# 6 lane trakmate???



## sidecar53 (May 14, 2006)

I've just built a small, 6 lane 4x8 dirt oval. I thought that with something that small, we wouldn't need to count laps. I was wrong. My 60 foot 6 lane roadcourse has a trackmate system and at $249 us, I can't really afford to buy another. My question is- am I wrong in thinking that all I would really need is a light gantry and another set of infrared sensors to use the system on my dirt track? I think it would just be a matter of disconnecting the roadcourse sensors from the computer and connecting the dirt track ones. Please give me your thoughts on this. Thanks 
Rick @ Rose City Motorplex (and Renegade Raceway)


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## Rick Voegelin (Oct 27, 2006)

Yes, this will work just fine if you plug the new sensor cable into your interface board. If you use the same lane designations and numbering as your road course, you won't even have to change the setup. Just plug and race!

Enjoy!
Rick V.


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## sidecar53 (May 14, 2006)

Thanks, Rick. Gonna order the sensor cable tomorrow.


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## Rick Voegelin (Oct 27, 2006)

sidecar53 said:


> Thanks, Rick. Gonna order the sensor cable tomorrow.


The only thing to be careful of is that Daniel has changed from a serial port interface to a USB plug (since not many computers have serial ports these days). The interface boards use different sensor cable plugs . . . so a cable for a serial port board won't work with a USB interface board, and vice versa. Depending on which interface you have, the new cable/sensor may not plug into your board.

I'd suggest you call Trackmate to make sure that the cable he is selling now is compatible with your interface board before ordering. Or if you have a serial board, he might have an old-style cable in stock.

The software will work with either serial or USB board . . . in fact, I prefer the older software, the newer version had some bugs (won't do timed practice rotation, for example).

Hope this helps,
Rick V.


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## Black Oxxpurple (Jul 3, 2011)

However, providing that the computer has a free slot available, you can still pick up an expansion board with two serial ports on it.


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## Rick Voegelin (Oct 27, 2006)

Black Oxxpurple said:


> However, providing that the computer has a free slot available, you can still pick up an expansion board with two serial ports on it.


The issue isn't the computer board . . . it's the Trackmate interface board that connects to the sensor cable on one side and the computer on the other. The original Trackmate board and cable had a 25-pin plug like a parallel printer port, while the new interface uses a Cat-5 style connector for the sensor cable.

You can run an old Trackmate board with a serial port connector on a USB-equipped computer by using a serial-to-USB adapter (although in my experience, this sometimes isn't a stable connection).

Hope this helps,
Rick V.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

All you need is the wire that goes from the sensors to the interface board. The red older type of board had a serial output and the input side takes a DB-25 connector. The wire from the sensors has a Cat-5 connector at the end and that plugs into a Cat-5 to DB-25 adapter. In my case the adapter also includes the components needed when you are using dead strips. The newer black interface board has a USB output and I believe that the input uses a Cat-5 connector. I use a serial to USB adapter dongle to connect the red interface board to my laptop computer.


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## Rick Voegelin (Oct 27, 2006)

That is a great tip on using a Cat-5 to DB-25 adapter, Rich! I did not know that such a thing existed . . . now I know how to use my old sensor cables with the new black interface board.

Thanks!
Rick V.


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