Sometime late this year I'm supposed to get a decent chunk of money for an accident I recently had. I'm very seriously considering putting together a NASCAR Digital short track, something like Dover or Martinsville. My plans are for the standard two grooves through the corners but have both straights open to three lanes. In addition to the 3 lanes of the front stretch I'd like to work in a two lane pit road big enough for 6 cars.

I am familiar with the SCX line and from my early considerations it seems that only SCX will have all of the features I want to work in. What I would like to know is what the footprint is for the standard SCX tri-oval layout, what radius the banked corners are in that set and what the total running feet is. I know that the track will take up some serious space so it will be built up in modular pieces on the layout.

I have found about a dozen digital NASCAR cars between SCX and Carrera, my next question is are digital cars transferable from on brand to the next? Also I know some analog cars can be converted to digital, if anyone has done that please let me know how labor intensive this is.

hey pete..
i've been studying up on the digital sets myself and i have narrowed it down to scx.
i like the fact that the cars are smart not the track....
the scx cars are not compatible on other tracks,in fact one of the draw backs with scx is the analogue and digital track are not compatible.where as scalextric,carrera,and ninco
analogue track can be spliced into digital.
what i plan on doing is buying the gt set(best price i'v seen is $330 shipped )and splicing in mdf wooden sections to make a custom track....
here are the scx cars that can be digitized..

$ 19.95 SCX Digital #20240 Car Digitalization Kit
The SCX Car Digitalization Kit is used to convert SCX analog 1/32 slot cars to SCX Digital. Only the following SCX models are compatible with this kit: Alfa Romeo 156, AMG Mercedes, Aston Martin, Audi A4, BMW 320, Corvette, Ferrari 360, Ferrari 550, Honda Accord, Opel Vectra, Seat Cupra, Seat Leon, Tuning Car and the Volvo S60R.Audi R10, Chevrolet Impala COT, Ford Fusion COT, Peugeot 908 and the Porsche 911.and about 8 or 10 nascar cars
here's a vid on chip replacement...
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuI6-AxlAtA
i think i answered some of your question
Rice

What Rice said is true Pete. The compatibility between manufacturers is not great. About the only one that I think has some compatibility between all tracks is Slot.it, but that is because they accept most digital chips.

As for the layout and area needed for the SCX Digital Tri-Oval, it looks like about 8.60' x 5.30'. Total running feet is 19.4':

http://www.brshobbies.com/catalog.php/BRSHobbies/dt67990/pd1734137/SCX_Digital_10070_NASCAR_2008_Race_Set

As for the banked curve, I know it is a 15 degree bank, but the radius is not specified. The standard curver is about a 15" radius, 30" diameter, and 8 pieces creates a full circle. But I can't seem to find what the banked curves are. Maybe Dave, Brian, or Marcus will know.

PD2:thumbsup:

Paul I went and looked at the SCX Tri-Oval, it is about a 9' X 6' like you said, and is within my footprint build area. From my build expectations SCX seems to be the only way to go. I can run up to 6 cars with pit lane expansions. Also with the trioval I can go 3 wide through the trioval area and even do the pit lane, although the hobby shop guys both recommended a single lane pit road. I really didn't want the drivers having to reach over the tri-oval area to get their cars from the pits but that's unavoidable. The banking is 15% but the shop guys were thinking they were 24", UR30 shows they are more like 18". Since all of the extra lanes will be going inside the track footprint I don't need to worry about width.

Another question about going to a 6 car set up, if I have the pit box and expander do I also need the extra control unit? I know I will need 2 transformers and an additional 3 controllers either way.

SCX has a good mix of 2007 cars and CoT's plus there is always repainting and Patto's decals. Right now it's just a study of what it's going to take to make the track I have in my head. I'm figuring less than a grand but close to $800 for a six car set up.

pete..
if you want the cars to go counter clockwise ,you have to flip the pit box to the inside
so you wouldn't have to reach over anyhow..

Pete,

From what I'm reading here:

http://www.scxdigitalsystem.com/multimedia/instructions/Instructions%20Circuit%20the%20digital%20system%20 SCX%20Ref%2010020.pdf

It looks like you need the Pit Box, Digital Power Line Base Unit, 3 controllers (assuming the base kit comes with 3 controllers), 2 transformers (assuming the base kit comes with 1 transformer), and a control unit connecting cable (I'd assume that comes with either the Pit Box or the DPLB unit).

Check out page 8 - it looks like they have some recommendations if you expand your base kit to 6 racers, how many controllers, and then recommended track pieces they recommend. Interesting....

Zook, Good idea! That might actually work, provided he has the same. Great thinking!

Hope all of this helps Pete!
PD2:thumbsup:

Pete,

As someone who recently went SCX Digital, let me first say
"Welcome Aboard!"

You will absolutely LOVE your new system, it is great.
You wrote:

"Another question about going to a 6 car set up, if I have the pit box and expander do I also need the extra control unit? I know I will need 2 transformers and an additional 3 controllers either way."

What you will need to get six cars up and running is the Pit Box, the Pit Box Expander (allows for cars 4,5, and 6 to have "gas"), an extra control unit (For the controllers for cars 4,5, and 6 to plug into) as well as the SCX Connecting cable.

