Computer sales and service

2019 was a record year for on-site technology projects, with 511 projects completed in Buffalo, Rochester, and Erie, PA.

Some of the 51 different national vendors we provided service for included: Acuative, Ammacore, Atlanta Network Systems, Concert Technologies, Core Technology Solutions, High Wire Networks, InGenius Solutions, KeyMe, Nationwide Fixture Installations, Level 10, Navco, Netcom USA, Netview, NSCglobal, OSBT, Park Place Technologies, Presidio, Randstad Technologies, Single Digits, Source Support and Trextel.

In addition to on-site computer service, we continue to provide web-site hosting with email and domain name registration. Computer repairs and upgrades were performed in our office at 1325 Millersport throughout the year.

We’re continually evaluating and upgrading our timing equipment to reach the ultimate goal of 100% reads with 100% inliers (3 or more reads from each chip passing.)

• June 2019: Our inventory of ChipCards have been upgraded to the larger CR100 (99x67mm) card. Larger ChipCards provide greater visibility than the CR80 (86x54mm) ChipCards. The larger cards allow the use of longer RFID chips, including the Alien ALN-9740 and Smartrac DogBone.
• July 2019: We now have a high efficiency 1000-watt inverter, suitable for running the laptop and two LCD monitors all day from a car battery. This inverter eliminates the need for a noisy generator.
• August 2019: New Logitech C9000 camera provides 1600×1200 (2mp) resolution using a wide angle glass lens for sharper images.
• September 2019: In addition to the Impinj H47 tags that use the Impinj Monza 4 RFID chip and True3D dual dipole antenna, we also have more sensitive Alien ALN-9740 tags using the higher performance Alien Higgs4 chip.
• October 2019: In addition to the 6dbi circular patch and 14dbi Yagi antenna, we have added a 8.5dbi linear antenna. The linear antenna provides the widest field of view, optimizing the use of quadratic regression by picking up more reads at the edges of the field of view. When combined with other antennas, CrossMgrImpinj can optimize between antenna selection, choosing the antenna with the most chip reads.
• November 2019: The reliable Impinj R220 reader has been replaced with a higher performance Impinj R420 reader using the latest 6.2.1 firmware. While the R220 can perform up to 500 chip reads per second, the R420 offers additional chip reader modes that can read up to 1500 chips per second.

The following events requested timing by Jon Rosen Systems for their 2020 event. However, with the onset of COVID-19 restrictions on March 15, most events have been cancelled or postponed for 2020. We remain ready and available for any events that wish to hold their events in 2020 and need timing. 

• McKeesport Criterium on Saturday May 9th; rescheduled.
• KBMoto 12-hour race on Sunday, June 7th; rescheduled.
• Buhl Criterium on Saturday June 13th; cancelled.
• Brew32 road race on Sunday June 14th; cancelled.
• KBmoto Sprint Enduro on Sunday, June 28th.
• Cleveland Metroparks Paddlefest on Saturday July 18th; cancelled.
• Cleveland Metroparks cross country mountain bike race on Saturday September 12th; cancelled.
• Wyoming Senior Games time trial and road race, August; cancelled.
• Nevada Senior Games time trial and road race on October 3rd and 4th

• Cleveland Metroparks fat tire bike race in Bedford, OH on February 23rd
• JMac Cycling Criterium in Butler, PA on May 26th.
• La Prima Buhl Park criterium in Hermitage, PA on June 8th
• Cleveland Metroparks stand-up paddleboard and kayak race at Whiskey Island in Cleveland, OH on July 20th.
• Wyoming State Senior Games in Cheyenne, WY on August 8th and 9th
• KBmoto Hare Scramble in Glenwood, NY on August 18th.
• Muddy Buffalo OCR at Buffalo Ski Club in West Falls, NY on August 24th.
• Cleveland Metroparks mountain bike race in Bedford, OH on September 7th
• KBmoto Hare Scramble in Glenwood, NY on September 22nd.
• Nevada State Senior Games in Las Vegas, NV on October 5th and 6th.
• West Falls CX in West Falls, NY on October 13th.
• Park School 3k XC in Amherst, NY on October 19th
• Franklin Park CX in Washington, PA on November 10th.

