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Carrera Digital Track


Nulla

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G'day All

 

Here is a picture of the Carrera Digital track I have just finished putting together. Lane 1 is 27.50 metres and lane 2 is 26.88 metres. At present there are only the 2 lane change sections leading up to the 2 hairpins. In the future there will be another 1 or 2 double lane changers on the straights and a multi car pit lane a bit later on as well. As this is my first digital track I am very happy with the result. So far I am just using the standard power supply with no problems running 4 cars and the lane changers (I have a variable voltage/20 amp supply ready to connect when I need too). My favourite features are the ghost car function and the adjustable speed and brake settings for each car. The Carrera cars also run very smooth, this is a combination of the quality of the Carrera track and cars.

 

Slot%20Car%20Factory%20Carrera%20Digital.JPG

 

This is Tsukuba Circuit in Japan

 

course2%20(Small).gif

 

Stay tuned for when we test the Scorpius digital system.

 

Regards

 

Nulla

Why race on any old figure 8 track when you could be racing on a track designed to replicate a piece of Australian motorsport history like Oran Park Raceway.

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That is going to be a horror track to race!! I've played Tsukuba on one of the racing games & I simply have no clues - all the turns are so different.

 

That's a perfect choice for a "Real Life" Digital circuit in my opinion Nulla - & I think you've pulled it off nicely.

Captain's log: We are enroute to some planet whose name I cannot pronounce to do something really complicated that I don't understand.

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That is going to be a horror track to race!! I've played Tsukuba on one of the racing games & I simply have no clues - all the turns are so different.

 

That's a perfect choice for a "Real Life" Digital circuit in my opinion Nulla - & I think you've pulled it off nicely.

 

 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

What he said- the 2nd bit. Not many race tracks lend themselves easily to a slot track because of proportions, but that one does so very well.

 

ENO - nice to SEE you STRANGER !!

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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That is going to be a horror track to race!! I've played Tsukuba on one of the racing games & I simply have no clues - all the turns are so different.

 

That's a perfect choice for a "Real Life" Digital circuit in my opinion Nulla - & I think you've pulled it off nicely.

 

 

The dog is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hope all is well.

"If one does not fail at times,

then one has not challenged himself."

 

Ferdinand Porsche

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Track looks really good, not wanting to hijack your thread but as your track is about double the length of mine I thought it would be ok to ask the questions here.

I am trying to get my head around digital and I am wondering from Rick's comment "should fit 5-6 cars easily" What size track does one need for Digital. My track is 14.5m I wouldn't be racing 5 or 6 cars anyway maybe 3 or 4 but when I look at my track (length 6.5m x 1.4m table) I try to picture where I would overtake etc and I have come to the conclusion I would need to double my track length to make it worthwhile. I remember someone posting a thread about

ideal time for a lap and I tend to agree that somewhere around the 7-8 sec mark is good, my fastest car is sub 5 sec.

 

Do you need really long straights for digital?

I imagine lane changers on corners are more about best line than overtaking??

What sort of times are you getting out of this track? The track looks real fast that bottom sweeper looks awesome I can imagine cars scream down the straight and trying to hold it as fast as they can through there.

 

thanks for sharing - it has got me thinking.

 

cheers

DM

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Hey guys - haven't had much time for slotting until recently again - a 3 month job in Tassie for the missus is gonna be two years before it finishes so I've been busy with a small person (Richard just turned three).

 

DM - Rick has a rough number of cars per metre of track (remember this number is over both lanes) that works.. was it one car every 3 - 5 metres? I forget.

 

You need long straights to wind a car out and let 'em fly I reckon.

 

If you think about best 'real life' circuits - they're often ones that are bloody fast (Gear up), all middling, all slow (gear down). There's three setups that people have to deal with.

 

There are the occasional circuits that have bloody fast, middling and slow bits that make it a bugger to set the cars up.. they're the best - everything is a compromise... I think Tsukuba is one of those..

