# Track Calls



## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

I have a 24x6 oval with Trakmate timing. I have track call buttons on all 4 sides but have a problem. I need to trigger track calls where one button push will stop power, but a second button push will not restore power. 
I have been told I need to replace the simple switches with relays but I have no idea what I need or how to wire.
Any help?

Thanks,
Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Gary, Contact Steve @ "Slot Car Central". He's extremely knowledgeable & does excellent work. He made 6 custom drivers' stations for my layout &
helped me thru the wiring. Everything worked perfectly from 1st throttle.
If needed, PM & I will get you further contact info.


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Sorry Gary, my bad!  Steve is @ "Slot Car Corner"!!!! :thumbsup:


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

Dyno Dom said:


> Sorry Gary, my bad!  Steve is @ "Slot Car Corner"!!!! :thumbsup:


Thanks, I left a message on the site to see if they could assist. I appreciate the info.

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

Still looking for an answer... anyone?

Thanks,
Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Gary - it's not clear to me from your description what behavior you are hoping to achieve. I understand that you want any of the 4 track call buttons to trigger the track call but you don't want any of the 4 track call buttons to clear the track call. I get that, but how do you want to clear the track call? Do you want a separate master control button (operated by the race director) to clear the track call or do you want to require the race director to clear the track call from the computer (space bar)? If you fully describe the logic you need then we can talk about some potential solutions.

The track call interface to TrackMate is simply a momentary contact closure on the interface board. Your 4 switches are all in parallel so any one can provide the switch closure. This contact closure is used as a trigger for the software logic that drives the race management program, which in turn controls the track power relay in conjunction with the resumption logic (resume race from track call.) Because the track call trigger is momentary and the track call is persistent until another trigger to clear the track call is received, something is retaining or "latching" the track call state. That something is the software and we can't change that. What we can do is modify the logic in front of the track call interface to the interface board.

Are you looking to have one place where the race director can "arm" or "disarm" the other track call buttons? Or do you want 3 places where the track call can be initiated, but only one plane where the track call can be both initiated and cleared?


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

AfxToo said:


> do you want 3 places where the track call can be initiated, but only one plane where the track call can be both initiated and cleared?


Exactly the behavior I am looking for. All 4 places can initiate the track call, but only the race director station can clear the track call.
BTW, with two different laptops running the TrackMate software I have experienced a scrambling of data when the space bar is used for a track call.

Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## shocker36 (Jul 5, 2008)

Sounds like the stuff Im doing in my PLC class


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Yeah, this would be child's play for a PLC.

Gary, you should contact Dan at TrackMate about you issue.


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

You could simply put a DPDT relay for track power control, then tap one half of the relay into the feed wire going to the three "off-only" switches. When track power is killed, these switches would be "dead". It should be fairly simple.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

SwamperGene said:


> You could simply put a DPDT relay for track power control, then tap one half of the relay into the feed wire going to the three "off-only" switches. When track power is killed, these switches would be "dead". It should be fairly simple.


Yeah, a relay contact actuated by the track power would work perfectly. I would think a DPST relay would work. 

If you already have a SPST track power relay (which you probably do) that does not have an extra set of contacts it would be less expensive to add another lower cost SPST relay with its coil tied to the same signal that actuates your main track power, which comes out of the TrackMate interface board. The track call buttons control is just a contact closure and it doesn't need the heavy power contacts (10A or larger) that the track power relay contacts must have.


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

AfxToo said:


> ... add another lower cost SPST relay with its coil tied to the same signal that actuates your main track power, which comes out of the TrackMate interface board.


The one problem you might run into there is not knowing the available current of the driver circuit...I've seen second relays cause the system to "flutter" when activated. As long as you use something with low pull-down requirements you should be ok though, and you don't need the high current contacts of the automotive-type relays for the switch relay.

Radio Shack sells a nice 12V 10A DPDT relay for like 9 bucks, depending on how the switches are currently wired it should basically be "plug-n-play" on it's own.


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

SwamperGene said:


> The one problem you might run into there is not knowing the available current of the driver circuit...I've seen second relays cause the system to "flutter" when activated. As long as you use something with low pull-down requirements you should be ok though, and you don't need the high current contacts of the automotive-type relays for the switch relay.
> 
> Radio Shack sells a nice 12V 10A DPDT relay for like 9 bucks, depending on how the switches are currently wired it should basically be "plug-n-play" on it's own.


I'm all ears, I have a local RS. Where does the relay wire into the current system? Not trying to be difficult, I just don't understand the logic.

