Medium Sized FIE Recording Apparatus
- Overall Rating
- 80%
March 6th, 2009
The CSG21 is essentially a rebranded SG-21, which is a larger version of the SG12-ST, both in terms of good and bad.
Like the SG-12ST (the current standard for major USFA events) the SG-21 includes advanced features such as integral timer and scorekeeping. The difference is that the numbers are significantly larger, making the SG-21 a nice machine to have for the final rounds of a tournament, when there may actually be more than a small handfull of spectators standing around.
Unfortunately these larger numbers come at a cost - the SG-21 is roughly the size of a Favero FA-01 or FA-05. This can make trasport and storage of the SG-21 slightly more difficult than with the rather compact SG-12ST (which can fit into a case not much larger than a notebook).Like the SG-12ST, the SG-21 uses groups of LED’s in a curved array rather than incandescent light bulbs. This is nice in that it eliminates the need to change bulbs and since the LED’s are arranged in a curved array they tend to be readily visibile from either side. Unfortunately the SG-21 repeats the SG-12ST's mistake in using bi-color LED's to indicate both on and off-target touches - an arrangement that sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish between on and off target "lights" (especially for people who happen to be colorblind). The off-target LED's are also yellow, rather than white, which can be annoying even for those of us who aren’t colorblind. Unfortunately the only solutions to this problem appear to be either extension lights that seperate white and colored "lights", or a larger (and much more expensive) machine, such as the SG-31.
The remote is also a potential weakness. It may allow the referee to control the time and score unassisted but it's also one more thing to loose.
- Overall Rating
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