3rd-Jun-20, 02:44 PM
Hello Brian,
The AC plug-packs were abandoned pretty quickly, presumably when somebody compared the actual production costs and that the non-sport plug-pack could do the job just as well.
Apart from the earliest days, Scalextric power supplies have all been proprietary designs rather than off-the-shelf so presumably the design team tasked with producing the dual-power unit thought that since there was going to be a circuit board in the base it would make financial sense to include all the electrical components there. The plug-pack could then be cheaper to make - even a resettable fuse module could be simply hard-wired inside. No doubt the decision would have been made on projected cost savings.
When the Scalextric Start system arrived, it was back to a very basic/simple wiring arrangement. DC plug-pack and no-dynamic braking meant that the power-base is just a simple connector, providing the same function as the bundle of wires we had back in the seventies.
AC current is generally considered not as safe as DC so there may have been concerns with the safe operation by 5 year old users. Hornby seem to like retaining that rating, presumably in keeping with their toy-marketing.
In recent years the Hornby strategy has become a mystery to all outside the directorate and "Sport" now seems to have lapsed. However, the analogue power-bases and controllers have become standardised across Micro and "Standard Scalextric" so that makes sense.
Hopefully all will be revealed in Adrian Norman's autobiography - bound to be a best-seller!
Leo
The AC plug-packs were abandoned pretty quickly, presumably when somebody compared the actual production costs and that the non-sport plug-pack could do the job just as well.
Apart from the earliest days, Scalextric power supplies have all been proprietary designs rather than off-the-shelf so presumably the design team tasked with producing the dual-power unit thought that since there was going to be a circuit board in the base it would make financial sense to include all the electrical components there. The plug-pack could then be cheaper to make - even a resettable fuse module could be simply hard-wired inside. No doubt the decision would have been made on projected cost savings.
When the Scalextric Start system arrived, it was back to a very basic/simple wiring arrangement. DC plug-pack and no-dynamic braking meant that the power-base is just a simple connector, providing the same function as the bundle of wires we had back in the seventies.
AC current is generally considered not as safe as DC so there may have been concerns with the safe operation by 5 year old users. Hornby seem to like retaining that rating, presumably in keeping with their toy-marketing.
In recent years the Hornby strategy has become a mystery to all outside the directorate and "Sport" now seems to have lapsed. However, the analogue power-bases and controllers have become standardised across Micro and "Standard Scalextric" so that makes sense.
Hopefully all will be revealed in Adrian Norman's autobiography - bound to be a best-seller!
Leo
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