18th-Dec-23, 11:12 AM
Just a few points of clarification regarding the above APB upgrade posts:
1/ The optical isolator block.
This is an alternative rather than addition to the widely used ‘Riko’ cable i.e. the opto block contains both optical isolation I describe PLUS the chip which converts from USB to RS485 - the latter being the format required for communications into the APB. Optical isolation is modern practice when using the RS485 protocol in industrial environments. Hence the existence of this off-the-shelf ‘block’. The purpose of optical isolation is to remove ground loops and to better protect the system from noise spikes and electrostatic damage. Optical isolation achieves these objectives very effectively in industrial settings. That said, whether the approach helps protect the APB from it’s known sensitivities to electrostatic damage is unproven at this point - time will tell :)
2/ The high speed sensors.
These upgraded sensor boards enable the APB to be located in places on the race track where speeds may reach 10m/s and still achieve 100% accurate lap detection. The standard powerbase is good to approx 6-7m/s which is slightly less than the max speed of standard out-of-the-box Scalextric F1 cars. So this upgrade is all about moving the APB into a niche ‘enthusiast’ zone where higher performance cars (e.g. NSR in my case) are being raced on the SSD platform.
3/ The pit sensor board.
This is based on the RCS64 (and Kare) software architecture and firmware. It provides an alternative solution to the ‘Pit-Pro’ approach for RCS64 and it adds in start finish lighting control as a bonus. This is all thanks to the RCS team and Kare’s very nice firmware. It’s a compact solution.
All three of the above have been tested extensively on a routed track and plastic track over many months - many thanks to Dave L for those many months of endurance testing and racing support.
c
1/ The optical isolator block.
This is an alternative rather than addition to the widely used ‘Riko’ cable i.e. the opto block contains both optical isolation I describe PLUS the chip which converts from USB to RS485 - the latter being the format required for communications into the APB. Optical isolation is modern practice when using the RS485 protocol in industrial environments. Hence the existence of this off-the-shelf ‘block’. The purpose of optical isolation is to remove ground loops and to better protect the system from noise spikes and electrostatic damage. Optical isolation achieves these objectives very effectively in industrial settings. That said, whether the approach helps protect the APB from it’s known sensitivities to electrostatic damage is unproven at this point - time will tell :)
2/ The high speed sensors.
These upgraded sensor boards enable the APB to be located in places on the race track where speeds may reach 10m/s and still achieve 100% accurate lap detection. The standard powerbase is good to approx 6-7m/s which is slightly less than the max speed of standard out-of-the-box Scalextric F1 cars. So this upgrade is all about moving the APB into a niche ‘enthusiast’ zone where higher performance cars (e.g. NSR in my case) are being raced on the SSD platform.
3/ The pit sensor board.
This is based on the RCS64 (and Kare) software architecture and firmware. It provides an alternative solution to the ‘Pit-Pro’ approach for RCS64 and it adds in start finish lighting control as a bonus. This is all thanks to the RCS team and Kare’s very nice firmware. It’s a compact solution.
All three of the above have been tested extensively on a routed track and plastic track over many months - many thanks to Dave L for those many months of endurance testing and racing support.
c
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