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SensorTrak for Computerized Laptiming |
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I think everyone should
get some sort of lap timing apparatus, in my short time in the hobby I have
found just being able to get some stats from a race really makes the
experience even better and with lap timing down to the 1/1000 of a second
there is no doubt who did the fastest lap. Below are pictures of the sensors I have
installed on my track and for other people and their comments on the operation
of the sensors. If you want a track with my sensors
installed please e-mail me
for details.
Jump to: |
User Comments
| Vlad sent me this e-mail: |
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Hi Brent, Firstly My apologies for the very late response, Family matters have a way of changing ones priorities. I've had a chance to test the system and I have to say FANTASTIC!!!!! The system looks great and works flawlessly on all my cars, slow or fast it does not matter. It has not skipped a beat in over 100 laps of racing so far. The only problem is that it will not read the BLUE Scaley guides. I was aware from your previous emails that this may happen, so I had already collected a heap of old black scaley guides that fit the new cars, this has fixed the problem. Thanks again Brent, your work is fantastic! Best Regards |
| KCMO Racer writes in an e-mail: |
| Hi Brent, Yup, the lapcounter is
working great. No problems at all. |
| Donkey Runner writes in an e-mail: |
| Hi Brent, Just thought I would touch base with you, my track has never missed a beat, and boy are we putting laps on it thanks again. Notice you have changed your web site around look's good. I notice your collection of cars is getting up there, you'll soon need a bigger basement to store the cars(lol) I have a question for you, do you run most cars with stock tyres? if not what tyres are you using. I notice your long straight on the track now that looks fun. Are you able to fully hold in the controller for a second, and do you find the cars bounce or not when flying down the straight. Keep in touch..................Stewart Hi Brent, Ok here is my result's last night we ran a scalextric F1 with blue guide for 150 laps and we did not miss a beat . We then ran a Porsche GT with blue guide for 60 laps and again every thing was fine. We ran on both lanes and in each direction. We have our sensor's placed as you come out of a chicane into a hair pin and in the other direction as you come out of a hair pin into the chicane, so in either direction the cars are not traveling very fast. Regards ............Stewart |
| Newslotfan writes this on the SCI forum: |
| Hello, Just a small note to let everyone know who's looking for a great timing program, sensor track, complete with a used lap top to check out what Mr.Bugs SCI (aka) Brent Carlson has put together. I bought a complete set up from him about a month ago and I've loved it ever since, I would recommend his system to anyone looking to find an affordable timing system that is expandable and fun. 
Bruce contact Brent @ b.carlson@carlsoncomputers.com Edited by: Newslotfan at: 9/17/03 9:03 am http://pub83.ezboard.com/fpockitfrm13.showMessage?topicID=554.topic |
| Al Penrose, owner of BWA Wheels replies to a post on HRW forum: |
| Contact Mr.Bugs, he will build you a real nice setup
for your Artin track, that uses a couple of different Free CPU based Lap
timers. Here's a link to his stuff. Track Sensors They work very well indeed. I know, because he did some for my old Revell track and they work just Jimm Dandy.
BWA Slot Cars
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| TightLip wrote this on the SCI forum |
| I received my sensors and laptop system this week. All
I have to say is this is 1 great deal. Plug it up and go with it. Now
mind you I'm no a COMPUTER PERSON but it seems to be a very self
explaining system"SRM2". I've run around 150 laps sense the hook up with
no problems at all. very neat set-up !!!! "THANK YOU VERY MUCH BRENT" MARK: November 2003 http://pub83.ezboard.com/fpockitfrm2.showMessage?topicID=7197.topic |
Thank you, Brent for such a great service
Jeff Hart
Moderator on the Buick Gran Sport Club of America EZBoard: www.pub35.ezboard.com/bbu...bofamerica
Moderator on the V8Buick.com board:www.v8buick.com
1970 Buick GS Stage 2, 10.??@130+MPH
http://pub44.ezboard.com/fhomeracingworldfrm2.showMessage?topicID=2679.topic
I used the standard TrakMate light sensors with an overhead light bridge for the last year..with the exception of the GoCarts, it worked pretty much perfectly during that time. However, when I took down my layout for a rebuild, I was determined to set the track back up with something that would time the cars, but would eliminate the need for overhead lighting.