Edited by Eno the Wonderdog

Captain's log: We are enroute to some planet whose name I cannot pronounce to do something really complicated that I don't understand.

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Track looks really good, not wanting to hijack your thread but as your track is about double the length of mine I thought it would be ok to ask the questions here.

I am trying to get my head around digital and I am wondering from Rick's comment "should fit 5-6 cars easily" What size track does one need for Digital. My track is 14.5m I wouldn't be racing 5 or 6 cars anyway maybe 3 or 4 but when I look at my track (length 6.5m x 1.4m table) I try to picture where I would overtake etc and I have come to the conclusion I would need to double my track length to make it worthwhile. I remember someone posting a thread about

ideal time for a lap and I tend to agree that somewhere around the 7-8 sec mark is good, my fastest car is sub 5 sec.

 

Do you need really long straights for digital?

I imagine lane changers on corners are more about best line than overtaking??

What sort of times are you getting out of this track? The track looks real fast that bottom sweeper looks awesome I can imagine cars scream down the straight and trying to hold it as fast as they can through there.

 

thanks for sharing - it has got me thinking.

 

cheers

DM

 

14.5 m would suit 3-4 cars. The formula for a 2 lane track is one car per 5m or thereabouts. Forget plastic track pieces and best line design, plastic doesnt do it, the CLCs are for overtaking. No you dont need long straights for digital. Ive been one digi track, lap time 6 sec, another 25 sec, there is no more or less fun with either.

Edited by aussieslotter

Smoke, mirrors and obsolescence. It’s a jungle out there.

www.scorpiuswireless.com

 

 

 

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As far as lap times go I would have to be honest and say that I have not timed a lap yet. So that will have to be on the to do list for tomorrow DM.

 

The track flows from section to section and is challenging without being too hard to drive or race. The front straight is 4.02m and the back straight is 6.44m, so if you have the speed then these is a good overtaking zones as long as you are in the other lane. But without doubt my favourite overtaking move is the under and over move between the 2 lane changers. Firstly lets say that you are behind a car in lane 2 over the start/finish line and you change lanes from lane 2 to 1 between turns 1 and 2. This puts you up the inside of the first hairpin (turn 4). You then need to be brave and race through turns 5,6 and 7 trying to pull a big enough gap so that you can dive back to the inside of the second hairpin (turn 8) to block the other car. Anytime I can pull this move it always brings a smile to my face. :clap:

 

On a side note. If any one is ever looking for ideas to build a real life replica circuit then http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/index.html is a good place to start. It has drawings of almost every major circuit that have ever been built around the world. I spent a few nights on the site before deciding which tracks to build.

 

Regards

 

Nulla

Why race on any old figure 8 track when you could be racing on a track designed to replicate a piece of Australian motorsport history like Oran Park Raceway.

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There are the occasional circuits that have bloody fast, middling and slow bits that make it a bugger to set the cars up.. they're the best - everything is a compromise... I think Tsukuba is one of those..

 

1:1 tracks don't translate to slot car racing digital or otherwise but they look good. Digital comes no where near real racing, I would venture to say it's even further away from real racing than standard slot car racing, unless you have lane changers at all the "strategic" passing points, then it's someones opinion, again, where the passing points are.

 

With digital, once you make your choice, you're stuck with it, a well disigned routed layout gives you passing choice in every braking zone, not just where the lane changers are placed. It also stops you passing once the oportunity is passed, unlike digital or a poorly designed routed layout where you can pass any time you want, it just comes down to luck whether you get past or not.

 

A well designed routed track makes a driver think for a number of laps, not just a number of feet, about where to pass, like a real race track when you have two well matched teams going for it the pass must be considered, played with, put the passee under as much pressure as you can before you go for it....

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Hi,

First of all Id like to say I like analog, in fact I took my kids to an analog track last week for a couple hours, we had a blast. But Ill also be honest and say Im a big digital fan.....digital and analog both have good things going for them...............

