[Olsen]

Hi,

I am very new to this fantastic hobby, scalextric digital sport slotracing, and I am feeling so lucky because under the christmas tree few days ago, there was a Scalextric Digital beginner/starter set called "Triple Cup" with pit lane game, 4 car powerbase and 3 cars. Got it from my lovely girlfriend. She new that I have spent hours and hours talking about digital slot car games. But I have never tried it before

Anyway, now I am using alot of hours reading about SSD and planning a much bigger track and want to upgrade to running 6 cars with computer and all the fun things you can add. Well, I guess that saying all that is not that clever - because in fact I do not know how to do it, and what is needed. But maybe this forum can help me with my list of questions.

1) First of all I need many more track pieces, curves and straights, but if the whole track system is, lets say 40 meters = 121 feet length, how much power do I need to be absolute sure to run with 6 cars? How many powerbases and power supplys? I want to use the c7042 Advanced PowerBase, but is that enough?

2) How do you connect more power to the track?

3) Can I just add as many powerbases that I want?

4) Is the power affected by the amount of crossovers used?

5) Next step: Going further on…: I have searched and searched for the best track designs. I know it is individual what is "best", but can you give me some hints. I can find a lot of designs you guys have done - but what are the most popular big tracks? What characteristics and designs a preferred to give the best game play for 4 to 6 cars and in a track length between 90 to 120 feet +-

Best regards,
Olsen
(from Denmark)

 

[Martyn_]

Welcome Olsen,

Here's a very quick reply, but the experts will pad it out fully for you soon:

Get the 6 car power base and two power supplies as soon as you can. There are several reasons for this; better control of the system, the ability to connect to a PC if you buy an extra cable and the software, the ability to run both lanes in analogue mode (if you have any non-digital cars) and many other good reasons. There is a sticky on the SSD forum on here explaining the pros and cons of the APB.

Only ever have one power base connected, and run power taps (a form of "jump lead") which will help you distribute the power evenly around a larger track. Search this forum for "power taps" and you will find sone excellent threads showing you how to do it. Personally, I have soldered wires directly to the underside of the rails - that will become apparent as you read the threads.

**EDIT** The power tap instructions - worth a read CLICKY

crossovers do drain a little power, and if the track is very large, may have trouble functioning properly. Again, search this site for "powered cross overs" and you will get a walth of information.
**Another EDIT** Here is a very good post from Greg (Mr Flippant) explaining independant power to cross overs (which are commonly referred to as XLC fro straight lane changers and CLC for corner lane changers). Greg's site which is linked in his sig is also very informative. CLICKY

To get help and suggestions on track designs, draw a rough plan of what size of board or boards you are able to construct in your space. People will then come up with lots of excellent ideas on how to put a very exciting track into that area.

Finally, does your girlfriend have a sister? Preferably living in Wales?

Good luck, and prepare to see a lot of Kroner leaving your wallet in the coming months!

 

[MrFlippant]

Everything Snurfen said... ditto.

Definitely read through the SSD 101 thread: http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36840
Some of the info is a little old, especially the power base stuff, since the new C7042 base pretty much has that side covered, but there is good info in there on power taps and powering your lane changers and such.
Next, read the threads linked in the C7042 Instructional Threads post: http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49996
This will teach you all you need to know about the new base.

After you've read all that, post any unanswered questions you have.

As for layout design, here are my tips:
1) the longest straight you can possibly squeeze in. Use more than one side and R4 turns between them if you need to. It's important to be able to get the car to go really fast at least once per lap

2) try to avoid the parallel straights pitfall. straight-turn-straight-turn.... gets really old and boring really fast.
3) mix up the turns with different radii. R4-3-2 is more fun than R2-2. Driving compound turns is much more enjoyable.
4) personally, I like some technical challenge, so a couple R1 turns here and there aren't a bad idea. Some people hate R1 turns because you have to slow down too much for them. The nice thing about plastic is that if you don't like it, you can take it out.

5) make sure your powerbase is in the middle or at the end of a straightaway. You don't want cars tail-wagging as they cross the line
6) make sure lane changers are at the end of a straight, right before a turn for the same reason. Never have a lane changer after less than a full straight piece of track.
7) stick with straight lane changers. If you MUST get a curved lane changer, get in-to-out kind.
8) try to design the track so that at least the outside of every turn can have border room. Eventually, you'll wan to try magless racing, and you simply can't do that without border room for sliding.

