Colorado Time Systems System 5

From Libre Aquatics Wiki, the free aquatics reference

The System 5 is a swimming timing and scoring console made by Colorado Time Systems (CTS), which the company’s datasheet presents as the fifth generation of its timing consoles.¹ Like the System 6 that succeeded it, it is a self-contained unit with its own LCD screen, softkeys, and keyboard insert, operated directly from the console. It collects the finish signals from each lane’s touchpad and backup pushbuttons, runs the race clock, receives the start pulse from the start system, and drives the scoreboard.² Unlike its mains-powered successors it is designed to run on eight D-cell batteries, with an AC wall transformer as the alternate supply.²¹ The console is discontinued, but CTS still publishes its manuals and third-party meet-management software still supports it.²³

Role in the timing system¶

The System 5 is the head end that the on-deck equipment connects back to. The start system, the lane touchpads and their backup buttons, relay judging platforms, a printer, a meet-management computer, and the scoreboard all connect to the console, which measures the elapsed time for each lane and sends the results to the scoreboard.² The manual’s full-system diagram shows a loudspeaker start system, RJP-1 relay judging platforms, a touchpad finish with three backup buttons per lane, a printer, a computer, and a scoreboard.² The SS2 loudspeaker start system was the standard starter supplied with swimming packages; button and start-pistol-transducer starts are also supported.²

Under World Aquatics rules, competition times are recorded to a hundredth of a second, and championship swimming is timed by automatic officiating equipment, touchpads backed up by pushbuttons, reporting to a console of this kind.⁴ Lanes connect through a touchpad and button A cable harness to the primary input, through a separate B and C button harness to the backup input, and through a far-end harness for far-end splits and finishes, all with a single console.²¹

History and predecessors¶

The Swimming 5 manual places the console in a line that began in the early 1970s, when CTS offered what it describes as the first practical display timing and scoreboard system on the American market. The company followed it with the Printing Timer, which added a built-in strip printer and three-button backup timing, the Swimming III of the early 1980s, which added race memory, relay judging, and a membrane keyboard with cassette-loaded sports programs, and the System 4000 of the late 1980s, which added a full-sized printer, a meet-management computer link, and sports programs on plug-in cards.² The System 5 followed as the fifth generation; its sports programs are supplied on diskette and downloaded into the console’s internal memory from a personal computer rather than loaded from a cassette or card.² A product brochure updated in 2004 presents the console as the company’s fifth-generation timer and states that it is compatible with every generation of CTS start systems, scoreboards, and touchpads.⁵ CTS was still publishing a System 5 datasheet in 2014, and its 2004 relay judging platform guide notes that System 5 Swimming software was still being updated (version 3.29.20 or later is needed for relay platform operation).¹⁶

Design and hardware¶

The console is operated from a full-size LCD screen of 25 lines by 80 characters, 2,000 characters in all, with a contrast control. The screen shows the running time, race status, event and heat numbers, lane and pad status, warning messages, and a mini scoreboard view, along with a battery gauge.¹² Softkeys to the right of the screen select printing formats, detailed race and relay-judging displays, scoreboard controls, and the setup menus, and store setups for future meets.² The keyboard insert below carries the per-lane on-off keys and the race keys: finish arm, split arm, touch adjustment (+touch and -touch), store/print, next heat and next event, edit/DQ, and a start key that is the final backup start.²

The battery compartment on the underside holds eight standard alkaline D cells; CTS instructs that rechargeable batteries not be used because the battery gauge cannot read them accurately, and recommends new batteries once a year.² The sources give slightly different battery figures: the manual’s specifications state 35 hours of normal use, while the datasheet says the console operates up to 40 hours on a set of batteries.²¹ When the console can get wet, CTS instructs that it be powered by batteries only, never the AC adapter.² The electronics are low-current CMOS, and the case is not user-openable; CTS recommends factory calibration every five years (the crystal oscillator that provides the timing accuracy is guaranteed for five years) and factory replacement of the internal memory battery within five to seven years.² The console measures 18.4 by 13.5 by 8.5 inches and weighs 11.6 pounds (5.3 kg); CTS offered a foam-lined carrying case (CC-SYS5) and a training keyboard (TK-1) that simulates touchpad and button inputs for operator practice, and covered the console with a two-year limited domestic warranty.⁵

