Place a .1 microfarad capacitor from your signal wire input to ground on each lane on your arduino inputs. Four caps you will need, one for each lane. Same capacitor you would see on your Scalextric motor. Caps filter AC in a DC circuit, EMI noise looks like AC. Try that first. Shielded cable is a must for EMI ….BUT make sure the shield is grounded on one end. Do not ground the shield on both ends to eliminate ground loops, which would create noise and disrupt the signal. I used to troubleshoot EMI on cell phones in the early days of cell phone production and development. EMI it’s not simple and it is frustrating. The two suggestions should work or at least greatly help for your false laps. I don’t know how you ran your wire back to your arduino, make sure to space the wire and not attached to any other power cables in the run back to the Arduino. Now your problems reading the shiny red or white guides. The Chinese optical switches you are using will not work they do not have the proper pull up resistor values, I had to make my own that a bunch of us use here with no more issues. We can read guides of all colours now. I had the exact problems you are experiencing with EMI and coloured guides when I built MID-BC in 2018 and it did take me a while to get it to the reliable state it is now where I can race cars or all types. One note my track is copper tape and your plastic track is steel rails and I’m not sure if there is a difference with steel rails embedded in the plastic track versus copper tape that runs on the surface of the track when dealing with EMI. But please try these suggestions as they have worked on several wood tracks. Rob
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Rob, I recorded a lot of this before we had our email exchange. I have installed caps, and have done a lot of your suggestions.. i ma getting closer.. just have not been able to isolate it. We are getting there.. thank you so much for all of the detail, you have been a tremendous help!
@robmcgyracer7394
6 ай бұрын
@@twolinesslotcars yup sounds good. I can send you four of my in the slot sensors too I just won’t be able to build any until Mid March. Busy time of year for me then a much needed vacation.
@josephstanczak4340
6 ай бұрын
First, do you fluorescent lights over your track? They are known to cause interference with optical sensors. Second, I 100% agree with RobMcRacers comments to eliminate EMI. The use of a cap on the sensors, only grounding one end of the shielded cable, and maybe getting better sensors. We had a similar issue with my TEK-Slots lap counting hack (reflecting an IT beam off the chassis) in analog; ended up being the Carrera position tower of all things. One thing in troubleshooting - divide and conquer and isolate the issue. If you know anyone with a TrackMate and light bridge, that would isolate the Arduino sensors. Honestly, without an o’scope on the output of the sensors, it may be hard to troubleshoot further. If none of Robs tips help, I can see about bringing my o’scope down some day.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Joseph, I have installed caps on the sensors. Rob and I have been having a conversation for the past week.. he knows his stuff!
@slotjournal
6 ай бұрын
Hope you find a solution, Marty - I'm lousy with electronics, and am no help at all here. 😄 But I'm sure some folks in our great community will help you get it sorted out. Nice video!
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
You and me both! 😂
@bkelly1132
2 ай бұрын
Hi Marty. Have you solved this? First, thanks for the videos, I have learned a ton. A few weeks ago I followed your lead and built the Arduino lap timer and installed it onto my two lane Policar track, running Race Coordinator. It's working nicely. I have a couple of suggestions. First the missed laps due to guide flags that aren't black. More accurately, guide flags that aren't opaque. The problem is the IR emitter is too bright and the less opaque guide flags aren't breaking the loop. The fix is to add a resistor in the VCC pin of the sensor, effectively lowering the voltage and therefore the brightness. On my track I installed a B5K potentiometer between the voltage pin on the Arduino and the VCC pin on the pot. This allows you to "turn the volume down" on the IR emitter. Once installed, turn the intensity down until it counts a lap by itself. This tells you that it's no longer bright enough to be detected by the collector. Then turn it up very slightly to close the loop again. Run a white guide through it and adjust as needed until it works reliably. I like to be able to adjust this to account for ambient light as well. As for ghost laps, this is definitely EMI. You're already using shielded cable but the Arduino itself is very susceptible to EMI. As a musician, you may be familiar with the notion of shielding the control cavity in an electric guitar to stop hum. The same principle applies here. I installed the Arduino and relay board into a plastic project box that is lined with copper shielding. I also used copper tape on the table under the sensor track, and mounted the Arduino box under the table in an area away from the track, and also applied shielding tape between the bottom of the table and the box. I used shielded cable too, but it also is twisted pairs to further reduce interference. All of this seems to do the trick. Test it by wrapping your Arduino in a cloth to avoid shorting anything, and then wrap it in aluminum foil and see what you get. If that helps then you're on the right track, so to speak. Another thing to look at is if the offending cars have a capacitor installed across the motor. Without it the car will put out a lot of EMI. Sorry for the long message. Hope it helps. Blair
@twolinesslotcars
2 ай бұрын
This is awesome information! I wondered about the the copper lining in my box i keep the arduino in.. I will give that a try. Thank you so much for taking the time to include all of the detail. There are quite a few people who have tried this and your comment will be a great resource! I have changed out different sensors and it seems to be working great at the moment. My favorite sensors were the guide flag sensors, it is just such a clean install. I will let you know how it goes! Thanks again! _ Marty
@Show-MeSlotCars
6 ай бұрын
There is a reason that so many people use the photo sensors and the light bridge. They just work! I tried many other solutions on my HO track with Race Coordinator before I figured out the light bridge was the way to go.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Exactly! I may have to swap them out with my photoeyes.. lol.