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

I'll try to do a diagram for you tomorrow.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

I'm interested too!!! RM


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

ok, here ya go...not real fancy but hopefully this will get you going. I just so happened to have a RS DPDT 12V 10A relay in the garage, so this is exactly how you'd hook it up. I tested it on a 9V wall wart and it works fine, this should be a direct swap for the relay supplied with TM. I superimposed it on the drawing right from their manual.










Very simple...run the relay power lines to the bottom two blades on the new relay, I think they are numbered "7" & "8". Now plug your power supply line into the new relay as shown...at this point you're back to where you started just with a new relay installed.

The last step depends on how you wired the call buttons. If you ran them in parallel like the manual says, it's real simple. After the first switch from the board (this will be the "Master Switch with two-way operation), simply cut one of the wires going to the next switch. Plug the wire hanging off the first switch into the middle blade (second from top) of the relay, and plug the other cut end (going to the next and subsequent switches) into the bottom blade (third from top). That's it!

Simply put, feed the first switch directly to the TM board, and any switches after that go after the relay-interupted line. Now when track power is killed, only the first switch can restore power.

Hope the helps!


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

BTW, if you don't have a need for split track call buttons, this relay has another cool use. If you ever wanted to set up "Red" and "Green" lights to show track power status, you can use one side of the relay to switch control the lights according to the track being on or off. You can do this with any software that controls track power through a relay, including SRM or LapTimer 2000.

:thumbsup:


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

SwamperGene said:


> BTW, if you don't have a need for split track call buttons, this relay has another cool use. If you ever wanted to set up "Red" and "Green" lights to show track power status, you can use one side of the relay to switch control the lights according to the track being on or off. You can do this with any software that controls track power through a relay, including SRM or LapTimer 2000.
> 
> :thumbsup:


How about a schematic for "Red" and "Green" lights to show track power status?


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

rbrunne1 said:


> How about a schematic for "Red" and "Green" lights to show track power status?


Here's the basic idea. Actually, first a disclaimer here...if you are dealing with 120V lights please use caution and common sense...no "twisted and taped" connections, no frayed ends, etc, etc.

The idea is, just like track power control, you want to interupt one half of the circuit. Your basic DPDT relay has two SPDT switched inside that work simultaneously but are electrically indepenent...you can control two separate circuits with one "event" ...such as a trigger to kill track power. Here's a very basic pic of one half of the relay:










This picture isn't 100% accurate, to finish it you need to understand how the relay works. With no power, one side is held closed...this is the "Normally Closed" side. The other side is considered "Normally Open".










When power is applied to the relay's coil, such as from a trigger to apply track power, the center pole moves to the opposite side, opening the NC contact and closing the NO one.

So with this in mind, you can figure out how to do the lights. Run a single hot lead to both bulbs. Run the ground to the middle of one relay switch, then continue the ground from the normally closed side to the red bulb(s), and run another ground from the normally open side to the green bulb(s). With no power to the relay (track power off) the red bulb circuit is complete (1), when the relay gets power (track power on), the red circuit opens and the green bulb's circuit is completed (2):












Sounds a little confusing, but hopefully that'll help. And again...use caution around any wiring.


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

Thanks Gene! I think I'll experiment with some low voltage lighting to see how to get it to work


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

rbrunne1 said:


> Thanks Gene! I think I'll experiment with some low voltage lighting to see how to get it to work


Anytime 

Have fun!


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

Awesome Gene!! Greatly appreciated.

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

LeeRoy98 said:


> Awesome Gene!! Greatly appreciated.
> 
> Gary
> AKA LeeRoy98
> www.marioncountyraceway.com


Glad to help! 

So..........did you try it yet?


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

No, I just got back from a business trip. But I do understand the logic and can duplicate it. That was my barrier before, the understanding! I hope to have time this weekend to invest in the project.

Thanks again!
Gary


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I was wondering why you were specifying a double throw relay when all you really need for the master-slave track call circuit is a single throw relay. But making use of the other throw to show something during the power-off state makes sense.


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

Thanks again Gene, finished the wiring this morning and everything works perfectly. Now I'm going to follow up on the green flag, yellow flag lights. I have a small transistor circuit that I had to build a number of years ago that will flash the yellow lights. I'm going to try and wire in the steady green with the flashing yellow. I'll post a video when I get it completed.

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

LeeRoy98 said:


> Thanks again Gene, finished the wiring this morning and everything works perfectly. Now I'm going to follow up on the green flag, yellow flag lights. I have a small transistor circuit that I had to build a number of years ago that will flash the yellow lights. I'm going to try and wire in the steady green with the flashing yellow. I'll post a video when I get it completed.
> 
> Gary
> AKA LeeRoy98
> www.marioncountyraceway.com


Cool! Glad it worked for ya :thumbsup:


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