I understand all that..but every time i use them for fly sprints the variation is never more than 0.04 across all trials.
I ALWAYS set the gates exactly the same way every single time (height etc). I follow the guidelines that UKA biomachanics guy who does all the official timing of jumps in UK Champ and UK Grand Pris etc…
And over and over again in my experience the gates are slightly (like you said 0.01- 0.02) slower than the official timing of the IAAF or country federations etc…
Example, UKA had my 6m-1m at the UK indoor trials in 09 at 10.0 m/s for a couple of jumps…i felt awful and looked like i was jogging during that meet and i know i wouldn’t have clocked 0.52 if i had used the gates that day…
So i’m optimistic to say the least.