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good morning
I am a long time analog ,wood track racer , who is making the switch to digital. I have decided on Carrera because of what I have read on this board concerning reliability, and availability . But not being a fan of magnet racing my plan is to buy a set and pirate the controllers ,power base and lane changers and meld them into a wood track.
My plan is.... using MDF board, routing out a 2 lane track { I have a design in mind } just like a analog track , then routing out recesses for the power base and lane change tracks..... I also planned on covering the power base and lane change tracks with copper track,as the rest of the wood portions of the track will be copper taped. My question is.... will covering the rails on the power base and lane changers with copper tape cause any operational problems? And what is the timing system / lap counter of choice for the digital world?.... I am now running Race Coordinator on my 3 lane analog track, but I see that they're only digital option is with scalxtric

Thank you
form an old newbie
john

Bruce Yingling has a shareware computer download. You will need to make or purchase a interface cable. The software is good and handles all the fuel management, meaning you don't need to bother with driver stations and leaderboards.

The control base can easily be separated from the track to allow you the freedom to set it up as you wish.

Also consider to do the modifications to allow you to run analog cars. I find I still run analog cars 90% of the time. Most of us spend a lot of time running laps with our favorite builds, and the decision to incorporate analog running into the system turned out to be key for me. You can have your cake and eat it too. No need to abandon one for the other.

[quote="tracyridge]
I also planned on covering the power base and lane change tracks with copper track,as the rest of the wood portions of the track will be copper taped. My question is.... will covering the rails on the power base and lane changers with copper tape cause any operational problems? [/quote]

As far the copper tape goes, Bruce Yingling had copper taped his first D/132 digital track and the only problem that he reported with the tape was that it was very hard to remove when he wanted to change the layout. You should be fine taping your track.
I'm sure Bruce will chime in if there were any other issues.
Oh, one other thing if you decide to do as Barc 1 mentioned and do both analog and digital. On the crossover rails on the Lane Change track, you should either file the rails back a little or put a small piece of electrical tape on the ends of the rails where they meet between the 2 LC sections and do not tape across the joint. Just stop your copper tape a little ways from the ends of the rail [maybe 1/16"]. This way you don't get an electrical short from connecting lane 1 and lane 2 together when using analog.
Randy

thank you gentleman for the help!

If the guys wanting to integrate Carrera digital into a wood track, Buspor63 and couple of others have done that. You can ask them questions.
here is a video from the WDP (worldwide Digital Proxy) run last year.This is 1 of several videos. other videos from heats in the WDP thread
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=15910

hey gents !
again thank you for all the input..... Now I LOVE the idea of a dual powered track, digi/ana ... I would think you would have to be able to "electrically " isolate the digital power base from the analog power...how is this done? with switches?

Thanks

John

Sorry for the late reply, I've been in bicycle racing and VW Bus mode.

I've got some tips. However big you think your track needs to be, double the size. Digital racing is not like analog, you'll want more track because the cars are always racing in groups. Add a pit lane, the longer the better. Some even use the double row method. !/24 cars are big, trying to squeeze six cars in a tiny pit lane is tough. I really like the Yingling software, it's really great. Every problem I've had has been 100% my fault. I chose Carrera to work with, mainly because we all ready had a core group of Carrera users. I do prefer the longer lane changes that Carrera has. However, that's not important because you will cut them up and install it in a wood surface. I've made my own curved lane change to fit the track. Use as few straight lines as possible. My longest straight is curved and has a hump. I did isolate my CU and rails so I could race analog. I think I ran twice, both times Proxy events . Never used the feature again. I would prefer to have five of my friends on track, not one with several others waiting there turn.

I really prefer better grammar, but it's early, and I've got a bike race to get my son to.

Here's a Photobucket link, PB sucks now and I hop it doesn't cause your computer to catch fire.

hey gents!
well first off thanks for all the replies and tips, Now after routing my track, and recessing two of the Carrera lane change pieces, and the power base piece into the MDF board , wiring it all with , using a schematic I found on line, analog power works fine, now I switch over to digital, and everything works fine except the lane changers do not work, the sensors are in place, I'm using Carrera digital cars, the lane change pieces have power to them. now when I first got the Carrera digital set I set it up and tried it,, and everything worked fine.
Anybody ever had this problem? HELP! please...n...thank you
john

The lane changers need full power. Anything less and they will not work, and they must be powered by the Digital power source.

thanks barc for speedy reply
the lane changers get there power from the rails,if I'm not mistaken, so when in digital mode , both lanes are getting power from only the digital power source.. now if everything else is working, digitally speaking, the cars run , controlled by there appropriate controllers, dose that not mean that the lane change machines should also have the digital power to them?
thanks a bunch

john

What voltage are you running the track at?

I am using the power pack supplied with the Carrera digital set

Do you have the cars going from right to left across the control unit and the lane changers? Additionally, I would double check the polarity of your wiring.

Any chance you could post a pic of your track so we can see if everything looks right or not?

Best regards,
Brian

is the switch under the car set to digital?
I think it should be switched away from the LED. If it is toward the LED, it is Analog.
lance

Use a voltmeter to check the power level across the full track and especially at the lane change pieces. I wouldn't think there is a short or the control unit would be flashing and singing.

Suggest you go back to the basics and be sure you have everything connected and are using the digital cabling/controllers, etc. Sounds dumb, but we also still do silly things when we get excited. I even flip-flopped a chip once when converting a car simply because it fit better in that chassis. The eye was on the wrong side of the track and wouldn't change lanes. Duhhhh! Seemed like a good idea at the time.
You might have just overlooked something simple or took something for granted.
Jumper wire in an unchopped Carrera lane changer into the circuit and see if it flips properly.
You'll find the issue. hang in there.