SPORTident's new Printout Set BT prints splits with no cable and no phone

SPORTident has announced the Printout Set BT, and the interesting part is what it removes. It is a SPORTident Reader BT paired with a Printer 2, talking to each other over Bluetooth. A runner puts their card in the reader, it reads out, the printer prints their splits. There is no cable between the two, and there is no phone, tablet, or computer anywhere in the setup.

What that replaces

Right now, printing splits at a training means one of three setups, and all three have something you have to connect.

The Printout Set does it without a computer already, which is why clubs buy it. A printout station wired to the printer with a serial cable, card in, slip out, no software involved. The new set is this one with the cable gone.

The School & Training Set and the Orienteering App Set work differently. A mini reader station cables to an Android phone or tablet, the printer connects to that phone over Bluetooth, and the app does the work. More capable, because you have a screen and the app can hold a session, but it is two connections and a device someone has to own, charge, and know how to drive.

The full club setup is a computer, a BSF8 SI-Master, and OLynx. For an event that is the right answer. For a Tuesday night it is a laptop coming out of a bag in whatever weather turned up.

Why this matters for trainings

Anyone can run it. That sounds minor until you think about who actually runs a club training night, which is usually whoever turned up, not the person who knows the software. A setup that needs no explanation is a setup that happens every week instead of once a month.

It also fits in a small case. Gear that lives in a box in the car boot gets used. Gear that needs assembling gets left at home.

The reader is rated for up to ten years of battery life, so it is not another thing to remember to charge the night before. It comes in a black housing, which matters less, but the ten years is the reason you can leave it in the box.

Where it stops

This is for training nights and school events. It is not a results system.

Once you are running even a small local event you want the computer, the SI-Master, and proper results, because you need entries, classes, a results list, and something to upload afterwards. A reader that hands each person their own splits does none of that. Buy it for the Tuesday night, not for the Sunday.

If you want a screen, a session, and results on the day without a laptop, the App Set is still the better tool. The Printout Set BT trades that away on purpose, and the trade is the point.

What we do not know yet

The announcement is thin. It does not say which cards the Reader BT supports, or whether the reader can be bought on its own by a club that already owns a Printer 2. We have not had one in our hands either, so everything above comes off the announcement and our own experience of what training nights actually need.

We will update this page as we learn more.

Getting one

It is available from the northern autumn, so spring here.

We are not stocking it, but we can order it in alongside the rest of the SPORTident range. If you want one, email callum@trailblazenz.com and we will come back to you with a price and a delivery date as soon as SPORTident confirms them.