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Post by GTS on Nov 20, 2018 13:15:42 GMT -7
Beings we're having a small crowd for Thanksgiving and 8 to 10 of those might well be racing, I thought I better hurry and get this controller station done cause they might wanna drag race also. It was kind of an electrical nightmare and I didn't want anybody getting hurt, besides needed to be done, still have to wire it up but the hard part is done and kinda under the gun now, lol. The brake lug is just a place to park the clip. It's not hooked up to anything. The switch is for switching between 1 controller for both lanes or a controller for each lane. I got a digital voltage meter coming but it won't be here till next week. My power supply has an analog meter w/ a needle and it's not very accurate. Been using a VOM meter but it's kinda bulky. Fun project, just wish I woulda' done it a few days ago  . |
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Post by dave632 on Nov 20, 2018 13:21:34 GMT -7
Never thought of having the whole family bracket race for the holiday, it sounds like a good idea.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2018 19:09:38 GMT -7
very professional controller station.
I especially like the switch to go from individual controllers to one.
which leg(polarity) is the fuse on?
thought? is 15 amp too high?
has anyone measured amperage draw on launch?
seems I have seen no more than 5 for two cars unless very high end builds are used.
at 15 amps, might this not allow something else to fry before the fuse?
understand please, not criticizing, just trying to get a better handle and confirm that your stuff is well protected.
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Post by GTS on Nov 21, 2018 8:48:42 GMT -7
very professional controller station. I especially like the switch to go from individual controllers to one. which leg(polarity) is the fuse on? thought? is 15 amp too high? has anyone measured amperage draw on launch? seems I have seen no more than 5 for two cars unless very high end builds are used. at 15 amps, might this not allow something else to fry before the fuse? understand please, not criticizing, just trying to get a better handle and confirm that your stuff is well protected. Thanks Al ! The fuse is on the + leg and sets between the + of the power supply and the white lugs of the controllers. Yes, 15 amp is way to high IMO, lol. That's more of a reminder to never go higher than 15. Confusing I know. In the past on my road circuit, I've found that 7.5 amp per station has given me the protection I've desired, i.e., blows when it needs to etc.. I've had a container of misc. fuses that in the past I've just thrown in to replace blown ones  , so last spring I acquired a quantity of 7.5 amp fuses and the plan is to use that value on the drag track. I used to use 5 amp on the road coarse but ran out of those years ago, lol. Granted the wiring on the road course is a lot smaller gauge than the drag track (18 ga vs 10 ga) which could have contributed (?) to blown fuses. We'll see what happens Thursday with 7.5 amp. I'll post a photo of the wiring today sometime, for your review and you can give me some more feedback (please).
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Post by GTS on Nov 21, 2018 14:01:50 GMT -7
very professional controller station. I especially like the switch to go from individual controllers to one. which leg(polarity) is the fuse on? thought? is 15 amp too high? has anyone measured amperage draw on launch? seems I have seen no more than 5 for two cars unless very high end builds are used. at 15 amps, might this not allow something else to fry before the fuse? understand please, not criticizing, just trying to get a better handle and confirm that your stuff is well protected. Thanks Al ! The fuse is on the + leg and sets between the + of the power supply and the white lugs of the controllers. Yes, 15 amp is way to high IMO, lol. That's more of a reminder to never go higher than 15. Confusing I know. In the past on my road circuit, I've found that 7.5 amp per station has given me the protection I've desired, i.e., blows when it needs to etc.. I've had a container of misc. fuses that in the past I've just thrown in to replace blown ones , so last spring I acquired a quantity of 7.5 amp fuses and the plan is to use that value on the drag track. I used to use 5 amp on the road coarse but ran out of those years ago, lol. Granted the wiring on the road course is a lot smaller gauge than the drag track (18 ga vs 10 ga) which could have contributed (?) to blown fuses. We'll see what happens Thursday with 7.5 amp. I'll post a photo of the wiring today sometime, for your review and you can give me some more feedback (please).
Okay, please forgive me for the above post. Don't know what I was thinking about but was not thinking about the HO tracks  . 5 amp is what I acquired the quantity of and use on the road coarse per station. 5 amp is what I'll be using on the drag track and removed the "1" on the 15 to avoid further self induced confusion. Here's some pics of the wiring.
