Professor Motor Lap Counter & Race Director Systems

***** MOST LAP COUNTER SYSTEM PRODUCTION IS SUSPENDED TEMPRARILY  EXCEPT AS NOTED IN ONLINE SHOPPING - UNTIL A NEW IMPROVED DESIGN WILL BE PRODUCED *****

After considerable development and testing we have created a computer based lap counting and / or race director system that is robust, reliable, low cost and has great features for both home, club and commercial racing.

These systems can be used for any HO type track, any 1/32 plastic home racing track (Artin, Carrera, Ninco, Scalextric, SCX, etc.) and can also be used with any type of routed 1/32 or 1/24 track.  All systems are computer based fully electronic with large color coded easy to read displays.  Miniature photo sensors are used and there is no "dead strip" interruption of the track power required.

Standard Features - Lap Counter Systems : All Systems have a 10 foot long cord that goes from the track or sensors to the parallel port (printer port) on the computer.  Longer lap counter system cords can be provided at slight additional cost.  In addition all systems have a small wall pack transformer that must be plugged in the normal AC wall outlet to power the electronics in the system.  A 3.5" Floppy Disk is provided with each system with 2 versions of software programs (One in DOS & another in Windows) that can be used.  If you do not have a floppy disc the software can be downloaded free from the internet (see links below).  The system is not directionally sensitive and can count equally well with car travel in the clockwise or counterclockwise directions.  The system is independent from the track wiring and can be used with Positive or Negative polarity wiring.

Standard Features - Race Director Systems :  The basic function of a race director system is to facilitate the running of organized races under computer control.  The race director system in effect takes control of turning the track on and off as the race starts and stops to provide fair and equal races as governed by either fixed time or a fixed number of laps.  If you do not plan to run organized races the Lap Counter systems above can be used independently to just monitor the racing and add to the fun of determining the fastest "gun" at the track.  All race director systems integrate the Professor Motor "Wiring Center" concept to provide self resetting all-electronic circuit breakers for electrical protection.  A small high efficiency relay is used to interface with the computer and that is used to trip a large relay across the power supply positive feed to turn the power on or off to the track.  Race director systems are designed to operate between 11 and 20 volts DC power, please alert us if you intend to operate outside these limits.  The system can be used with either Positive or Negative polarity wiring.

Hardware & Software : From our experience we recommend older version PCs (386, 486, Pentium 1 or Pentium 2) for conversion to lap counter machines.  Also recommended is the DOS software program SRM (Slot Race Manager).  Windows based lap counting programs and more modern PCs seem to have unique issues that may cause the lap counting to system to be less reliable.

Caveat : PLEASE NOTE - If you do not use one of our pre-configured computer systems there may be some compatibility issues that prevent the systems we provide from working correctly !  When we ship a lap counter or race director system it is fully tested & is known to function on one of our computers, but that does not by itself guarantee it will work with your computer.  Potential compatibility issues include : 1.) Computer control of the race director system requires a 5 volt relay interface on older computer systems (standard on our race directors), but a 3 volt relay is required for proper operation on newer model computers (we can install the 3 volt relay as an option if required), 2.) Unique characteristics of the printer port on some computers may result in the inability to operate a full 4 lane lap counter system & may limit those systems to only 2 or 3 lanes maximum, 3.) Some computers require a pinout change in the parallel port cable we provide with the lap counter systems to function correctly.  If any of these issues are encountered we would recommend purchase of a pre-configured & tested CPU or complete system.  You can also ship your CPU or laptop to us for testing to help resolve the issue, but that will not necessarily guarantee a successfully functioning system given not all computers work the same.

Links to sites for lap counter software download & technical info :

DOS Based - SRM (Slot Race Manager) Recommended System ! : link

Windows Based - Lap Timer 2000 Not Recommended ! : link

More Goodies for Track Wiring and Power Supplies in this Catalog :

http://www.professormotor.com/cat_wiring.shtml 

If one of the systems below does not meet your needs please inquire for a custom built solution.  

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Phone (734) 462-4226 Fax (734) 462-4211  Email : professor@professormotor.com
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