When you’re ready for a Cobra Duel click the link. 

NEW VIDEO take a look ?

Warning : Monochrome layout, no great scenery that others have. 

It’s temporary and built on a double bed. This is the winter 23-24 version. 

This short film features a pair of Cobras running as ‘pace’ cars.

Cobra Duel - Scalextric - Slot Car
https://youtu.be/eXWM2jB31cs

Hi all

Starting this journey after years of planning and collecting of 2nd hand parts. Building an ArcPro track for my garage based in Stockholm, Sweden. Nice to be here! 

You can see some pics of my track plans in the "Planning" forum 

Hi
First post for me. I have been planning this track for a long time and I have been collecting parts for a long time. I recently managed to finally find a 2nd hand ArcPro for about €200 including lots of track pieces and three worn out F1 cars. So now I am getting ready to make this finally happen for real! I've attached in progress image of my plan using SketchUp. I have almost all pieces needed apart from the pit lane.

Open for feedback!

Question: As mentioned I plan to use ArcPro and was wondering if it possible to run digital Scalextric with a variable powwer supply? And if so how do I go about hooking it up?

  Hello chaps.  You'll probably recognise my screen name from The Other Forum, aka The T***** Show.  Here's hoping the issues over there stay over there.

Hi Guys.
    So we have the C7042, released in 2011. It featured the ability to run the track protocols via a computer and 3rd party race software. 
Developers loved it because they could manipulate the track data to switch lights, add simulations and more. It is however long gone. Dead. And so too all 3rd party software packages aa well as the after market firmware upgrade known as ICP.  And pretty much everything that could be done has been. So from a developers aspect there is nothing to be gained for the developer or the enthusiasts.


Fast forward to late 2017 and Hornby replaces the C7042 with their new Arc Pro with wireless throttles and an app. However it is already 6 years old, no throttle protocol has been released to 3rd party developers. The app although great for basic racing but lacks compared to the previous C7042.

What can be done to improve the system?

Powerbase. It seems to have enough power do power modifications are not really required like previous SSD offerings. Could the entire firmware be re-written? Yes. But it has no LCD screen so would require a device to configure it. The lap counting has an unacceptable 1.8 second delay which is both annoying and confusing. It is limited to 6 car IDs and wheats will be. Even if I could increase the number of cars it would no longer be compatible, it would no longer be Scalextric Sport Digital and it would essentially be a stand alone system, which would fail miserably. And who would put effort into a 6 year old product probably nearing the end of its life.

Throttles. The Arc Pro throttle is very basic. You can operate 64 throttle steps, change lanes and operate a button for braking (non adjustable). It is also wireless. Replacing just the throttle with a deluxe controller would offer little if any benefit.

Car decoder. Here the amount of functions that can be added is huge. An after market controller could essentially add many cool and deep functions. But how to implement and access is the question. Here the right team could offer the community long awaited improvements and added functionality.

Lane changer. Here also many cool and deep functions can be added. This also has so much potential it’s mind blowing. 

So there we have one developers thoughts of where the Arc Pro is at today and what is what are the obvious avenues of improvement.

So yeah, the car and lane change decoders are where it’s at for real and worthwhile  developments.

Over the next 12 months I’ll be building and introducing car and lane change decoders with much added and needed functionality. We won’t fantasise about more than 6 car IDs as it simply won’t be compatible to the Scalextric protocol. But we can add many very cool abd advanced functions to spice up the lives of Hornby enthusiasts. Stay tuned as we progress. 

Our first added function is simply lights using our new MPD SSD car decoder working with standard Arc Pro powerbase and controllers. But how to switch lights using a standard Arc Pro system upgraded by adding just the Scorpius MPD car decoder?

So how does a 2023 highly advanced slot car product interact with a 17 year old system using 40 year old DCC protocols? 
I know. I’ll tell you soon.

Rick

In Car Pro (ICP)
===========

A gentleman by the name of Ian Harding did some great work a good few years back creating third-party firmware for Scalextric decoders (in particular those using the 16F630 microcontroller such as the C7005/6 and C8515 revs F/G and the older version of the C8516).

