 for the base, .DTC and .DT2 for the watches, .DSC and .DS2 for the starter, and .DDC and .DD3 for the scoreboard adapter.³ CTS requires watches and base to be at 1.51 or above and the starter at 1.31 or above before any later update, and directs operators to an engineering bulletin for systems below that level.³

Meet-management software¶

The Dolphin does not score a meet; it hands times to a program that does.³ CTS names Hy-Tek Meet Manager, SwimTopia Meet Maestro and Splash in its current documentation, and refers operators to each vendor for the details.³

Meet Manager is the longest-standing of the three and treats the Dolphin in two ways.¹⁹ Run as the primary system, it pulls watch times straight into the results. Run in backup mode behind a console, it opens the watch times in a window next to whatever the console has already recorded for that heat, so an operator can weigh the two before accepting.³²⁰ Averaging follows the same arithmetic as the Dolphin’s own live screen, with one addition: where two watches for a lane differ by three tenths of a second or more, Meet Manager declines to average them and flags the lane for the operator to judge.³

The commercial arrangement has changed over the years. In 2007 CTS documented the primary-mode interface as included in Meet Manager with backup mode sold separately by Hy-Tek;²¹ Hy-Tek now treats both as purchasable options, and CTS’s troubleshooting notes that the backup-mode setting stays greyed out until the option is bought.¹⁹³ Support for the DO3 and DO4 formats also requires a recent enough build.¹⁸

In the result file the splits are a bare sequence, with nothing marking which length each belongs to, so a split a timer failed to take shifts every later one out of position rather than leaving a gap.¹⁸

Scoreboards¶

Dolphin results can drive a CTS numeric scoreboard without a console in the loop. Most boards need the Dolphin Scoreboard Adapter between them and the system, while CTS’s Otter swimming scoreboards have the adapter built in.³ The software controls the display directly: whether the board is enabled, whether results are ordered by lane or by place, how many lines the board has and how many lanes the pool has, how quickly results scroll when there are more lanes than lines, brightness, and the clock format.³

On a mini scoreboard, Dolphin data is addressed by module code, using 01 through 09 for lanes 1 to 9 and 0A for lane 10.²²

Governing-body recognition¶

USA Swimming changed its treatment of the system twice, first by waiver and then by rule.

In October 2020 the chairs of the Rules & Regulations and Times & Recognition committees issued a waiver. Their difficulty was that the rules described semi-automatic timing in terms of buttons, and a button was understood to be hardwired to a console; the Dolphin instead spread the timing across many devices that synchronize by radio, which raised the question of whether its times were consistent enough to stand as official.⁶ Satisfied on that point, they waived the relevant requirement for the synchronized-start mode only, initially through August 31, 2021, while times collected on the system were reviewed with a view to amending the rules.⁶ The memo cited the rule as 102.24.3; USA Swimming has since renumbered that part of the rulebook to 102.23, so the memo’s numbering no longer matches the current text.

The rule change followed. Since April 13, 2023, wireless systems of this kind may be used as semi-automatic timing in USA Swimming sanctioned competition without a waiver, provided they are operated within the rulebook and to the manufacturer’s specifications.⁴

Other claims rest on the vendor alone. Two catalogue editions, 2011 and 2015, list approvals from three bodies: Swimming NSW, Swimming Australia, and USA Swimming.¹⁴¹⁵ Governing-body rulebooks set requirements for classes of equipment rather than naming approved products, so a claim of that kind cannot be checked against the rules themselves.

Specifications¶

Figures below are the system’s and the watch’s; CTS publishes no dimensions or weight for the base unit or the starter unit.

Type	Wireless stopwatch timing system
Lanes	Up to 102
Watches per lane	1, 2, or 3, designated A, B, and C217
Radio	2.4 GHz, 16 channels, spread spectrum2
Radio module	FCC ID TFB-FreeStar or X8WBT840F3
Watch dimensions (L × W × D)	6.06 × 2.69 × 1.06 in (15.3 × 6.8 × 2.7 cm)2
Watch weight	6.9 oz (195 g)2
Earlier watch	2.75 × 4.5 × 1 in (7 × 11.4 × 2.5 cm), 5.8 oz (165 g)1314
Battery	One standard 9 V per unit, upwards of 40 hours217
Splits	Up to 10 per swimmer per race2
Computer	Windows 7 or later, USB3
Result formats	Text, CSV, XML, DO3, DO43
Compliance	RoHS; CE listed in the 2011 catalogue214
Warranty	One year, batteries excluded23
Patents	US 7,821,876; US 8,085,623 (both assigned to Cool River Systems)89
Status	Current5

Part numbers and accessories¶

Systems are sold by lane count and watches per lane, each package comprising the watches, a base unit, a starter unit and the software.²

Lanes	1 watch per lane	2 watches	3 watches
6	WTS-D1061	WTS-D1062	WTS-D1063
8	WTS-D1081	WTS-D1082	WTS-D1083
10	WTS-D1101	WTS-D1102	WTS-D1103