@slotripper
6 ай бұрын
Issue we have occasionally is braid debris,...very small copper/ metal shavings at dead strip, get down there with magnification ,and look around , if it's there,you will find it👍
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Slottripper!
@shotgundave92584
6 ай бұрын
Hey Marty. Just for fun, you might try putting a resistor in the car like the ones that come on Carrera and Scaley cars. It’s there to eliminate interference with radios and such. It’s worth a try to see if it cures your problem.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
I am on a retreat at the moment.. i will do more testing Monday night.. That will be one of them!
@ruiruivo83
6 ай бұрын
Love your videos and materials, please make more. :D
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
We will! Thanks so much!
@tombackes9557
6 ай бұрын
Hi Marty, I am of the opinion that it is not your programming; otherwise you would get ghost laps on all cars. Since the angle winders give ghost laps it may be coming from the motor EMI or RFI of the anglewinder cars. I think Jeff stumbled onto something with coating the bottom of the motors on affected cars with rubber coating. In the boating industry they coat battery terminals with a brush on rubber. It might be as simple as using that as an insulator.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Tom! I believe you are correct. I will be doing some more tests no this week and report back!
@vinmirarchi
6 ай бұрын
Marty...adding your issues to my list of issues makes me feel even better about ditching digital and making a wood analog routed track. It was affecting my mental stability.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Vin.. we will conquer this!!! LOL
@vinmirarchi
6 ай бұрын
Digital is seductive I grant you. But for me it was pure evil. As you walk through the Digital desert be strong. There is evil and temptation afoot.
@Dafingers1
6 ай бұрын
HAPPY Saturday, FELLOW SLOTTERHEADS AND MARTY.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Morning!
@chrisfreter3629
6 ай бұрын
Saturday Morning Two Lines Coffee Time - I have a long time friend that is a Electrical Engineer who is also big into RC stuff. I will ask him to watch the video and see if he might have any suggestions. Cross our fingers...
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Chris! Enjoy the coffee!
@anthonygriffin7809
6 ай бұрын
Marty I had an infrared system and it did the same thing. Even when I change channels with the remote on the TV. I switched to an over head light with the photo sensors in the track and it solve the problem. I used Race coordinator with it. For some reason the infrared system picks up electrical noise.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Anthony.. thanks for the info.. I will probably give it a try.. but I really like having the guides count the laps.. but if it wont work right.. i will go to plan B!
@Doug-MagneticRacing_ThinkScalo
6 ай бұрын
We find sunlight and some types of strip lights set off ghost laps on our power packs. We have made a cover that fits over the timing system but even so as the sun comes down it goes wild again. Seems weird but run a few laps with the lights completely off maybe. (Wild card suggestion)
@Doug-MagneticRacing_ThinkScalo
6 ай бұрын
But saying that 1 of the cars is fine so most likely not a light issue 😬
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Doug!
@jeffg2495
6 ай бұрын
it would be interesting to see if you insulated the angle winder motor with a rubberized paint like liquid electrical tape or flex seal and see what happens , also if there was a way to reverse the lap counter eye from being a normally closed position to normally open position this would insure the only time a lap would be counted by keeping the rest of the system out of the loop until that contact point was closed.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Jeff, I may install the cap off of a Scaley car to see if that prevents it. and go from there..
@jeffg2495
6 ай бұрын
yea I was thinking about filter cap , but it may need to bigger then that because if it is rf related I would think your emitting from the entire track rails just because the false lap happen in so many places . you might want to try and use a isolation relay between the sensor and signal back to the software . @@twolinesslotcars
@jeffg2495
6 ай бұрын
I would start at the head ? how clean is your DC power source , if your power source is putting out what is know as a dirty power it will rear its head with all sorts of interference on a system.
@clinttalbot9093
6 ай бұрын
Maybe you need to upgrade to more expensive sensors....? ??- or some how provide a barrier that the sensors aren't picking up other triggers, or signals from???
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
CLint.. I think so too.. That will be one of my next steps.
@voivode2591
6 ай бұрын
Hi Marty, On the car in question does it have the noise suppression circuit on the motor? Cars designed to run digitally have a noise suppression circuit. It is a circuit I had to order for analog cars I am converting.
