[woodcote]

You’ll need something like an opto-coupler circuit in between the dead strip and the PC to protect the PC port you connect to. The spikes from a dead strip risks blowing the port and potentially damaging the computer. And that connection would be most reliable if using a parallel (printer) or serial port - some desktops can be fitted with these. Or an older laptop (Windows 98 vintage) will usually have a parallel port. A good quality serial to USB adapter should work reliably with a newer laptop, but cheap adapters are a risk. 

That means dead strip to optocoupler relay (one channel per lane) - output to serial plug - serial to USB adapter - to USB port. No guarantee that LapTimer 2000 will work reliably with that set up - or with Windows 10 or 11. It is an old programme (designed for Windows 98?) and with serial port connection.

The best package for a modern (Windows 10) computer is Race Coordinator and an Arduino board. Although there’s no info on using a dead strip in the instruction pdf, I have written up one option here: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...p?tid=2061

In terms of hardware, the Race Coordinator option is no more expensive than what you’ll need for LapTimer 2000.