# Dead Strips



## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

Does anybody have any photos of Dead Strip timing system?
or websites with info

Any opinions vs LED & Reed switches?

Thank you


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## SDMedanic (Apr 21, 2011)

Tried them all at various times. My first track started with dead strips, was converted to reed switches sometime later and ended with LEDs. Dead strip has its issues and you need a converter to get Trackmate or Slottrak to recognize them. Dead strips have to be smooth to work right as the pickups cannot bounce if you want the counter to be reliable. Reeds have a lineny of problems. Sometimes they wont pick up a cars or sometimes a car will trip reeds on two or more lanes. Seen both happen. LEDs just work! Once they are dialed in they work for a long long time.

Some things to remember with optical sensors. Use an emitter (LED) that is matched to the sensor. Trakmate makes a set of emitter LEDs that goes well with his sensors. Never ever get glue, superglue or silicone on the lens of the emitter or sensor. The glue blocks or scatters the IR light. Make sure that the sensors and LEDs are lined up so that they see each other and they are not more than a few inches apart.


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## woodcote (Mar 24, 2009)

The tech guy at our club built us a deadstrip to run with TrackMate










It is a beautiful piece of work fitted into a plywood base and with the RJ45 socket. A lot of soldering is required underneath the track, but if you're comfortable with that, it's straightforward.

The TrackMate deastrip module came with sensor leads and a good wiring diagram. There is also a wiring diagram on Greg Braun's HO Slot Car Racing site.

The deadstrip has proved a big upgrade on the LED bridge / light sensor set-up we had before. It is as bullet-proof as we're going to get...


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

I have used both the dead strip and led system on my track.
the 1st issue I saw was when i had both a dead strip and bridge working at the same time. I found that sometimes a car would not trip the led system but always tripped the dead section. If i did not have the dead section, no one would have known we were missing random laps.

the other is a deslotted car sliding through the counter.
with a dead section, you know you can add a lap.
with the led system did it trip 1 of the sensors? did count on its lane even though it was deslotted? I have seen cars count on their roof, but the driver wants to add a lap anyway.

With computer based software I was able to get a 1/2" dead section to count unlimited cars, but I would use at lest 1" for the dead section.

so I am with woodcote on this


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

My prior Tomy track had a 3" dead strip and my current Max-Trax uses their manufactured dead section. Never had a problem running T-Jets to inline SS.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

I use IRs and dead strips. The dead strips can be up to 8' long, depending on how long I have neglected track maintenance.


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Rich, with 8 ft. long dead strips do you get many repeat counts???


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