***IMPORTANT*** the SCX Connecting Cable is not included in any set.

<<< I CAN NOT STRESS THE FOLLOWING ENOUGH>>>>
Use the SCX Connecting Cable ONLY....DO not try and make your own cable, or plug in a standard cable between the pit box and control unit, you can literally FRY both units. IT IS A SPECIAL CABLE, it does not use the standard wiring practice. So, do not use a substitute or generic cable, you will have issues (possibly very expensive) if you do. The SCX cable is cheap, I think like $10 or so, but it is the ONLY one to use to connect the two units correctly and safely.

Other options you may want to consider if you are going to be doing a lot of multi-person racing are the lap counter and expansion module, and the chronometer and expansion module. I have both, and they are great. Just plug and play, all commands are driven by the pit box unit. Not only do they give you "in-race" information, such as who is in what position and what your last lap time was (even flashes when you set a new low time), after the race, you can see who had the fastest lap, each persons fastest lap time, each person's average lap time, the total time raced, as well as on the lap counter who finished where, and what the margin of victory was (in seconds if on the same lap, or in # of laps down if the lead car was way ahead). Again, these units basically just plug into the track, and are "out of the box" ready. No software compatibility issues or tempermental sensors or wiring needed.

As you can probably tell, I am a HUGE fan of SCX Digital. I think it is the best Digital system out there, and I think you will enjoy it very much.

One note of warning, and I don't mean to make that sound ominous, but be prepared to fiddle a bit with the cars from time to time. They are extremely robust, especially the NASCAR vehicles, but they may require a bit of tweaking every now and again. I recommend going on YouTube and watching the videos by Bryan. Just type in SCX Digital and you will pull up a whole bunch of "How To" videos.

From what I have seen, SCX has the best customer service in the business, and they stand behind their product. If you should have an issue, be assured, they will work with you to get it sorted out and squared away.

Best of luck with everything, and please, keep us posted on things.

Rolo9th, thanks for the advice. I have actually successfully done a couple of analog>digital car conversions but I have not raced on a track yet. I had an analog set up for a while a while back, loved it but found the local hardcore racers were not much fun. I'm not into a $400+ Professor Motor controller and spending nearly that much on an analog car. I raced in two 12 driver enduros, finished last both times and decided racing with 2 or 3 HO guys was more fun.

You did answer my question about the pit box and expander so I have a better idea of costs now. I also figured that cable was a specialty item from what I've read in other forums too. The banked corners are 36" radius and can be purchased seperately so I can go with a conventional Bristol oval instead of the Tri-Oval set up. That way I can have 3-wide in both the front and back stretch and 2 wide in the corners, as well as a single lane pit road. This is going to be built up on 2 sections that will be 4' wide and 6' long for a 4X12 set up. When I ran my analog cars I found a good 10' straight was enough for any out of the box car.

i can't wait to start building a digital track!!!!
here is some good reading and there is a link to all of Brian Youngs videos also!
http://www.hotslots132.com/scx-digital-a-49.html

Excellent info Rolo9th! Thanks for helping Pete out! I only have an analog setup and was going on documents that I found - first hand experience DEFINITELY trumps that! Glad you were able to help Pete out.

Pete, Rolo9th is right about SCX and Bryan! That guy is awesome and has come through for our local racers before - even DROVE to the local track to deliver a few parts that needed to be replaced and spent some time helping others! You can't beat in-person customer service! Aside from Bryan you have Dave Kennedy and Marcus here - Dave works for SCX Marketing now and Marcus is a huge SCX fan/nut too!

Good luck with the layout! Every time you have something new working you make me want to pay you a visit!:p

PD2:thumbsup:

Well I think I've gotten some good advice to get started here, and the track will be a regualr banked ovan and not a tri-oval. I will need to buy the extra corner set as well as the other item already mentioned. I was also told that there is no reason other than vanity to go 3 wide in the straights on such a short track as it would make lane changes a nightmare when the lanes go back to two grooves in the corners.

It does make sense to keep it a consistent 2-wide all the way around the track. But I do understand what you were going for - the additional racing realism of having them come through the corners at 3-wide would be cool, but I think that person that told you that is right. I think you will be doing a lot more marshalling of cars than racing.

PD2:thumbsup:

Unfortunately this all became a moot point this afternoon, as of February 24th I will no longer have a job. The City of Fresno has chosen to do away with all temporary positions in my department, of which I am a temp supervisor. The money I get from this settle ment will undobutedly be needed to pay bills and possibly find a smaller (if there is such a thing) apartment than I have now. I thank the City of Fresno for screwing up so bad that they are $8.8M in the hole and will now have another 233 people unemployed.

Unfortunately this all became a moot point this afternoon, as of February 24th I will no longer have a job. The City of Fresno has chosen to do away with all temporary positions in my department, of which I am a temp supervisor. The money I get from this settle ment will undobutedly be needed to pay bills and possibly find a smaller (if there is such a thing) apartment than I have now. I thank the City of Fresno for screwing up so bad that they are $8.8M in the hole and will now have another 233 people unemployed.

Oh Pete. I am so so sorry to hear this bro. Just when you were getting back into work and into the swing of things. Just when these kids were going to have something else to keep them off the streets. Man, I'm really bummed about this news bro. :( I know how you feel and have been there. I'll definitely be praying for you and your job situation, but if there is anything else that I can do within my capabilities, please let me know. I know you will find a new job and a way through this time.

PD2:thumbsup: