Blagard-01

Just turn the powerbase around. Feed the power cables under the track, that is the only down side. I would suggest reinstalling the app on your iphone7, but just in case you overlooked it, make sure your iphone "bluetooth" is turned on.

Barry it does not need to be mirrored, that was my bad, so long as each is cross wired it will be OK. Another post will appear later as I used a word that needs moderating to describe what I did! - apparantly the word was a profanity - so kind to myself!

Definately two pieces of track and look carefully as the wiring is mirrored so each one is different. once the wiring is done they can be fitted either way around but the important thing is the top rail is diverted to the bottom rail then through the powerbase and then back up again. The bottom rail ir the reverseof course.

New image uploaded for above post - it will appear after going through the admin process.

So Dr_C the diagram below will also work DIGITAL ONLY without any of the limitations. For Analogue when the modified quarters are replaced all limitations on layout apply. Note that the wiring to cross the dead spots is not the same on each quarter, one must be the mirror reversal of the other. /media/tinymce_upload/9f4a42ff2e3b2c89715d22e7d69c22b8.jpg

The power supply may be managed in a different way to what you think. A single lane should be able to power 6 cars in one lane with both power adapters connected. So in digital mode the power must be combined and not separate

To summerise what may be the neatest way. Isolate the lane on the exit by snipping the ribbon as yellow line. Introduce a dead spot as the blacked bit of rail. Solder a wire to maintain rail continuity as the red link /media/tinymce_upload/968c109a613d0f1bb56ee284d8e0725b.jpg

It seems to me C would work. although Dr_C explanation could be clearer so a sketch below shows what he is saying. Use modified 1/4 ers for Digital and unmodified for Analogue. However please note Analogue still requires all other limitations to apply. /media/tinymce_upload/53c8388cb67347d7e0e090fdbf332cbf.jpg

First of all there is a limit on the number of images you can upload in a single post so I combined mine in "Paint" to make one image. Then you write your post and upload you image using the icon as image below /media/tinymce_upload/867f85c04b8f24a849c5ec39f71e1648.jpg

I'll jump in and say you may not have understood what Gorp said. By attaching the single lane of the pit entry and exit pieces either side of the power base you only use one lane of the power base and therefore cannot create any problem of electrically connecting Lanes 1 and 2 on the power base. One power base lane is never used! - That as he has made very clear works for Digital only. Analogue would need both lanes of the powerbase so cannot be used at all in this arrangement And yes it is a fix for digital circuits where the curved lane changer is used. In does in fact remove all the limitations that would normally apply to ARC Pro compared to the C7042 APB.

The two transformers for more than 3 cars will be fine. What you will need is booster cables to put the power into the track directly at some distance away from the base. This helps overcome the drop in voltage due to the track to track connections not always being perfect and keeping the voltage up all the way around. Very simple to do as you connect one end of a cable to the track by the powerbase and the other end to the same lane further around the track. Repeat for lane 2. If necessary do even more cables so you could have say 2 pairs with each a third of the way around the circuit e.g. http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/scalextric-c8248-sport-track-power-booster-cable-2x https://www.scalextric.com/uk-en/track-power-booster-cables.html

Scalextric will always have power supplies but may be out of stock from time to time. There are a number of 15V 4A power supplies by Hornby incl P9300 , P9301, C7024. I have no idea how different they are but they have have the same connectors and they all have been used with C7042 Digital APB. So if ARC Pro requires a specific transformer it should say so as those earlier ones are going to get used by people upgrading to ARC Pro unless told they shouldn't!

I doubt any version of Fire will go back to earlier bluetooth versions but I do recall looking up the specs somewhere like this table https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_HD So bluetooth is OK back to 3rd Generation but I am not so sure about the OS at that time. The hardware itself has an impact so even with the correct OS and bluetooth there is no guarantee it will work. I would say there is an excellent chance of it working with Fire 7

Because you need two when running more than 3 cars

I don't think a table under this topic would help as the options of A and C take in a much broader scope of change than just the curved lane changers. Option B the modification to the curved lane changer as originally started in the thread with acknowledgement of moving the the dead spot to one rail oppersite the exit flipper is the only option giving use of curved lane changers with the ARC Pro powerbase in Analogue or Digital mode at the flick of the switch on the powerbase. And will work in all other situations being backwards compatible. (note the ribbon snip in Option B is different to the orignal analogue snip for C7042) Option A will void the warranty on the powerbase and render it Digital only due to reversed Analogue power on one lane. It will allow the powerbase to have the same Digital capability as C7042 (Analogue rendered unusable) Option C will require replacement of a track sections to switch to analogue and the still require the original snip mod on the curved lane changers for analogue use (or better option B mod if you have not snipped the ribbons yet!). and will allow Digital capability as C7042 A and C remove the limitation of Digital track layouts as listed in https://www.scalextric.com/uk-en/forum/arc-pro-limitations-on-track-layouts/?p=1 A new thread should be started for the pros and cons of different modifications that will affect ARC Pro in a broader sense than just the curved lane changers.

Last bit 😉 How are you securing the rails back - nice touch with the small piece but I would be concerned with it coming loose or sliding and creating a short as pickup pass over it if it touches one end. I certainly think your mod will look much neater and one less dead spot which is also a good thing. The main thing about modding the changer is that it leaves the Powerbase as it is and also keeps the track Analogue friendly.

