Free Wheeling, Braking ?

[Kevin Hodges]

Hi all,

When I press the brake button on my Arc Pro controllers, the cars just stop dead.

Is there any way to adjust braking to be more realistic (sensitive) or is that it ?

Also, with my Model Railway, I have a Gaugemaster controller that has 'inertia' and braking simulation.

Is there any way to simulate this with slot cars. To simulate free wheeling and realistic braking would be so cool.

Kev.

[Andy P.]

Hi Kev,

I presume you are talking about running in digital mode, right?

In analog mode you can compensate but simply releasing the trigger (assuming the car has not DPR chip which disables braking).

In digital mode you you can try by using two hands and pulse push the brake button as fast as you can.

It reminds me of playing the Atari 2600 before joysticks had "turbo" buttons.

On my very small layout I have taken to just jabbing the brakes on the straight before a curve which is actually a lot like real racing.

It is different but you can get a flow going as well.

I think DR_C was looking into dynamic braking but I don't know where it stands...

[Hammertime]

Kevin-

3 tips for you.

#1. If you haven't already done so, pull the magnet from your cars. If you have decided to keep the magnet in your cars, I am afraid that my tip #2 and #3 aren't going to matter.

#2. Add some lead weight to the chassis directly in front of the motor. The heavier car will roll a little further than an unweighted chassis. Without magnets, you need to add the weight for handling purposes anyway.

#3. Change your gearing. For example, if your car has a stock 11/36, try changing that to a 12/36. The taller gear changes the acceleration and braking on these tiny motors.

Hope that helps?

[Dr_C]

I think DR_C was looking into dynamic braking but I don't know where it stands...

 

 

Yes… I have been stumped by this question for a while, i.e. how to adjust braking strength?

 

 

For the APB C7042 it required hobbyists to adapt the powerbase firmware and the in-car decoder firmware in order to implement adjustable braking.

 

 

For the ARC PRO the BLE protocol allows for adjustable braking which is nice. However the Scalectric ARC APP doesnt as yet implement this added feature - and even then the in-car decoder would need updated firmware (which has been tested by hobbyists but its not an authorised Scalextric/Hornby upgrade).

 

 

So that’s the progress in terms of firmware upgrade potential.

 

 

Meanwhile there may be other options. So prompted by this post I will take a fresh look then report back - if that would be helpful?