Post by spereira on Jan 15, 2024 11:08:48 GMT -7
Hello - I'm brand new here.
I'm in the process of setting up my first HO scale drag strip in my cellar to accomplish a childhood dream - finally at age 71.
I've started with an Auto World Snake vs Mongoose set with the start & finish displays.
Here are a bunch of newbie questions that I've built up:
Is there a glossary somewhere to get familiar with the different types of HO cars?
- 4 Gear
- Thunder Jet, T-Jet 500, T'Jet
- Mega-G, Mega-G+
Also what's the difference between Brands?
- AW
- Tyco
- AFX
- Aurora
- Tomy
- Viper
My wall wart is labeled as 16 VDC and 850 mA.
On an unloaded track, I measure 16.25 VDC.
The controllers measure from 'infinity' down to 0.01 ohms.
Since this is drag racing, can the variable controllers be replaced by simple push buttons?
The two old style funny cars that came with the kit are both fast, but one is always faster from an even start to the finish. It consistently wins by 12 to 18 inches. I purchased a set of 3 AW dragsters, and found two are pretty evenly matched and the third is a little slower. A funny thing is that my two original cars beat out the dragsters by 18 inches. I have a couple of AW modern funny cars on the way to me now. We'll see how they measure up.
I purchased AW cars because of the great detailing of the modern liveries.
I am currently awaiting the arrival of more track to stretch out the distance to (close to) 20 feet. I see all the discussion about what the scale distance "should be", but the fact is that in the real world Top Fuel and Funny Car race for 1000 feet and all other classes race for the classic 1320 feet. So, all I can do is get something close to a scale quarter mile, and go for it. Eventually, I may be able to tweak out the scale quarter mile at 20.65 feet.
At present, I am assuming that different brands have differences in their track? Is this true? Should I continue to purchase only AW track, or do some brands interchange?
I guess my most basic question would be, can any brand of HO scale car operate properly on any brand of track?
I am having a blast with this, but I'm having difficulty with digging up information. I suppose it may be because I'm old and I'm not prone to watching videos. I retain general knowledge from video, but I much prefer a booklet that I can quickly turn to, to find specific facts. Printed material like this seems to be in short supply.
Thanks very much for listening. Please feel free to throw out all your comments, advice, moral support, tips and tricks!
smp
I'm in the process of setting up my first HO scale drag strip in my cellar to accomplish a childhood dream - finally at age 71.
I've started with an Auto World Snake vs Mongoose set with the start & finish displays.
Here are a bunch of newbie questions that I've built up:
Is there a glossary somewhere to get familiar with the different types of HO cars?
- 4 Gear
- Thunder Jet, T-Jet 500, T'Jet
- Mega-G, Mega-G+
Also what's the difference between Brands?
- AW
- Tyco
- AFX
- Aurora
- Tomy
- Viper
My wall wart is labeled as 16 VDC and 850 mA.
On an unloaded track, I measure 16.25 VDC.
The controllers measure from 'infinity' down to 0.01 ohms.
Since this is drag racing, can the variable controllers be replaced by simple push buttons?
The two old style funny cars that came with the kit are both fast, but one is always faster from an even start to the finish. It consistently wins by 12 to 18 inches. I purchased a set of 3 AW dragsters, and found two are pretty evenly matched and the third is a little slower. A funny thing is that my two original cars beat out the dragsters by 18 inches. I have a couple of AW modern funny cars on the way to me now. We'll see how they measure up.
I purchased AW cars because of the great detailing of the modern liveries.
I am currently awaiting the arrival of more track to stretch out the distance to (close to) 20 feet. I see all the discussion about what the scale distance "should be", but the fact is that in the real world Top Fuel and Funny Car race for 1000 feet and all other classes race for the classic 1320 feet. So, all I can do is get something close to a scale quarter mile, and go for it. Eventually, I may be able to tweak out the scale quarter mile at 20.65 feet.
At present, I am assuming that different brands have differences in their track? Is this true? Should I continue to purchase only AW track, or do some brands interchange?
I guess my most basic question would be, can any brand of HO scale car operate properly on any brand of track?
I am having a blast with this, but I'm having difficulty with digging up information. I suppose it may be because I'm old and I'm not prone to watching videos. I retain general knowledge from video, but I much prefer a booklet that I can quickly turn to, to find specific facts. Printed material like this seems to be in short supply.
Thanks very much for listening. Please feel free to throw out all your comments, advice, moral support, tips and tricks!
smp