How did you lift the rail without it buckling? Or did you undo the clamped over locations? You will still need to wire the rail across to the rail the other side of the flipper (Same rail split by the flipper)

It is a right hand curve out to in with a fixed exit "flipper" that is electrically dead. As you know the lead in flipper is live "left or right "depending on which way it is flipped so power is there right up to my cut You could instead do one cut oppersite the dead exit flipper except in practical terms I think it would be more difficult to do due to the confined space. Certainly I found it just possible to do what is shown using nothing more than my dremel with a metal cutting disc and a hacksaw. Getting the rails cut out was the difficult bit! Each rail is a channel section like a small "n" with the top being the visible part you see. I initially cut the top exactly where I wanted the dead spot but cut the verticals maybe 3mm nearer the middle leaving "tangs" I could bend in to each other, taking care to make sure the upper part of the tang was well below what would be the final surface. The reason is normally the rails are anchored to the plastic at every see through space you see in the slot. When you cut the rails you get a free floating end of steel and I wanted that to be anchored into the filler. - I ended up putting black boot polish on the filler to make it blend in more! I think the working oppersite a flipper is most likely going to result in damaging it. Likewise when I tucked the wires into the cut rails I did that rather than risk soldering direct to a rail and melting plastic. I found it very easy to tin the remaining parts of the ribbon to connect the other wire ends. In use I have not noticed any problem going across that short dead section I created. Underside with the cover re-fitted as below /media/tinymce_upload/6120a073be3ff25061dd675363dcbe7a.JPG

I have just modded one curved lane changer for use with ARC Pro so I know it can be done, maybe there is a better way. https://www.scalextric.com/uk-en/forum/arc-pro-curved-lane-changer-mod/?p=1

The Curved Lane Changer can be modified to work with ARC Pro. Note this is different to the older mod used to make it Analogue compatible with C7042 and isolates completely Lane 1 from Lane 2 power supplies without mixing lane supplies on the changing lane like the old mod. See - https://www.scalextric.com/uk-en/forum/arc-pro-curved-lane-changer-mod/?p=1

A few typos there as I put the post up. The main thing is that each main lane either side of the cut in the middle, powers the respective part of the change lane. The dead section is to ensure the pickups don't short across two main lanes. So if you look at the 3rd image down, you can see the ribbon takes power from the lane on the right and feeds what is now half of the changing lane. The two wires do exactly the same on the left half. The second image down shows the very simple way to isolate one lane from the other.

I have just completed a modification to a curved lane changer. It totally isolates lanes 1 and 2 requires chopping out a section of rails and two soldered wires. The first step was to cut the links as below so the power from the lead in changer continued to power both rails into the lane change. Then I chopped out what was close to 15mm of rail leaving behind some ragged bits on at the sides of each rails (Top cut clean through) The ragged bits were bent inwards to leave as a physical key to the filler I used to reinstate the middle Next I tinned up some silicone insulated wire and pushed the ends into the rails I needed to get power to from the 2nd lane. The other ends wer soldered to the remaining sections of ribbon I had left. So now the lead in rails all powered by what I will call Lane 1 - no mods required to wiring other than the two snips on the connecting ribbon. With the break now in the changing lane the lead out part was simply wired in parrallel to Lane 2. Finally using a former wrapped in clingfilm to keep the slot correct I filled the lot with a two part filler like P38 etc. The good news is it works! - Image may take some time to appear! /media/tinymce_upload/c3f388b73c6e29b728a2159896e6fd53.jpg

I don't have a curved lane changer but providing I can get to existing wiring below and to some underside part of the short rails the middle cut would produce I have an idea on how to do the mod. The biggest problem I could see was reinstating the track where the cut out section would be so the dead section is flush with the rails. So I first placed a query about track adhesives on the forum but have since thought of a better way it might work and to that end I am currently looking to get a curved lane changer to try out the mod. My thoughts are that it is likely to be easier to cut out a section of two rails dead oppersite rather that one rail one side I may understand what Gorp says about 3 rail cuts when I have the part in front of me but for the time being I am going to gamble I can wire it up with just the 1 dead section needing 4 cuts all within 1cm I can see myself getting busy one evening with my dremel and soldering iron! - One thing is for sure it would not be as simple as the snips mod to get analogue to work with the C7042 base. At worse I will write off the lane changer!

Unless you use a single lane chicane by reversing the pit lane parts that will not work with the ARC Pro powerbase you might as well modify the Curved Lane Changers - The dead section required in the actual switching lane will be the same as you would have to put into your No 2 track lane either side of the powerbase. The dead section in the rails needs to be long enough so the pickups don't short across the gap you need to make, so maybe 1cm long. It therefore makes sense to cut that 1cm out smack bang in the middle of the change lane of the curved lane changer. The difficulty will be making the dead zone flush to replace the steel you have to cut out. Then it is a simple case of further modding the wiring to supply power to each of the short sections of the rails either side of the dead zone. The longer rail each side is already part of each lane and in the pocess of putting in a dead zone you create those two new short isolated rail sections Modding the Curved lane changers as above would then make them compatible with ARC Pro in both Digital and Analogue mode.

You have missed the fundamental problem that it is the ARC Pro powerbase that put two independant supplies to the lanes and that will remain. unless you modded the powerbase. which I would not recommend. You would then loose the ability to throw the switch to Analogue mode.