 

 

1:1 tracks don't translate to slot car racing digital or otherwise but they look good.

 

Generally true but Nulls Oran Park and Tsukuba work, Ive raced the Oran Pk track and can see the Tsukuba track spot on for slot racing too. Sounds like youre saying analog tracks do translate and digital doesnt. Whats the difference? There is none.

 

Digital comes no where near real racing, I would venture to say it's even further away from real racing than standard slot car racing, unless you have lane changers at all the "strategic" passing points, then it's someones opinion, again, where the passing points are.

 

So analog is more like like to real motorsport than digital? Truly have you even raced digital, I mean properly setup track and drivers? Please show me one race style anywhere where cars run 6 abreast all around the track all day? Its actually so ridiculous the only reason we have such unrealistic designs is because digital wasnt aroundin the 50's!!!

Check out a best line digital routed track first. I think you need to re-think this one :clap:

 

With digital, once you make your choice, you're stuck with it, a well disigned routed layout gives you passing choice in every braking zone, not just where the lane changers are placed.

 

A well designed routed digital track actually looks like a race track, an analog track is nothing like how it is. Passing in analog IS NOT OVERTAKING! With analog you dont even have a starting grid (a real one anyhow).

 

It also stops you passing once the oportunity is passed, unlike digital or a poorly designed routed layout where you can pass any time you want, it just comes down to luck whether you get past or not.

 

Luck? No luck in digital anymore than real motorsport, its about timing and skill and thats it. Sounds like you had a bad experience on a poorly set up digital track??? Like anything you need to practice.

 

A well designed routed track makes a driver think for a number of laps, not just a number of feet, about where to pass, like a real race track when you have two well matched teams going for it the pass must be considered, played with, put the passee under as much pressure as you can before you go for it....

 

Id say the exact opposite is actually true. With analogue, you stop, you go, you nerf, thats it my friend. With digital you have an entire race experience. And anyway, why invest in dating technology?

 

 

semiblstrender1.jpg

 

This is the future for slot enthusiasts.......imagine a full starting grid of Aussie V8's, Le Mans, F1 or Nascar on a routed digital circuit!

 

Rick

Edited by aussieslotter

Smoke, mirrors and obsolescence. It’s a jungle out there.

www.scorpiuswireless.com

 

 

 

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ahhh rick, yes I've raced on Carrera Pro-x and Scalex Digital, neither impressed me much, although the Carrera was good as a big oval, simple is best for digital. I can sell you a whole stack of race prepared Pro-x cars and digital track if you are interested in wasting your money... I know I did.

 

The scalex stuff I raced on would be one of the best, well researched and setup layouts I've ever seen. Over 80m of two lane track with I have no idea how many lane changers, didn't impress me either.

 

Never raced on routed digital, doesn't really interest me.... no way it could be better than my little two lane routed layout that is PROPERLY designed, I use the term again, as you missed it first time around.

 

Here's a photo of a PROPERLY designed Routed Racing Track _C7O4179.jpg

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Chalk and cheese Cliffy, Im talking systems like SSD with PB Pro and SH power upgrade, Davic, BLST, and Scorpius and Oxigen in their development stages. Proper digital systems, not the pretend stuff you mention. I tried my neighbours 4 year old sons analog Scalextric track yesterday that he got for Xmas, it was crap, so what? It was suitable for its user.

Nice track Cliffy, throw in a couple of digital lane changers, get rid of the crossover, and Id love to race it :clap:

 

Once you get a nice digi system that rivals analog in reliability, power, throttle response etc and concentrate and enjoy the racing, its exactly like analog except you can hop lanes, that can only be a good thing I reckon.

