Tuesday 13 November 2012

Testing Andy's digital layout

Andy has a plan for a big digital Scalextric layout.  Using digital signals means you can run up to six cars at the same time, using the same lanes and changing across those lanes.  You can also do other clever things like set some of the cars as pacers.  Andy set up a small table-top track to test out the hardware - a simple oval with a lane changer and a short pit lane.  He'd already converted 5 Metros to digital (this requires soldering in a chip between the braids and the motor) and I took along the recently built Jaguar Mk 2 that I have also converted to digital.


In the grid above, there are four pacer Metros with Andy controlling the white Metro at the back alongside my Jaguar.  Six cars on about 12 feet of track is a bit of a squeeze (as you'll see at the start of the video below) but being able to change lanes to overtake, and call a yellow flag to pause the other cars when you crash adds a new dimension to Scalextric.  I'll be sticking with analogue but I'm pleased that Andy is going down that route as our layouts will each offer something different, and double the fun.