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Remote LC sensors, Custom LCs, Custom Pitlanes...

12K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  SSD slotguy 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

Currently busy with "some"
;-) work on my track, the "Skipsleat international Raceway", (the digitalisation of it).
I have some findings which I wanted to share, and while the work is far, far from finished, I want to show the progress up to now anyway...
First cutting of the trackparts, to make custom LC's and so: (Graham, pay attention!
)

The easiest way is to start off with 1:1 photocopies of the parts to be cut, so you get a good feel of where to cut and how to connect:





You can then use the pieces as a template over the trackpieces, so you know where to cut


To reconnect the cut parts I use both a regular soldering iron and one with a big flat head:


To get rid of the smelly smells I use my spray cabin, an idea I got from another topic here in the forum
...
Mine is foldable, so it can be stowed away neatly when not in use.
It's made of a standard exhaust hood, ("afzuigkap" for the dutchies) used in kitchens, and some fiberboard, that fits into a U shaped groove onto the hood.



And when finished fold it flat and stow away:



The new digital pitlane:



And finished:
(Used pieces: full straights, ¼ trackpieces, small trackpieces, and R1 inner lane trackpieces)



Once you are "underway" you can do the cutting "on the fly". Below you will see that the LC that is used to go from 2 to 3 lanes to make the pit entry will look quite different in the final version...
(The pieces used are a "standard"LH in to out LC, and the outer lane of an R1 curve. The Outer R1 lane together with the inner lane of the LC will make the 2 lanes of the racetrack, where the outerlane of the LC will be the entrance to the pits.



The finished product:



Again, it ended up looking totally different, because when I put it in the track , I came up with a much improved pitlane entry, and cut away the exit flipper and the outside lane, since they're no use there anyway:



The progress so far:


Next I need to make the flippers for the pitlanechangers, but no time now...

As for the sensors that come in the ½ straights with the CLCs, they can be easiliy split, so you can use them much more flexible.
All it takes is some basic solderingskills and 3 wires!!!.
Here's how:

The thingy as it comes out of the trackpiece:


Now use a sharp knife to cut the left part off, going from top to bottom in a vertical line, from the V in REV, throught the hole in the board, and down.
You are cutting 1 "electrical current flowline" (don't know what you call 'em in english) but the line you cut, and will have to replace by a wire is the line that runs in the bottom from C6 to the sensor itself:TR5
Make at least one cut on the other side as well, since you need to break a line there as well. The board is made of epoxy, so it will require quite some cuts before you can break it in two.



Now the 3 solder connections:

Green is used to restore the C6-TR5 connection
Yellow is used to restore the ground (just scrape the board to bare the metal in a good place to solder)
And Red is used to restore the flow line which is in the underside of the mainboard, it transfers to the upper side of the now cutoff end part of the board, hence the point where the red wire is now connected (just look at the pictures, and it will all make sense...)


The backside of the mainboard, with the red and black pair to power the LC and the single red to restore the cut line.


It works like a champ!

Anyway, lots of more work to do, so I'll leave it at that for now!

And of course a big thank you to RickG and AndyS, who made the incredible PBPro!!! (Not to forget a whole lot of others here on the forum, without whom l could not have done it!!!


Later,
Martin
 
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#3 ·
I'm not sure, but I think that doing those mods will void the warranty on the LC's...


Thats looking real sweet MartinT
, Can't wait to to see how it all turns out
.

I think you, and quite a few others on this board (you know who you are), should get together and design you'r own system for the slot world to enjoy.

You all have more ingenuity than the manufacturers themselves.

Sometimes I wonder if they really even care about our needs


Anywho, keep up the great work
.

Greg
 
#5 · (Edited by Moderator)
QUOTE (Slotter House @ 30 Nov 2007, 16:43) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I think you, and quite a few others on this board (you know who you are), should get together and design you'r own system for the slot world to enjoy.

You all have more ingenuity than the manufacturers themselves.

Greg

I completely agree with you there Greg. There's some fabulous stuff from some very creative/inventive/talented people on these forums.

Nice work Martin.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
Real good stuff
And economical as well, Bleep has 4 straight LCs to do his pit, you get away with parts from 2! Excellent
 
#7 ·
Thanks for your kind words guys, this weekend I am occupied with family visits, but I hope to get some more work done next week...
I'll keep you updated!

Martin
 
#8 ·
Absolutely brilliant Martin! Love it! Hmmm
that's the second time I have said that to someone this morning, just wait til my next posting in a few days.

Making these things commercially is not easy for manufacturers. However, putting all the info on a 'how to' here on the forum with a great series of pictures is the answer for us all. That way we can develop our ideas and get the enormous satisfaction of having done it ourselves instead of simply connecting pieces of track together.
 
#9 ·
Truly inspiring! What a great simple way to approach a semi-hard mod. I have enough scenic and mod work to do for the next year plus. Thanks for sharing and keep updating us.
M..
 
#13 ·
QUOTE (MartinT @ 30 Nov 2007, 07:53) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Next I need to make the flippers for the pitlanechangers, but no time now...

Later,
Martin

OK, Martin, did I miss how you make the flippers? That seems to be the trickiest part.

Cheers!
 
#15 ·
QUOTE (Slotter House @ 30 Nov 2007, 16:43) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I think you, and quite a few others on this board (you know who you are), should get together and design you'r own system for the slot world to enjoy.

You all have more ingenuity than the manufacturers themselves.

Greg
Can you make it fully compatible with SSD please? Great ideas like that need showing to the world, and then selling to the world! Great stuff, I like
 
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