Have fun!

 

[Olsen]

Hi Snurfen and MrFlippant

Thank you so much for the answers - and the links as well. I am reading and reading

I am convinced and will sooner or later get the 6 car power base. Should it be upgraded with anything eg. software, cables anything else to connect it to a PC?

When is a track a large track - or to ask in another way: At which track size is it recommended to use power taps? Is is best above 40 feet, 50, 60, 70, 90...?

The tables in the room are approx 4 meters x 7 meters, so if anyone has ideas for at track setup, please describe og draw it. The tables can be smaller if it is needed.

 

[Olsen]

Here is a rough plan of the room were the track is supposed to be set up. The drawing is not 100 % correct but I hope it gives people ideas of space, length and width etc. My experience with slot car racing analog as well as Scalextric Digital is very low, so I need help and inspiration. Can anyone give me some suggestions of which track designs that could be a succes?

1) I would like to use MrFlippants advices and layout tips (se his post above), but what is the longest strait that I can possible squeeze in?

2) It will be 6 car race, but should I go for 2, 3, 4 or even 1 lane somewhere - and when?

3) I also like to challenge my self, so a couple of R1 turns could be fun to add - but how about making a "giant turn" using the R4's, to keep the car speed up? Where at the table should that be placed?

4) Could it be an idea to use a cross over bridge somewhere og is it general a no go because you cant see the car when it is under the bridge?

Hopefully you expert digital slot racers will come up with ideas of how I could design a nice raceway. Track length should not be a issue

 

[Mr_DJT]

Check out Ultimate Racer, fantastic (free) track planning software, helped me out loads.

 

[MrFlippant]

With that kind of space, I would probably just go with a 23' table against the long wall, 5 or 6' wide, max. That will be plenty of track for 6 cars.

QUOTE (Olsen @ 28 Dec 2011, 13:07) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>1) I would like to use MrFlippants advices and layout tips (se his post above), but what is the longest strait that I can possible squeeze in?

As above, 23' is plenty long. Sure you can go longer, but in that room, that means an L-shaped track with the drivers on the inside of the L, or a REALLY deep corner that would be too much trouble to deal with.

QUOTE (Olsen @ 28 Dec 2011, 13:07) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>2) It will be 6 car race, but should I go for 2, 3, 4 or even 1 lane somewhere - and when?

My personal opinion is that 2 lanes all the way around are enough. Don't go down to one lane, as that negates 2 lane analog functionality, plus will increase crashes as no one wants to be last into the squeeze. If you expand, then go 3 lanes but only for a small portion, and only where it makes tactical sense to do so, and make sure that it both benefits changing lanes (using the extra lane) and penalizes a driver for being lazy (never changing lanes). To do that will be a great challenge of track design.

QUOTE (Olsen @ 28 Dec 2011, 13:07) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>3) I also like to challenge my self, so a couple of R1 turns could be fun to add - but how about making a "giant turn" using the R4's, to keep the car speed up? Where at the table should that be placed?

Oh, bug sweeping turns are also a lot of fun. A 5' wide table will be enough for a full R4 turn WITH borders. But, remember that not all cars will be able to take even an R4 at high speed, let alone full speed, so it's not as if an R4 turn alone will extend the straight. It does allow more speed to be carried through the turn, which makes a following straight much faster than it would otherwise be.

A combination of turn types all over the track is your ultimate goal. Everything from a R1 left-right wiggle to compound turns and wide sweeping turns. 23'x5 (or 6) will be plenty for anything you'd like to do.

QUOTE (Olsen @ 28 Dec 2011, 13:07) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>4) Could it be an idea to use a cross over bridge somewhere og is it general a no go because you cant see the car when it is under the bridge?

Not necessarily. Just make sure there are no turns in the blind spot and you'll be fine. There are ways to avoid blind spots, such as raising up the part behind the overpass and keeping hills/landscaping to a minimum so that the track and cars can easily be seen leading to and away from the obstruction. Some people prefer a flat track, though. That's up to you, in the end.

Where are the doors/windows in your room? That will impact where the table can be as well.

