TrickyD Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Oh I see. I assume I'd need the dongle too then. How will it know when cars lap? regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Hi Tricky. Yes you need a dongle for all sorts of reasons, updating firmware on controller, LB and car decoder. Updates are free. It also collects 100 updates per second from up to 24 cars for the RMS to use and work out fuel, laps etc. How will you know, by using the RMS. Each LB transmits a code via the LED in the track. When the car sees a code it transmits a lane change or no lane change signal, or a lap count signal. Rick 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Race Coordinator Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 I'm not positive but I strongly suspect the RMS requires Win XP SP3 or higher. You have to be able to install .NET 4 so it's minimum system requirements are in affect the RMS requirements. Win 98 onwards, and a 5 metre USB extension cable (with Active amplifier built in to the cable) Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 I have windows 7 so that won't be a problem. It'll be a while before I get to the stage of having a scorpious car running around. I just got some very old track for $20 and will need to test the pieces when I get the $40 le mans kit (I think it's 20 years old or so) which has a power supply and 2 cars. I want to see if Inox will make the really old track operable even though there's a lot of rust. Once I have the cars running right on analogue I'll be in a position to start to build the digital side. I want to see if I can mate the old track to the ssd components - I know scalextric have an adapter piece of track but it would be nice to have LCs hook straight onto the old pieces. Will have to wait and see on that issue. I'm already having sleepless nights thinking about this stuff lol. Glad I had the operation which has forced me off work otherwise I'd have never come across this again. regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 My advice is dont waste your time/money on old track, its an electrical nightmare. You can get very cheap online, $10 for 2 x long straight, why would you bother? Of course its up to you 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnsxr8 Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Would have to agree with Rick on the old track unless you are going to copper tape it, and plus the slot in the old Scaley track is not as deep as the Scaley Sport track which means cars with deep guides usually require taking a couple of mm from the guide flag Check out North Brisbane Slotcar Racing: http://northbrisslots.forumotion.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 second hand SSD XLCs should be aplenty on Fleabay. 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Thanks guys. I'm in a tight bind atm and will see how this goes. Copper taping sounds interesting. I will replace the track with ssd but I'd rather get a scorpious car(s) running around on it before I invest in that. If I copper tape it do I put it straight onto the rails or rip them out? regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnsxr8 Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Just lay the tape straight on the rails Check out North Brisbane Slotcar Racing: http://northbrisslots.forumotion.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Ok thanks. And would the track be able to be taken apart? I need to pack and unpack as I don't have space to have it permanently up. The copper tape tracks I've seen are one continuous strip and set permanently. regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnsxr8 Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Well if you are pulling it apart there is no point in doing the copper tape as you would want it continuous Check out North Brisbane Slotcar Racing: http://northbrisslots.forumotion.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 I don't have anywhere I can put the track permanently. Not to worry. I'll get the old le mans analogue set up and running and clean up the old track and test and throw away the dodgy pieces. I will replace the old track with ssd but getting the old analogue working is my first priority. I've looked on ebay and there is a range of track. That can wait til next year now. regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 (edited) Change of plan. I'm going to get the scalextric Thundering V8's (I can get it for $260) and digitise it firstly with scaley (because the cars are easy to chip with SSD) then buy the lane changers to add lane brain as I start to build my scorpious car collection. This will take me quite a while but it'll all be part of the fun as I continue to learn about this hobby. I'll need to buy myself a soldering iron (I've got experience from the past) and the relevant other stuff to be able to do lane brain and the car decoder. regards, Ricky Edited December 14, 2012 by TrickyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 (edited) Hi Guys. The latest WAM is finally tuned and ready for final beta testing........ Plugs straight into Aussie driver station, run analogue cars on an analogue track with the Scorpius wireless controller. So now use your Scorpius wireless controller on SSD digital (needs Scorpius dongle), any analogue track and of course Scorpius Wireless track. Multi purpose. 50A peak power should handle 99% of slot car motors on the market. Rick Edited December 15, 2012 by aussieslotter 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 (edited) Good one! The track where I watch my nephew race use race stations that use a female socket at the station and one of the holes in it are round and it's in the shape of an australian electrical plug with the one that's at the bottom being round (I assume it's done that way so no one tries to plug in a normal electrical plug). Will the wam have a connection like that or would I have to build an adaptor? I'm considering changing from night shift to day shift so I could race on Friday nights. They have a 6 lane analogue track and I'd like to get a car (analogue) to run in the race series. I assume they'll let me use my scorpius controller with the wam. I'll show all the guys there the controller in action and let them try if for themselves. Might be able to get you some sales from that especially when they see me walk around the track and still drive the car or go get the car after I deslot it and drive it as soon as I put it back on the track and not have to go back to the driver station. Another question about setting my ssd track (when I get it) to work scorpius.... When I setup lane brain on xlcs on ssd do I need to connect the liven flipper wires? If so I assume I solder them onto the flipper underneath? regards, Ricky Edited December 15, 2012 by TrickyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 You can simply cut off the female plug and install a male plug or simply buy an extension cord from Woolies for $3.99, cut off the female end, and add a male plug. This way you can use on commercial tracks and on your nephews track where he races. Yes but dont solder, you will melt the surrounding plastic, instead use conductive glue. Easy. 