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Hello, and thanks for watching Part 2 of this instructional video series for the Scalextric
Advanced Digital 6 Car Powerbase.
If you haven't already watched Part 1, please go back and watch that first, because I will
assume you already know how to use the basic functions of the powerbase.
For this video, I'm going to be talking about how to use Analog mode so that you can run
standard, non-digital cars on your track.
This is a great feature for those with a lot of cars that aren't already digital, or for
those who want to use the advanced features of this new powerbase in their analog track.
In the last video, I left the powerbase in Basic mode. In order to use Analog mode, we
need to access the advanced features in the powerbase's Professional mode.
To switch to Professional mode, plug in your power supply and watch the screen.
When it shows Basic, press the Right arrow button to change to Pro for professional.
Professional Mode looks just like Basic mode after it boots up, but now we have access
to all the really cool features of the powerbase.
Press down, then press left or right to see Race mode,
Yellow Flag options, controller Calibration, Start and End power options,
Pogramming the car IDs, Car settings like power levels and Pace cars, and Platform options.
Platform options are where we can change the powerbase from the default Digital mode to
the optional Analog mode.
Now we press the down arrow to enter the Platform options, and right away the powerbase reminds
us that we have only one power supply connected.
With one power supply, we can only use one lane at a time in analog mode and have some
fun beating our best lap times. If we add a second power supply, which I'll do later,
we can use both lanes at the same time and have a race.
Before we can change any options, we need to set the powerbase to analog mode by pressing
the ENTER button.
The first Analog mode option is called "gear". This lets us change the direction of travel
for the cars, either Left or Right.
The default of Left means the cars will travel from left to right across the powerbase track.
Choosing Right means the cars will travel from right to left as they cross the powerbase
track. I'm going to choose right, because I prefer the cars to run clockwise in my layout.
Press the ENTER button to save the setting.
We can also choose which lane will have power with the Use Lane option. Lane 1 is the lane
closest to the powerbase, and lane two is the other lane.
A car in lane 1 is always controlled by the handset plugged into the first jack, and a
car in lane 2 is always controlled by the handset plugged into the second jack.
I'm going to choose Lane 1 for now. Remember to press the ENTER button to save the setting.
Now that we're done making changes to the settings, we can go back to pre race mode
by pressing the up arrow a couple times.
We can now take our standard analog car and place it on the track and control it.
We can have a lot of fun with one car at a time, such as trying to beat our best lap
times with all the cars in our collection, but the real fun starts with both lanes active
at the same time.
To use both lanes in analog mode, we need a second power supply, just like the first
one.
As soon as we plug it in, the powerbase automatically knows there are two power supplies and immediately
makes both lanes powered and ready to go. We don't have to go in and change anything!
If we were to go back and look, the Use Lane option would show "both" with no other choice.
We *can* still change the direction of travel using the Gear option. If we remove the second
power supply, the powerbase will revert to the single lane settings we had already chosen.
As before, lane 1 (point) is controlled by controller 1, and lane two by controller 2.
Put a car on each lane and have a race!
Every feature the powerbase has for digital cars is available to us in analog mode. We
can run all the different race types with false starts, yellow flag, and even pace cars!
If we're using analog mode in a digital layout with lane changers, we need to be aware of
a couple issues.
First off, we need to make sure that both lanes are completely isolated from one another.
That means if we use crossovers, they have to be in equal numbers.
If we use power taps or other special wiring, we need to make sure that each lane is seperately
wired. If there is anything that would cause lane one to be joined to lane two, it will
cause a short and the powerbase will go into safe mode to prevent a damaging overload situation.
The easiest way to make sure the lanes are separate is to follow one lane around the
track. If it stays the same lane when it comes back around to the powerbase, you'll probably
be ok. If it changes into the other lane, then you'll need to redesign your layout to
fix it.
Second, we need to remove or modify our curved lane changers. A lot of sets came with a curved
lane changer, so a lot of people have them and want to use them. The problem is, there
is wiring built into the lane changer to bridge the two lanes together, creating a shorting
problem in analog mode.
The easiest thing to do is just remove all curved lane changers from a layout that is
to be used in analog mode. If you want to keep them in, you'll need to modify them to
separate the two lanes.
Note that making this change will void the warranty on your lane changer, so make sure
you're ok with that, and take care to do it correctly.
Open up the narrow rectangular panel on the bottom of the curved lane changer and get
a pair of scissors. Cut as shown in this photograph. You are only cutting TWO places. One where
you see the scissors about to make a cut, and another on the opposite end shown as already
cut.
Do NOT cut anything else. The lane changer will still work in digital mode, and will
not cause problems in analog mode.
There is no need to modify straight lane changers, so they can be left in a layout that is to
be used in analog mode without concern.
Finally, we want to make sure that all of our lane changers are set for the cars to
go straight through without changing lanes. If a flipper was set by a car changing lanes
in digital mode, and an analog car drives over it, it won't flip straight, and the car
will change lanes.
If you're only using one lane, it will just come to a stop when it arrives in the other
lane, but if you're driving both lanes and having a race, then your car will suddenly
be controlled by your opponent, leading to a crash, or worse, losing the race!
If you have curved lane changers in your layout, it's best to run in the same direction as
digital cars would, and to put a small piece of tape on the flipper to hold it to one side,
preventing a car from accidentally changing lanes.
Whether you're running up to 6 digital cars on a layout with lane changing, or running
2 cars on an analog layout, the Scalextric Advanced Digital 6 Car Powerbase is a lot
of fun and has a lot of great features that everyone can enjoy.
To find out how to use some of those great features, such as pace cars and yellow flag
mode, check out the other videos in this series.
Thanks again, and happy racing!