For further information on orienteering compasses, click here . The use of electronic punching is now becoming common at large national and championship events. While there are two different commercial systems available, the SportIdent system has been chosen for use here in Ireland. This E-card is attached to the index or middle finger of an orienteer with an elastic strap. The orienteer must then wait for confirmation of correct punching before withdrawing the E-card from the control unit.
Confirmation is usually in the form of both an audible bleep and a flashing light.
At present, there is not much information available on the subject of electronic punching. I therefore intend to set up some pages in the near future explaining how to control an event using the SportIdent system, as well as discussing the advantages and disadvantages of such a system to both the orienteer and the organiser. If you already know of such information, please let me know. This page is based on an Orienteering FAQ that was compiled by Paul Tomblin and Martin Flynn. These pages were last updated during November 2000 by Conor Creedon.