Hello speedsolvers =)

I'm one of those lucky guys who happends to have a stackmat timer device. The stackmat has got an connector for communication with an competition display. I do not know but I guess it is an ordinary serial talk between the timer and the display. Now I wonder: is there anyone who knows if it is possible to make some custom cable and connect it to a computers RS232 port? Has anyone done this? If so, is there any program avaliable thas can be used to automaticly log the times, calculate averages and so on?

I've actually thought about this before. I may be able to program something for it, unfortunatly I have no idea what format the times are outputted in. If someone could enlighten me about the output format, I might take a swing a programming it. Might be a nice over Christmas break project.

Sounds great =)

But one can not be so sure this will work. It may be so that the competition display has got a timer itself and the cable is just for start/stop and reset, maybe...?

Anyone up for doing experiments? :):)

I myself is not willing to risk my stackmat.

On the outher hand, if it is trigger signals only in the cable, then those are useful in pretty much the same way as a serial talk. the only difference is that the computer program needs a bulit-in timer function.

Read the last paragraph here:
http://www.mission-designs.com/timer

You could ask for docs... but where's the fun?

Reverse engineer it!

this is what i wrote to stackmat:

I was wondering if there is any connector that you have that you might be able to connect a stackmat timer with the tournament display port to a computer via a USB connection or similar that would run with a simple program so that you can save your times and averages on a computer. I know i would buy one if they are available. I use my Stackmat timer for Rubiks cubing.

this was their response:

Thanks for writing to us with your ideas about interfacing your StackMat Timer to your computer. Great minds think alike and the Data Port on the StackMat was designed with just this kind of thing in mind. Our product development team has been working hard lately. Keep your eyes open and you just might see this kind of thing being offered in the near future…

always helps to just ask the manufacturer

hopefully this will happen and they will put cubing in mind as well in the development.

uhhh... with just a *little* bit of electrical engineering knowledge, you can easily make a functioning cable with a 2.5mm plug on one side, and a male parallel port on the other. (You can make a serial one too, but it's a bit tougher).

I have look at the output from my timer with a "Oscilloskop" (I have no english word for that).

If someones is interested I can mail that I know. It is not much and you can probably not make anything with it now but I´m going to make some more tests when i have a litle more time.



The signal is to weak, you must probably strengthen it befor a computer can read it. (still just a *little* bit of electrical engineering knowledge to make a cable)

Very close. The word is oscilloscope.