And its nice to have a 30 minute race in one heat not 6, I mean having to stop every 5 minutes to swap lanes breaks the fun and the rhythm :clap:

 

 

Rick

Smoke, mirrors and obsolescence. It’s a jungle out there.

www.scorpiuswireless.com

 

 

 

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I have some lap times for you today DM. My standard Carrera Digtal 132 Porsche GT3 RSR laps the track in the low 8's. I would expect that time to drop down into the low to mid 7's after the tight corners are banked ( like the the real Tsukuba). The ghost cars are running between 10 and 11 seconds a lap. There is not much difference between the driver and ghost cars in the corners but the ghost cars get left behind on the straights because they need to be set up to make it through the Radius 1 corners.

 

The track just needs some more lane changers on the the straights so you can overtake the slower cars. That way you don't have to wait until you complete another lap before you can change lanes again. I think 2 inside to outsides and 2 outside to insides should be enough.

 

Nulla

Why race on any old figure 8 track when you could be racing on a track designed to replicate a piece of Australian motorsport history like Oran Park Raceway.

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Chalk and cheese Cliffy, Im talking systems like SSD with PB Pro and SH power upgrade, Davic, BLST, and Scorpius and Oxigen in their development stages. Proper digital systems, not the pretend stuff you mention. I tried my neighbours 4 year old sons analog Scalextric track yesterday that he got for Xmas, it was crap, so what? It was suitable for its user.

Nice track Cliffy, throw in a couple of digital lane changers, get rid of the crossover, and Id love to race it :lol:

 

Once you get a nice digi system that rivals analog in reliability, power, throttle response etc and concentrate and enjoy the racing, its exactly like analog except you can hop lanes, that can only be a good thing I reckon.

And its nice to have a 30 minute race in one heat not 6, I mean having to stop every 5 minutes to swap lanes breaks the fun and the rhythm :D

 

 

Rick

 

Been there done that.... sorry but I've been involved with Digital since it was proposed, It's a great concept and takes Slot Cars that step beyond simple toys, and there lies the rub....

 

The old KISS principal applies to slot cars more than any otrher hobby or sport I've been involved with.

 

I see digital as a Luxury. How many kids do you think will have the patience to learn Digital racing? Once slot cars move beyond the realm of the Kid, it dies.... just ask the guys that saw the hobby all but die in the 60s and 70s...

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I see digital as a Luxury. How many kids do you think will have the patience to learn Digital racing? Once slot cars move beyond the realm of the Kid, it dies.... just ask the guys that saw the hobby all but die in the 60s and 70s...

 

Has anyone played some of the games on Xbox, PS3 etc. Many are way too complicated for me. Kids will adapt to digital racing in a heartbeat.

Edited by Camber

Hoo Roo

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Been there done that.... sorry but I've been involved with Digital since it was proposed, It's a great concept and takes Slot Cars that step beyond simple toys, and there lies the rub....

 

The old KISS principal applies to slot cars more than any otrher hobby or sport I've been involved with.

 

I see digital as a Luxury. How many kids do you think will have the patience to learn Digital racing? Once slot cars move beyond the realm of the Kid, it dies.... just ask the guys that saw the hobby all but die in the 60s and 70s...

 

Cliffy, you already told us you played with standard Carrera and SSD sets.

Is your track standard plastic with 2 amp wallwart, standard magnet cars and cheap plastic controllers? Or routed, upgraded power supply, controllers, cars etc? I guess the standard plastic box set didnt cut it for you just like a standard plastic box digi set didnt cut it for you either.

And you think routing a track, installing driver stations, braiding, modifying cars fgor an analogue is KISS as opposed to a box set?

Digital is a luxury? Maybe. But of course analogue is cheaper, its 60 year old technology, how much do you think they can charge?

 

You really havent seen much digital if you think kids dont have the patience. They dont need patience, its about fun, patience doesnt come into the equation from what Ive seen and anyone with any co-ordination skills can pick up digital in one afternoon, and they learn quicker than adults sometimes.

 

 

Rick

Edited by aussieslotter

Smoke, mirrors and obsolescence. It’s a jungle out there.

www.scorpiuswireless.com

 

 

 

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personally I am not a huge fan of digital sot cars yes they are neat and have there place but its not my thing and everyone like different things take cliffys track myself i cant see how its a properly designed track it just looks like a fig 8 with a squeeze sections not my taste of tracks i rather the track in question here

 

but this is just my option

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Kids handle digital better than adults, so in fact it will work the other way around, it will flourish because kids actually see a similarity to real racing.

