We are hosting an open competition at our venue in Marlbrough,as above. This will follow the format as run by Rockingham and their rules last year with 2 tracks to race on. You can drive different cars in each heat but for the finals they must have competed in the heats. The main track will be our wood track as shown at Gaydon and the other Policar.
Eligible cars will be minis,
Opel
Escort
Simca 1000
Nsu tt
Fiat Abarth
Renault Alpine
Abarth A112
Alfa Gta
Bmw 2002
Renault R8
VW Sirocco

Rules are being formalised and will be posted shortly and are essentially the same as BRM's and Rockinghams and very simple

We hope to see you and if coming please let me know 
email jamware@live.co.uk

Roger James

 Good Afternoon,

The Registration/payment date 1st August 2024
Cars to have arrived by Monday 2nd September 2024

Entrant List update
Gerry F (2)
Wayne H (2)
Graham E (2)
Kevan R (2)
Andy C (2)
Kevin V (2)
Chris K (2)
Jeremy B (2)
AdeC (2)
Ed K (2)
Paul C (1)
Tony P (2)
Jim S (1) 
ALS (1)
Steve R (2)
Sam D (1)




Technical Rules, eligible motor list, Car lists

Registration Document (each car must be entered separately)
https://forms.gle/6coGdiqR3yvURy2f6

Registration List of Entrants and Events Entered
will be updated as Registration Forms are received.
   


Entry cost
£15 for one car, £20 for 2 cars

Rounds
I have also had a positive response from two additional clubs, East Lancashire Slot Car Club and Wirral Slot Car Club as hosts for this next proxy, so it should make the series even more exciting.

   

We're back at the Barn for some May Day oval mayhem on Wednesday. This is our second Nascar round of the year and features another 'intermediate' sized oval, inspired by Gateway Motorsport Park in Madison, Illinois...

   

The two ends of the oval have very different characteristics, making Turns 1 & 2 a challenge.

Doors will open a little earlier than advertised - 6.15pm - and heats will begin at 6.45. This is to accommodate the large attendances we've had this year and means we will finish as close to 9.30 as we can. If anyone may have an issue with the earlier time, please let us know in advance and we'll make arrangements to get you on the race sheet.

WHO Gold & Silver rated drivers spent yesterday working hard and having fun to develop our digital racing at the Barn...

   

We spent the morning trying out some of the features of RCS64 that we haven't used so far and also a good half hour finding a throttle profile that works with the Scalextric saloon cars fitted with slim-can FF motors. This is what we found...

• Damage doesn't work with our racing formats - probably great with small groups, but not for us.
  
• By not permitting refuelling at tyre changing at the same time, we have a bit more strategy introduced. This is the authentic GT / Le Mans way.
  
• ABS didn't make a huge difference with the low rev, low torque motors we use. However, we may give it as an option for the Tin Top Saturdays.
  
• Limiting the sets of tyres doesn't work as expected - limiting to one set gives one set per pit stop. Limiting to zero only allows that compound to be fitted at the start.
  
• We found PROMAG30 to be the ideal throttle profile for the FF motor on a big track. A huge improvement!
  

As a result, an optional FF Car Profile will be set up for all the autumn Saturdays from this year. This means slim-can cars can be run without a motor change, although that will remain an option.

ABS will be an option in November and December this year. Some drivers described the braking as more gradual - although not great in the wet. 0 is the default setting (ie no ABS) and then four active settings, with 1 being a small effect and 4 being a noticeable lag. Many of us either didn't notice a difference or preferred ABS off. ABS cannot be set up by drivers in the race start screen, but can be changed in the pit menu. It can be set by race control in each driver profile, so drivers will need to request a setting at the start of the day for all their cars.

We may use the separate refuelling and tyre changing option for the Birkett Relay in October and then in the 2025 GT Championship.

The afternoon saw longer races and the trial of a new format...

   

We did really enjoy racing on Mike's near-replica of Meadowdale. It has been on his to-do list for a while. With a few tweaks, especially to pit entry, it is scheduled to return in November or December for a Tin Top Saturday.

The pit entry issues were highlighted by the big Carrera Nascars - these are very different to the usual Scalextric runners, so we want to make sure all our track designs are tried and tested with the big beasts...