The code is known as ICP v3.3 and it has several advantages over standard Scalextric firmware as follows:

1/ it removes analog mode thereby reducing power surges as vehicles traverse lane changers (or other dead-spots).
2/ when used with the APB it enables adjustable braking strength and control of 
vehicle lighting including functioning brake lights.
3/ it adds 7bit motor control via throttle mapping giving finer resolution at lower speeds. Standard SSD is normally limited to 6bit resolution.

Many APB users over the years have enjoyed the opportunity to upgrade their decoders to unlock these additional features. They, including me, all owe a big thank you to Ian.

With the introduction of ARC PRO and C8515 rev H decoder, both a few years back, I took a further look at updates to ICP firmware (building on Ian’s great contribution).

I transferred the firmware across to the later C8515 rev H decoders (which are based on the newer 16F1503 microcontroller) and I added the following:

1/ IR LED strobe timeslots changed from 48 microseconds to 45.75 microseconds to improve lap counting reliability across all other SSD powerbases (including ARC PRO). The v3.3 firmware was specifically designed and tested for use with the APB.

2/ the 7 bit throttle curve was modified for improved compatibility with ARC PRO internal throttle curves plus options were added for both ‘standard’ motors (A06) and ‘hot’ motors (A00).

3/ Improvements were introduced to suppress a noise related ‘non-power-up’ issue which affected some users and which was unique to ARC PRO when only lightly loaded.

This updated release is known as ICP v4.0.1 and it has been widely shared from 2019 onwards. All user feedback has been positive with the exception of two users who are/were operating braided/routed SSD tracks.

On this basis ICP v4.0.1 remains the latest release version but any new users should be aware it is not recommended for use with braided/routed tracks.  This applies both to release versions v3.3 and v4.0.1. Copper taped tracks are reported to be OK.

So does the ICP story stop there?- well no and yes.

Myself and fellow enthusiast Dave spent a fair bit of time looking into the braided track issue. We drew firm conclusions around the underlying cause. ICP v3.3 and v4.0.1 were found to have a vulnerability to electrically generated noise caused by braid-to-braid surface friction. We then proceeded to develop new firmware code which fully suppresses this noise characteristic.

The results have been highly positive and the learning will be applied to all future decoder firmware design in which we are involved.

That said, given that very few SSD users have braided/routed tracks there is no current plan to release an updated version of ICP.

It remains a possibility for the future.

c

Inspired by Slingshots DIY Controller….

I wondered if it is possible to make a powerbase for Scalextric Sport Digital from development boards and if it could drive and ID change cars in a usable fashion. Turns out the answer is yes. 
Furthermore using wireless or wired controllers works fine. 

As an added benefit it is possible to put together this system without soldering! provided you have a bench power supply and an old PB4 track piece to use/abuse.

     

Hi all,

I'm looking for recommendations for a razor saw or similar to cut the bases off figures for my track? I'm planning on drilling into their feet and legs too put in a short length of piano wire or similar and then into a hole in the baseboard.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

John

In the mid 60's I was far too young to have developed any decent scratchbuilding skills, so , like many, the Dynamic range of motor mounts, guide tongues etc. were a godsend, and enabled me to construct cars that would run round pretty decently,.......I did leave the Dynamic fold in the late 60's early 70's as my skills improved to the extent that I could construct a somewhat competitive scratchbuilt chassis, but I did continue to use some of the Dynamic motor mounts for my 1/32 club cars.

With a big box of Dynamic parts still on hand, I have built a few cars using these parts for some local 1/24 vintage fun runs/racing,.........this being the latest.....it is built to represent what would have been a very quick Dynamic build in 1965/66/67.

Cheers
Chris Walker

Mostly period correct (ish), except for the guide,.........I have a NOS one on the way.






The one piece pan assembly sits on the guide tongue, and does move,.........initially the associated "rattle" was too much for me, so , I attached some bits square tubing to the motor mount and used some silicone lead wire coating pushed over some piano wire pins to quieten things down,.....this also eliminated the free movement of the pan section (replaced by flex) which has improved the handling






The motor is a "Classic" FT16D, modified by MR. Havlicek.