Derby Talk

I am feeling generous because the season has not started. I have a bunch of old Judge parts that I can scavange and build whatever you need for $35 including shipping. Let me know the lane spacing.

www.newdirections.ws

My customer did want the light tree, so that is part of it. He wanted it bad enough to cut off a foot of his track so I could work out the details. It was my first experience with this particular track, and I am very impressed by the clever profile that allows the start gate to be fabricated from a ...

Well, I had a track owner ask me if I could fit my design to it, so I agreed to give it a try. By the way, wasn't it you that created GPRM, when there was already some derby software out there?

Announcing a new format in our line-up of remote controlled solenoid start gages, this one fits the SuperTrack by SuperTimer.
http://www.newdirections.ws/Supertrack.html

I bought the Space Derby kit from BSA, and put it all together, getting everything "right" using every bit of advice I can find on the web. Still, I can't get it to fly more than 5 feet down the line. I was looking at the propeller, and it does not seem to have the curve that would really ...

The currents do seem a bit high. My timers use 12 ma. for the illuminators, and pairs of lanes are wired in series, so the total illuminator draws 6 ma per lane. This gives 20 continuous hours of operation from AA cells on a 6 lane track. Total saturation of the photo sensors is achieved at a separa...

Our favorite shipper has chosen us to be part of their Centennial Tour. See http://www.newdirections.ws/UPS.html
or google: UPS Centennial Tour

You are reading correctly. I use a rather small solenoid which overcomes the balance of forces between the cars trying to open the gate, and a tension spring keeping the gate upright. You must be willing to monitor and adjust for changing conditions. But this is very fast and simple. I could use a h...

I have the same problem. For the start gate, I tell them to put two holes
on the straddle guide center lines, and I supply #6 x 3/8 panhead screws.

Using the Green light from the tree would work, and it actually sounds like the best way.

I make start gates, finish lines, and light trees. I don't get involved in modifying the MagicTrack, although I am quite familiar with it, and have samples of it here that I worked out design details and photographed assembly steps. The thickness of the track material is only .056". If you coun...

That would work. That is essentially how I mount my solenoid start gate to this particular track. See
http://www.newdirections.ws/images/MagicMount1.gif
http://www.newdirections.ws/images/MagicMount3.gif

used with derby software ... for timing purposes? The Judge I shipped to this customer did not have computer capability, so I did not look at this aspect. There is only one timer, so the elapsed time of both cars could not be measured independently. By logically OR ing the separate magnetic switche...

PVC cement, AKA MIBK, used to join pipes together does not seem to be the right stuff here. It is very volatile, and loses most of its mass in curing. I would suggest plaster of paris, which would cure in a minute, and could be flicked aside when disassembling the track. You might also sidestep the ...

The DerbyMagic track is light weight, and in most cases not strong enough to mount timers directly to it. I have made a special version of my timer specifically for this track.
See http://www.newdirections.ws/DerbyMagic.html