SETUP GUIDE

You Do Not Need the App

Your gates time runs entirely on their own. Everything on this page works straight out of the box, with no phone, no pairing, and no account. The EqualSplit Timing app is optional. It adds rosters, saved run history, extra drill modes like L Drill and Shuttle Run, and video timing.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX

• The display gate — the gate with the screen and two buttons
• The second gate — no screen
• 2 connectors (bases the gates sit into)
• 6 poles

A USB-C charging cable is not included. Any standard USB-C cable and charger will work — most cables you already have around will fit.

1. CHARGE BOTH GATES

Before first use, charge each gate fully. Plug a standard USB-C cable into the USB-C port on each gate and connect it to any USB power source. Give both gates a full charge before heading out to the track.

2. ASSEMBLE THE STANDS

Slide the poles into the cylindrical holes on each connector, then seat a gate into the connector. Push the poles in firmly so everything is stable, but don't force them. Repeat for the second gate. Set each stand on level ground where it won't tip. The height is fixed — once the poles are seated, the gate stands at its working height and there's nothing to adjust.

3. POWER ON AND SYNC

Each gate has a power switch. Flip it on both. The display gate immediately shows the EqualSplit name and your set number.

If the second gate isn't on yet, the screen will tell you it hasn't found a gate and to check the second one. Switch the second gate on and the display shows syncing while the two find each other and line up their clocks to a shared time base.

When syncing finishes you land on the home screen, with your set number in the top left. Completed runs build up here as history. Once you're on the home screen, the gates are ready and the buttons are live.

4. POSITION THE GATES

Each gate senses on its own. There is nothing to align, the gates do not need to point at each other, and you don't need anything behind the running line for them to work. Point each sensor toward where the runner will pass and set the gate down.

Which gate is which

“Gate 1” and “Gate 2” describe the order the athlete crosses them, not the two units. Either unit can be crossed first, so the display gate does not have to sit at the start — many coaches put it at the finish so they can read the split without walking back.

Whichever gate is crossed first starts the clock, and the other gate has to be the one that stops it.

Crossing the same gate a second time will not stop a run. The clock is waiting on the other gate.

Keep the athlete within a metre

An athlete has to pass within about 1 metre of a gate for it to register. That's a threshold built into the gate, not a rough guideline — pass wider than that and the gate ignores them entirely. Set each gate close to the running line rather than off at the edge of the track.

The two gates stay in radio contact past 100 m, so you can place them as far apart as your drill needs. Keep the metre in front of each gate clear once you've armed a run, or the gate will read whatever's there as the athlete going by.

5. TIMING A RUN

Everything is controlled from the two buttons on the display gate. Facing the screen:

• Button 1 is the button nearer the screen.
• Button 2 is the button farther from the screen.

Power is a separate switch, not one of these buttons. Start from the home screen.

Mode 1 — Gate-to-Gate Split

Press Button 1. The screen confirms the gates are activated and then waits. The clock starts the moment the athlete crosses either gate and stops when they cross the other one, and the split appears on the screen.

This is the mode for flys (10 m, 20 m, 30 m), 40-yard dashes, and any drill where you want a clean time between two points. Arm it and run — nothing else to press.

Mode 2 — Speed Profile

Press and hold Button 2. The clock starts the instant you release it, so release on your own “go.” The gates then record two segments: your release to the first gate crossed, and that first gate to the second one.

That splits a sprint into its start and its top-end in a single run, which Mode 1 can't show you. Use it for block starts and standing starts where the acceleration phase matters as much as the finish.

Clearing a result

A result stays on screen until you press a button, which takes you back to the home screen ready for the next rep. Write the number down before you clear it. The gates keep a short run history on the home screen, but they don't store times against athletes or sessions on their own. If you want that, the app saves every run to an athlete and a session.

MOBILE APP

EqualSplit Timing is our app for iPhone and iPad, available on the App Store. It pairs your phone or tablet with your gates. The gates still take the time; the app runs the session, keeps your roster, and shows each athlete's progress.

It's optional

Nothing above changes if you never install it. The gates time every run on their own, and you arm a run with the button on the display gate just like before. The phone is not part of the timing. Every time comes from the clock the two gates share over their own radio link, not from Bluetooth or the phone, so connecting the app doesn't change the gates' accuracy of roughly ±5 milliseconds.

If you use the app but still want to start runs from the gate button, turn on the setting that saves gate-started runs to the app. With it on, those runs are saved as long as the phone is connected.

Connecting

Turn both gates on, open the app, and press Connect. The first time, the app asks to use Bluetooth. Allow it, since that is how the app talks to your own gates.

If you have more than one set, you can pick which set to connect to, and a badge in the app shows which one you're controlling. Each phone controls one set, so use one phone per set when running them side by side.

What the app adds

• Drills. L Drill (Gate 1 to Gate 2), Shuttle Run (one gate, there and back), Continuous laps (one gate records every lap, with an optional lap target; it can merge stray crossings and flags laps that look too short), and Repeats with rest (each rep saved on its own, rest never counted). An adjustable lockout window keeps one crossing from being counted twice.
• Roster and lineup. Put athletes in groups and set today's lineup. After each run the app moves to the next athlete, and you can skip, undo, jump, or reorder. Save lineups as templates, undo the last run, and archive athletes without losing their runs.
• Live readout. A big time display that settles on the measured time at the finish. On an iPad it fills the screen.
• Progress and history. Each athlete's page has a chart for every drill marking their best, latest, and PRs. History is grouped by session and day. You can rename sessions, filter by athlete, see session averages, move a run to a different athlete or drill, add notes, and share a result as text. Runs not yet assigned to an athlete are easy to find.
• Video timing. Record at 30, 60, 120, or 240 fps, or import a clip. Mark the start and finish on a filmstrip, stepping one frame at a time, and the app shows the error margin next to the time. It checks the frame rate and refuses slow-motion and time-lapse clips. The video stays attached to the run, and video-timed runs appear on the same chart, marked as video.
• Built for the track. Large touch targets you can use one-handed, outdoors, or in gloves, with layouts for both iPhone and iPad.

Your data stays on your device

There is no account and nothing is uploaded. Your roster, runs, and video stay on the phone or tablet, and the camera never records sound. See our privacy page for details.

EqualSplit is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Oak Park, California. Contact: contact@equalsplit.org