Do It Yourself

Cables and Adapters

Connection Diagram

The electrical connections are made through the controller so it can turn on/off the lanes individually. The controller has three conectors for each lane: one for the lane's power supply, another for the track and the last one for the accelerator, as shown below

Connection Diagram.One lane connected.Four lanes connected.

Power Supply

The power supply's cable is made by cutting a the original plug out and fitting a P4 male connector (positive in central pin). To ensure that the power supply is still compatible with the original track, install a P4 female plug with the old connector.

P4 male connectors (left) and P4 female connectors (right).Original power supply.Original track with original power supply.Cutting the power supply's wire.Power supply with P4 connector.Adapter for connecting the power supply in the original track.Power supply with and without the adapter.

Accelerator

The preparation of the accelerator's cable is analog to the power supply's cable; however, in this case it does not matter which wire is connected to the central pin.

Original accelerator.Wire cut and connector.P4 accelerator and adapter.P4 accelerator and adapter connecting to an original track.

Track Power Cable

The track power cable is just a parallel cable AWG #22 (0,3mm²) with one P4 male plug at each tip. For most purposes, one meter of cable is enough and we can still use P4 extensions to increase its length.

Track power cablesTrack with 4 lanes connected.

P4 extension

A simple extension cord with P4 connectors (one male one female). It can be used with the power supply, accelerator or with the track power cable. For extensions up to 5 meters we can use AWG #22 (0,3mm²) and until 20 meters AWG #20 (0,5mm²).

P4 Extension.The P4 extension can be used in several situations.

Splitter Cable

To use only one power supply for several lanes you can assemble a little cable with one P4 female for input and two (or more) P4 male for output. We suggest at least AWG #22 (0,3mm²).

Diagram for the splitter cable.Splitter cable.Example connecting two lanes using one power supply.

Direct Connect Cable

This cable can be used to connect the power, track and accelerator without using a controller. It just connects all conectors in series, inverting the polarity in one of the plugs to make it easier to change the track's racing direction.

Diagram of the direct connect cable, demonstrating how the direction inverting works.Direct Connect Cable.Examble of usage of the direct connect cable.Direct connect cable with stripped wires. The red wires are connected to the central pin.

Sensors Cable

Just a direct 6-way cable (same pins in both tips) which connects the sensors to the controller, with RJ-12 6 pins connectors.

RJ-12 plugs (6 pins).Sensors Cable.

Cabo USB-B

An USB B-type cable, commonly used for printers, connecting the controller to the computer.

USB B-type cable.

Next Steps

Now you can test the power track you made before using the direct connect cables. When ready, advance to the sensors assembly to continue assembling your lap counter.