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 YAQ - yet another question.... How do we program the wam to be a certain ID? From the controller? Let's say 3 of the 6 racers in any given race are using scorpius with wam how do we make sure our ids are unique? I might have mine set to 1 and someone else comes and they also have theirs as 1. We'd agree one of us needs to change. How would we do that? regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 Thanks for the reply on the plug. I assume the owner of the track (it's red racer) would have such sockets - it's got 2 straight pins and one round one. regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 The controllers are set to different IDs and using the conroller you can transfer the ID to the module, thus giving everyone different channels. 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 16, 2012 Report Share Posted December 16, 2012 Many thanks Rick. I eagerly look forward in getting my scorpius controller and the wam to start with. cheers, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2012 OK WAM antenna tuning was very good. I travelled 30 metres away outside the room and the control was perfect, I went outside onto the lawn, ran perfect, I even walked upstairs to the second storey and it was perfect, and perfect in 99% of the slot car room. We found one extreme corner of the room wasnt 100%, But I dont think we are going to get it 100% perfect in 100% of places. So up to John now to program the WAMs before shipping. Rick 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Hi Guys, The next stage designing and building a quick release accurate and stable track joing system... The holes will be smaller, they are to allow braid to fold down along a timber (non conductive) surface. Material of the joiners is CNC machined 80x80x10 aluminium angle. This should give an accurate surface on the joins to within 0.1mm. Rick 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 (edited) Which track would be better to get scorpius on - SSD or Carerra? Because of Nincos problems with lane changers I won't even think about it. What are the pros and cons of each please. I know the Carerra will take 1/24 cars but that's not something I will get into. I'll stay with 1/32. I know if I want to run scorpius on SSD I'll need a beefier power supply than the scaley one. Is it the same for Carerra? My track will be one I setup on my days off and put back away in it's separate pieces during the week because I don't have anywhere to put a large table. How does lane brain work on Carerra? What mods to cars are needed? regards, Ricky Edited December 17, 2012 by TrickyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieslotter Posted December 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 The problems with Ninco (once converted to Scorpius) is they are too abrupt, meaning you have to slow down to change lanes unless you race magnet cars. But Ninco is the best track by far in my opinion. Practically all the competition tracks in Spain and Italy are Ninco. Its flexible and has the best chromium finish and best connectors meaning it has the best conductivity. There once was a track set up measuring 1.5 km without a single power tap. It has 90 mm centres. Its made in Spain. Scalextric track is very popular, but in my opinion has cheap chromium finish which wears out quickly and leads to corrosion unless used on a regular basis. It fits in tight spaces but has very poor connectors meaning lots of power taps are required. On my 33m home track I had to copper tape it and hardwire every single join on the track to ensure conductivity. The straight lane changers can take a fair bit of speed though. It has 77.5 mm centres. Its made in China. Carrera has stainless rails, not the greatest conductor, but it works and the stainless finish resists corrosion of course. Its straight lane changer is spread over 2 track pieces, or 750 mm total. The track is very stiff/hard and doesnt take kindly to flexing. the track is annoying and makes it look cheap. Also every Carrera track Ive seen of late has every single straight with a "bow up". Maybe they've addressed this issue. The white dotted line downThe centres are 100mm. It is made in China I believe to German specification. So there is no best track, so how to decide? Its a tricky question. All have great attributes and problems regarding digital use. If Ninco was to make a double length LC I would recommend it in a flash. If Scalextric had good connectors and better chromium I would recommend that. Im going to recommend Carrera. Main reasons, a long smooth lane changer that you can use at speed and stainless rails. Somebody will pop in and say go routed, but thats a skilled job when it comes to making and installing custom lane changers. I would aspire one day to go routed but if youre starting out I'd go Carrera. I hope I havent offended any Scalextric, Carrera or Ninco users, these are only my observations as I own and have used all 3 track systems and have raced on Carrera and Ninco tracks in Italy, Spain, Germany and UK on a number of trips. in the end its your decision. Of course I havent mentioned cost considerations either..... Rick 3 stooges, 2 apologists and 1 deep endless mess. www.scorpiuswireless.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrickyD Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Thanks Rick. If I go carerra what's the go with lane brain? Are the lcs of carerra similar to ssd? I can get a digital carerra set from red racer. Would I be able to use it's powers supply to convert to scorpius? My track would only need 3 lane brains for 2 lcs and the start/finish line. I don't know how pit bays work in carerra. regards, Ricky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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