[vfr750]

Hi Phil,

It's looking good for DT but I*'m not pushing it too much yet as the tracks aren't ready.

see you at the Weekend.

Cheers

John

PS Mick, I will of course be entering this meeting.

 

[vfr750]

Hi Bill,

The main straight is the same length as before. The straight under the bridge is shorter and has lost the kink. The corner after it is banked a bit as is the sweeper at the end of the main straight. The straight leading to the bridge is flat and shorter and the bridge corners have been eased and are hopefully more flowing.I think the track should have kept its old character though.

See you in just over a week.

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

Sorry I couldn't be there last night, the dreaded W word got in the way.

I'll be there Saturday and Sunday though as I need all the track time I can get as I'm really race rusty

I hope you can get your car fixed David.

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

It was really good to get some track time in. The track manages to be very much the same but different if that's not too Irish. ( Are we allowed to say that in these PC times?)

See you all tomorrow.

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

I'd like to thank everybody who turned up for our first open meeting. There were some fantastic cars an great racing.

I had a problem with my controller which started cutting out intermittently and unfortunately I hadn't packed a spare. It's only a few months old. The same happened to nearly everyone else who was running a Truspeed. Other makes were fine. It's really strange as it ran fine all day Saturday and the 1st part of Sunday, I managed to get a coupe of decent runs in the GP class which allowed me to get into the C final, I'm not sure if I would have made the B without the problems. During the final it got worse so I retired, I didn't want to risk breaking cars needlessly.

During the break I took it apart and cleaned all the contacts but to no avail. I retired again from Saloons as I was a risk to other cars as well.

I'll contact Steve at Truspeed today to see what he suggests as to whether the problem is with the track which I think is unlikely.

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

QUOTE However worth all those whom experienced issues to contact Steve and see if it is a underlying design issue which can be resolved, or is it a peculiarity with our track which we can't think of why

Here is the e-mail i've sent to Steve:

"Hi Steve,

Earlier this year I bought one of your PWM controllers.

I was using it this weekend when it suddenly developed a problem. It had been fine all day Saturday when testing but during the racing on Sunday it suddenly started cutting out. It would then almost immediately start again. This problem was intermittent and unpredictable in that it might work well for a couple of minutes or it might cut out several times in a lap. This happened once before at a different club where I was told the power supply was not regulated so I stopped using it immediately for fear of causing damage. The power supply yesterday is regulated with more than enough amps for the type of cars we were running, 1:32 Retro.

Strangely, others using Truspeed controllers also had problems but I'm not sure what their symptoms were. One of my clubmates also used one but he had no problems. Our club has recently had to relocate to a new premises but the track wiring is basically the same and we had never had any problems with controllers cutting out before.

I would be grateful for your advice. If you need to know anything about the club power supply or track wiring feel free to contact Mick Kerr: (Micks e-mail deleted here)

Kind regards

John Roche

PS I've just had a thought, could the problem be the "plug in cable"? If so, how often should it be replaced as i've not had much opportunity to race due to all the work involved in the club relocating? "

 

[vfr750]

I hope the above isn't detracting from the race reports etc. but we do need to know whether the problem is with the controllers or the track so we can sort them out ASAp.

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

QUOTE Remember the problems in Roncole Verdi this year where the 'live' metal drivers staging was shorting out on mine, and some others, controllers?

I don't think so Phil, if it was a short it wouldn't clear without anything being touched.

Anyway, the real reason we were there was the racing and the models. I forgot to say a massive thank you to Chris Adams. He couldn't make it to the meeting and kindly lent me some cars. the motor in one of his Ferrari packed up during testing but how's this for detail:

His Vanwall:

His concours winning Volvo:

His Mercedes:

Thanks again Chris

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

More photos:

Some of the superb scenery by Trickie Dickie:

There's an image of a slot car on this monitor but it doesn't rally show:

 

[vfr750]

4WD

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

On Tuesday I was testing cars for this weekends Flandres meeting. I ran a variety of cars on both tracks using my Truspeed controller with no problems at all. I haven't done anything to the controller. It'll be interesting to see how I get on with it next time I can make it to a club night when there are more people using the track.

Cheers

John

 

[vfr750]

Hi Russell,

I did use it and apart from power surges when other cars lifted off I didn't have any problems at Presto. I did notice in at least one heat, someone else was using a Truspeed controller too.

Because of work and other stuff i haven't managed to get to rockingham for some time.

cheers

John