How to do Tag Disambiguation in CT Live

Introduction

If you are timing an event that allows a single athlete to participate in more than one race with the same tag number, or you're assigning the same tag number to two different athletes in two different races you will need to enable Tag Disambiguation and set up your course in a specific way. You may also wish to enter a bib and not have it enter a tag additionally by default. 

Before we discuss necessary steps, there are several important things to consider.

Are you using the same tag number for two different athletes?

In this scenario, races may be held at the same time, but you may NOT use the same timing lines for both races. Separate timing lines must be used, and lines must be set up no closer than 40 feet from each other at any given timing location.

If races are to be held at different times, you may use the same timing lines for both races, but two conditions must be met.

• All participants in the first race must be allowed to finish before the second race begins.
• You must create a Marker on your controllers before beginning the second race.

Are you using the same tag for one athlete in two different races?

In this scenario, you may use the same timing lines if both races happen at the same time or if they happen at different times.

Races happening at the same time can be two different distances that start at the same point and Finish at the same point, such as with a 10K/5K where the 5K finish is the halfway split for the 10K. In this scenario, you MUST include the 5K finish as a split point in the 10K. Otherwise, the 5K finish may also register as the 10K finish. 

If the races are happening at different times, the same rules as in the same athlete, same tag scenario above apply:

• All participants in the first race must be allowed to finish before the second race begins.
• You must create a Marker on your controllers before beginning the second race.

Remember to enable Tag Disambiguation BEFORE you import any athletes. 

Enable Tag Disambiguation

To enable Tag Disambiguation:

1. From within an Event in CT Live, hit the Pickup tab button to open up the side navigation for the Menu option. From the options that exist, choose "Bib & Tag Settings."
   
    
2. Locate the setting called "Globally Unique Tags" and toggle this off. Turning this off will enable Tag disambiguation by Mat for this Event.  Note: This will mean you must have separate timing devices per race where the same tag is used. 
   

3. Click Save in the lower left-hand corner to apply changes. 

   

When to Turn off Bib Tag Matching Additionally

Above the "Globally Unique Tags" toggle that enables and disables Tag Disambiguation by Mat, there is another titled "Bib & Tag Matching." When this is toggled on, by Default Tag and Bib will align and when a bib is entered the Tag will be entered with same corresponding value. If you wish to apply different values between same bib and tag in an athlete's entry page or through an Import this must be toggled OFF. 

To disable Bib and Tag matching in your Event:

1. Return to the CT Live Bib and Tag Settings Page under Pickup.
   

2. Locate the setting titled "Bib & Tag Matching" and toggle this Setting Off. 

   

   3. Click Save in the lower left-hand corner to apply changes.

   Now that you have saved this, when a Bib is entered in CT Live a corresponding Tag will also need to be entered. Note: When an import is done with this setting turned on, a Tag Column will be needed in your import file additionally to assign the corresponding tag number for an individual. 

   With this setting turned off, you may also wish to have different bib & tag values in CTL map automatically when a Bib is entered for an athlete in Pickup. This can be achieved by uploading a Bib Chip Map.