Derby Talk

I am wondering if anyone out there has or has used the Space Derby track made by Best Track?
If so, can you share some information and how it works and if it is worth the money? THANK YOU.

Hey ejj44: My pack has just purchased the Best track and the Judge timing system. My son and I have set it up a few times and found that the plastic tubing (straws) that Best track supplies for stopping the ships at the end of the track we're to short. The ship could hit the finish line vertical supports of the track. But a call to John over at the judge (timing system) he was able to give us a much longer and larger diameter plastic tubing (straw). Problem is fixed. The other thing is that the weights that Best track suggests to use, my pack didn't want to buy them so I found some very neat way of making the weights at home from John at the Judge timing system. You should check out the web site John has over at the judge timing systems. He has made some very neat weights to hold the tracks in place. We made them and it works perfect. Have fun

Using cement for BestTrack weights is located at
http://www.newdirections.ws/isd.html

A weight option that we use on our home made track is a used 1 gallon milk/water jug filled with water (8 pounds).

Da Graphite Kid

We have bought 4 of them with the Judge timing systems for our Pack. We'll be using them for the first time at the end of the month. They are correct about the straws that they come with, but the Judge timing system repaces those. Also, we found a fitness store that donated us their overstock old weights for the track. Much better for storage than the concrete. We have found that the feet on the Best Track are prone to slipage on hard smooth floors even with adequate weight. on carpet or rough concrete they should be fine, but we are thinking of using rubber mats or foot pads for slick floors.

To keep the track feet from slipping on a waxed tile floor we used some 'grip matting' that we found at Wal-Mart in the kitchen section I believe. Its original intent was to be used under a dish drain rack I think.

Da Graphite Kid

We just got done with our first space derby. We used the Best Track and it worked out very well. The only problem that we had was the stands slipped on the gym floor - which I see the previous post suggested using an anti-skid pad. I will try that next year.

The boys had a riot! Being this was not our first year, we made it a non-competitive race. The scouts and their Dads had fun winding and watching their rockets fly down the track...some made it to the end and some didn't.

We are also considering starting up a Girl Scout pinewood and space derby...as a lot of Girl Scouts were there also enjoying the races..

We just completed our first space derby. Kid's had fun, but it was very frustrating for us. The Best Track ends slid on the smooth concrete floor, And some of the starting gates did rise enough to hold the rockets. We used The Judge timers and had multiple issues with getting good times with the systems. Sometimes the fastest rockets would register times of .0001, and sometimes they would not trigger at all. With the 5# of weight on each of the lines recommended by The Judge, the backs of the track stands were rising off the floor with only the 20# on them. We will be setting up the tracks again to try to diagnose the issues and then contact the manufacturers. Hopefully we can solve these issues. We didn't even award the medals that we bought because we didn't have any placements that we felt were accurate.

Something positive to report is that we used the PowerPro Specra braided fishing line recommended elsewhere on this board. We used the 50# test which is the diameter of regular 12# monofilament. I have nothing bit praise for this stuff. It would take any knot, not just a fishing line knot. Never once broke, and the carriers just flew down it!

A time of .0001 for all lanes is transmitted by the Judge if it did not receive the start signal. Make sure your magnet is being pulled away from the switch to a separation of at least 1.5". When the Judge gets that signal, it responds by a steady green light lasting 1.0 seconds.

You say the track stands lift off from the floor. How much weight are you applying to the bottom cross bars of the stands? It sounds like it is insufficient.

We were getting good start signals. Only some lanes would return .0001 and others would time just fine. As for the weight, we were using the specified 20# on each end, which is insufficient. My guess is that at least 40# on each end is needed if the 5# per line is used. I think that we can overcome these issues with some diagnosis.

If you use more line tension, you must use more base weight to compensate. My website shows the use of an 8" solid cement block, which weighs over 50 pounds. but that is probably overdoing it.

Regarding some lanes showing .0001, that would seem impossible, since there is a common clock. If somehow the finish was not sensed, the timer would keep running, and eventually give a default time of 34 seconds, followed by "DNF" I would be most interested in your up-coming 2nd look at this.

It may seem impossible, but that is what we had happening. It'll probably be a few weeks before we get a chance to set it up again because of upcoming activities, but I'll be in contact with you when we do.

Ummm, were you using one 5# weight per track system or per racing lane?