The following events were timed in 2018 by Jonathan M. Rosen.  Follow the links to see the results produced using CrossMgr software for these events. In addition to these events, remote support for timing races with CrossMgr was provided for events in Guam and Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Cleveland Metroparks 3rd annual fat tire bike festival at the Bedford Reservation in Ohio on February 10th.

Mission Crit V in San Francisco, CA on April 21st. 

Buhl Park criterium on June 9th

Buhl Park criterium on June 10th

Cleveland Metroparks Whiskey Island Paddlefest on July 21st. 

NEOcycle Edgewater cyclocross races on September 8th.

Muddy Buffalo trail run at Three Valley Campground on September 30th.

Park School Warm up to Winter 3k cross country race on October 13th.

Raccoon Park CX in Aliquippa, PA on November 4th.

Franklin Park CX in Washington, PA on November 10th.

JMAC Cycling Double CX in Butler, PA on December 1st. 

JMAC Cycling Double CX in Butler, PA on December 2nd. 

For 2018, there have been upgrades to the CrossMgr/Impinj RFID timing system that provide improved quality results.

• March 2018: We’ve added an ultra low light camera with an AR0130 sensor. This camera is so sensitive to light that it is used for photographing distant stars at night.
•  April 2018: CrossMgrImpinj software was upgraded to support quadratic regression (QR) analysis. This allows CrossMgr software to use 3 or more RFID chip times to calculate the time on the finish line with 1/100 second precision, yielding 6-inch accuracy at 34mph.  Prior to quadratic regression, CrossMgr used only the first time reported by an Impinj reader, resulting in finish times up to 10 feet before the finish line.  Since  Impinj RFID readers support up to 600 tags per second, individual tags can be read up to 20 times while passing the antenna, providing plenty of data to calculate a high precision time with very high confidence.
• May 2018: RANSAC (random sample consensus) processing logic was added to improve the results of quadratic regression analysis. RANSAC analysis eliminates spurious outlier data collected from the RFID chip reader due to signal reflection.
• June 2018: Support has been added for higher resolution cameras.
• July 2018: CrossMgrVideo software has been improved with more features for recording and reviewing finish line photos.

Comparison of RFID chip signal strength (RSSI) data points along with curves generated by quadratic regression from the same data. With only 3 chip reads, QR can closely estimate the the signal strength curve for a chip and determine its time in front of the antenna.

Here are the results of research on selected available camera sensors. For lenses, the varifocal 5-50mm lens with an 8 to 80 degree field of view provides the widest range.  A 2.8-12mm lens with 28 to 130 degree field of view is another option.

For comparison, the human eye has a 2.97mm focal length with a 128 degree field of view.

Sony produces the IMX sensors. ON Semiconductor (formerly Aptina Research) produces the AR sensors. OmniVision produces the OV sensors.

Best low light sensitivity in mv/lux-sec:

AR0130: 5600mv color, 6500mv black & white.
IMX322; 5000mv
OV7725: 3800mv
OV2710: 3700mv
AR0330: 2000mv
IMX291: 1300mv
IMX179: 650mv
OV5640: 600mv

Highest supported frame rates in fps:

OV2710: 240
AR0330: 215
OV5640: 120
IMX291: 120
AR0130: 60
OV7725: 60
IMX322: 30
IMX179: 30

Best resolution:
IMX179: 8mp with 1/3.2″ sensor (3264 x 2448)
OV5640: 5mp with 1/4″ sensor (2592 x 1944)
AR0330: 3mp with 1/3″ sensor (2048 x 1536)
IMX322: 2mp with 1/2.9″ sensor (1920 x 1080)
IMX291: 2mp with 1/2.8″ sensor (1920 x 1080)
OV2710: 2mp with 1/2.7″ sensor (1920 x 1080)
AR0130: 1.2mp with 1/3″ sensor (1280 x 960)
OV7725: .3mp with 1/4″ sensor, (640 x 480)

2017 was a busy year, with 375 on-site service projects completed in Buffalo and Rochester.

