[GregK]

digital chip in their car??

I guess it must be around the 2004/5 era. What make, type, version and does it still perform well?

Who released the first ones??

 

[RichG]

I suspect that the earliest (SSD) chips would be in a Boxter from the Lane Change Challenge Set. My Wife, with great difficulty I am told,

bought mine for Xmas 2004.



They were a Saloon chip Rev C, have never seen an A or B. Glued into the chassis, wires all soldered directly to the board, no green & yellow wires to the slot guide, 5 ICP pads on the back but not marked, resistors fitted for the BK & HL lights but pads not marked they are in a row at the bottom.

The layout has changed several times, however the electronic design and I think the firmware has never changed. And yes still going strong.

However other commercial manufacturers, Carrera & SCX, beat Scalextric to the Digital market.... But before my time.

Rich

 

[GregK]

Interesting ........ was the design that good to have remained virtually unchanged for so long?

What would be the life expectancy of these chips? Interested to know what are the weak links?

 

[RichG]

If used as intended in a Scalextric car with an 18K motor then they will likely go on for ever. Problems start when you move into higher RPM motors & increased voltage on the rails. Then the limits of the design then begin to show. Diodes get so hot that they desolder themselves from the board & mosfets particularily N02 the motor drive mosfet errupt in a cloud of smoke.

The firmware could definitely be improved, in particular resiliance to ID loss & change, however lazyness and need to spend development money on other things seems to have prevented Hornby from doing this. That said overall it's a good design, available in a number of versions, and small enough to be fitted into most cars.

Rich