Derby Talk

I'm also interested in the shirts, and for whatever it's worth my preference is actually for the orange, but that's just because I think it stands out much better. I suppose the yellow would be a good second choice.

Quite impressive! I like the aspect of making the trigger a gas pedal, and it's interesting to note that the manufacturer has simply gone with the red light triggers a DQ option.

It's interesting to read the features section and read that the racers actually pre-stage just like in actual drag races.

The idea of delaying the release by the amount of time ahead of the green that they pressed the button sounds like a fair way of dealing with a racer who jumpstarts. Of course, this could end up being a fairly substantial delay, but I'm not sure if it could be programmed into things. I'm picturing t...

Thanks Randy!

By any chance, does anyone know anywhere else where you could get a copy of Michael Lastufka's RaceIt software besides off of his site?

This topic is definitely a political one which I don't think would ever completely come to a close. There will always be two sides (or more) to the issue, those who do not want to DQ, and those who do. Personally, I'm not entirely sure which side I'm on. I see the benefits of both sides. I do think ...

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. I realize that, and unfortunately I wasn't clear enough in my ques...

I've come across something called Pine-Design Software that looks like this:

It looks like it might be something useful, however I'm not sure that this is exactly what sporty was looking for or talking about.

John, in this application do you predrill holes for the screws to go into the blocks? Are they simply just wood screws, or do you happen to use machine screws/bolts and have the nuts placed in the block?

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 switches, the timer would be started by the earliest car,...

I suppose that this is true. You wouldn't really want to be flipping the track over in the middle of a derby, unless you'd practiced it and were able to keep the time to accomplish it quite short. Is there anyone here on Derby Talk that has actually used or happens to own this track and is willing t...

I have recently created exactly this sytem for a customer interested in factoring reaction time into the equation. My start gate is split, and individually controlled, not by solenoids, but by pressing the tail of a steel latch. Each lane has its own magnetic switch to sense the start of each race....

I agree completely. I actually meant to put that the holes in the guide rail would be better served as countersunk holes. It would be much better if it were an assemble and go setup, and I've proposed a modification to the manufacturer just now. We'll see what he has to say about the proposal. The o...

If I were to build a track with this surface, I would exploit the 1x2 fit, and use double sided foam tape to secure the track down for the few hours the typical derby lasts. What about the possibility of using 1x2 and then putting screws through the guide rail? This would thereby eliminate any effe...

zeezop,

Have you had a chance to use Alibre Design Express and Google SketchUp? If so, how would you compare them? It looks like ADE is a little more feature rich than GSU, but is it also more difficult to use?

Please include me on this list! I would appreciate the link to the site to be able to get this simulation software. Also, I'd be interested in finding out more information about this other software that was originally asked about. Can someone point me in the right direction for it? I'm trying to get...