Thanks I have edited my post correcting the words. Pints are on order ;-)

Hi Howard,

Starting up my project here to complete a Cano decoder. I could not find the 221 and 2.87K resistors on Mouser. Or more specific, I would need to order 200 or 1000 pieces.. :) How close to spec do these need to be? Can you recommend any specific replacements on Mouser?

The following are 1/4W parts. They might be a tight fit on the PCB, but will work fine:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...Obu5A9nGcng%3d

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...p0F9l0TXtbQ%3d

I the used 1/4 versions on mine, needed to fit vertically but work fine.

While the topic is close to the top again, my club is still using the Cano decoder successfully every other Sunday. We had a slight issue when we tried the loop near the start line which is on the straight. Some cars were missing the occasional lap and we surmised it might have been the speed crossing the loop on a regular lap. We the moved it to a much slower section and all the issues went away. We have also had great success with the loop hidden underneath the Astroturf even on wet and snowy days it does not miss a beat.

Thanks Howard and Gareth. I will put the order on Mouser shortly. They have free shipping to Sweden if the order is above 50 Euros, so I put in a reel of Kester #44 with eutectic solder to reach the bar. Getting eutectic solder in Sweden has been a futile mission so far. I don't understand why, It should be the perfect hobbyist solder...

Sounds good. Our plan is also to use it on a clay/carpet outdoors buggy track and to hear that it works under the carpet is good news. That is how we use the other (AMB/mylaps) loop on our indoor carpet track. The idea of building a loop off the ground is not so appealing since buggies tend to come flying sometimes...

Hi All,

Congratulations for all that worked on this project. It is really amazing.

I'd like to know if someone here has the PCB to trade. I'd like to build and Iam searching for the PCB. It is a personal project and I don't have the funds from the club for this.

Thanks,
Gilson Beckman

Problems!
I was just about to finally order the electronics from mouser when I realize that the MC74AC4040N DIP chip is discontinued. It seems to be so on all the webshops I could think of, even Ebay. Digikey, Farnell, RS-Online etc. There is only the SOIC variant available.
So, my plan is to buy an SOIC chip of this type and a 16 pin SOIC->DIP converter like this one.

Just a check if this is the best approach and the parts are approriate? I already have the PCBs so I have to stick with that design.

Try the Texas Instruments SN74LV4040AN. Digikey has stock.

Thanks! Found it more locally in europe too (conrad.se).

Hello!


Maybe someone knows an application for Andriod which support AMB P98 protocol? I will use Smartphone for lap counting.

Thanks for answers.

Andrius.

Howard, another quick check before I (finally) order components. The ceramic capacitors in the amp, the C1,C6 and C7 seems to be of a non-critical type. They are out of stock though so I looked for replacements and came up with this:
http://www.mouser.se/Search/ProductD...5C1H820J0P1H3B.

Should be Ok?
I also have a set of cheap ceramic capcitors in my electronics box wich seems to be of similar type of the original sort. I guess they would work to or is the tolerance (5%) important here?

Regards Barsk

You are correct, those capacitors are fairly non-critical since they are used in a low-Q circuit. The alternates you found will be fine, and the ones you have on hand are probably good, too. 10% tolerance won't make a discernible difference.

Our track is 4 meters wide, that is a tad longer than 14 feet. Will I need to change any components to cope with this for the loop, i.e the tuning caps? The spec has 12 feet as max...

You might try reducing the value of C1. The larger loop sizes also give less signal, so make sure the transponders are mounted well away from any conductive components on the cars.