A total of 50 different national service providers assigned us projects this year, including: Trextel, BLM Technologies, Concert Technologies, Netcom USA, Netview, BlackBox, Ammacore, Reliable IT, One Source Building Technology, nFrastructure, Randstad Technologies, Core Technology, CompuCom, Pomeroy, SourceSupport Services, Sequenza, HighWire Networks, Dimension Data, Presidio, Velocity Network Services and Vital Network Services.

These companies represent national brands, and relied on us to provide local service for their customers in a variety of industries. Many of these service projects involved testing and “turning-up” Internet and network connections. These projects required testing and troubleshooting network connections between routers, switches, servers and Internet providers.

In the hospitality market, we serviced Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Panera Bread, McDonalds, Checkers, Mortons Steak House, Hampton Inn,  and Embassy Suites.

Banking clients we serviced included: HSBC, M&T Bank, Key Bank and Citizens Bank.

Government clients we serviced included New York Power Authority, US Navy Reserve Station, US Air Force Reserve Station, New York State District Assembly, Veterans Administration, Social Security Administration,  Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Retail clients included Home Depot, ALDI, Barnes and Noble, Target, Orange Theory Fitness, Luxxotica, Public Storage, American Eagle and Wegmans.

Industrial, manufacturing and distribution clients included Graybar, LKQ and Dairy Farmers of America.

Medical clients included CVS Pharmacies, Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo General Hospital and many private practices.

In addition to providing on-site timing services in NY, PA and OH, we also provide remote support to timers using CrossMgr software and J-Chip RFID hardware in other locations.

For the Red Rock Time Trial in Las Vegas, Nevada, we provided remote support for CrossMgr to Danny Leberger from HIE Cycling.

For the The Guam Cycling Federation and Tour of Guam, we provided remote support to Matt Ellis for multiple races using J-Chip RFID hardware and CrossMgr software.

For Danny Matusczak in Florida, we provided remote support for new software created to link Race Director timing software with J-Chip RFID hardware.

We’re pleased to announce 23 events that have secured their dates for 2017:

Cleveland Metroparks Fat Tire Bike race at the Bedford Reservation, OH on Sunday, January 28th.  This event was postponed and cancelled due to lack of snow.

Polar Bear 8 hour obstacle course challenge in Benson, VT on Saturday, February 4th 2017.

Erie Spring Criterium on Sunday 4/23, Sunday 4/30 and Sunday 5/7 in Erie, PA.

Races at the Lake on April 22nd, April 29th, May 6th and May 13th in Stow, OH.

Buhl Park GP criterium on Saturday June 3rd in Hermitage, PA.

Buhl Park GP criterium on Sunday June 4th in Hermitage, PA.

Bristol Mountain Road Race on Sunday May 28th in Bristol, NY.

Muddy Buffalo OCR on Saturday June 17th in West Falls, NY.

NEOcycle mountain bike race on Saturday September 9th in Cleveland, OH.

NEOcycle Edgewater CX on Sunday September 10th in Cleveland, OH.

Blue Sky or Not at Sims Park on Sunday September 17th in Cleveland, OH.

Buffalo OCR at Three Valley Campground in Holland, NY on Saturday September 30th.

West Falls CX on Sunday October 1st in West Falls, NY.

Todd Field CX on Sunday October 8th in Willoughby, OH

The Park School CX on October 15th in Amherst, NY.

HoliCX2 on Sunday October 22nd in Ellicottville, NY.

Whiskey Island CX at Wendy Park on Sunday November 5th in Cleveland, OH.

CrossFit Games on Saturday December 2nd in Cleveland, OH.

CrossFit Games on Sunday December 3rd in Cleveland, OH