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Q. How difficult is it to build a kit? A. This is the question asked the most by our customers. Find out more on the What is a Kit page.
Q. If I already have one of your timers and I'm buying a new track, can I get it remade to fit the new track? A. No. Our Fast Track timers were custom-built to your original specifications. Unfortunately, we are not able to retrofit your old timer to fit your new track or add additional lanes. The cost would be prohibitive!
Q. Do Camera flashes affect your timer? A. No, we guarantee that camera flashes will not affect the timer.
Q. Does the timer work in full sunlight? A. There are several ways to improve the timer performance in sunlight: - Make sure no light is getting to the back of the sensors. Cover the back of the sensors with black tape. - Use a small hole in the track. 1/8 inch hole should work fine. - Make the interior of the hole flat black, or other dark color, so indirect light is not reflected down to the sensor. - Make the sensor hole deep. It should be at least 1/2 inch deep for best results. We have used J-B Weld, or J-B Kwik epoxy to fix holes that were too big. You can fill the big hole with the epoxy, then redrill them to a smaller size. The new hole will be a flat gray color that works well. - Also you might want to check out The Judge as they have a sunlight option.
Q. Does the timer come with an AC adapter? A. Yes the timer comes with an AC adapter, battery packs are available as an option.
Q. If I buy a battery pack do I still get an AC adapter? A. Yes, you get both an AC adapter and a battery pack.
Q. I just glued the sensors in, and now the timer won't work. What happened? A. If you used silicon glue, you must wait 24 hours for the glue to dry completely before your timer will work.
Q. Do you need a computer to use the timer? A. No, the computer is an option but is not required to use any of our timers. All of our timers can work in a stand-alone mode. If any timer is used with a computer, it will send the times to it, even if the timer was not capable of displaying times.
Q. My Race Management Software doesn't recognize my K-series timer. What's going on? A. Your software may be looking for the old data format that had only the first place marked. Try switching to the old data format using the Fast Track utility that came with your timer.
Q. I can't get my timer to communicate with the computer at all. Is there anything I can do? Most people connect using a USB to Serial convertor. The first thing to verify is that you have installed the driver that came with your USB to serial adaptor. To verify that the driver is installed you should goto windows device manager. The fastest way to get there is to goto Start -> Run and type in "Devmgmt.msc" and select OK. In Device Manager you should scroll down to "Ports (COM & LPT)" and hit the + next to it to expand it. On this list you should see your USB to serial adaptor if the driver is installed. If it is not listed here, check under "Other Devices" and see if you have a "USB-Serial Controller" or something similar with a yellow question mark listed next to it. If so you do not have the driver installed. If the driver is not installed, first find the CD it came with. Put that CD in the drive and on the device manager screen select your "USB-Serial Controller" right click and select Update Driver. The windows new hardware wizard will display. Tell it to search for the driver automatically and it should find it on the CD and install it for you. After the driver install is completed you should go back to device manager and see if it is listed under "Ports (COM & LPT)". If so the driver was installed successfully. With the driver installed you will see the Com port listed right after the name in device manager. Some programs require a low Com port number in the 1 through 4 range. If needed it is easy to change the Com port number. Just right click on the USB to Serial adaptor in device manager and select properties. Goto the port settings tab and hit the advanced button. On this screen there will be a listbox with the port listed. Select the port that you desire from this list. You cannot pick the port if it is listed as in use. If you still cannot communicate with the computer, testing your port in hyperterminal is the next step. The fastest way to get to hyperterminal is to goto Start -> Run and type in "hypertrm" and hit OK. When hyperterminal first starts up it may ask you to make it your default telnet client and you can tell it yes or no as you prefer. Also it may prompt you for your location as if you will be dialing a phone number. We will not dial any number, but it may still require you to fill that out. Once hyperterminal starts up it will ask for a name and an icon for the connection. It does not matter what you pick on that screen. On the "Connect To" screen pick your com port from the connect using box. In the "Port Settings" set the Bits per second to 9600, data bits to 8, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control. After hitting OK there you will be at an empty white box. The easiest way to get information sent to the computer is to unplug the power from the timer and plug it back in. When the timer powers up it sends a copyright and version number. If you receive this information then your timer can communicate with the computer. If you do not see anything it is possible that you are connected to the wrong port, or that your port does not work. A quick test is to see if you can type anything in this box. If you see your text trying sending AT, if you are connected to a modem it will send OK back. You could send a command like RV to our K-series timers and they will send back the version. If you cannot see anything you type then you are not connected to a device, or could be connected to an older timer. You can short across pins 2 and 3 on the serial port coming from the computer and try typing. If your port is working you should see the text come back. If not I would try the timer on a different computer or with a USB to serial adaptor. If you do not think it is the computer, you can tell if the timer's serial port is working by putting an LED across pins 2 and 5 of the 9 pin serial connector. The LED will glow if the LED leads are put in one way and the LED will not light if the LED is put in the other way. Once you verify that the LED comes on, then reverse the leads so that the LED is off. With the LED off, trip each lane. When the last lane is tripped the LED should flash. If the LED flashes, then the serial port on the timer is working. You can also test the cable with the LED by plugging the cable into the timer and then checking the LED at the other end of the cable - just like you did with the timer. You can get an LED at Radio Shack for about $2. The Radio Shack part number is 276-307 or 276-309 (about a dozen other LED's they have will work). You can see them at http://www.radioshack.com by entering the part number.
Q. I want to write my own software. What is the format of the timer's serial interface? A. The timer sends this string when all the cars have finished.
A=1.234! B=2.345 C=3.456 D=4.567 E=0.000 F=0.000
It puts an exclamation point after the winning time, with 2 spaces after every time (the exclamation point takes up a space). Also if you only have a 4 lane track the unused lanes (E and F in this example) will show 0.000 Other characters: It sends an "@" sign whenever the reset switch is closed. Also it sends a <LF> and a <CR> (That is ASCII code 10 and 13) at the end of each string. The serial settings to view the timer results yourself are 9600 baud, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control. With these settings you should be able to see the results in hyperterminal.
Our K series timers support a new format. If the new format is enabled (send the command "N1") it will also send punctuation for all the places.
A=1.234! B=2.345" C=3.456# D=4.567$ E=5.678% F=6.789&
Q. I moved the circuit boards on my timer and now the lanes are showing the wrong results. What happened? A. Jumpers on the boards tell them which lanes results they should display. Just moving the board won't work. Lane 1 does not have a jumper since it is a master board for the whole timer. Give us a call for more information.
Q. What is the resolution of your timer? A. Better that 1/1000 of a second, also if the cars fall from a 4 foot drop it can distinguish within 1/16 of an inch. For more information read this Statement on Timer Accuracy
Q. Do you sell Pinewood Derby Tracks? A. No, but we do know someone that does.
Q. My track lies flat on the floor. How do I mount the timer so the bottom rail will go underneath and the timer doesn't sag? A. Most tracks sit on junction blocks at each section. If yours doesn't, put 5/8" blocks underneath the track at each track section junction.
Q. Is your timer double sided? A. No, but the K1 can be seen from both sides. Also we have a Double Vision option for twice the price of the timer that creates a double-sided timer.