Connectivity¶

All connections are on the I/O panel. The scoreboard output is a quarter-inch jack carrying RS-232 data to CTS light-reflective and full-matrix LED displays; each scoreboard module is set by channel switches to the data it shows (for example channel 01 for lane 1, 0C for event and heat, 0D for team scores, 0F for a single-line display), and channels can be redirected in software.² The brochure lists the company’s 3009 and 4009 series scoreboards as the displays the sport programs interface with.⁵ External power enters through a DIN connector from the approved 12-volt supply, and CTS warns to use only the recommended power supply; the System 6 article notes that a System 5 supply fits the later console but can damage it.²⁷ A Judges I/O DIN connector accepts the judging expansion hardware and other CTS expansion devices.²

The printer port is a standard IBM PC parallel port, and a second parallel connector, Computer Port 3, receives sports-program downloads.² Two nine-pin serial ports are provided: COM1 connects the meet-management computer and COM2 is reserved for special operations.² The lane inputs are the primary (touchpads, start, and button A), backup (buttons B and C), and far-end harness connectors, secured with wire bails.²

Software and operation¶

Swimming and diving programs and their keyboard inserts come standard; water polo, synchronized swimming, and pace-clock programs and inserts were sold separately, each documented in its own user guide (the synchronized swimming software, for example, is CTS part F511).¹⁵⁸ The diving program accepts the dive program before the meet or on the fly, assigns degrees of difficulty automatically, tabulates judges’ scores entered on the console keyboard or from optional judging terminals, and stores up to 32 diving meets with 100 divers per meet; CTS states it was the official scoring system of United States Diving.⁹ New programs are downloaded from a computer through the console’s parallel Computer Port 3 and remain in internal memory, selectable at a keystroke.² On power-up the console runs self-diagnostics that also exercise a connected cable harness, touchpads, pushbuttons, and scoreboard cable.²

The Swimming software has three operating modes that differ in how much race information is recorded: write-in mode (the operator writes event and heat numbers on the printout), print-in mode (numbers are entered and printed), and title mode (numbers and a race description are printed and stored, driven by a programmed event sequence).² The console stores roughly 500 races in memory, prints splits as they occur, and includes context-sensitive help on the screen.²

The console times and places up to ten lanes, with the pool configurable as 6, 8, or 10 lanes, and the lane order reversible for decks cabled from the far end.²¹ Timing resolution is selectable between hundredths and thousandths of a second, with a timing range of 99:59.999.¹ Far-end splits and far-end finishes are supported from the single console through the far-end harness input.¹²

The Swimming software corrects for human reaction time when manual and automatic timing are mixed: 0.15 seconds, which CTS describes as the statistical median delay, is added to a manual start and subtracted from a manual button finish.² The same correction applies to relay judging with buttons, while no correction is applied to relay judging platform times.² Relay judging is offered in a semi-automatic form that uses the backup buttons with no additional hardware, or fully automatically with relay judging platforms, and printouts mark early and late exchanges.⁵ The datasheet lists automatic flagging of a 3/10 second discrepancy between the pad and backup times, and the edit/DQ key resolves a flagged lane with the median of three backup times or the average of two.²¹

Setup options anticipate the mechanics of a meet: a pad split delay (15 seconds recommended) keeps a touched pad inoperative so exiting relay swimmers do not trigger it, a pad delay at start ignores pad hits just after the start, time warning messages predict a lap time from the previous lap and flag a probable missed touch, and the touchpad voltage can be lowered to slow connector corrosion.² Race lengths can be counted down on the scoreboard or the console screen.²

