AMB POWER SUPPLY NEEDED BY RCRE.
 

hi guys. we had our amb power supply fry at the end of last year's racing season and we are looking for another one or a cheap option for replacement. if you have any ideas or solutions or heck even another rack and etc please post here or e-mail me. thanks

adam
rcre vice prez

PM my Prez
 

Hey plumbum

Think we had that issue a few years back...but it was with the AMB autoscore, not the "new" AMBrc system.

PM our president for what we used. (do you need it for the transponder rack, or the actual lap counter boxes??)

go to Thompson Valley RC Racer's thread.

Jason
Kamloops, BC

it is the power supply for the charging rack. amb 20 rack and power supply i believe.

sun city might be able to sell you there rack and pwr/charger. let me know if you are interested

The AMBrc system can be powered by the USB cable; the external power supply is only needed if you use the serial interface.

That being said, you can power the AMBrc system through the USB cable and configure your system to use the serial interface if you like.

You still need a power supply for the charging rack, but if you had two supplies (one for the rack and one for the AMBrc), you can get by just fine using only one for the transponders.

Our issue is with the charging rack only - The AMBrc system itself is working just fine.

As I said, if you are using an external power supply for the AMBrc system, you can use it for the charging rack instead. My previous message explained that the external power supply is optional for the AMBrc system, freeing it for use for the charging rack.

Without knowing more details about your situation, I can't give any further advice. It should be easy to find a wall wart or generic brick power supply somewhere either locally or on the 'net should you need to replace it.

ok. we have the ambrc software and transponders etc... we had a amb10 or 20 rack and charger. it is not compatible with the amb power supply. we understand what you are saying but it will not help us. without buying the 400usd rack and charger direct from amb we cant do what you are saying. we are trying to cheaply get our rental transponders back up and running for the new guys at the track. if it sort of a nice thing to do for new members until they can get a personal transponder.

So, if I understand your situation correctly, you have:

AMBrc
AMBrc power supply
System 20 rack
System 20 rack power supply (fried)

And you want to replace your fried System 20 charging rack power supply.

Out of curiosity, do you have System 20 transponders, or AMBrc transponders? I know the AMBrc system has a System 20 compatibility mode so you can use old software with it.

It's been a while since I've worked with a System 20 so I can't remember the details, but why can't you just buy another brick power supply for it? Do you not know the specifications?

amb doesnt sell the power supply seperately. but yes we have the old rack and charger and new internal battery powered transponders. we have the ambrc decoder, loop etc... but no power supply. we run the amb system off of our computer(i beieve). the original power supply is unrepairable becuase of the epoxy coating on the circuit board. this is my understanding from a friend of mine who is a electronics tech for the military. as for a new brick power supply, i dont know the specs of the old power supply or the ability to adapt one to it. i believe it has a 4 pin connector. and from my understanding is that the amb ps has a balance feature and etc.. as to not over charge the batts. what we dont want to do is fry the new transponders with an adapted system to make it work. it is one of the features our exec would like to keep for the new and/or budget racers in our club. we have located a system 20 rack and charger for a reasonable price so i think we are going to go that route. if you have any other possibilities or solutions that you could inform us of it would be gretaly appreciated. also if i was wrong in stating that we use the comp to power our ambrc i will post back. thanks for the help.

adam

Adam - you're wrong :D

well then post it. what do we have then

Took a look at the power supply on NASCARs AMB spot transponder rack which has spots for 20 tonight and is 13.7 volts and was I think around 2.67 amps output. Four wires in cord going to rack but two are negative and two are positive, can see looking at the rack that it is wired this way also, so 12 volts supplied to each transponder..

Thinking should just be able to find a power supply rated around the same, if needed can take a volt meter next just to make sure also.

yes you are right corwin. but you have the new version rack and charger. the rack itself regulates the voltage to the transponders. where as our old system is regulated by the power supply. if you put 12 volts to the 1.2 or 1.5 volt transponders you would fry them. again this is what i have been told by some guys that have looked into the amb system and how it works. it is also why amb requires us to buy the rack and charger together. they dont make the older version of power supply. i did hear about contacting the originalk manufacturers of the power supplies. they are from cali i believe. anyway it would wind up being something like $125 usd for a new power supply that would work. plus any shipping and tarrifs, fees, taxes etc... from importing. i have been stuck trying to find a suitable solution that is within our budget but i have found one that we are going to purchase. thanks for the responses guys. i do have one more question though. is anybody going close to kelowna on theri way to the win nats.

Hey Adam - I thought you were going to make a short detour on your way to the nats and pick the rack up yourself. :lol: :lol: :lol: