selector24 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Hello Slotracers,I'm back into slotracing after a break of several years, and noticed that my old race control system does not work on modern computers anymore.So I started to crawl the web and found the new ARC AIR.As I alreday own a scalextric sports custom track, I decided to buy one, because I was impressed by the integrated features.Today I installed it to my track, and I'm a little less imressed now.I hope you can help me with my issues...1.) with the new ARC AIR power supply the cars make a irritating noise, especialy when going slow. Sounds like a switching power supply operated on wrong frequency.I never had this sound before, not with the old scalectric power supply, and also not with my adjustable lab power supply.2.) I often race alone, and the pacecar function looked great to me. But I'm not able to change the track for the pacecar. Is it possible that the Pacecar can only use one of the tracks???My Racetrack is not fully equiped with border stripes, and I don't use magnets in my cars - so they drift around the corners. At the moment I can only use one track in a proper way - unfortunately the wrong one.3.) I have a custom track, and I'm able to add this to the list, but no additional information like e.g the track lengh. So I have no speed, no distance, and I'm afraid that the calculations regarding tires and fuel are also not correct. s there a connection to the scalextric track designer?4.) I'ts nice to select a car and a track for a race, but what happens with all of the information?I expected to have e.g. best lap per car per driver somewhere accessable.I want to know which of my cars ist the fastest! I have also not found a possibility to predefine drivers.Maybe you can help me to bring some light in the dark, I hope some of the features I miss are there, I only have not found them...Kind regardsWolfgang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy P. Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hi Woflgang,Regarding this question:"I often race alone, and the pacecar function looked great to me. But I'm not able to change the track for the pacecar. Is it possible that the Pacecar can only use one of the tracks???"When you say track do you mean lane?If so, yes the pace/ghost car only works in one lane. This was the case with the Pacer terminal track and and the SCX Trainer computer as well.My guess is this is down to the fact that it is analog and the electronics to make it available in both lanes would raise the cost.I don't have an ARC AIR yet. I have 2 ARC ONEs and I will be getting an ARC AIR in a few weeks. I plan on testing it thoroughly as I did the ARC ONE here:https://slotcarp.wordpress.com/#AppI am also slightly flummoxed as to why it is not possible to determine speed, length etc form a customs track as long as you correctly identify the length of the track.Given that you you can enter the track parts you own the app should know what the total possible length would be and could calculate it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selector24 Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hello,sorry, yes I ment lane. English is not my native language, and it was late yesterday...Poor that they did not implement a free choice of the lane for the pacecar, would have been only a minor change in the software. The current for each lane is anyway calculated by the software, depending on the signal coming in from the wireless controller, the setup of the controller (max power, responding curve), and any of the fancy features like actual ammout of loaded fuel or worn out tires.Bottom line it would even be possible to record a lap and let the pacecar repeat this lap for a whole race, instead of using just one given speed.I really hope that there will be an update for the App... In the meantime I'll cut the wires between the powerbox and the lanes, and put my old selfmade connetor box in between. There I can change between lines and even change driving direction.Regarding the noise of the motors I'll buy a matching connector plug for my old lab power supply and test the powerbox with this.ATTENTION: Do not try this yourself if you don't have the necessary electronic skills!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy P. Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 If you can find out what the problem is with the noice please let us know. Other users have complained about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blagard Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hello,In the meantime I'll cut the wires between the powerbox and the lanes, and put my old selfmade connetor box in between. There I can change between lines and even change driving direction.I think you need to be careful there, changing lanes should not be a problem, but changing direction would probably affect the way the sensors work on the circuit, e.g. the pits seem to have a sensor at one end and so a car will either cross it going into the pit, or not at all if on a reversed circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selector24 Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hello... @AndyI don't have a matching plug yet, and I don't want to cut off the one from the original power supply. It will take some days until I can try an other power supply. For sure I will post the result here!@BlagardYes, you are right! Pitstops will not work correctly, besause the software expects a define sequence of passing the sensors. All other functions should remain uninfluenced. As my powerbox alredy offers the possibility, I'll try out what happens. In the meantime I discovered a new issue.I have changed my track layout to let the pacecar drive on its fixed lane and have done some races against the pacecar. By doing that I found out that I'm not able to reproduce the pacecar speed exactly. So the laptime of the pacecar is more or less a guess. For me it would be great if I could exactly set the speed of the pacecar to reproduce a defined laptime (which should be close to mine, to challenge me!)Just a field with a value to type in, instead of that sliding bar (or additional to it) would help here. For all others that want to have a slotcar "Database"I have found an APP that seems to provide all functions I expected to have, check out "slot car trainer" and "slot car diary" in the android playstore.Shame on scalextric, this private guy made a far more complete app, and it's nearly free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slot grandprix Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 With the Pace mode selected i have found the cars to go pretty fast but like any layout the car will pick up speed on a long straight and this may cause problems with the next corner. I don't feel pace cars are really meant for racing just to keep your car company on the track and allow the racer to challange themselves. As it is an analogue system try using cross-overs to allow the pacer car to run inside and outside. By desgining a Circuit which allows the pacecar to go faster at points in the track but also stay on will quicken its lap run. Regards the powersupply. The System is not out here in Canada, yet. I use either a travel adpter or a Digital Power supply which fits and is also 15v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selector24 Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Hello,regarding the noise Problem a experienced slotracer told me that the same occurs with cheap digital Controllers, current is not reduced by a resistor as usual on an analog Track, but by Pulse Modulation which means switching Power on and off in fast sequence.I don't think that it is possible to improve this Situation.I already implemented the possibility to Swap Lanes by installing Plugs and sockets in the Lane connection wires, that allows me to run Pacecar on both Lanes. Running backwards is not possible, causes for any reason a short circuit shutdown.Hope that helps...Wolfgang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard001 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Hello,regarding the noise Problem a experienced slotracer told me that the same occurs with cheap digital Controllers, current is not reduced by a resistor as usual on an analog Track, but by Pulse Modulation which means switching Power on and off in fast sequence.I don't think that it is possible to improve this Situation.I already implemented the possibility to Swap Lanes by installing Plugs and sockets in the Lane connection wires, that allows me to run Pacecar on both Lanes. Running backwards is not possible, causes for any reason a short circuit shutdown.Hope that helps...WolfgangHello All,I noticed that with the car stationary, if I press and hold the break botton the buzzing noise stops until it is released again.Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy P. Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Yes the noise is coming from the power modulation. That was confirmed by a userin another forum that actually tears the chips apart and puts them back together again so I figure he knows what he is talking about...Suppoesedly nto all humans can hear it and as you get older you are less likely to hear it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apex 2 Apex Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 I really wish they would fix the electric noise with the Arc Air. I absolutely love the set, but damn the noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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