Best Mini Lap Counting System?
 

What is the best mini lap counting system for mini z, xmod, dnano? Thanks for your posts!

We use I-lap http://www.rclapcounter.com at the ChiMini R/C club.

I love the system for many reasons. The transponders are affordable and fit in the small scale cars. The cars they are in have taken massive beating and I haven't had a failed unit yet. Each transponder has a unique ID unlike some of the other systems. The decoder board is AMB compatible so it'll work with all types of software (we use flipside racing). IR system so no radio interferance. I-lap is also working on a transponder small enough to fit a Dnano too.

We also use the RF lap counter from Kyosho for the Dnano racing. Handy as the cars have them built in but there are a couple of issues.

-missed laps. You really gotta pay attention to setup and I believe the wireless network at the hobbyshop is causing interferance
-The RF tags start to peel off the cars but that is more a dnano issue then the lap counter. Problem is, Kyosho doesn't sell replacement tags.

Another vote for i-Lap!:nod:. Used it for years, works great!

That's what I have and use. It does pick up interferance pretty bad. For instance, I can't hook up speakers to my computer because it won't work if they are hooked up. But other then that I haven't had any trouble at all with it. As long as you keep the loop away from a bunch of electronics it will work fine.
On the other hand, you can't beat the price of the transponders. They are under 1$ a piece. The flipside software lets you use generic tags from texas instruments with them. I bought 25 tags for I think 21$. You just tape them inside the body and then use the flipside program to set them up and you are ready. It takes about 10 seconds to get one going.

For what I'm using mine for it was the best way to go, because it's pretty much just for me and the family and the occasional friend who stops by.

I am a bit confused. When I go to the I lap site (http://www.rclapcounter.com/page1/page1.html) it shows the transponders as $38 each. Where are the $1 transponders? I would appreciate it if you could pint me in the right direction for all the appropriate hardware and software for the lap counting system. I am new at this, just trying to figure it out :) Thanks!!

I wasn't clear. I use the kyosho ic tag lap counter. I meant to delete the part about the I lap counter when I quoted the previous post.

For the Kyosho counter you would want to use flipside software.
http://www.flipsideracing.org/projects/fslapcounter/
It's alot better then what comes with the kyosho lap counter. You also need the flipside software to use the generic RFID tags. Here they are http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...E1PZCHFNgTI%3d
The flipside program will let these work with the kyosho counter. It takes less then 1 minute to setup a new tag, and you only have to do it once for each tag. After that the program will remeber it and just add it to races whenever you run over the lap counters loop.

I did see that you put xmod on your list of cars. I have only tried one xmod car on my track, and for some reason I couldn't get the kyosho lap counter to work with it.

For home use it may not be a huge issue but another thing to remember about the RF counter from Kyosho, its size is fixed. That ribbon cable is an exact length. Can't go wider and you have cable to deal with if you need narrower. Also, it has to go under your racing surface, so if you are just doing a layout on the floor, you'll need a little overpass.

One last thing worth mentioning, if you have a problem getting your lap counter to work, who ya gonna call? I love my Dnano and Mini-z equipment, but customer service for Kyosho... not so much.

Just curious, how many cars do you plan on racing? You'll need to race more than 5 cars for the RF system to be a better value. Also curious about how many Dnano you plan on racing.

We plan on at least 4 but could be as many as 8. It will be a garage track and we are just trying to determine whether to go dnano, xmod, mini z. Also trying to determine if the rcp tracks are the way to go or if we can get one of these (http://www.racednano.com/index.php?page=experience) but cant seem to find anywhere that sells them or what the surface is so I could make a custom track.

For the cost of Used's Mini-z AM cars ($50-$90 used), I'd say go with used AM mini-z. Xmods are nice and all but I think Mini-z will be longer term enjoyment.
Dnano are ok but expensive. So far, I prefer them on the dnano carpet track and not much else.

The Dnano track is sold here http://www.blackburncustomwoodwork.c...es/tracks.html


Do you have access to as least 15' x 21'. With that you can purchase 2 Wide-L RCP tracks and have a ton of different layouts.

I just picked up the Kyosho IC timer and I'm using the Flip Side Software. Initial tests worked, but underneath the RCP track seems to get a bit difficult to pick up on them. Have others had this problem? If so what can I do to allow it to pick up better? I like the Kyosho system because of it's use of RFID tags and when it does work with the flipside software it's fantastic announcing lap times, etc...

Any help is greatly appreciated.

As an intial test, see if you can a really short USB cable (1 foot) and see if tha that helps. We've had (and others as well) had problems with long USB cables from the laptop to the IC lap counter. A shorter cable helped with missed laps (but did not eliminate the problem)

I picked up a I-lap system early this year and used it for 1/10th outdoor offroad(short course)all season, worked flawless maybe more flawless than the AMB that I used for previous 4 years. Bright sun, dust, mud and anything else that may stick to the truck and it worked perfect. I also use it for micro indoor onroad and out of 20,000 laps I haven't had a single issue.

There is a free webcam based system that's pretty limited but it does work and it's free, I used it indoor last winter and it worked well but outdoor was a no go since ambient light plays havoc with all the settings for the webcam.......BB

http://sites.google.com/site/easylapcounter/

I used the camera based system and it does work well for 1 car but I've had no success with multiple even after painting them solid distinct colors. The flip side racing software is great and keeps every lap which I like. I'm going to test this again when the larger ICS tags come in and worst case scenario I'll put something clear over the top of it and leave it on top of the race surface instead of underneath it. Thanks for the tips I'll try using a shorter cable too.

Many Many years after LOL
 

I'm going to give it a shot, starting Mini Z In Kirkland WA fall winter 2017