Quick Start

When ContestManager first starts up, a new contest is displayed. A new contest may also be started by selecting New from the File menu. Choose Information from the Contest menu to identify this contest. There are no restrictions on how contests may be named. Select the type of contest from the pull-down list for Contest Type. You may also enter the contest sponsor, date, location, contest director, and sanction number.

To select events, choose Events from the Contest menu. Select an event to add by choosing the event from the Add Event pull-down list. More information may be needed depending on the event selected. If necessary, select the motor from the Motor Class pull-down list. For altitude events, enter the baseline in meters in the Baseline field. For precision events, enter the target time (in seconds) or altitude (in meters) in the Target field. Certain duration events can be made multiround by clicking the Multiround checkbox.

After specifying all of the information for the event, press the Add button to add it to the list for this contest. Added events for this contest are listed in the Selected Events field, with the weighting factor for each event. The total weighting factors for this contest are listed below the events. To remove an event from the list, select the event and press the Remove button.

For contests with altitude events, choose Setup Trackers from the Contest menu. For most cases, no changes will be necessary, but the options are available if needed. For more information on the various options, please see the detailed instructions.

To add contestants, choose Contestants from the Contest menu. It is not necessary to add all contestants before inputting flight results. In the Edit Contestant Information dialog box, select New Contestant from the drop-down list of contestants at the top of the window. Enter the contestant's name or team name in the Name field. Enter the contestant's NAR number or team number in the NAR/FAI Number field. This number must be unique, so use "PEND-1", "PEND-2", etc. if there are multiple contestants with pending numbers. Select the contestant's division. For teams, select the division of the oldest team member. This will be used to help combined team division with other divisions as needed. Enter the section number (0 for independent) and the section name should fill in automatically. Contact information (address, phone, email) may also be entered, but is not required. Press the Add button to add the new contestant. Contestants may also be imported from a tab-delimeted text file. For more information, check here.

Results are displayed with a spreadsheet-like view, with different views available from the View menu. Results view is the default view which shows the results of every flight. The NAR or Team number and section for each contestant are displayed fter the name. Double-clicking in a cell in this view is a quick method of accessing flight results for a particular contestant and event. The Points view shows the NAR points awarded for each contestant and event, as well as the total points for each contestant. The Standings view shows the places in each event, with flight results, event results, and NAR points awarded. This view is particularly useful for posting current results for contestants to view. Meet Champions shows the NAR points awarded to each contestant and section for this contest. For National Meets, two additional views are available. NARAM Points shows the pre-NARAM, NARAM, and total contest year points for each contestant, sorted by contestant name. National Champions, shows the pre-NARAM, NARAM, and total contest year points for each contestant and section, sorted by year-end points.

Several preferences settings are available via the Preferences item from the Edit menu. Altitude data reduction may be computed using the vertical midpoint or geodesic methods. Geodesic generally gives better closure rates and is the default option.

Flight results may be entered by selecting Flight Data from the Contest menu or by double-clicking on a cell in the Results view. The contestant may be selected from the drop-down list or by typing in the contestant's NAR or team number. The event and flight number are selected from the drop-down lists. To enter data for a new flight, select New Flight from the Flight Number drop-down list. The fields in the middle of the Edit Flight Data window will change depending on what event is selected.

For duration events, enter the times either in seconds or minutes and seconds, separated by a colon (eg 1:33.12 may be entered instead of 93.12). If timing data is not available, leave that entry blank. The average time will be computed automatically when the flight is added. The first 3 flights of a multiround event will automatically be marked for maximum times as appropriate.

For altitude events, enter the azimuth and elevation in degrees for each tracking station. If a station reports Track Lost, leave that entry blank. The altitude and closure are computed automatically when the flight is added.

For craftsmanship events which have a static score (e.g. Sport Scale), that data is entered as the first "flight".

When a flight is returned, check the Returned box. The Results view will display an entry in red if a return is required for that event but has not been recorded yet. When a flight is disqualified, check the Disqualified box. Select an appropriate comment to explain the DQ from the Comment pull-down list. When all of the data has been entered, press the Add button to add the flight.

Results may be printed from any view by selecting Print from the File menu. When the Standings view is selected, you have the option (via Preferences from Edit menu) to print all events together, or print a single event per page.

The contest file can be saved in several formats. The .nar format is the default and stores all of the information for that contest. ContestManager will only read .nar format files. Use the Export Flight Data command from the File menu to export the current view as tab-delimited text or HTML.

ContestManager has several limitations:

  1. Different events cannot be flown by different divisions. The most common case of this is for Giant Sport Scale and unrestricted Sport Scale. The easy workaround is to list the event as Sport Scale for everyone when entering the data. In other cases where events are flown under different motors classes per division, it may be necessary to split the results into different files.
  2. The option of having more than two timers is not available. If necessary, times from 3 or more timers can be averaged manually, and that average input.

If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me via email at kidwell@narhams.org