Review: New pistol grip controller for D132/124 & ProX, (long post w/pictures) Options

[b.yingling]

An enterprising SFI forum member- Rubirosa- has developed a pistol grip controller with a sensitivity pot that is a direct plug in for D132/D124 and Pro-X systems. He asked me if I would review one of the units, and I was only too happy to oblige. The thought of having another choice in D132 controllers was too good to pass up.

I have the same UPS driver at my job as at my home. She looks out for anything with my home address and drops it by my work. I received the prototype at work the day after I agreed to try it out. Next Day Air!- Rubirosa must be champing at the bit to get these into the hands of fellow slotters!

On opening the package there's a familiar sight to anyone who runs analog as well as D132- the controller is built in a Professor Motor housing. The sensitivity pot is located near the top of the housing, as you'd expect, and the lane change switch is near the handle. If you're holding the controller normally and looking down at it, the switches are both on the left side. This is so the right thumb can reach and push the lane change switch. Rubirosa wanted a single hand controller, just like the Carrera units. He will offer a left hand model with the switches on the other side of the housing.


When I got the unit home I was aching to get in some laps. I removed the cover from my track, grabbed a car, plugged in the controller and took a few trips around the track. Immediate impression: Smile! I'm running on my track with a PM style controller! Something other than a thumb plunger! It took all I had to sit the controller down and clean the track so I could do some proper testing.

Once the track was clean, I grabbed my easiest to drive magnet car. It's the Flying Lizard 911. People love to say that it's easier to drive magnet cars. I find the reverse is true. At least, it's very hard to get the best lap out of a magnet car. It may be easier to run a decent lap with a magnet car, but the best lap is very tough to get because of the lack of feedback. You have to run a lot of laps and keep pushing at every point until you develop the fastest rhythm that works. I ran laps with Rubirosa's controller, and I ran laps with a thumb controller, switching back and forth. The two were virtually even in lap times. Rubirosa's actually wound up with a slightly faster best lap:






Next up was a NASCAR COT. I run these with the rear magnet out and the front magnet in. They slip and slide a bit, but the front magnet in place helps improve the lane changing. Here I could not quite get a time equal to the plunger controller with Rubirosa's. I switched back and forth between them, improving lap times with each, but my familiar plunger stayed a tenth of a second ahead:






Next was a no-mag car. Slot.It 312PB. This is the first car where the pot came into play. I run this at a programmmed max speed of 7. It's too light a car with too much motor for my track at anything above 8. 7 is no slower than 8 in lap times, and lane changing is smoother. Although the max speed adjusment makes the car much easier to handle, I found that adjusting the pot would get me even smoother performance. The best times here were very close between the two controllers. While the ultimate best lap belongs to my old trusty thumb, Rubirosa's was the first to get under the 15 second mark as I switched back and forth between the two. It also had the feel of turning more consistent laps than the plunger.





The last car on the first day was a 1/24th Hot Rod. This one really surpised me. I run these at 15 volts on my track, so they are slow (designed for 18v). With the rear traction magnet out and factory tires, they slip, slide, and spin their wheels around every inch of Valley Raceway. I expected the pot to help on a strong motored car like the 312PB. I wasn't expecting what I got here. Rubirosa's controller was 2 tenths of a second faster!



If you aren't interested in a technical explanation of why the pot helped so much on a slow car, you can skip the next paragraph.

It isn't exactly like a typical sensitivity pot, but this is more a function of the Black Box's interpretation of the controller signal than it is the controller. The Black Box recognizes and encodes sixteen throttle steps. From 0 (stopped) to 15 (full throttle). As soon as the throttle moves from it's full release position the BB interprets it as throttle level 1. This is enough to get most D132/D124 cars to move. And it's true no matter the position of the pot. As you turn the pot counter-clockwise, you limit the voltage sent to the BB everywhere except full throttle. This increases the trigger range that the BB interprets as throttle step 1, and can cause the BB to interpret 99% of throttle as less than step 14. With the pot turned all the way out it can lower the voltage enough that the BB will interpret 99% of throttle as step 10 or less. Full throttle is always step 15.

The pot's effect is very similar to the Slot.It curve knob when the Slot.It controller is in linear-with-step mode. The car travels slower at 99% of throttle- but full throttle is still full throttle.

For me, it had the strongest effect on slow, slippery cars. The pot gave me finer control in the curves while never having to let the throttle return to zero.

The first day of testing, and the controller was within a tenth of a second or so of controllers I've been using for two years. On one car in particular it was nearly two tenths faster. Not bad. Not bad at all. Especially since the lane change switch is in a different location. That takes some getting used to, and best laps on my track require lane changes.

On the second day, running the same cars and other cars, Rubirosa's controller was even better at keeping up with and surpassing the lap times of the plunger controller. I could not run the 312PB as fast with the thumb controller as I could with Rubirosa's. Magnet cars were again very close to dead even. The 124 Hot Rod was not quite as lopsided in favor of Rubirosa. Different track conditions on day two. I cleaned it the old fashioned way- by running laps.



I haven't gone into much detail about the feel of the controller. If you've used a PM you have a pretty good idea of how this controller feels in your hand and what the trigger reponse is like. If you haven't, they are fairly large and the trigger has a good bit of resistance. When I run a pistol grip with a large housing, I tend to hold the top of the controller in my left hand and aim the pistol at the ground. It is most comfortable for me. I found myself operating the lane change switch with my left thumb, rather than my right thumb. I appreciate Rubirosa's attempt to make it a one handed controller, but for me the right thumb action was awkward. For some it will probably be no problem. The biggest change in using this controller is getting used to the lane change switch.

I am not sure of final pricing. Rubirosa has said he thinks assembled versions will be about $80.00 US. He can also sell you a board cut to fit the PM housing if you want to assemble your own. He thinks that will be around $60.00. Given that the Slot.It digital is about $130.00, I think Rubirosa is offering a nice compromise. Granted, the Slot.It digital will run on other digital systems as well- but I don't think that's all that important for most Carrera digital users. Also remember the Slot.It controller has to plug into your power supply- Rubirosa's does not. This can be significant since a stock D132 or D124 power supply is run near it's limit with a full field of cars.

So what are my final thoughts? If you think you want one of these you do want one of these. The performance is excellent. I could not find a real downside. The lane change switch takes some getting used to- so what. The sensitivity pot isn't exactly like an analog version- but it does give you options in controlling different types of cars. Options that don't exist on stock Carrera controllers. If you really despise the plungers, there isn't even any question. You need to be contacting Rubirosa right now.

In sum: this is a terrific addition to the available choices in D132/D124/Pro-X controllers. We have the Carrera wired and wireless, the Slot.it digital, and now Rubirosa's PM housing with sensitivity adjustment.