[martinkay]

Decided to replace the braids on the two SSD Boxsters today which were beginning to look rather tired. First bag of braids I picked up seemed a bit "fatter" than the originals, thought nothing of it; fitted them OK, car ran perfectly, (system knew the car ID OK), car changed lanes with no problem, got to the finish line - no acknowledgement of the car crossing the line on the readout.

Checked everything, all seemed fine - replaced the braids on the second Boxster - same problem. I therefore surmised that the thickness of these braids was the culprit, where they double back under the guide blade this must have been sufficient to raise the nose of the car enough to stop the data transmission; underside of car not parallel with track. Rummaged and found some standard, Scalextric braids, with thinner profile, fitted these instead, now all's well.

Curious that the lane change worked OK with the fat braids though.

 

[spa]

Lapcounting whith SSD is optical. If you look closely to the powerbase you see them just before the white line. It is done very nice but the guide need to be 'as deep as possible' in the slot.

Gert

 

[mad727]

clarification:does the problem have to do with the guide being pushed up or the led bulb being pushed up? or another way to ask, does the led bulb need to be a certain height from the sensor before it fails to register or is it the guide blade that's more imprtant and needs to be closer to teh sensor? Thanks

 

[RichG]

The problem is with the guide being pushed up, which causes the blade to miss the lap count sensor ( second set of holes) on the Powerbase.

The Led seems more tolerant of being raised slightly, if the Led is being missed then the wrong car will be credited with the lap at the Powerbase and the car will not change lanes.

It is however very unlikely that you could raise the car in such a way that the guide blade would be seen but the Led missed. The only way this might be done would be to mount the Led in front of the guide blade.

 

[fmfm20j]

This is a premature question as I haven't got an SSD (but am considering buying one): my track will end up being a hybrid of classic and sport track on grounds of cost. I understand that the slot is deeper on sport track than on classic. Indeed, I have to file the botton of the blade on my Ninco cars so that it doesn't foul the bottom of the slot.

On SSD, where the blade depth is obviously sensitive in terms of registering a lap, does the blade go deeper than with an analogue car and would I end up having problems registering laps because I would be forced to shave a little off the bottom of the blade so that it will traverse the classic track sections properly?

Thanks

 

[injectorman]

@fmfm20j
I wouldnt shorten the blade, asking for trouble, as it is I need to spend $8 per car to buy a blade that is a fraction deeper to get my PB to register laps.....( sports guide by Scaley, similar then to Ninco) You will be compromising the entire system just to save a few bucks on track will cause you more cost and headaches. Track is actually the cheapest part. Also the classic track will have connection problems which will cause havoc with not only power to motor, but digital signal to car.
@Spa...it uses opto sensor AND infrared sensor to count laps.
@Martinkay....the opto still worked but the blade wasnt deep enough for infrared, yes definetley use the thinnest braid you can, GregR trims off the braid underneath the main braid to gain an extra mm.
Cheers

 

[fmfm20j]

Hi Injectorman (and others),

point taken and fully appreciated.

The issue that I have is that the upgrade will come as a christmas present and will cost well over £200 as it is. My wife is already making mutterings such as "will you get to use it? will our son really play with it too?". While the track is the cheap part, I'd still have to add at least £70 more to replace the remainder of the track (and that's a heavily discounted price too). I fear that this could be stretching santas budget just a little too much.

What I'd really like to understand is if the standard blade that comes on the stock cars in the kit will traverse classic track without modification. I've no wish to modify the blade unless it wont fit and I've absolutely no wish to modify the blade if it means that it wont clock the laps.

If I absolutely have to replace the whole circuit I'd rather know before I buy anything. That way I can make the correct decision and not be left with something unfit for intended purpose.

Thanks

 

[Budaholicguy]

Hi fmfm20j

My track is 'hybrid' mix of late classic, sport and scx, and the standard digi scalex cars (boxters and audis) work fine on the classsic track as long as it is kept clean, the guide blades dont foul in the classic. Have been running for 18months or more so I would have noticed by now! I've only just found this site so am in the process of 'upgrading' the various bits to get rid of the bugs (

to the techno gurus on here who seem to have turned what Hornby see as a kids toy into precision sport!) which I have put up with so far as being 'just the way it is' til now.
I think gradually upgrading as funds permit will work, digital is so much better than anologue for 'play value' as far as the kids are concerned which should help keep peace and harmony with the 'other half'

Cheers

 

[fmfm20j]

Thanks Budaholicguy, exactly the information that I need. It should save me a few quid too!

 

[tarro]

Injectorman, where did you get those sport guides from?

 

[injectorman]

@Tarro, the guides are part of their "Tuning parts".
Cant believe Hornby stuffed up (again) making the infrared sensor too low relative to guide height on a standard car (standard guide).
I can see somebody soon going from finish line opto to PC via aux box or phidget, not going via PB, hence guide blade factor wont come into it.
Injectorman

 

[Budaholicguy]

Ref the guide bade issue

I saw someone had a problem with challenger and squeezed the guide blade in a vice to make it bigger. Looked a bit crude 'cos you can see the indents from the vice jaw grips but the principle looked ok.
If you used a plain faced vice and maybe warmed the blade up a bit could be a solution

WARNING: do not attempt to increase the size of human anatomy parts using the above

 

[fmfm20j]

I read the first bit with interest and ignored the second bit.

I'm typing this from my hospital bed...

Wife's not too pleased

I should have read all of it before I got the heat gun out .....

 

[tarro]

Injectorman,
Is this the sport guides your talking about, prof motor part #C8420?
http://www.professormotor.com/cat_scalextune.shtml

 

[mad727]

QUOTE (tarro @ 26 Nov 2006, 18:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Injectorman,
Is this the sport guides your talking about, prof motor part #C8420?
http://www.professormotor.com/cat_scalextune.shtml

yes it is and it has worked everytime to fix the missed lap issue on cars that don't record every lap. It has happaned 4 times out of 30 cars. A pain. Those blades are darn expensive, $6 bucks a pop. To much to fix a problem that Scaly should fix.
The braid thing is genuis and one of those obvisous things..... Also, stretching the blade has potential..... might be time to try a mod on the infraed sensor get it higher in it's slot.....
Love the idea of maiking it pc based or some such as Injectorman mentioned....

 

[tarro]

Thanks Mad727 & Injectorman,
I just got back from my L.H.S. with a new Sports Guide C8420 and it seems to have solved the problem.

Now I just have to get 23 more at a cost off $5.85X 23= $134.55 to make this SSD work as advertised.

I am no longer recommending SSD to anyone who wants to get into Slot Cars. I just tell them to get analog it's cheaper and has allot fewer headaches.