Worldwide Digital Proxy

[dw5555]

Regarding Bruce's comment about starting lanes, it does make a difference on my track.

I have exactly two, count em two opportunities to go from the outer lane in, and four L/C's to go from the inside out for passing. If you're in the outside lane starting out and don't hit that 1st L/C shortly after the start your stuck for awhile in the outside or your behind the lead car. Doesn't make any difference to me, maybe start all the cars on the inside and let the ghost take the outside. Just so we're all on the same page. :)

That's why made the comment about qualified drivers in my last post. I have people that can drive it but only 32lbKing knows it as well as I do.

Dave

[b.yingling]

As I said- three drivers may not be possible for some.

I still don't see why it should be presented as 'all cars must start from each lane'. If you have an IROC race on your track, Dave, don't you rotate starting positions based on controller IDs, or who started where the last time, or some other equalizer? Starting positions should definitely be rotated. Every car should start from each starting position. Not from each 'lane', but from each starting position. For those of us who may be lucky enough to have drivers on hand, that may mean they all start from 3, 4, or even more spots. To not do so would kind of short circuit one of the main ideas behind proxy racing. Each car gets an equal chance.

The requirement of 5 minute heats seems a bit long to me. Most of the analog racing (proxy and otherwise) I've done has been based on 2 or 3 minute heats. For digital IROC races here (a proxy is by default an IROC race) we generally run lap based races, rather than time based. Long enough to require at least one pit stop, as per the posted guidelines.

Also brings me to another point- while throttle and brake settings should be adjustable for each car as the track host sees fit, every car should be run on the same size fuel tank at any given venue. Again, no reason individual hosts can't change the value used, they just need to ensure that all cars have the same value at their location.

[dw5555]

Bruce I've always been lane based. Mostly it's just the 2 of us but there have been 5 and it was still lane based.

Fuel size, I always run max.

5 mins seems long to me also, that's why I asked earlier. Generally 2 1/2 mins each lane. That being said if there is not a lot of cars 5 mins would be fine.

Dave

[b.yingling]

[Czar]

"Every car should start from each starting position. Not from each 'lane'" I apologize for being so dense. What exactly do you mean by each starting position, not from each lane? I have a two lane track. I have painted three start boxes in each lane, since the software can handle up to six cars total. Are you saying that each car should race from every starting box (position) - a total of 6 starts for each car?

[b.yingling]

[Czar]

No need to bow out. You are providing ideas that need to be considered. Let me explain a little more of what Burrell and I have talked about. One of he reasons we chose not to have as many cars on the track as possible was fairness. With 5 or 6 cars on the track there is a lot more overall traffic and greater potential for crashes. But limiting it to two cars and a GC we thought it would allow each car to perform at its best. In our past proxy (The Abecedarian Proxy, which was analog) I drove a car on lane one, and Burrell drove a car on lane two. After the initial race, I continued to drive from the lane one starting position, but Burrell and I traded cars. So all cars were raced on each lane and driven by both drivers. With digital of course, lane start can be less important, but I agree, all cars should be driven by all drivers. Another reason for a fewer number of cars on the track at once is damage to the cars. No-one wants to send off their car, after they have carefully prepared it, only to have it returned damaged. People are reluctant to enter proxies for this reason alone. I do think a Race Director has an obligation to do everything possible to insure that cars arrive home not too worse for wear. Even without magnets, the chances of damage increases with more cars together on the track. Obviously a digital proxy will be different than an analog proxy. So these discussions are vital. After all, we have no blueprint to follow.

[buspor63]

Speaking of ghost cars, each host provides one for the race on their track? I would assume a good handling car? A GC does introduce an opportunity for extra collisions with a de-slot. I know the Yingling RMS allows for a track call, does the Carrera App? What about host using the BB and big lap counter/timer?

[Burrell]

I think that the best way to handle all of these variables is to let each host track decide on those issues. The only thing that is a must is that every driver has to drive every car. We should have at least 1 ghost car, but maybe we could have more on particular tracks if a host wanted more. If Bruce can run 6 human cars at the same time then he could have no ghost cars. The app/Bruce software issue could easily be resolved by each specific host track using the timing system they normally use and determine the winner. I don't know that there are a set of rules that are going to be able to be applied uniformly to each track. There are just so many variables to consider. And it could be fun to see if different track rules affected cars differently. As long as each host lays out the specs for their race ahead of time and applies everything equally, I don't see why that couldn't work. With this being the first digital proxy that I'm aware of, there could be some growing pains and issues that we haven't even considered yet that we can deal with and account for in future proxies.

[dw5555]

Let's discuss these:

Track voltage to be set by host.

Car power the same on all cars (Tbd by host) to be set by CU/Software. Brakes can be individually set for each car.

If using 3 or more drivers a ghost car is not needed.

Car starting procedure to be determined by host.

Each car must be driven by all drivers.

Timed (how long) or laps? (+1 for timed)

Dave

[Czar]

Dave, These are good ideas. The only item I would question is #1. Voltage has to high enough to operate the lane changers reliably. With the CU allowing for power adjustability to the cars (speed control) I think the voltage should be the recommended 15 volts. I do like the idea of all cars have the same power from the CU. But, should power setting be based on the fastest car, the slowest car, or somewhere in the middle? I usually race timed events, but I really don't have an objection a lap race, as long as we get proper lap count, correct finish position, and fastest time for each car in each race.

[dw5555]

No problem with the 15V as that what I run on mine for consistent l/c operation. I think it should be minimum 13.8V so the wallwart guys are not excluded. Since these are basically stock cars the only real difference should be in the handling. I think the host can determine a good Avg speed.

Dave

[Burrell]

Ok, Czar and I talked today in more detail. We've decided that we should leave as much as possible up to the host tracks. That will solve the problem of finding one set of parameters that work for everybody. So here is where we are:

Minimum track voltage 13.8V (wall warts).

Car power the same on all cars (TBD by host) to be set by CU/Software. Brakes can be individually set for each car.

3 cars on the track at a time (we really don't want to increase the risk of damaging the cars with extra wrecks)

Car starting procedure to be determined by host.

Each car must be driven by all drivers.

Races can be timed or number of laps, TBD by host.

[dw5555]

I like it, simple. The hosts know what works on their tracks. :clap:

Dave


Races must be timed or laps but must include at least one pit stop.

[R/TRandy]

"we should leave as much as possible up to the host tracks"

This is a good idea, this is our first digital proxy. We will find out what works and what doesn't this way. What may sound like the best way now may not turn out that way.

I usually run at 15 Volts, so Minimum track voltage 13.8V (wall warts) sounds good.
And three cars on the track is good, so two controlled and one ghost, or three controlled no ghost.

I think its coming together nicely
Burrell and Czar, thanks for letting everyone talk this through, should be a fun race.

Randy