Pigeon Result Software
first created 04/04/06 - last modified 04/04/06 Page Author: Ty Harness
News: Pigeon Result Beta Download Ready.
The download for Pigeon Result can be found at the bottom of this page. Please take time to read the following guidance notes and run through the tutorials. If you're familiar with the Pigeon Calculator 2.0 software (
www.pigeonresult.co.uk/pcalc/index.htm
) then you'll see Pigeon Result uses a similar calculation procedure.
Pigeon Result is a very powerful application designed to calculate, sort and store race results in a database. The software uses its own proprietary database and is stand-alone requiring no other database technology to be installed on your PC. Pigeon Result has been designed and tested over 3 racing seasons and has been designed to get all the results correlated as quick as possible. (So I can be home by 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. There's no stronger motivation to writing software than that.)
Club secretaries will find the software invaluable for storing members' details like race distances and the ability to print results for members, federations and local newspapers with minimum amount of effort.
Figure 1 - The main form - Results Mode
The main form has 3 sections. The top section contains information about the race point including the master timer strike on and off times and the liberation time. This information is then preset into the database straight after the master timer has been struck off. The information need only be entered once per race.
The middle section is all to do with the member's details. After choosing the race point you simply choose a member from the drop down and enter the strike times once. Then as the clocks are being read you fill in bird in times. You can enter a result in less than 30 seconds. In fact it takes little more than 10 seconds but it is worth examining the result in the third section before confirming the result to the database.
The third section shows the result when all the required information has been entered in the top 2 sections. You can see the clock variations and the velocity before entering the result into the database. You can see if a silly typo mistake has been made because the result will look way off. Incorrect results can be deleted from the database if they've been accidentally entered. The main form allows you to access any of the results previously entered into the database and you can not enter the same bird twice into one race. Bird Details (ring numbers,colour and sex) are correlated over the weeks (as opposed to pre entering them into the database) and by the 5 th week the database is fairly comprehensive. Once the bird details are in the database the colour and sex of a bird are filled in automatically for future results which makes the whole process quicker and quicker.
Figure 2 - Main Form Wizard Add Mode
Figure 1 shows a previously entered result but when you add a new result then the wizard mode kicks in and guides you through the process by highlighting and jumping to the next required piece of data as shown in figure 2. This is fast and intuitive. The software will not calculate the result until you've entered all the required data and the data is evaluated on the fly so if you put 32/02/06 it will flag with a red box. If a member has several birds in the clock you only have to enter member timer strike times once and then it's just a case of putting in the bird in times. The has a smiple pooling system of Single Bird Nom. and Ladies Nom. system.
The race point, member's name, and bird details are pulled in from the data base. You don't need to type anymore information on the night than you have to.
To view the results go to the results form (at any time) to see who's in the lead and once all the results are in you can - hit the print button - print out a copy for all members, the club house and the local rag (export to CSV and email it to them).
Figure 3 - Results Form
The results are correlated in fastest race velocity order. And shows the winning poolers.
exampleraceresult.pdf
That's it - the front end of the database and now for the house keeping aspects.
Figure 4 - Members' Admin.
You can add new members to the club via the members' Admin. form and you can also set up the race distances from each of the liberation sites already stored in the Database. If you do not know the distance then it can be set as -1,-1 until you get the distance. It is possible to enter the distance as you enter the result which in some cases like new members maybe be flying on a provisional distance until (say) a new loft has been pricked and you are awaiting the association to calculate the distances. You can amend the distances at any time. Any results added to the database will use the distances that were entered on the race day.
Figure 5 - Race Point Admin.
All your liberation sites are pre entered prior to the first race (you can add new ones during the season if one venue is canceled for any reason). Adding the liberation site pre season then allows you to set up the members race distances from the members Admin. form. It is possible to enter a new liberation at any point during the season but you should have the race programme weeks before the season starts. Sometimes Liberation Sites are removed and alternative sites are found. When you add a new liberation site you'll need to put in the race distances for the new site.