 

[300SLR]

QUOTE (Olsen @ 28 Dec 2011, 21:07) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>3) I also like to challenge my self, so a couple of R1 turns could be fun to add - but how about making a "giant turn" using the R4's, to keep the car speed up? Where at the table should that be placed?

4) Could it be an idea to use a cross over bridge somewhere og is it general a no go because you cant see the car when it is under the bridge?
3) Yes a variety of different bends is a good idea. One design idea that is good for getting a lot of track in a limited space is putting a small radius bend inside a large one.

4) If you'd like a cross over bridge go ahead. It is a little easier to make a track completely flat, but incorporating some gradients is only a little more difficult if that's what you want. One main reason for cross over bridges was to even up the lane lengths, with lane changing digital tracks there's no real reason to want to make them equal. Traditionally cross over bridges are widely used on slot car tracks and the viability problem was solved long ago - check out visibility at the planning stage and make sure the bits you cannot see from the driving position are bits you don't need to see - i.e. straights not too near to corners. It's worth mentioning that not all the tracks you see are well designed with regards to visibility.

 

[mINdAt3z]

Hi there neighbour,

I am already enjoying reading this thread. I am also reborn to this hobby, I used to drive 1:32 slot cars as a kid and also was involved in some local 1:24 racing clubs here in sweden at pre-teen and early teen years. After searching for a hobby for many years, I happened to stumble into this forum one day about 12 months ago and got totally bitten. Out came the old Scalextric track and since then I´ve made swaps and spent all my left over money on investing in more tracks, cars and I spend hours and hours reading forums, searching e-Bay, fiddling with cars, tracks and... Well, to sum it up. If you want a hobby that can keep you busy, you sure found the right one. If you get bored racing, you can design a new track, if you get bored with that, you can spend days tuning your cars, if you get bored of that, you can build a white-kit and build your own racing team... what an endless joy of happyness.

Impatient as I am, I wish I could just clear out the garage and build a 40m track right now as you seem to be planning, but reality demands differently. Work has to have it´s priority and of course the little Miss at home would not like the idea of selling everything in the house to pay for a new shiny raceway in the garage... even tho we clearly dont need anything more in life to be happy? Erm...

Well, maybe a towel... right Doug?

The track is in planning tho and even this part is giving me hours of joy, pleasure, experimentation and excitement and piece by piece is arriving slowly. At this point I am clearing out space in the garage and starting the build of frames to hold the track. The space is a bit limited, 360 cm x 330 cm, so it will be a more compact track then you are planning. Damn it, I wish i had more space also but the at least one car has to fit in the garage as well. Next stage is to simply put it all together out in the garage with the track pieces I have now, the computer, the USB-cable and maybe stock up on some additional pieces just to get things going in the garage and finally not needing to assemble and dissasemble the track on the livingroom carpet each time the bug sets in to race. Then the final design will have to grow month by month as money and time allows it.

It will be an investment for sure... building a 30m+ Scalextric Digital layout is not cheap (and 40 for you will be even worse!). We need lots of track pieces of course. Several lane changers to keep it interesting. Power boosting cables (build them yourself!). USB-cable to hook the track up to a computer, Race Management system, not to mention a nice set of different cars to race in different classes. I will have to wait myself and make due what´s on the table each month and work myself to the end result.

Personally I was dreaming already about a wooden track, as the ones I used to race on with the 1:24 cars in my younger days. But with the combination of wanting digital racing, it simply seems impossible without investing way too much money into third-party digital equipment such as Scorpius (you need special lange changers, special controllers, special chips, special.... special...). The ultimate solution for me, for a home track, would be a routed wooden layout with Scalextric logic into it and Scalextric lane changers, combined with the new Slot.it Oxigen, but I couldn´t figure out was how to implement the Scalextric lane changers into a wooden layout without sinking in the plastic XLC into the track, plaster it over, sandpaper it and put copper tape on top of it... and let´s face it. Will that look great and drive smoothly? I have my doubts, but would love to hear some input on it.

No mag driving is of course also an issue for newbies like you and me, but I do love magless driving and with the right track with enough space to slide and control the car, it makes an amazing racing experience to go magless and just use weights instead. But... maybe it´s better left for the slot car clubs and not for the home track.