@voivode2591
6 ай бұрын
I ran across this experimenting with the Slottechnik chips. Suppression capacitor parallel to the motor terminals. Value to be 47-100 nanofarads. Not included 🙂 I checked out all my digital cars and all of the have this capacitor. None of my analog cars came equipped with them.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
It doesn't have the noise suppresor.. but the cars that do.. work great..
@AnthonyBatemanSr
6 ай бұрын
Hi Marty , just got through watching your video on how your lap counter was going crazy I wonder if you can shield your car underneath what a thin sheet of lead maybe it will shield the magnetic field just a thought let me know what you think Bro👍🏽
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
I am willing to try anything.. just to pinpoint the exact cause.
@leiftoudal7996
6 ай бұрын
Hi Marty, there's a thread about reducing electromagnetic interference on slotforum, perhaps you can get some ideas from there. Good luck, I can almost feel your frustration all the way over here .....
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks! We will get if figured ouu!
@shaneoliver8669
6 ай бұрын
Hello Marty thanks for the video I am running Faslaps also And have reached out to Patrick for The same problem I am only running Carrera digital track and it doesn't count all the laps on practice or in race mode
@josephstanczak4340
6 ай бұрын
Interesting.
@PatrickLangaFasLaps
6 ай бұрын
Hi Shane! I believe the problem you are having on the digital side is something completely different. Hopefully, we can get your issue fixed soon.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
You the man Patrick!
@envirojay
6 ай бұрын
Someone should do a video on braids and what to use. I have a carrear digital track and for over a year I have been trying to figure out why slot it and revo slot cars always stutter on my track. I just found out today it's because of the braid. Always always always use the silver braid that carrera cars come with. It's the toughest and works the best. So many problems solved knowing this.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Jay, I use Slot It copper braid and have no problems once I get the braids fluffed.
@envirojay
6 ай бұрын
@twolinesslotcars interesting. I have bought slotit racing braid that is copper but I never fluffed it? How do you do that?
@envirojay
6 ай бұрын
@twolinesslotcars I feel like when I put the silver carrera braid on it just works no mucking around though which is always nice
@litterbug4023
6 ай бұрын
New to this channel at the request of a friend to help out. How are you powering the Arduino? Does it have it's own power supply, or are you powering it from the same power supply that runs the track? Do you have a schematic showing how everything is wired and what components you are using?
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Arduino is on a separate power supply. I will create a schematic and post it.. Thanks! Welcome to the channel!
@arnetoft2108
6 ай бұрын
Marty is it all cars that do that on all your 4 track. Normally it is the censor that can read some cars, I would start with the censor have had the same problem.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Arne, I think any car that has a cap installed on the motor is working fine.. Slot It's, etc..
@barrylogan2358
6 ай бұрын
Hi Marty, does Carrera have a digital set up for four-lane layouts?
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Barry, yes.. there is an extenision lane to go 4 lanes of digital
@Midwest-RC
6 ай бұрын
i just built a Lap counting system for Blazen Racin here in Indiana. We used Ir Led's in the track. with an overhead light Just got the system installed yesterday and did some testing its working great. We are going back today to run more laps. If I can be any help let me know. but we drilled small holes in the track and stuck LED in the. it could be the programing in the Arduino itself or the code. But we are Using Race coordinator.
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Midwest!
@nightrodmx
6 ай бұрын
i got the exact same problem with my control unit. I don´t know what to do
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
I am still troubleshooting.. I will let you know what I figure out with another post.
@nightrodmx
6 ай бұрын
@@twolinesslotcars thanks Marty!
@rhysthomas209
6 ай бұрын
G'day Marty, so inline ok have you rechecked the program , the problem might be that
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Rhys!
@Scale_Slotcars_Latvia
6 ай бұрын
Hope you find a solution Marty .that would drive me crazy 😐😟
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Thanks Harry!
@Dafingers1
6 ай бұрын
Have your perfect fix..just send me all your slot cars that dont run on the track..😅😂
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
😂😂😂😂😂😂 sounds like a plan Dafingers!
@Dafingers1
6 ай бұрын
Once you get that quirk figured out, you will surely save many headaches for your fellow slotterheads that are experiencing similar quirks.
@garthfrudd5974
6 ай бұрын
Marty, I believe your problem is you did not listen to Jeremy when you did your system, instead your went with someone elses idea for sensors?
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Garth, you maybe correct, Jeremy and I had a great conversation.. and that is probably version 2! :)
@ted.slotcardaddy
6 ай бұрын
Crazy issue Marty and complicated but it looks like you got some great fixes noted in the comments, I lean towards @robmcgyracer comment as a starting point. Good luck You'll get it resolved
@twolinesslotcars
6 ай бұрын
Ted, Yes. th4e channel came throuugh with lots of tests for me! I am out fo town.. so I wont get to try anything until Monday.. so the livestream on Tuesday should be fun LOL
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