Derby Talk

That looks like a good candidate for an electric release. I'd mount it perpendicular to the deck and keep the existing handle just to make it easy. I think that with the solenoid attached to the track it would minimize any shake.

Have you considered adding weight plates to the rear uprights also?

I would like to see a new design to the start gate. Have a trip handle that you pull back or push forward. I've been trying to think of a way to do that without redesigning the whole start gate. I'm not familiar with how the Freedom track gate operates. From the picture, it looks like the handle is...

If you have a smooth tuning board with a foam bumper at the end, you can let the car roll down the board from a fixed starting point and record the distance it rebounds. The farther it bounces back, the faster it was going. Don't even need a rail.

The track our district uses for all the packs doesn't have a foam bumper for the start gate. Here is a video of how the NPWDRL start gate swings. I believe this has the Owens mod but before the bracket racer mod. I don't know what else was done to get it to swing down fast and not bang into the und...

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I like the idea of the party hat tips, since that's easy enough to lay hold of. Will have to try some of the other possibilities as well! Still think drilling 3/8" holes and getting the lead free pwd weights at the hobby store is pretty easy. Not arguing that...

How would I change the angle of the slope? If you have levelers on your track you can adjust the angle easily with those, if you don't, then you can adjust the angle by sliding the leg hinges slightly higher or lower on the hill. And there is no such thing as being "too obsessed with pinewood ...

PBT, I built the wooden track from these plans; http://www.pinewoodpro.com/images/GP%20 ... 0Plans.pdf
Cost about $400 in materials for a four lane track to build plus labor. Took me 80 hours. I'd offer to sell it to you, but the shipping from STL to Seattle would likely be prohibitive.

Why not just make a minimum diameter of 1.18" & .360" wide, then specify "no removal of material from inside the wheels allowed". It's quick and easy to check that with a $20 gauge from Max-V. Our rules also add that the wheels can't be drilled, spokes and lettering must be i...

Davet, if you're going to be adding 1/64" plywood to the bottom I think you'll be fine with your current setup. You're nearly at 17 grams on the DFW already, by the time you add a skin of plywood and a sheet of label paper on top I bet you'll be pushing 19 grams or more. I didn't see where you ...

I went to a race with a coworker. His daughter's car was checked in using the old style Max-V box. It appeared to fit the car snugly and I know that car was spot on 7". I don't believe you would have got the door shut on 7 1/8" unless someone had broke out the start pin? I liked that desig...

BallBoy wrote: That video was mesmerizing. In addition to the intent of the video, I found the movement of the springs fascinating. I guess it doesn't take much to entertain me.

Lol! Me too! There's things you see in slo-mo that you'd never notice at full speed.

If you'll skip ahead to the 40 second mark to save time, you'll see why quick start fronts aren't needed on a modern start gate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ALgd5a9yss Those are .4g bearing razors. Very little inertia and even they can't keep up with the pins. (Sorry about the razoring in the v...

DerbyAddicted wrote:I thought all the tubes were Revell.

You can buy "BSA approved" wheels by Revell which are made in China at some craft stores and hobby shops but if you go to the Scout Shop they sell USA made BSA wheels.

Yes sir! I'll send you a copy when I get home later tonight. Thanks Randy!

Randy, I installed the latest update last night. Now I'm able to save the custom timer info but I can't test it. If I click the test button it stalls when it tries to initialize the timer.