Right now, the decision is on going plastic all the way with Scalextric. The track itself will have only 2 lanes all around since I most likely will not race more then 4 people at the same time on the track, and the whole idea and fun part of digital racing is limited tracks, planning, lane changing and strategy. It will be a quite snirky technical track with lots of turns and some elevations, just to squeeze as much track as possible into a limited home space, but still allow for an interesting and longer lap. Scenery and authentic racing will have to give to allow more track on the limited space. As much as I adore watching people´s amazing scenery and layouts on permanent tracks, I simply do not have the room for it myself.

The frames will simply be built by 2x2, and MDF board or Plywood as a surface. The track will be layed out on some thinner soft material to dampen sounds a bit as the cars drive over it. And around the plastic tracks I will fit some kind of borders all (yep) around the track to allow sliding and more movement. Here I am experimenting right now with different materials, anything from wood to 7 mm sleeping mats for camping that I cut out to match the shape of the tracks (and of course spraypaint). Elevations will be built up using MDF and plywood as well.

Another thing I am playing with is to cover the rails with copper tape to make a better connection all the way around. Each track piece joint creates resistance, and putting copper tape all around feels like a good idea on a permanent track. I have bought copper tape cheaply on e-Bay and is experimenting with it on old Sports tracks with minor visual faults that I have picked up at swap-meetings and cant salvage and save since they aren´t fresh enough to go on MY future track.

But that would of course mean that you go all in... you might as well glue or permanently attach the the damn track pieces into the board since you´re putting copper all over the track anyway and it´s already hard to change the layout after that.

Right now I am in Ultimate Racer and Track Power and trying to design the right layout for the track as well. Download those applications right away and try them out, It´s a great way to visualize your layout and build your plan. I payed for Track Power myself, and it´s a wonderful software, but Ultimate Racer seems to work great also and the design part is free from what I understand. When you design your layout this way, you also see flaws in your thoughts and your layout that you would probably not have figured out till you start to lay it all out. Great way to start out, and the software will also give you a shopping list of track pieces that you are missing... I´m surprised they didn´t put in a "Buy now" button as well...

Good luck with your build Olsen. I will follow this thread very carefully and will enjoy seeing every step of the way and your track evolve into something great.

 

[Olsen]

Happy new year to every one following this tread

Mr DJT:
1) Tank you for recommending the Ultimate Racer, track planning software. I will download it and try to play with different setups/designs. If anyone has track designs that would fit my room and space, please feel free to post them.

Mr. Flippant:
2) Why is an L-shaped track a disadvantage? Is it because people will not be able to see the track?

3) Nice advice about the 2 lanes and the possibility to go analogue. Have not tried analog but I am sure it also could be fun and different kind of race enjoyment. I like the idea about going from 2 to 3 lanes, and yes - it should be an advantage to change lane = faster lap time. But now to the tricky question: What is a "small portion" and were is the strategic best spots to expand from 2 to 3 lanes and again to reduce from 3 to 2? I am so new to this great hobby and with my driving experience I can not figure out what would be suitable.

4) Are there any digital track designs out there where people are showing how 2 to 3 lane track could be done so it is worth changing lanes?

5) Can track be divided into different groups? Again a newbie question from my side, but I was just wondering if there is something called eg. "Fast tracks", "easy to drive track", "challenging track for experienced drivers&#8230;", "3 cars tracks", "4 cars tracks", "6 car tracks" etc. Just to give me inspiration because sometimes it is hard to see if a track design would work in the reality

6) The designs I have seen seems to use turn-turn-turn-turn but does not seem to use: turn-stright-turn-straight-turn-straight - is there a reason for that?

7) There is a door in the lower left corner, a second door in the top middle and a door in the bottom middle. A window in the left and two windows in the right. I should not be a problem with space

 

[UshCha]

The following thread :-
http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?...015&hl=show your curves&st=45 covers pretty much every curve. Sombody on the forum has a picture of them all for inspiration.

