Electronics..........UGH!

[chappyman66]

SO....Finally trying to get timing and scoring working. Bought 5mm IR emitters and resistor pack, wired up the emitters with 470ohm resistors in place. Using a Trakmate IR cable for sensing (looks like 3mm sensors), connected to the printer port on an old XP machine. Downloaded Laptimer 2K just for basic troubleshooting and set up....will want to run SlotTrak eventually but it's easier to troubleshoot on the basic program apparently. I do NOT have any sort of board between the sensors and the computer....I don't run track power control and shouldn't need a board for just the simple timing requirements.

The problem I am having is......Laptimer counts laps continuously, even when the emitter/sensor are flat on the track in line with each other. I have tried to use the Port testing diagnostic, and thought I found the problem.....not enough light getting to the sensors. So I pulled the 470 ohm resistors and put 220s in (they get quite hot BTW) and was able to see the port show open/closed appropriately. But when I put it back to Practice mode to count laps, it immediately goes back to continuous laps with an interrupt when I cover the sensor.

I have found and used the setting to invert the port settings for IR sensors....but it doesn't make any difference either way.

Trying to avoid spending the $$ to buy a system....dang it, I should be able to make this work. But I am pretty frustrated, I have to say. I guess I can always go to photosensors and the fridge bulb....but I wanted to avoid that.

Do I need to build 2-3 bulb clusters of emitters to put out enough light? What else am I missing in the settings?

[4424ever]

I feel your pain been there done that, I even emailed back and forth with Greg over the same issue. I eventually installed automotive marker bulbs in a light bar (one over each lane). Both my tracks run this setup now and over time the bulbs will darken with use and guess what, the timer counts laps continuously until I replace the offending bulb

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Fear not, Chappy! We have people here who can solve this in an instant. The big problem is keeping an interesting post like yours on screen as a new post long enough to be seen. No one seems to understand how to keep the website automatons from sweeping posts away willy-nilly, no rhyme or reason, but they still show up in the regular topics regardless. Just keep watching the Lumber Yard, and maybe repost on Track Planning just to be sure you get the attention of the guys who can help the most, and you should have a confident answer real soon. I have had new posts disappear in the space of 30 minutes.

[chappyman66]

Greg says I need a full wave recitified power supply.
I am currently driving the emitters with a train transformer....the quick and easy available supply but apparently oscillating which causes the problem. I have a spare step down buck power supply board, and the chip as I recall has a built in rectifier.
I was going to use that....but didn't want to mess with the wiring. Now I will, and see if that fixes the problem.

In the meantime....if there are other bright (haha, see what I did there?) ideas I am happy to entertain them.

[-Nimrod-]

Hi Chappy,

I have a similar electronics setup for my 3 lane track, 3 sensors in the track slot and 3 emitters on a light bridge.
First thing I'd check is the voltage your sending to the emitters, I found mine worked perfectly and cool at 7 to 9 vols and 1 amp.
I have a separate power supply for the emitters
I use Race coordinator on a Win XP machine, through the Printer port with a master relay to control the track power.

I can make wire diagrams if you need them.

Cheers
NimROD

[Changing-Gearz]

If you have a video camera with night mode (or know somebody) - you will be able to see the emitters through that mode and see if they are strobing. I have to think the strobing is not slow enough to let the sensor "cool" enough to send the PC a signal.... But you never know. If it is that slow - something is probably tripping out to make that happen

The parallel port puts out enough juice to run the emitter - (if you have the 1-1.5v LED...) You could use that instead of another power supply.... Plus the heat you are generating will not be as much since you are stepping down from 5v - rather than 12... Just a thought on that one...

[Scott V]

You can see the infrared beam with your cell phone camera or any digital camera. I did this same set up on a friends HO track years ago with an overhead light source and it set up perfectly and ran great. The issues you're having seems to point to the light source/emitters. Make sure the power supply offers enough output for the emitter requirements. Not just the voltage but the current. A wall pack should work as long as it puts out enough power.

[chappyman66]

Thanks, everyone. I used my cellphone camera and can see that the emitters are glowing, so I think that's not really the problem.
The circuit is being made.... it's just apparently cycling fast enough that the lap count looks continuous due to the 60Hz flicker from the wall power. I will try the different power supply tonight and see what happens. I can understand that since a train transformer probably isn't rectified at output. I have old cell phone chargers as back up options as well.

[RichD]

You could try wiring a 470µf capacitor across the output of your power supply, that will smooth out any ripple and keep the LEDs from flickering.

[TuscoTodd]

Another option is to run the LEDs off of a battery temporarily and see if that fixes the issue (if that is easier to get your hands on than a clean power supply)

[chappyman66]

Thanks for all the help....I have Laptimer 2000 running now!
I had a spare adjustable power supply board and wired it up to the emitters. Running perfectly on 8V.
Clean power matters, obviously.

[mattb]

Bunch of sharp guys!