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I have no clue how you can make heads or tales of what you are doing. Very cool.
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Finally though, the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. I kinda wonder if I could have done this entire thing using relay timers and switches, without using the DTS-1. Not that there is anything wrong with the DTS-1, it's actually quite "powerful" and well done, but there's something more attractive to me to using switches and relays that I can replace and work on easily rather than a microchipped board that you cannot replace chips on.
Now if you could just figure out a way for a GNSS to talk to your timers and stop the clocks when the cars pass the finish line Then you'd have a badass little system, all contained in the main unit, and no need for the traps. There has to be a way. The GNSS modules talk to your phone. Just sayingSo, me being me (obsessed with solving puzzles) - I had some "free" time and got to thinking of how I could rebuild the electronics as described. Overall it was actually pretty simple, other than how to figure out the "Chinese Jigsaw Puzzle" of the red/green light triggers and the winner lane triggers. It actually had me in a bit of a brain fog for a day or two, but I figured it out while taking a walk on my lunch break at work the other day. Overall it becomes a simpler, less complex setup than using the DTS-1, believe it or not, and would allow for full customization of the timers behavior, as well as easier to maintain and replace parts.
The gist of it is this (and I'm sort of writing this here so I remember too):
Set:
Resets power. Everything is back to a "turn on" state. Timers begin counting. (or alternately, I could also simultaneously trigger a "stop" signal to have them sit at 0.00 (not sure yet which I prefer, as the timers counting could be useful for stuff).
Pre-Stage:
Laser break triggers light.
Stage:
Laser break triggers timer reset, and closes circuit that start the lane timers. There are two relays, one for each lane in the start timer circuit - so that both must be triggered to get the timers going.
Countdown:
The first timer relays begin. The countdown is 5 seconds, then an "on" time of .4 seconds that lights the first yellow bulb for .4 seconds, and sends the signal to the next timer.
The second timer relays begin. Same as above, sending signal to next timer.
The third timer relays begin. Same as above, sending signal to next timer.
The green light relays begin. (this is where things are more complex). The countdown is .5 seconds, the "on" time is on for 10 seconds(could be longer if desired). The signal out is intercepted by a relay that is triggered by the stage relay(that starts the timer when it opens). In other words, if the car leaves before the green light signal, it is now blocked, and the red light is on. The signal coming out of the stage relay is also intercepted by the green signal, so that similarly if the green signal comes first, the red signal is blocked, and it cannot intercept the green signal. If it sounds confusing, well, it is!
Finish:
Breaking the beam at the end (now there's only a single beam, it's not a speed "trap" like the DTS-1) sends a signal to the timer to stop. It also sends a signal to a latching relay (needs to be since it's a pulse of the car breaking the beam) that turns on the winning lane light, and intercepts the signal of the losing lane (very similar to the green/red circuit).
The ironic thing is I pretty much have 60% of the electronics already in hand. Just need a few more relays, and four more timer relays (I already have four). I measured everything out, and this little setup would take up the same space as the existing DTS-1 tree circuit board, and be a hell of a lot easier to wire up with no soldering necessary. Here is a graphical mockup of what is used and roughly how it's laid out.
View attachment 145320
I think what I might do is after I wrap up the lasers/sensors over the next day or so, I'll just get the rest of the electronics and build the new board. I have a shitload of LEDs and parts, I could make sure it all works right, then swap out the DTS-1 board pretty easily. Main thing is I need a working tree very soon as my team is itching to start using it in the next two weeks, so I'm ok with using the DTS-1 stuff for now.
I have flat receiver packs coming today that'll replace those batter packs, and they fit inside that pocket, which will be covered with a sheet of lexan that is screwed down.
Very nice. How much are you gonna sell em for?View attachment 145960
Works well
This project is complete for now - this weekend I'll be using it with my team. All the cable covers, etc arrived this week. I'll get some pics of it all set up.
hello i think you have done an amazing job. i do have a simple quwstion I'm hoping you can help with. i have a vision problem and just want to add some brighter lights to the staging and the green lights. i realize staging has 3 seperate parts. is there any way you could e_mail me ? [email protected] i wont take up much of your timeI spent much of Saturday working on getting the cable taped up and stowed inside of the covering. As it was, I need 25 more feet of cover, which is on order. I soon found out that the laser sensors on the finish line weren't working because of ambient light issues. I went back home and made a black box.
View attachment 146166
This worked perfect. The start line had enough stuff over top of them that it wasn't an issue, but I might add some light blockers for a sunnier day.
I calibrated the timers - got them to within .02 accuracy. I did this using a stopwatch app, and repeatedly triggering both devices. The relays only delay in tenths, so I couldn't get it perfect, but I think that's good enough.
Set up on Sunday at my new spot.
View attachment 146167
Only had an hour to play before the rain, so the team wasn't coming. It was chilly, but no wind. Track was quite dirty, and I forgot my leaf blower, but I got to make a few hits.