Saitek Mephisto Competition Game Clock

[Andrew McHarg]

All

I've been trying to set one of the above clocks, as follows:

Primary time: 1 minute | 10 moves
Secondary time: 1 minute | 0 moves

I was of the understanding this would mean that you have to make 10 moves inside the first minute before the secondary minute would be added on. If you only make 9 moves in the first minute then your flag would fall (and therefore you wouldn't get the additional minute). However, the clock I'm setting is adding the extra minute on regardless of the number of moves made. I've tried on more than one clock and it's doing the same thing, so it can't be a technical problem with them (or at least it's incredibly unlikely).

Anyone have any ideas where I might be going wrong? 8)

Thanks in advance.

[David G Congalton]

Have you fully read the manaul and followed the instructions exactly? ;P

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.saitek.com/manuals/Gameclock%20manual_CZ02_English.pdf">http://www.saitek.com/manuals/Gameclock ... nglish.pdf</a><!-- m -->

Sections 2 and 3.

[Andrew McHarg]

Did. It's not doing what the instructions suggest it should.

The instructions state: "...in Tournament Mode 2C, the default display will show 2:00 | 40. This means 40 moves must be made in 2 hours for the PRIMARY time phase."
To me that means if you fail to make 40 moves before the 2 hours runs out then your flag should fall. However, the clock is simply moving onto the secondary phase and adding the secondary time on, even if you've only made 20 moves.

[Alex McFarlane]

Andrew,
Some clocks are programmed to add on the time regardless of whether the moves have been made. This prevents the clock crashing if a clock press has been missed by the players.

If this is the case then the flag should be displayed if the number of moves (or more correctly the number of clock presses) has not been made but not if the clock believes that the time control was reached.

If this fails go to ChessArbitersAssociation.co.uk and go to the clocks page for videos on how to set the clocks.

Hope this helps.

[Andrew McHarg]

Thanks Alex, that is what it appears to be doing. I've noticed when the Primary time expires before the move count has been reached it adds the secondary time on but shows a small clock icon on the side who failed to reach the time control. =| Didn't think it'd do that, but at least it now makes sense. =)

[John Blake]

Andrew We use this clock in Stirling <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://shop.chess.co.uk/Saitek_Competition_Pro_Game_Clock_Silver_Chess_p/cb00750.htm">http://shop.chess.co.uk/Saitek_Competit ... b00750.htm</a><!-- m -->

We set the Secondary time to Zero and add the extra time on to the Tertiary phase. Never had any problems. Hope this might help.