Separate parts and accessories:

• R-1004-0505, base unit; R-1004-0506, wireless stopwatch, listed in the CTS store as R-1004-0506-L; R-1004-0507, starter unit. All three are sold individually, and the store also carries refurbished base units, watches and scoreboard adapters.¹⁷⁵
• R-015-606, the USB cable between base unit and computer. The 2007 sheet listed R-015-569 for the same purpose.¹⁷⁷
• K-DSCB, the Dolphin Scoreboard Adapter kit, comprising the adapter and its mounting hardware.²⁴
• K-DSS-1 and K-DSS-2, the cable and holster kits joining the starter unit to a CTS start system; see the Dolphin Starter Unit.²⁴
• R-5000-0362, a hard-sided case sized for 27 watches, and R-5000-0363, sized for 36. The 2007 sheet listed a single case, R-045-011, of the smaller capacity.¹⁷⁷
• A lanyard, a spare watch and a portable LED scoreboard are listed as accessories.²

CTS also markets a fuller package pairing a system with an Infinity or Championship start system, a tripod, the start-system cable set, a two-line portable scoreboard, the scoreboard adapter and a case.²⁴

See also¶

• Semi-automatic timing: the semi-automatic timing overview
• Colorado Time Systems Dolphin Starter Unit: the wireless start trigger that starts the watches together
• Dolphin Scoreboard Adapter: the link from the system to a CTS numeric scoreboard
• Colorado Time Systems Pushbutton and Pushbuttons: the wired alternative to a wireless stopwatch
• Hy-Tek Meet Manager, SwimTopia Meet Maestro and Splash: the meet-management programs that read Dolphin result files
• Timers: the timing consoles the Dolphin backs up
• Colorado Time Systems: the manufacturer
• Equipment: the equipment reference

References¶

Footnotes¶

1. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch Swim Timing. ↩

2. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch System datasheet (Rev. 10/20; modes, components, specifications). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷

3. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin User Guide (F912) (Rev. 202412, for Dolphin version 5 and later). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷

4. Colorado Time Systems, Great News for Dolphin Users (introduced 2006; over 1,600 teams; USA Swimming semi-automatic use effective April 13, 2023). ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch Timing collection (current parts, including refurbished units). ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. USA Swimming Rules & Regulations Committee, Use of the Dolphin Timing System (memo of October 3, 2020; waiver of Rule 102.24.3 to August 31, 2021). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch Timing System Set Up (F911 Rev. 0707), the 2007 revision; earlier cable and case part numbers. ↩ ↩² ↩³

8. US Patent 7,821,876 B2, Synchronization of a plurality of devices in a wireless sensor arrangement (Frederick E. Frantz; priority February 27, 2006; granted October 26, 2010). ↩ ↩²

9. US Patent 8,085,623 B2, Synchronization of a plurality of devices in a wireless sensor arrangement (continuation; granted December 27, 2011; assigned to Cool River Systems). ↩ ↩²

10. US Patent 8,111,588 B2, Synchronization of a plurality of devices in a wireless sensor arrangement (same family; lapsed for unpaid maintenance fees). ↩

11. Colorado Time Systems, Wireless Stopwatch Timing System brochure (Rev. 08/12); splits introduced, redesigned watch, first patent cited. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

12. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch System brochure (Rev. 03/14); both patents cited. ↩

13. Colorado Time Systems, Making Time Count (2008 catalogue), Dolphin page; original watch dimensions. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

14. Colorado Time Systems, Complete Timing, Scoring, Training and Display Solutions (2011), Dolphin page; approval claims, CE marking. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

15. Colorado Time Systems, Complete Timing, Scoring, Training and Display Solutions (2015), Dolphin page; carries a stale watch weight and dimensions. ↩ ↩²

16. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Software Download (software version; firmware levels for the two hardware generations). ↩ ↩²

17. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch Timing System Set Up (F911) (Rev. 201905; part numbers, device settings, battery). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

18. Swim Wiki, Meet Manager: Timing System Colorado Dolphin Wireless (DO3 and DO4 file naming; unmarked splits; minimum Meet Manager build). ↩ ↩² ↩³

19. Hy-Tek, Colorado Time Systems Dolphin (standalone and backup modes; both are purchased options). ↩ ↩²

20. Hy-Tek Swimming Support, Interface with CTS Dolphin in Backup Mode (watch times shown beside pad and button times). ↩

21. Colorado Time Systems, El Dolphin como sistema de cronometraje primario (F922 rev 0607), the Computer Operator sheet, held only in Spanish. ↩

22. Colorado Time Systems, Mini Scoreboard User Guide (F927) (Rev. 201202; Dolphin module addressing). ↩

23. Colorado Time Systems, Enhanced Support Options; Dolphin systems carry a one-year warranty, batteries excluded. ↩

24. Colorado Time Systems, Dolphin Wireless Stopwatch System flyer (Rev. 09/22); K-DSCB and K-DSS-x kits, package contents. ↩ ↩² ↩³