RS ZipZaps Speed and Lap Counter

rfnagel · #1 12-19-2003, 01:48 PM

Just picked me up one of the ZipZaps Speed and Lap Counters yesterday ( http://www.radioshack.com/search.asp?find=60-7530 ). Pretty spiffy little accessory and seems to be quite accurate, the way that they positioned the IR sensors causes the counter to measure when the car passes the first and then the second sensor, thereby measuring accurate FPM.

One gripe that I have 'tho, is that any strong light will cause it to malfunction, or not to detect the IR LEDs at all. I took it outside yesterday, a VERY cloudy dark day, and I couldn't even get the sensors to pick up the IR LEDs at all. Looks like this is gonna be strictly an indoor accessory (<aarrggh>, as most of my Zap racing is out in my driveway).

Anyhow, quite a cool little device, much better than any of the home-rigs that I've either thought up or read about on the Internet. For US$10 bucks, you can't go wrong.

Bad Company · #2 12-19-2003, 03:37 PM

Yes, I got one too a while back, and it is nice. I haven't had any issues like you have, but I have only used it indoors. I picked up a couple more barrier kits and plan on making a track.....someday.

Btman · #3 12-19-2003, 04:36 PM

A couple quick questions about the lap counter. The description on Radio Shack's web site states that you can set it from 1 to 6 laps. Does this mean that it will only count up to 6 LAPS? Also, what is the maximum distance that the counter can be away from the sensor? In other words could this be used as a lap counter for larger scale cars like xmods that need a lane width of 2 feet or so?

rfnagel · #4 12-19-2003, 08:21 PM

@BC, As an experiment, take just the main unit outside during the daytime. The red LED on the top of the unit will turn off, even without the reflector unit anywhere near it LOL.

@Btman, Yeah, unfortunately it can only count up to 6 laps, and then you need to press the "Restart" button on the top of the main unit to start racing/counting again. There's a slider styled switch on the front of the unit that selects 1/2/3/4/5/6 laps, but I have a slim hunch that maybe (with a few additional components) that this could be modded. Maybe increase it to 2/4/6/8/10/12, etc...

As far as the distance, it's only about a foot or so. If the reflector unit is more than say, 14" or so away from the main unit, it won't register your laps at all. One thing, since it also displays FPM, one could ignore the scale MPH readout and do a little math on any other scale RC car (that was small enough to fit between the units, as well as small enough to fit between the start and finish IR sensors.