 

[chris99]

Can't find the original post but here's a poster GregK shared some time ago - I've wallpapered the bedroom with it

 

[Olsen]

QUOTE (mINdAt3z @ 29 Dec 2011, 15:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi there neighbour,

I am already enjoying reading this thread. I am also reborn to this hobby, I used to drive 1:32 slot cars as a kid and also was involved in some local 1:24 racing clubs here in sweden at pre-teen and early teen years. After searching for a hobby for many years, I happened to stumble into this forum one day about 12 months ago and got totally bitten. Out came the old Scalextric track and since then I´ve made swaps and spent all my left over money on investing in more tracks, cars and I spend hours and hours reading forums, searching e-Bay, fiddling with cars, tracks and... Well, to sum it up. If you want a hobby that can keep you busy, you sure found the right one. If you get bored racing, you can design a new track, if you get bored with that, you can spend days tuning your cars, if you get bored of that, you can build a white-kit and build your own racing team... what an endless joy of happyness.

Hi mINdAt3z

Sounds like you Swedish people are having a lot of fun with slot car racing. I totally agree, this is a great hobby - pretty new for me though - and I am also planning to use my hard earned money for many more upgrades It just seems to be a "jungle out there", but I am glad this forum is here to help me - and one of the exciting things is also that I do NOT know everything about the hobby, so there is much to learn and hours to spend on reading, reading, reading

QUOTE (mINdAt3z @ 29 Dec 2011, 15:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Impatient as I am, I wish I could just clear out the garage and build a 40m track right now as you seem to be planning, but reality demands differently. Work has to have it´s priority and of course the little Miss at home would not like the idea of selling everything in the house to pay for a new shiny raceway in the garage... even tho we clearly dont need anything more in life to be happy? Erm...

Well, maybe a towel... right Doug?
The track is in planning tho and even this part is giving me hours of joy, pleasure, experimentation and excitement and piece by piece is arriving slowly. At this point I am clearing out space in the garage and starting the build of frames to hold the track. The space is a bit limited, 360 cm x 330 cm, so it will be a more compact track then you are planning. Damn it, I wish i had more space also but the at least one car has to fit in the garage as well. Next stage is to simply put it all together out in the garage with the track pieces I have now, the computer, the USB-cable and maybe stock up on some additional pieces just to get things going in the garage and finally not needing to assemble and dissasemble the track on the livingroom carpet each time the bug sets in to race. Then the final design will have to grow month by month as money and time allows it.

It will be an investment for sure... building a 30m+ Scalextric Digital layout is not cheap (and 40 for you will be even worse!). We need lots of track pieces of course. Several lane changers to keep it interesting. Power boosting cables (build them yourself!). USB-cable to hook the track up to a computer, Race Management system, not to mention a nice set of different cars to race in different classes. I will have to wait myself and make due what´s on the table each month and work myself to the end result.

Sounds like a super project you are doing, and well planned. Do you have some pictures or drawings of how your track is supposed to be? And where do you buy Scalextric Digital stuff and tracks ind sweden - used as well as new things?

QUOTE (mINdAt3z @ 29 Dec 2011, 15:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Personally I was dreaming already about a wooden track, as the ones I used to race on with the 1:24 cars in my younger days. But with the combination of wanting digital racing, it simply seems impossible without investing way too much money into third-party digital equipment such as Scorpius (you need special lange changers, special controllers, special chips, special.... special...). The ultimate solution for me, for a home track, would be a routed wooden layout with Scalextric logic into it and Scalextric lane changers, combined with the new Slot.it Oxigen, but I couldn´t figure out was how to implement the Scalextric lane changers into a wooden layout without sinking in the plastic XLC into the track, plaster it over, sandpaper it and put copper tape on top of it... and let´s face it. Will that look great and drive smoothly? I have my doubts, but would love to hear some input on it.

Yea, wooden tracks are another new world for me - but is sure sounds very nice and your deams about routed wooden layout with Scalextric digital logic into it, lanechangers etc. are wild! I will start with the fantastic plastic

QUOTE (mINdAt3z @ 29 Dec 2011, 15:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>No mag driving is of course also an issue for newbies like you and me, but I do love magless driving and with the right track with enough space to slide and control the car, it makes an amazing racing experience to go magless and just use weights instead. But... maybe it´s better left for the slot car clubs and not for the home track.

My start kit has only four meters of track and with magnets I can almost make the cars sliding in the R2 curves. It is so cool and fun to drive and do. So why no use no mags at home and live out the dream and how big should a track be? Could it not be a matter of experience?

