[BAracer]

So...

I wired up the controller to a piece of track following the diagram supplied with the metal cartridge. I checked it three times.

I switched the power supply on. 

The green light on the controller came on.

And then things get a bit muddled...I am not sure which exact order the following things happened, but it was all within about a second.

I pulled the trigger
I put a Scalextric car on the track
The green light on the controller went out 
I think I heard a sizzle noise

Now the green light on the controller doesn't come on, and the car hasn't moved.

Shall I just bite the bullet and get another handle so I can check if my current one is just duff, or are there any simple tests I can do with the current handle to see if it is faulty?