The liberation site and race point differ in meaning for this software in that the liberation sites are the race programme and race point is the liberation site and the master strike times, liberation time, number of senders, birdage and weather conditions. Only when you know all the race point details can enter a race point and start feeding the results in.
The Race Point Admin. form allows you to set up a new race straight after the clocks have been struck off. Once a Race Point has been created then return to the main form and enter the result as the clocks are opened and read. We open the clocks write the dial times down on the clock roll while the result envelope is filled out. The envelope is filled out with the clock times and seal, roll and rubbers then popped into the envelope. The evelope is then passed to another person who reads the details to the computer operator.
Figure 6 - Bird Admin.
Sometimes the Bird Colour or sex is entered incorrectly because the entry form was incorrect or (say) the details hadn't been specified on the race entry form. For mass flyer's I recommend the Pigeon Entry Software because it saves the member time and helps eliminate mistakes. (
www.pigeonresult.co.uk/raceentry/index.htm
) You can correct the colour and sex of a bird at any time and all race results can be reprinted with the amended information and if you enter the bird into a future race the corrected colour will be pulled from the database as you are compiling the result.
Figure 6 - Options Form.
The Options form allow you to tweak various aspects of the software and how the results are displayed and printed.
Tutorials
The races,dates and times are made up for tutorial purposes only and are not actual race results.
Preparation is the key to having a smooth race day result. Anticipating problems your likly to face - that's why I've created a series of tutorials you should run through to gain a full understanding of the capibilites of the software. On good night's Tutorial 1 is probably all you need, but you need an unstruck clock and there's pressure on people to get the right result quickly and efficiently.
Please email me with any problems you find so we can hone the software to the Nth degree.
Tutorial 1 - Get Going.
Entering a Race Point.
Entering results.
Viewing the race result
Printing a results sheet.
Tutorial 2 - General House Keeping
Deleting an incorrect result
A bird has been entered with the incorrect sex.
Changing the displayed decimal precision in the interface.
Making a CSV file for the local newspaper office.
Making a web page of the results for your website.
Tutorial 3 - The odd clock strike
Jim has turned up late and we've struck his clock off at a later time
Just about to start the clock opening and there's a clock that's been forgotton to be struck
Tutorial 4 - It's a late liberation and the no birds have got back before dusk.
How the hours of darkness comes into play.
Tutorial 5 - Some birds have made it back so we've had a strike but the rest of the birds will be into tomorrow.
Tutorial 6 - Duplication of results
We've got a championship race where some members are duplicate their birds as a club race and others outside the championship region can be included in club result only.
Tutorial 7 - Advance Admin.
Adding a new liberation site.
Adding a new member.
Modifying Race Distances.
Tutorial 8 - Advance Admin 1. {Not avaiable in the beta version at this time}
Backing up the results
Reseting the software
Restoring the results
There's a reset procedure to initialize the software to its default database. Go to Tools Options and reset. You'll need a master password and the beta version password is just tyharness. There's nothing stopping you keeping the results stored for more than one season but it can lead to confusion so it's best to back up the results and reset the database.
The next beta version will build in the back up utilities needed to store an retrieve the database. You can then backup your results week after week just in case there's a problem with the PC and reinstall is needed.
Also a USA locale is needed for countries that use mm/dd/yyyy date format because the custom date validation and calculations will fail if the Windows is not set to a UK locale.
Some countries may prefer a different unit like km/hour so the final beta will address this problem.
Software Development
Time Scale:
Build & Test 2003 - 2006
First Beta Release - April 2006
Beta Testing - check back often to see if bugs have been found and fixed.
Full Release - Jan 2007.
Registration Details
Your Club Name:
Title:
First Name or Intial(s) [*]:
Surname [*]:
Email [*]:
{The download details will be emailed to the above address}
If you need the beta version on CD - please write and enclose a stamped addressed envelope (A4 with 2 first class stamps for the UK (25 grammes outside the UK)}to:
Mr Hatchman, Rushmoor Country Park,
North Cockerington,
Louth,
Lincolnshire
LN11 7DY.
and we'll send out the latest beta on CD. There's no charge for the beta version.