TimeMaster is a simple program for the shooting director of archery tournaments. The original idea has been developed in a finnish archery club, Arcus. Some time ago (2002) there appeared a danish application by Jens Fudge using the same principles: showing remaining seconds on the screen, generating the beeps using a soundcard, and using TV sets to produce a bigger display.
What's different in TimeMaster is that it shows the seconds as black digits on a red/green/yellow background. It also shows the end number and the order of shooting: A/B, A/B/C or AB/CD. It keeps track of the actual shooting times and produces a shooting control report.
The current program version is 1.8. You can download and install it. If you already have installed version 1.6, you only need to download the actual program package tm.jar and copy it into the TimeMaster folder. If you have version 1.5 or older, you need the newer version of javalayer (mp3 player, a SourgeForge project). The program uses the Arial Narrow Bold font, which comes with the installation package. If your PC does not have it yet, copy the ARIALNB.TTF file into the Windows\Fonts directory.
Latest version history:
v1.6 : Configurable character sizes and positions.
v1.7 : User definable shooting and warning times. Up to 6 (!) shooting waves.
v1.8 : Yellow background always, when less than 30 seconds left.
The installation package contains a french language file (thanks to Jean-Paul Durlet!). The translation was made for version 1.4, and after that I've added some 40 new display obects, so the translation is not quite complete.
This is a fully functioning, free program. You can make copies of it and use it as much you please :) I used to charge 25 euros for it, but because the market seemed to be very limited, there was not much point in it. If you find the program useful, feel free to make a donation :). I think the easiest way is to use 
.
The program uses a mp3 file to generate the beeps: sound.mp3. You can replace it with anything you want, if you don't like the harsh sound of the default file. You can also define the pause between beeps.
To play background music during the breaks, click the MP3 files button to add files to the playlist. The program plays mp3 files only, but I hope that is not too big a problem. If you find adding one file at a time too laborous, try dragging files from Windows Explorer or some other file list.
I think most PC speaker systems are good enough to amplify the audio output. I've used a 100 Watt amplifier and good quality speakers, but that's a little overkill. Most archers do not pay any attention to the sound quality, they tend to have something else to worry about.
Displaying the screen in a size large enough is possible using TV sets, computer monitors or data projectors. The downside with TV's is their weight. Most competition venues are not solely in archery use, so the TV's must be hauled there and back again.
Converting the display output to a rf signal is probably easiest by using a standard VCR. Most modern laptop computers provide a S-video output, which can be connected to a VCR input. Just make sure that the VCR produces a color output from the signal. After that, it's easy to divide the signal to multiple TV sets, if necessary.
To use monitors or projectors, there are several VGA multipliers or splitters in the market. Most use standard VGA cables, providing only short range multiplication. In Finland we use a type which uses inexpensive CAT5 twisted pair cable. The spec says the monitor can be placed as far as 250 meters away. The central and remote units are not very inexpensive, however...
If the structure of the hall permits, the best result is achieved by using a VGA splitter and one or more data projectors. It's usually possible to get a picture size of one meter or more without sacrificing the brightness too much.
Experiment and try which method suits you best. You've got not much to lose.