I have purchaced an older but unused SCX Ferrari  360 , it has an an RX42 motor , which is very slow, how can I go about fitting the newer type FR motor? Is an adapter required ? 
Thank you in advance .

   

This is our last HO Wednesday of the year and we'll be ending the evening crowning our 2023 F1 and Club champions.

We've brought back our AFX version of the Macau street circuit, last run in December 2018. It's a layout that is fairly even playing field for all the chassis in the F1 class...

   

As always, doors open at 6.30pm for practice, heats begin at 7 and we aim to finish well before 9.30pm. Entry is £3 (£2 for under-16s). We ask that racers younger than 14 bring a responsible adult with them. Club cars and controllers are available for no extra charge.

My rally loop is controlled by an SCX Rally Chrono.  As you may be aware, the Chrono has limitations on the number of laps - 1, 5, 10, 15, or 20.  I can't remember what the limitation is on individual lap time, but I think it might be 9'59.99".  It would be nice to be able to have some track action a little different to what the Chrono allows.

I have an Arduino R3 Starter Kit that has sat unopened for at least 5 years and I would like to be able to use it to build a timer that would count-up to 20+ minutes with seconds to 2 decimal places.  I would want it to be powered from the track (ie, start when the track becomes live, and stop when the power from the Chrono is cut), but the actual feed for that I can work-out myself, utilising the existing track power taps.

But I've not got the foggiest idea how to assemble it and program it to do what I want.  I know I could trawl the 'net and, most probably, find instructions to do something broadly similar to what I'm after............

But has anyone here any experience with building Arduino timers??

Thanks in advance.

I've been trying to avoid this section of the forum, because I wasted far too much of my life on a certain thread on SFI.

However, I'm absolutely fuming this evening.  Back in July, I bought a pair of tickets to see Jules Holland at Newcastle City Hall this coming Thursday.  Just this afternoon, I received an e-mail reminding me to download my tickets to the O2 Academy app on my 'phone as it is the only acceptable form of entry.  Producing a paper copy of the e-mail is not allowed.

So now I'm up S*** Creek, because I don't possess a smart 'phone.

If I had seen anything relating to this when I bought the tickets I wouldn't have bothered.  It's probably buried in the small print.  I wish I'd saved the £100+ the tickets cost, it's not like I've never seen JH and his merry band before.

Can anyone tell me the difference in frequency and purpose for these three fields please?

We'd want to hear, by name, every time a driver posts his best lap in a heat. I'd have thought it would be the second field but tests don't seem to produce a great deal of difference whichever field is used.

We think we're getting the best in-heat info from this set-up but are we? (The second field announces by name the relevant driver's fastest heat lap.)

   

We first talked about painting the club track a few years ago, maybe 4 or 5 years ago but never decided what paint to use.


We bought a Rally track from Pendle in August 2022, used it for a few months then painted it in January 2023 with polyurethane paint after reading an article on BSCRA website -> https://slotcarracing.org.uk/trackbuild/...%20Surface


...grip on the Rally track has been superb ever since


Roll forward to this years AGM, it was proposed we bite the bullet and use the same polyurethane paint on the main club track and a couple of volunteers gave up two Saturdays to get the job mostly done.


The first board was painted last Saturday, on Thursday we used the track for the first time after this painting and general consensus was definitely improved grip...

   
   

This Saturday the same two volunteers went to the club to do some more painting, possibly finish the bends...Brian spent 2 hours taping the track to speed up the painting process then had to leave for a prior appointment

   

Kev got painting, it's Blackfriar polyurethane floor paint, available in various colours and applied with a brush...with hindsight a roller would have been better, probably quicker and a more even finish


...this section was painted in 45 minutes

   

The other bends were painted in another 45 minutes

   

Whilst the paint was still wet the tape was lifted

   
   

As it was only 3 O'clock Kev decided to carry on and start the straight sections...by 4 O'clock the rest of the track was done including the dead strip which is now painted brown

   
   
   


Normally we cover the track with a plastic sheet to keep dust off but this wasn't really possible after painting so Kev returned on Sunday afternoon to check all was OK.


Paint was dry, no problem areas so a few test laps with untreated tyres and grip is now fantastic compared to before.

The main advantage of this will be a wider choice of tyres, rather than trying to find original NSR Ultras and treating them it will be easy for everyone as most of us don't treat tyres before racing mainly because it's a faff.


If at some time in the future we decide to repaint, it would be much easier with a fine roller.

With Rolex as suppliers of transponders for F1 lap time measurement, each race team whether it be Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes or Aston Martin etc is required to fit these transponders so they can compete together on track. The transponders track lap times to a high level of precision and the race winners are those with the finest combination of best drivers, best racing tech and best good fortune.

The question is can we replicate this mix in the 1/32 world of digital slot car racing?

In the past the answer has been NO because we were locked into one company’s digital system be-it SSD, D132, SCX-A or O2 or Scorpius.

However, as O2 and Scorpius bring increasing levels of compatibility with SSD/D132 this is changing. While I believe their main motivation is backwards compatibility with mass market products, a new opportunity is also emerging…

If we can identify a ‘transponder technology’ equivalent to what Rolex are doing for F1, then we can have brands such as SSD, SCX, O2 and Scorpius racing side-by-side.

In this case the winners are likely to be those with the best combination of excellent driver skills, excellent digital tech and a certain amount of good fortune. Sound familiar?

So is this possible?

Over the past six months I, with my collaborators, have been developing and testing the necessary transponders and lap sensors to achieve this aim and it’s all looking very promising.

Already, cars with SSD decoders can race against cars with SCX-A decoders and also against cars with O2 decoders. Adding Scorpius into the mix should be straight forward.

The necessary lap sensing and pit lane sensing is already undergoing field trials.

So to summarise, the necessary transponders, track sensors and suitable rms are all at an advanced stage of development. 

So 2024 should be a lot of fun!

c

(If I have posted this in the wrong section, would a mod. move it to a more appropriate section, please?)

Some of my track sections regularly suffer from loose rail joints.  This is, in part, due to the fact that being a rally loop the base is considerably uneven in parts.
I would best describe my layout as semi-permanent, so it doesn't have to be taken apart often - I think the last time was at least 5 years ago, and I have no plans for it any time soon.
The proper solution is probably to solder jumper wires between each track section on the underside, but has anyone tried running solder into the rail joints (ie from the top)?  If so, how successful was this?

Thanks in anticipation.

I have a Blacked out window version I would like to convert to full detail, so if anyone has a spare window glass, (I don't mind a little scuff etc) please let me know.

I am assuming the GT3 and Road cars aren't the same glasswork, so its the GT3 version I need it for.

Thanks :)

I am in the UK.

Avant Slot have certainly gained a reputation for their interesting and varied range of slot cars. 

Their recently released catalogue for the remainder of 2023, and the whole of 2024 seems to suggest that approach will continue. 

It's a hugely diverse output, with a great range of rally and raid cars, several Le Mans cars, two classic transporters, an F1 car, a Dakar winning truck, and several GT1 & GT3 cars...