Calibration too fast

[Megaplow]

Hello,

I am trying to calibrate the cars on my track. As soon as I give the car one tick up for the calibration it goes to full throttle. Even with the max throttle at 25% the cars still go flying off the track during calibartion. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Currently the track is too touchy to be useable. 

Sadface

[woodcote]

I have noticed the calibration in the new app is not ideal for some non-magnet cars - they run faster than the ideal ‘slow speed’ at one notch on the calibration. However, cars absolutely should not be flying off the track at any setting on the calibration!  Here are a few ideas to look at:

 

1) the most common fix is to dismiss the app, turn off and reboot your smart device, turn on the ARC powerbase and then launch the app.

 

2) what smart device are you using? Is the precise model on the official ARC compatibility list? If not, it could be a compatibility issue.

 

3) it could be a faulty install causing the power issues. Delete the app and do a fresh install. You may need to try this more than once.

 

4) check running without the app, calibrate with different cars on different IDs (ie colours). Try and pinpoint what is causing the fault - does the calibration process ever work without the power surge?

 

5) try using the App Race Control (Legacy) app which is still available on all platforms (iOS, Android & Amazon Fire).

 

Let us know how you get on.

[Andy P.]

If the problem persists after checking all of what woodcote said contact Customer Care at the right.

[Megaplow]

Thank you for the responses. I have tried several iPads and and iPhone8. The symptoms are consistent across all devices and cars.

Calibrating using the old app works:

Calibrating with the new app goes full speed:

Any throttle even with a 10% max power still goes flying off the track:

I think the issue is that any throttle is full throttle so far as the cars are concernned. 

I see a USB port and little switch on the side, can I use those to upgrade the firmware or do a facktory reset?

[woodcote]

Thanks for the videos! Okay, so that’s very different to what I understood from your original post. Am I right in thinking...

 

1) The ‘runaway’ is happening without the app connected

 

2) The runaway is happening both with the controllers and via the app low-speed calibration, plus with all the cars and chips you have

 

2) The car goes quite quick on two (maybe three?) notches of the Legacy app calibration

 

3) The runaway happens on the first tap of the new app calibration.

 

If that is all correct - and with the issue happening without the app - I am almost certain it is not an app issue. The iOS app is pretty stable, you might get a dodgy install on very old devices or a bug on very new ones, but not across several installs on different iOS devices. Only if something big changed on an iOS update - and we’d all notice that pretty quick!

 

I now think it is likely to be a hardware issue.

 

The calibration on the Legacy app is interesting... It is very much more gradual than the new app - usually taking to near 50% for a magnet car to move (which was a problem rectified in the new app). So if your cars are moving normally, but almost immediately, it suggests there is too much power coming in too quickly rather than simply a chip, track or powerbase fault causing the power to be 100% at all times (eg a car not receiving the digital command signal and acting as an analogue car on full track power). That suggests a fault in the command signal... and that is where the extent of my knowledge ends ;-)

 

My suggestion is to echo Andy's advice of contacting Scalextric Customer Services for a replacement powerbase or to exchange the set.

 

BTW, the switch on the side is to switch between digital and analogue modes. There has been no Bluetooth (BLE) firmware update, although there is a new PIC chip firmware version. The update was to fix a very minor issue with track voltage. If your issue is down to a faulty firmware install, the PIC chip would be my hunch. However, it is more likely to be a faulty component or an error in construction - just my opinion.

[Megaplow]

Thank you for the considerable resonse and information. My issues are pretty consistent with the apps paired and running as well as not paired. One more note is that I have been messing around with the BLE Protocol. 

I have written a Swift app that at this point has only ever consumed data from the track. The app has been able to pair with the track and read the following data.

Device Data : Service 0x180A

• Model Name
• Firmware Revision
• Hardware Revision
• Software Revision
• Manufacturer Name

Scalextric Service : Service 0x3B08

• Thus far I have gotten the throttle data. 

I don't think connecting and reading BLE data would cause my car issues but if that would mess things up, I am open to options.

Is there BLE data I should try to write to the track to fix my issues?

[woodcote]

Okay... I guess the important question is whether the cars have run normally at any point? For example, before you dipped into the powerbase via the Swift app.

 

If you think you may have corrupted the BLE firmware, you could reflash the powerbase with the standard release ARC Pro BLE firmware (v2.6) which is available here: https://www.scalextric.com/uk-en/arc-firmware-update

 

However, I am not convinced the BLE firmware is the issue as the power issue is happening when the app is not connected.

[Megaplow]

No luck with the firmware update. The track did work for a while then started showing these symptoms. Ill contact support and see about getting a new base station. 

Thanks for all the help!

[woodcote]

Did the start of the problems coincide with you using the Swift app to look around the powerbase? Given the power issue also happens when the ARC app is not connected, I am not sure that is necessarily the cause. I presume - although I'm not at all sure - the BLE settings are by-passed when the ARC app is not connected to the powerbase. However, if I am wrong, your delving with the Swift app could definitely explain the development of the power issues - especially if the one preceeded the other...

 

A handful of hobbyists have had a good look around the BLE settings and one - Cristiano (aka Magic) - has successfully built a working app for the ARC powerbase. I suggest you hook up with them on the ARC Pro sub-section over at Slot Forum - you'll be talking with people who have knowledge and experience far more useful than I can offer.

[Megaplow]

The power issues started before the development of my swift app. 

[woodcote]

I am curious - what happened when the problem started? Did it go from working okay straight to the issue shown in the videos - or was it a gradual process? Were all the cars affected immediately, or were there problems with some but not others? I just want to make sure it is a fault with the powerbase - otherwise you’ll have a new powerbase but the same problem...

 

Also, how do the cars work in analogue mode?

[Megaplow]

The problem didnt happen on my watch but I believe it went awry all at once. I recieved a new power base and all is well. 

 

Thanks!