   

We also ran a few unusual cars, including Dean's set of SCX Renaults...

   

And a Mustang GT4 made famous by a tuning series in the Jadlam blog...

   

The new format is for the GT Saturday in June and replaces the club car rotation. We'll be running a GT pairs race with two ten minute parts, rather like the St Mary's Trophy format at the Goodwood Revival event. Each driver in the pair has a ten minute race - and they can use a car each, or share the same car. All the cars must run to the GT Championship rule set, but cannot be a car that will be raced in the afternoon. The old GT club cars will be available, if required.

This does see the end of the WHO GT club car rotation after ten years, so we have new pairs or team races to start each Saturday and help us learn the track...

June: Rotation replaced by GT pairs race
September: Rotation replaced by St Mary's Trophy pairs race
October: Birkett Relay now 5 x 1 hour races, with 45 minutes practice at start of the day and a half-hour lunch break.
November & December: Rotation replaced by Group A (Sierra, BMW E30, Commodore) team race

We raced the Slot.it Group Cs with much enjoyment yesterday, so they will be allocated the fifth leg of the Birkett Relay.

The 2024 WHO/digital Guide will be amended with the changes to this year's Saturdays and a version 2.0 published very soon.

Work preparing the 2025 Guide starts now and it will be published in early October.

The car was shot on a white background with no reflection...AI added the background and reflection.

I grew up with Scalextric. My dad and I built an elongated figure of 8 track as a kid on a board. The board was on the ground in our converted greenhouse. I put in a pit lane, albeit painted not an actual track section. I built garages and landscaped it. Not bad for a 12 year old. Even by todays standards it was very cool. All my mates used to come straight from school and we would race till dinner time. Lots of good memories and a lifetime fondness of Scalextric begun.

Fast forward to 2006 when I bought our kids a set, analogue. Scalextric, of course. I soon converted it to digital and I learned to modify it so it was more reliable, a more powerful power base, 3rd party controllers and a nice race management system. 
From there some of you would know Scorpius was born…..mainly out of frustration of the standard system.

Fast forward again to 2024. And the MPD is born. It stands for Multi Purpose Decoder. It could easily stand for Multi Protocol Decoder, ie a chip that can run on multiple brands, ie Scorpius, Scalextric Sport Digital, Carrera primarily.

Back to 2017. Hornby dump their Advanced Powerbase and brings out their Arc Pro offering. Hobby shops started to reduce stock due to reduced profit margins and an online store was started, which upset hobby shops. Lots of leftover stick dumped at too cheap a price also upset retailers who in retaliation simply stopped selling it. Marketing outside the UK ceased. Distribution networks reduced. Third party developers locked out except the app. Were all these factors combined  the beginning of the end? I think so.
Forum activity for SSD is not even 10% of what it was a decade ago.
Stock here in Oz becomes hard to get. Currently the biggest and most famous slot shop in Oz only has old stock on its site. They don’t even have a box set. They sell individual cars, the Arc Pro powerbase and track pieces, although not all. Other hobby shops have stopped stocking it. Sales are a fraction of a decade ago. Not one upgrade has been offered for 6 years now. Nothing. Not a penny spent. 

Carrera, based in Austria, start to dominate the market with a strong worldwide distribution network and good quantities of stock. New products are added regularly. Lots of digital track pieces have been added, along with wireless controller upgrades, Bluetooth connection, driver stations etc. The product looks professional and SmartRace have an excellent app for it.

So, my dilemma. Should I can Scalextric compatibility on the MPD?
I’d there enough SSD users out there to justify the effort and cost to implement SSD protocols? As of today my feeling sadly is no. 

Is it basically dead? Outside of the UK I fear yes. Inside the UK I see Carrera slowly getting a foothold also. I could be wrong.

So should I or shouldn’t I? That is the question. As a business decision, not an emotional one I fear it could be a dead loss of time (valuable) and money. Not a good thing.

There is no mention either of Hornby 
upgrading anytime soon, if ever. And if they do will they leave a couple of doors open for 3rd party developers? I fear not.

