SlotCarsW14P05a

Slot Cars

1:32 Scale – Back after almost 40 years! – Part 2 – 2005

After enjoying lots of racing in 2003 and 2004 on the “Twin Doors Raceway”, in 2005 I undertook an upgrade of the control panel and the timing system as shown below:

Above – March 5, 2005 – Under construction – an upgrade exchanging the proprietary Scalextric controller plugs to the more universal alligator connectors using excellent control panels custom built by Steve at Slot Car Corner. Also included are reversing switches and resettable circuit breakers for each lane.

Above – March 5, 2005 – I added a keyboard tray for computer timing and scoring controls.

Above – March 11, 2005 – Now it is serious, the track is out of commission for the installation of the SensorTrak to gather signals for the timing and scoring system. It replaces the Scalextric Sport electro-mechanical timing system

Above – March 11, 2005 – The smoke that was generated when the composite board was cut brought the track emergency crews to the scene.

Above – March 14, 2005 – The SensorTrak was installed.

Above – April & May, 2005 – The computer mystery was attacked. The Homebrew 486 with the 15″ monitor (on the left) was the original plan but complications led to the decision to use the Dell T500 PIII with a 21″ monitor.

Above – June, 2005 – The Dell was hooked up. The pullout tray works great….

Above – …but an unplanned bonus is the ability to run the mouse on the control panel so the keyboard stays stowed most of the time.

Above – June, 2005 – The Lap Timer 2000 timing software is very easy to read on the 21″ monitor. On the other hand, lifting the million-lb monitor into place over the track was almost a catastrophe of unspeakable proportions. Next time – flat panel.