14 replies to this topic

[FastRichard]

Hello,

Our club is planning on replacing our SRT system with either LapMaster or Trackmate. I would be interested in hearing from anyone that has experience with either, or especially both systems.

Thank you for any help.

Regards,

Richard

[Mark Crowley]

Hopefully someone has experience with both. I have helped set up Trackmate and like what it does, but I have never even been on a LapMaster track so my opinion is pretty much worthless in helping you choose.  
 
IMO the most important part is support in case there is a problem. 
 
Mrk

[FastRichard]

Thanks for the reply. At least I know that Trackmate has been satisfactory in your case. Are you aware of any issues with it at the track where you race?

[MarkH]

Our local clubs have both TrackMate and LapMaster systems. Two of us have LapMaster and prefer it over Trackmate for a few reasons. The primary one being you can use what is called the "Score Board". It shows each drivers best time, current laps, and, most interesting, it shows you the "Predicted" laps based upon the drivers current or previous lap times. It updates on the fly and at the end of each Heat/stint. There is also a "Statistics" page showing the fast lap time, laps turned, and "Actual/Potential" of each driver in each lane.
At first most find the extra info overwhelming but quickly begin to use the info to gauge their true performance.

Another thing LapMaster does is Qualifying. I think Trackmate has also included this, not sure. LapMaster will announce the lap times during qualifying so the driver and all present know the pace. You can also setup the announce feature for practice. This is a very nice feature. It seems Trackmate also had this in one of their releases. Track records are also kept for each class in each lane with LapMaster.
 
Trackmate is a simpler and less featured program that works as described. Those who have it are happy and don't intend to change. I don't have a copy of the latest Trackmate feature list and can't seem to find it on their website. You might want to contact them.
 
IMHO, for the small amount extra money LapMaster is worth it. If you don't think those extra features are needed for your club, Trackmate will not disappoint and would be my next choice.

[FastRichard]

Thank you, Mark. This is good info to know and I appreciate your reply.

Regards,

Richard

[Mark Crowley]

Thanks for the reply. At least I know that Trackmate has been satisfactory in your case. Are you aware of any issues with it at the track where you race?

The software is east to set up but may take some trial and error to pick the right options.  Once set up correctly it is easy to run a race.  I think that 8.12 is the latest Trackmate version which is said to have a qualify option.  You can download and run the Trackmate program in Demo mode to see what options are available.  You have to have Trackmate hardware to connect it to a track.

Both of the tracks I am familiar with were pre-wired differently but with help from other racers we got everything to work.

Mrk 

[MarkH]

Lap Master has a couple other features I should have mentioned. One is very nice and saves a lot of cars from crashing. In the setup options you turn on "Auto Track Call" if a lane goes under the break out time. So if there is a rider and they go through timing the system will shut down, indicate in red on the screen and declare through the speaker "Invalid Time Detected". Then you just place the offending car behind the lap counter in its correct lane and restart. Very cool feature. I usually set the break out time about .3 seconds faster than the fastest guys are running.

Also, in the initial setup you enter the length of the track and how many sections. If you enter 99 sections Lap Master will predict where the cars will stop at the end off the heat. This is based on the either the average or mean lap time the driver has been turning. So far out of a few hundred races it was only wrong one time and in that case the driver de-slotted before the power went off. It has correctly predicted difference as little as 2 feet. Pretty cool as well.

 

Like Mark said above, download the demos from each and see what will work for you club. 

[slotbaker]

Not sure if you are interested to consider another option or not??

 

Race Coordinator is free to download and use, and many club tracks around the planet use it.

Support is great, and might be worth a look for your club.

 

[FastRichard]

I appreciate the help and info from everyone that has replied to my query. We should be making a decision soon.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[Zippity]

Not sure if you are interested to consider another option or not??

 

Race Coordinator is free to download and use, and many club tracks around the planet use it.

Support is great, and might be worth a look for your club.

 

 

It is also a piece of rubbish  

 

My Club adopted this programme, but I think it sucks. It may be great for home or Scalextric tracks, but that is all.

[slotbaker]

Zip, that's a big call.

There are plenty of groups around the place using it.

PM sent.

[Zippity]

Zip, that's a big call.

There are plenty of groups around the place using it.

PM sent.

 

That doesn't mean that it is perfect.

 

I think the main reason that "plenty of groups" use it, is because it is free - ie cheap!!

[FastRichard]

   Thanks again for the input. I would be interested in knowing if the reason "its rubbish" is due to problems, support or features.

Regards

Richard

[Ed Steinbruner]

Any input as to what lap counter system would best work to retrofit to old 1/32 strombecker track?  I just want something simple.  Anything would be an improvement from the old mechanical counter. I like the vintage stuff and would like something that I could retro to a wood routed track in the future.  Any help is much appreciated...  Ed

[MattD]

One of the easiest counters to use on plastic track is the Carrera overhead counter.  It's pretty fool proof and easy to use.   Not very expensive.   No track adaptation is necessary, just put batteries in it and set it over the track.    

 

One option we used 35 years ago was to create a dead strip in the track and wire it to a calculator.  Simple $5 calculator.   You just run the wires to the "+" button contact in  the counter..   Every time the car goes across the dead strip it closes the circuit and the calculator display increases by 1.  This is simple and cheap and the calculators can be mounted in the table top, a pit building or whatever your imagination comes up with.   Been a long time since I did this,  get a cheap calc and take it apart and you will figure out where to attach the wires.