So it looks like Scalextric will be removed from the MPD project. Even though we just redesigned the bridge rectifier to suit SSD and still be friendly with Carrera. 

So that’s my dilemma.
Thanks for reading.

Rick
Scorpius Wireless

Links: ways to listen

Can a 70s Scalextric Ferrari on new tyres really keep up with a Policar F1?  Was the mid-90s Ferrari F40 GT a mass hallucination?

Plus, Nick buys his first Policar (no, really) and Scott learns the hard way about racing digital with weather effects activated.

All this plus the latest Top 10 selling slot cars from Pendle Slot Racing.

Hi all,
I am getting out of slot cars so I have a lot of cars for sale, this being the first installment.

Prices for the cars below are without P+P

P+P to UK will be £4 for 1 to 2 boxed or 1 to 4 unboxed cars I will have to work out postage for other destinations.

First up we have new, or at most test lap only cars boxed. 

     
 
2x Scalextric F430, the white on the "Sara" car does look to have discoloured a little from age, I would like £35 each or the pair for £60

   

2x Scalextric Bentley GT3 £15 each, Scalextric Aston Martin Vantage GT3, £25

   

SCX Aston Martin Vantage GT3 £20

Now onto Used on my track, some may have missing mirrors, or ariel's, so study pics please. Most have wood guides so will either need trimming or replacing for plastic track.  I would prefer to sell these in their their pairs.

       

NSR Mclarens, converted to inline with NSR pods and Baby King 19K motors, the hubs may not be OE but they are all aluminium and air hubs at the rear. glued tyres.
I am after £70 for the pair.

   

Revoslot Posche GT1 Stock apart from Revo Slot wood guides fitted and one size up chassis nuts to enable more float. £80 the pair.

       

Pioneer Dodge Chargers, General Lee and General Grant. All stock £45 the pair.

       

Sideways Group 5 Mustang and Capri. Mostly stock apart from wheels and inserts, tyres and guides. £60 the pair.

       

Scalextric Mclaren F1s. Amato 3dp Chassis, Slot it motor pods, upgraded gears and axles with original motors and wheels, slot it tyres. £60 the pair.

       

Scalextric Ford Sierra and BMW M3 touring cars. PCR chassis Slot motor pods, original motors upgraded guides gears wheels and tyres. £50 the pair.

   
       

Carrera Superbirds. Amato universal 3dp IL chassis, slot it motor pods and gearing, aluminimum wheels NSR tyres, reworked original interiors, NC5 Motors, Wood track guides.
Pair 1 #71 & #42 £70 the pair
Pair 2 #14 & #99 £70 the pair

       

SRC Toyota LMP. 3dp KAT chassis, Scaleauto AW pod, slot it gears, aluminium wheels, air hub rears, I think the motor is a Scaleauto SC-0029 22.5k, wood guide.
Used for a couple of club races but no breakages. £50

Advertised elsewhere.
As usual, PM me any questions, thanks for looking !

   
Hello we just picked up a Walltrackers race set at an estate sale but it is missing the cars. We are making this a part of my 4 year olds bedroom decor and he’s really into this kind of stuff any way. Can someone help guide me through what I need to look for in finding replacement cars. I don’t want to get ripped off or purchase something that will not work. Thanks so very much in advance for any assistance 

Jess O

The purpose of Smart LEDs has been discussed on an earlier separate thread:

https://slotracer.online/community/showt...2#pid35942

One application is to add additional IR car strobe IDs. For example IDs 7-10 to expand the SSD system. Another example is to provide an alternative method for oXigen lap counting based on an extension of the SSD six car method.

I with a group of amazing and supportive friends are exploring both of these options and others too ;)

In this post I will focus on how to wire a Smart LED onto each of the three recent/present versions of oXigen wireless decoder.

In each case the Smart LED requires connection to four points on the decoder:

RED: +3.3 Volts
YELLOW: LED+ (or LED Anode)
WHITE: LED- (or LED Cathode)
BLACK: Zero Volts

Equipped with a fine tipped soldering iron the correct wiring points are shown below for each of the recent/present oXigen decoders. As you will see, the external LED attachment points are used in each case plus two further connect points for power.

c