Meet-management software¶

A meet-management program connects to COM1 and exchanges data with the console. Hy-Tek Meet Manager supports the console as “CTS 5”: the software downloads event lists of up to 240 events to the console and reads back race results, backup times, and splits, and its documentation notes that the CTS 5 and CTS 6 cannot store prelims and finals results for the same event in the same console meet.¹⁰ The Swimming software’s remote-setup option allows all setups, including event sequences, to be edited on a PC and uploaded through COM1.² SwimTopia’s Meet Maestro also lists the System 5 among the CTS consoles it supports.³

Compared with the System 6 and Gen7¶

The System 6 replaced the System 5 as CTS’s self-contained console, moving to a backlit color LCD, twelve lanes, an internal lithium-ion backup battery with a 15-volt external supply, and duplicate lane inputs for attaching a second console as a backup.⁷ Both consoles were in turn replaced by the Gen7 platform, announced in 2017, which moves the operator interface to a computer over Ethernet.¹¹ The System 5 is discontinued; CTS continues to host its manuals, and meet-management vendors continue to list it as a supported console.²³¹⁰

Specifications¶


Sports	Swimming and diving standard; water polo, synchronized swimming, pace clock optional
Lanes	Up to 10 (pool set as 6, 8, or 10 lanes)
Resolution	0.01 or 0.001 second, selectable; range 99:59.999
Race memory	Over 500 races
Display	25-line by 80-character full-matrix LCD with contrast control
Power	Eight D-cell alkaline batteries (35 h per the manual, up to 40 h per the datasheet) or 12 VDC at 750 mA external supply
Lane inputs	Primary, backup (B/C buttons), and far-end harness connectors, 5 V
Serial ports	COM1 and COM2, nine-pin RS-232 (COM1 for meet management)
Judges I/O	RS-232 DIN, supplying 12 VDC at 0.5 A
Printer and downloads	IBM PC parallel printer port; parallel Computer Port 3 for sports programs
Scoreboard output	Quarter-inch jack, RS-232, channel-switched CTS displays
Environment	0–45 °C, 90% humidity non-condensing, up to 3000 m
Dimensions	18.4 × 13.5 × 8.5 in (46.7 × 34.3 × 21.6 cm)
Weight	11.6 lb (5.3 kg)
Warranty	Two-year limited (domestic)
Compliance	FCC Class A

References¶

Colorado Time Systems, System 5 Timing Console datasheet (Rev. 03/14). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹
Colorado Time Systems, Swimming 5 for the System 5 Sports Timer user guide (F506, Rev. 0698). ↩ ↩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
SwimTopia, CTS System 5/6 or CTS Gen 7 Timing Consoles: Meet Maestro Setup. ↩ ↩² ↩³
World Aquatics, Swimming Technical Rules, competition times are recorded to a hundredth of a second, timed by automatic officiating equipment. ↩
Colorado Time Systems, System 5 brochure (updated June 2004) (specifications, accessories, warranty, and compatibility; published on the company’s Yumpu account). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵
Colorado Time Systems, Relay Judging Platform Installation Guide (F507, Rev. 1104, 2004) (System 5 requires Swimming 3.29.20 or later for relay platform operation). ↩
Colorado Time Systems, Swimming 6 for the System 6 Sports Timer user guide (F890) (System 6 power requirements and the System 5 power-supply warning). ↩ ↩²
Colorado Time Systems, Synchronized Swimming for the System 5 Sports Timer user guide, part no. F511, Rev. 0698. ↩
Colorado Time Systems, System 5 Diving datasheet, Rev. 04/10. ↩
Hy-Tek Swimming knowledge base, Interface with CTS 5 or CTS 6 (serial interface, event download limits, and the prelims/finals limitation). ↩ ↩²
Aquatics International, Colorado Time System Introduces Gen7 Swim Timing and Scoring (April 2017). ↩

Last updated July 27, 2026.