QUOTE (mINdAt3z @ 29 Dec 2011, 15:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Right now, the decision is on going plastic all the way with Scalextric. The track itself will have only 2 lanes all around since I most likely will not race more then 4 people at the same time on the track, and the whole idea and fun part of digital racing is limited tracks, planning, lane changing and strategy. It will be a quite snirky technical track with lots of turns and some elevations, just to squeeze as much track as possible into a limited home space, but still allow for an interesting and longer lap. Scenery and authentic racing will have to give to allow more track on the limited space. As much as I adore watching people´s amazing scenery and layouts on permanent tracks, I simply do not have the room for it myself.

The frames will simply be built by 2x2, and MDF board or Plywood as a surface. The track will be layed out on some thinner soft material to dampen sounds a bit as the cars drive over it. And around the plastic tracks I will fit some kind of borders all (yep) around the track to allow sliding and more movement. Here I am experimenting right now with different materials, anything from wood to 7 mm sleeping mats for camping that I cut out to match the shape of the tracks (and of course spraypaint). Elevations will be built up using MDF and plywood as well.

Another thing I am playing with is to cover the rails with copper tape to make a better connection all the way around. Each track piece joint creates resistance, and putting copper tape all around feels like a good idea on a permanent track. I have bought copper tape cheaply on e-Bay and is experimenting with it on old Sports tracks with minor visual faults that I have picked up at swap-meetings and cant salvage and save since they aren´t fresh enough to go on MY future track.

But that would of course mean that you go all in... you might as well glue or permanently attach the the damn track pieces into the board since you´re putting copper all over the track anyway and it´s already hard to change the layout after that.

And thank you for your views on numbers of lanes to drive on. I am especially interested in views on how to make a track design with strategic correct placed lanes switching from 2 to 3 lanes so people need to use lane change to achieve the fastest track and out run the competitors.

You must take some photos of how you connect the wooden frames together - I am sure it can inspire me and alot of other builders.

QUOTE (mINdAt3z @ 29 Dec 2011, 15:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Right now I am in Ultimate Racer and Track Power and trying to design the right layout for the track as well. Download those applications right away and try them out, It´s a great way to visualize your layout and build your plan. I payed for Track Power myself, and it´s a wonderful software, but Ultimate Racer seems to work great also and the design part is free from what I understand. When you design your layout this way, you also see flaws in your thoughts and your layout that you would probably not have figured out till you start to lay it all out. Great way to start out, and the software will also give you a shopping list of track pieces that you are missing... I´m surprised they didn´t put in a "Buy now" button as well...

Good luck with your build Olsen. I will follow this thread very carefully and will enjoy seeing every step of the way and your track evolve into something great.

I appreciate the comments and feedback, so again thank you for your points of views and for sharing your thoughts on Scalextric Digital. I will try to download the track design software. I am sure it is a lot of fun to design your own track - can not wait to try it out. And for sure it is also going to be very, very, very challeging to make the superb track where no turn or straight is made without a lot of well done "thinking way".

 

[Olsen]

As mentioned in the beginning I have a simple starter set with 4 meters of SSD lane and four cars. I have some questions about upgrading my exciting "system".

I got the 4 car powerbase but want to buy to the 6 cars Advanced Power Base (APB) and connect it to PC.

I got the normal Pit lane game, but want to upgrade to Pit Lane Pro, with wires connected to track so when you enter the pit, your car will drive slowly.

I want to connect the APB to a PC, but need a USB cable.

I also need one extra power supply, as I can understand that the APB is sold without power supply. But should it be a "normal" one like the one that I got, so I thereby got two - or is there a better alternative to improve power to the track? (Just to be 100 % sure)

Should I contact someone in UK to do this as a "total package" - is it possible and reasonable taking the postal cost into account?

I guess I need to send the pit lane game to UK to be modified and upgraded to the Pro version?

I would also like a lap counter, but with software like Scalextric Sport Digital Console (SSDC) I guess I can use a external display - or is a lap counter at the track it self a nice thing to have?

Are there any other "gadgets" I should buy now?

 

[mINdAt3z]

Yeah, I will start to take some pics and document a bit of the process as soon as I get cracking. The frames are very simple, it´s standard 2" x 2" hooked together. My current problem is that i scratched my track design and started over, since the little Miss told me I could have the entire garage for myself... So more space now and new plans.