I considered dead strips (and they probably would work just fine) but I ran across some posts regarding tracks made by Brent that were compatible with the TrakMate software and did not require lights.. I got in touch with him and sent 2 peices of sport straight and my TrakMate cable up to him in Canada for modification. I was under the gun to get this completed quickly as I had a HOST club race coming up soon and the turn-around time was great.
Once he recieved them, he did the work and they were on the way back to the states within 24 hours. He included an extended sensor cable, a wall adapter, the 2 modified straight tracks and my original TrakMate cable..all of which were very well packaged and arrived damage free.
I got a 4 lane setup and the tracks lined up nicely and actually plug into each other. There is also a plug for the power and another plug for the sensor cable that goes to the computer. All these plugs are built right into the side of the track itself. Hooking everything up was a breeze.
I did have one issue with a couple blue guide cars not tripping the timer when I first set it up, but Brent was available by email and responded very quickly to any question I had. Once I got the timing tracks perfectly straight, every car I own tripped the timers perfectly with the exception of the white guided ProTrak chassis. (I'm sure it's just a matter of switching to a black guide or coloring the white guide in)
I held a club race last Saturday using Brents timers and I am happy to report that between 5 racers and a combined 2400 laps of competition with 20+ different cars there was not one single missed lap.. 100% accurate laptiming..you can't ask for more than that
One thing that potential customers should be aware of is that there are electronic components and wires hot glued to the underside of the track.. the track will not sit flush on a hard surface anymore. I'd say the components raise the center of the track about 3/16th of an inch. I used a 1/2 inch support at one end of the timer tracks and the following straight..so the cars go up a half inch, stay level for one straight, then go back down the half inch to table level. This was needed to keep the timing track itself nice and straight..it did slightly bow if it was not supported and keeping that track nice and straight was crucial in my case to provide 100% accuracy.
So, a big thanks to Brent for providing a solution that is 100% accurate and does not require a light source.. I am definately enjoyning this new setup.
Kev Schofield
http://pub44.ezboard.com/fhomeracingworldfrm2.showMessage?topicID=2634.topic
I would like to thank the authors of both Laptimer 2000 (Gregory Braun) and SRM2 (Mario van Ginneken) for writing wonderful software and making it available to everyone for FREE. I use both of these packages and I find them both quite good. Laptimer 2000 is a win32(win95/98, 2000, XP) compatible package while SRM2 is a dos only program. SRM2 is remarkable good for a small dos application and it gives life to the old 486 PC's out there. Laptimer 2000 is also quite good for its size and works very well but for Windows 2000/XP you must use the Joy Stick port if you have one.
My Laptimer 2000 Settings
Here are my settings for LT2K on a
Toshiba P133 laptop running Win98Se and using the parallel port.
| Debounce Delay: 250ms |
| Timer Resolution:1ms |
| Make sure the "TrakMate" compatible check box is checked. |
| Make sure you have the correct interface selected, "use the Parallel Printer Port Interface" selected. |
| When in operation my sensors are normally closed and a car passing in-between opens the circuit. |
| LapTimer 2000 FAQ. |
I have figured out what the problem is with the blue guides, it is color of the plastic. It seems IR passes through the blue plastic used by Scalextric. To fix the problem I tried different resistor values which will allow the IR Emitters to draw more current therefore increase their output but it actually made the problem worse. What did work was to increase the distance between the emitter and the receiver but I can only go so far when working within the constraints of the track. I have started using lower voltage AC adaptors and larger value resistors. This has the effect of lowering the output of the IR Emitter which makes them quite a bit more sensitive and as a result they now work with blue guides. I may start adding a LM7806 voltage regulator to my circuit or a zener diode so that I can use the cheaper and more common 12 volt AC adaptors.
Another Approach to the problem
Upon receiving the suggestion from a
user, I milled out a pocket along the blade of the guide and filled it with
black nail polish. This fix worked flawlessly thank you very much Bruce. I will
be including a modified blue guide with all SensorTrak orders.
Note: This fix is guaranteed to work.
Pictures of a fixed blue guide
Pic1,
Pic2
