EMIT proximity punching test

Big Foot labs got to test EMIT's new contactless electronic punching system. Unlike the existing SportIdent and EMIT systems, there is no need to punch at a control, you just have to get close.

Our head of testing demonstrates the strap on gear that the competitor uses:

So having had one of those strapped on your arm, you head off into the forest to find a control - what do the new checkpoints look like:

So its a big flat pastic thing, and for this test they were hung inside the control flag.

When you get near the flag there is a beep and your credit-card has $5.40 deducted from it by the RTA... no, that's not right.

So you beep your way around the course and get back and beep at the download unit and get splits.

Let's see it in action:

Obviously this control is going to require a bit of climbing up to, but you can see that both hands are free (or would be it they weren't hiding up-sleeve).

The big draw-back is that this hardware is incompatible with the existing EMIT equipment, so so its not practical to do an incremental upgrade. And of course its completely incomptible with SportIdent.

So unless you go to Big Foot's secret new technology test centre (a.k.a Norway) you'll have to rely on our tester's verdict:

6/10