Now I am thinking of seriously breaking down the plan of the track first, and then build the tables to actually fit it, since I have more open areas now for the layout and it doesn´t have to be that compact. Ill start a thread also when I have experimented enough with the track plans to be satisfied that I at least have an embryo to something that will work.

QUOTE I want to connect the APB to a PC, but need a USB cable.

QUOTE I got the normal Pit lane game, but want to upgrade to Pit Lane Pro, with wires connected to track so when you enter the pit, your car will drive slowly

Send RikoRocket a PM, he sells the USB-cable and the Pit Lane Pro. Not sure if you can upgrade an existing Pit Lane game tho, but ask.

QUOTE I also need one extra power supply, as I can understand that the APB is sold without power supply. But should it be a "normal" one like the one that I got, so I thereby got two - or is there a better alternative to improve power to the track? (Just to be 100 % sure)

I think the APB is restricted to not deliver more juice even if you plug in more powerful supplies. I think I have heard that a mod is needed that requires some soldering and fixing of the actual powerbase. If you find an easy way, let me know, I´m interested to share your experiences. I wouldn´t be surprised if RikoRocket knows about this also, he seems to be a total genius with the Scalextric electronics and his posts are just amazing.

QUOTE Should I contact someone in UK to do this as a "total package" - is it possible and reasonable taking the postal cost into account?

Just remember that the power sockets in the UK is different, I almost fell into that hole myself and ordered an APB on e-bay before i realized. This e-bay Shop is might known here in sweden, and lots of people seem to order from it. They have custom finished layouts but you can basically order any setup you to a package price if you wish that also.

http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/

QUOTE I would also like a lap counter, but with software like Scalextric Sport Digital Console (SSDC) I guess I can use a external display - or is a lap counter at the track it self a nice thing to have?

My tip is, get the USB-cable, then try SSDC and PC Lapcounter. They both interface with the APB using the same method and then you can decide what one you want. I run SSDC myself, but I think PC Lapcounter probably has some more bells and whistles and some people might prefer it.

If it´s gadets you want, i would check out PC Lapcounter, it has interfaces to lots of stuff so you can connect lights, webcams, ... Might be fun if one has the time and money to put into it.

 

[RikoRocket]

Thanks for your comments!

FYI my C7042 power mod is here - easy to do and costs next to nothing...

 

[studse]

Hi Olsen

Maybe we will meet at oak valley raceway the 29. i sure hope so.

I live i slimminge just outside Ringsted and i race with my cousins. who live in Næstved. I have been having fun with scalextric ever since christmas 1979 were i got a track from my dads brother, who at that time and still today race in a private club.

We race on two tracks, one at my cousins place and one at my place, none of them are permanent so we have to assamble when we race, witch is one race every month during winter. The longest track is 38m.

I use ultimate racer to design the track.

I be glad to help u out.

cheers
Stefan

 

[Olsen]

QUOTE (RikoRocket @ 5 Jan 2012, 00:05) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks for your comments!

FYI my C7042 power mod is here - easy to do and costs next to nothing...

Seems like a very nice power mod, thanks

 

[Olsen]

QUOTE (studse @ 5 Jan 2012, 11:54) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Olsen

Maybe we will meet at oak valley raceway the 29. i sure hope so.

I live i slimminge just outside Ringsted and i race with my cousins. who live in Næstved. I have been having fun with scalextric ever since christmas 1979 were i got a track from my dads brother, who at that time and still today race in a private club.

We race on two tracks, one at my cousins place and one at my place, none of them are permanent so we have to assamble when we race, witch is one race every month during winter. The longest track is 38m.

I use ultimate racer to design the track.

I be glad to help u out.

cheers
Stefan

Sound like a lot of fun and many years of experience with slot racing eg. Scalextric. Are you also racing 6 cars when ever possible?

Yes I will be at the Oak vally raceway the 29. of January - looking forward to meet you and thank you for offering your help

 

[Olsen]

Progressing... I have just ordered the Pit-Pro and various cables, so it can connect to the Advanced Power Base c7042. And USB cables so the C7042 can be connected to computer. Can't wait to play with the functionalities

Still only got 12 foot track, and are searching for some nice offers at the "used market", but no one seems to sell straights here in Denmark.

I also have to find the AVP C7042 at a good price. Is it recommended to upgrade the C7042 firmware or make any changes to the "out of the box version" - or should I just use it as it is?