Home made Lap Counter

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Home made Lap Counter

Postby strangebrew » Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:22 pm

I have re-submitted this thread upon member request.....
The old pictures were lost to Photobucket.


I have built a relatively inexpensive dead strip counter for my small oval.
Here are the parts I used:
Image
Very thin brass sheet (I don't have the guage, it has been in my drawer for years)
Model train board hook-up wire I purchased at the local hobby store. (I lost the receipt, but itwasn't more than $10 or so)
I had an old Aurora 10 volt transformer also laying around for years.(A 9 volt battery will work just as well)
I found the digital panel meters on e-bay for $12 each. (You have to wait 10 days or so for delivery, as they're drop-shipped from China)
The reset buttons are from Radio Shack at $3.49 a pair.

Image
I cut some vinyl strips 3/8 x 1 1/2 (Any kind of good stickey tape will work)
I cut the brass into strips 1/4 x 1 1/4 (Any shorter & I miss laps at full speed)
I soldered the hook-up wire to each strip then super glued the brass to the vinyl making sure the wire or brass will not come in contact with the copper tape.
(I wanted to insulate the brass from any voltage off the track)
I then drilled small holes adjacent to the copper, threaded the wire through the holes & stuck the vinyl onto the copper tape.
MAKE SURE TO LEAVE ENOUGH PIGTAIL TO REACH WHERE YOU MOUNT THE COUNTERS

Image
After mounting all of the above to 4 lanes of the track I drilled a hole large enough to accomodate 4 pairs of inputs, 4 pairs of resets & power.
I fed the whole bundle through the hole where the counters will be mounted.
The counters come with 4 pigtails each & I have marked the photo to show which pigtail does what on the back of the counter.
I built a box from some old yard signs left from the last election.
I velcroed the counters into the box & used velcro to attach it to the infield of the track covering the hole & bundle of wires.
I mounted the reset buttons near each lane station with a styrene tab.
(You could save money & wire all the resets to one & reset all lanes at once)
I used a little heavier guage wire for power to the counters & tied all 4 counters together with the power.
I didn't use a switch on the transformer I just plug it in when in use.

I'm sure the whole 4 lane thing can be done for $75 or so.

Image

I ran more than 1000 consecutive laps on one lane at 12 volts 2 amps, using a Deathstar motor & silcone rears. (They were quick laps)
I missed 3 or 4 laps between 400 & 525. I had started with some tire glue in 1 turn & must have used a little too much.
I stopped to check & the guide brushes were a little sticky as was the copper.
I cleaned the copper & brushes with some lighter fluid,then contimued running until a little over 1000.
I missed 1 more lap around 850. There were no double counts.
After I stopped I found the dead strip a little sticky. (I didn't clean it when I stopped at 525)
Altogether I think the lap counter will work great if kept clean.
Last edited by strangebrew on Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:48 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Homeade Lap Counter

Postby ourwayband » Fri Aug 01, 2014 4:26 pm

great How to!!
Thanks for sharing..
Rusty
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Re: Homeade Lap Counter

Postby dreinecke » Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:18 pm

Great how-to! Thanks for sharing that. Oh, and can you tell me how to pronounce the company name on that box... ;)
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Re: Homeade Lap Counter

Postby strangebrew » Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:15 am

Resubmitted for Frank............
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Re: Home made Lap Counter

Postby mattb » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:07 am

Years ago we did about the same thing using calculators. If you hot wire to the + button on a calculator, everytime you cross the sensor (dead strip or whatever) it adds 1 to the display on the calc and all the other buttons work to turn on or to re-set to 0.
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Re: Home made Lap Counter

Postby Z-carfan » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:15 pm

This looks like a fun little project, thanks for re posting.
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Re: Home made Lap Counter

Postby chappyman66 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 3:40 pm

As Matt said.....the $1 calculator solution works as well. Some folks make really nice display towers to hide the calculator......
Cheap and easy lap counters. Doesn't give you time or fuel stops or anything fancy but a dead strip and those little calculators got you counting laps for less than $5.
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Re: Home made Lap Counter

Postby frank9129 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:59 pm

Dave,
Are the xin guang wel digital panel meters voltage meters?
I'm starting to collect the parts.
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