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Post by dave632 on Nov 21, 2018 19:10:15 GMT -7
Nicely done. I used relays to avoid using heavy wires running to my start buttons. That would not work if you are using controllers however as you could not use relays in that case. I did wire in a switch so as to be able to control both sides simultaneously or separately if needed. Like the far lane vs. near lane. I have right and left and that can be confusing depending on which way you are looking at the track. Full side tracks use a lane identifier at the end of the track such as Chevy side or Ford side.
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Post by GTS on Nov 26, 2018 16:09:43 GMT -7
Nicely done. I used relays to avoid using heavy wires running to my start buttons. That would not work if you are using controllers however as you could not use relays in that case. I did wire in a switch so as to be able to control both sides simultaneously or separately if needed. Like the far lane vs. near lane. I have right and left and that can be confusing depending on which way you are looking at the track. Full side tracks use a lane identifier at the end of the track such as Chevy side or Ford side. Thanks Dave, I'd sure like to see a picture of your "start buttons" and maybe some specs. The voltage meter came today and got it wired up. It's just 2 wires, the power supply powers it on & off, unlike the vom meter I was using, I had to remember to turn it off. So I like that a lot. Seems to be as accurate as the vom meter.
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Post by dave632 on Nov 26, 2018 18:36:05 GMT -7
I will get some pictures of the relays and buttons I used.
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Post by cozee on Nov 27, 2018 10:47:54 GMT -7
Beings we're having a small crowd for Thanksgiving and 8 to 10 of those might well be racing, I thought I better hurry and get this controller station done cause they might wanna drag race also. It was kind of an electrical nightmare and I didn't want anybody getting hurt, besides needed to be done, still have to wire it up but the hard part is done and kinda under the gun now, lol. The brake lug is just a place to park the clip. It's not hooked up to anything. The switch is for switching between 1 controller for both lanes or a controller for each lane. I got a digital voltage meter coming but it won't be here till next week. My power supply has an analog meter w/ a needle and it's not very accurate. Been using a VOM meter but it's kinda bulky. Fun project, just wish I woulda' done it a few days ago . Great idea on the family bracket racing! I used to have family IROC races when I still had a race track. Everyone got 10 minutes of practice then we went into a round robin format. Sometimes we had up wards of 20-25 family members who participated, from the younger grandchildren up to and including Great-grandma and Great-grandpa! |
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Post by dave632 on Nov 27, 2018 12:05:45 GMT -7
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Post by GTS on Nov 27, 2018 13:36:24 GMT -7
Here are the pictures I promised. The relay is a 12V 30 amp automotive type with plug in socket. The button is a normally open pushbutton type which I purchased from All electronics.  30 Amp relay
 Relay socket
 control buttonThanks Dave, appreciate it! |
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Post by GTS on Nov 27, 2018 16:57:17 GMT -7
Put together this timing tower/bldng thingie today.
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Post by GTS on Nov 27, 2018 17:45:46 GMT -7
Here's a short little video I made to share with the guy who designed the software. In lane 2 (near lane) the sensor at 660' & the sensor at the beginning of the speed trap are tripping the same ET. Can't figure out why. Anyways, figured some of you might enjoy seeing the software work so am sharing the video here.
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Post by kiwidave on Nov 27, 2018 22:45:48 GMT -7
Very cool vid and I like your thingie!
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Post by dave632 on Nov 28, 2018 9:00:43 GMT -7
Put together this timing tower/bldng thingie today.
Looks good, where did you find that? I looked for something similar but could not find any. Timing system looks to be working nicely. Seems the 660 and finish segments are appearing at the same time on the right lane, solder bridge or wiring? I noticed that each segment appears as the car passes the timing cell. That is different from the TrackMate system I have which appear after the run is over. |
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, so last spring I acquired a quantity of 7.5 amp fuses and the plan is to use that value on the drag track. I used to use 5 amp on the road coarse but ran out of those years ago, lol. Granted the wiring on the road course is a lot smaller gauge than the drag track (18 ga vs 10 ga) which could have contributed (?) to blown fuses. We'll see what happens Thursday with 7.5 amp.
. 5 amp is what I acquired the quantity of and use on the road coarse per station. 5 amp is what I'll be using on the drag track and removed the "1" on the 15 to avoid further self induced confusion.
