2.12 Scoring Apparatus

     The scoring apparatus consists of the reels, floor wires, and
     indicator box, and optionally a timer and scoring tower(s).  In
     sabre, the capteur sensors can also be considered part of the
     scoring apparatus, since they are provided by the tournament
     organizers.

     Modern foil scoring boxes should display only a coloured light or
     a white light for each fencer.  Older boxes (or ones with older
     firmware) may display both if an off-target touch is immediately
     followed by an on-target touch.

     It is possible to defeat the foil scoring circuit by grounding
     your own weapon to your lame' (your opponent's touches will fail
     to register, but yours will register).  This is illegal, and
     scoring boxes must be equipped with a grounding light to detect
     when fencers do this.  Some newer boxes have an anti-fraud
     feature to eliminate this hazard and allow touches to be scored
     in spite of grounding.  Boxes without such an anti-fraud circuit
     are useful for detecting dead spots on lame's (ground the lame',
     and then poke the opponent in various locations; white lights
     indicate a dead spot).

     Many sabre scoring boxes come with a variety of special options
     or programs for variations on the standard rules;  for example,
     fencing without sensors, or with modified whipover timeouts.

     Reels are typically portable, spring-wound devices, although some
     salles have permanent overhead installations involving pulleys
     and bungee cords.  The overhead variety is normally more
     reliable, since it has fewer mechanics and no electrical brushes.