 

Rick

 

Bang on Rick, as you know I have had the PB Pro SSD routed digital track, and since I sold it I have been involved with 1/24 racing with the club and around the country, I have also built a three lane track for a fellow racer in Brisbane, during all this time my son (11Yrs) has cmplained about how boring these anolog tracks are and that he suggests that I build another digital track, this will happen soon enough using Scorpius but my aim will be to run 1/24 and 1/32 scale cars. so there you go, kids choice? DIGITAL every time! me? I love both! but building a digital track is better than building an anolog track.

 

Also, I'd love to hear where all these other routed digital tracks are, mine is the only one I've ever seen in this country and not many from the forum every raced on it.

Paul NZ - Scale with Detail!

 

Narangba Club Local

 

Gold Coast Raceway 09

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ahhh rick, yes I've raced on Carrera Pro-x and Scalex Digital, neither impressed me much, although the Carrera was good as a big oval, simple is best for digital. I can sell you a whole stack of race prepared Pro-x cars and digital track if you are interested in wasting your money... I know I did.

 

The scalex stuff I raced on would be one of the best, well researched and setup layouts I've ever seen. Over 80m of two lane track with I have no idea how many lane changers, didn't impress me either.

 

Never raced on routed digital, doesn't really interest me.... no way it could be better than my little two lane routed layout that is PROPERLY designed, I use the term again, as you missed it first time around.

 

Here's a photo of a PROPERLY designed Routed Racing Track _C7O4179.jpg

What is "PROPERLY" designed. You are just having a lend aren't you? :lol:

 

NULLA both your tracks are spot on and appear to perform the function they were designed for. Hope to race on them soon. Have never raced digital, so you will have to hold my non-controller hand. I keep an open mind on matters like these and I am sure I will like the digital, but not too much, I hope. If it's kids that love digital I will too. My missus reckons I am the kid we never had. :D

 

ps. I don't like those squeezy bits on tracks, negates the thrill of overtaking someone around the outside of a corner. Passing cars on the straights only requires power.

Edited by Bulsara

Gort, Klaatu barada nikto.

 

My poor Krell!

After a million years of shining sanity...

they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them.

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Thanks for the kind words Bulsara.

 

BTW... I am thinking holding a digital race meeting on the last Sunday of each month starting in Janurary for a championship if there are enough people interested. The cars (Carrera D132 GT Cars) will be supplied by myself and once you register you will be able to pull a random car number out of the hat and that will be the car you will race for that meeting. You will be able to enter as a team or solo driver and be awarded the same points (max. of 2 per team). All people will need to do is turn up a 1/2 hour to a hour before the start and register so that we car organise the races. The lenght of the race will depend on the numbers but 1 hours racing per driver/team combo will be guaranteed. I think this is a easy way for people to explore digital racing without the feeling the need to buy a digital car or set.

 

So if anyone is interested please PM so I can get things moving. Looking for a min. of at least 6 teams/drivers.

 

Regards

 

Nulla

Why race on any old figure 8 track when you could be racing on a track designed to replicate a piece of Australian motorsport history like Oran Park Raceway.

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Hi NULLA,

You are sounding more and more like the sort of slotting Desperado (Copyright The Eagles) that we need in 1/32 racing. I started in 1/24 after a 35 year holiday, but I am really starting to enjoy 1/32 (after a couple of false starts).

 

To be honest my favourite is still my crappy old 1/24 JK GT1 with a Falcon motor that I run at Ingleburn and Hornsby. My collection of 1/32's follows a close second. I am a very ordinary driver, but have never let that get in the way of a good time.

Gort, Klaatu barada nikto.

 

My poor Krell!

After a million years of shining sanity...

they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them.

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