Blade-tip timing (BTT) is a promising method for the detection, measurement and analysis of blade vibrations in rotating bladed assemblies. However, the intricacies of the method when applied to real rotating structures undergoing synchronous (Engine Ordered) vibrations are not yet fully understood. In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to simulate data from typical BTT tests of rotating assemblies. The simulator is then used in order to provide a qualitative analysis of several phenomena that can be associated with the synchronous vibrations of rotating assemblies, including mistuning, coupling, excitation at multiple Engine Orders and simultaneous synchronous and asynchronous responses. It is concluded that none of these phenomena on its own will render the identification of the frequency and amplitude of blade vibrations impossible. However, there is no single BTT data analysis method that is able to deal with all of these phenomena.