The Online Racing Series is a way for slot car enthusiast of any scale to compete in a friendly manner with other like-minded slotters from around the world.
- A slot car track.
- Computer-based timing software for the track (See next question)
- Access to e-mail and the internet to send in time and view results. Note: You do not need internet access on your track computer.
- The ORS Viewer software.
See next question.
See the links page and look under software for several programs for both DOS and Windows.
It is pretty simple, really. You register to run in a series. You are sent the rules for that particular series. (Number of laps to run, etc.) You run the races on your track with your timing software. Then you send the logfile to the competition coordinator as an e-mail attachment. You can then download the results from the ORS web site and "watch" the compiled race on your computer.
You just fill out the on-line form. You can access it here.
Just send me an e-mail requesting the logfile definition. This should tell you all you need to know. The logfile is basically just a lap-by lap record of lap times.
You can help promote ORS. If you have a web site, put a link to us on it. Use this image, if possible, by cutting and pasting the following html. (The "ad" may change periodically, that's why I ask you to link direct to it on my server.)
<CENTER><A HREF="http://www2.fwi.com/~moellering/ors/" TARGET="_top"> <IMG SRC="http://www2.fwi.com/~moellering/ors/ images/orsbanner.gif" WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 BORDER=0></A></CENTER>
You may also link to us with a text link to
http://www2.fwi.com/~moellering/ors/
We standardize all the submitted lap times to a 10-second lap standard. The exact formula we use to do this is evolving from series to series and we think we are getting a pretty workable formula. The Technical Forum on the Discussion area alsways has the latest news and ideas ont his front.
One word: consistency. You have to be able to turn the required number of laps without mishap. Every de-slot eats up valuable time, just like racing head-to-head with someone on your track. Remember--
Driveability. Raw speed isn't key here. Be able to make it do what you want it to again and again and again is crucial. We are finding that running the "slower" cars in your paddock that are fun to drive works best. This is still a fairly new venture, so we are all learning all the time.
Chris Moellering and Bryan Brown for the most part. Chris does the web site and is the competition coordinator. Bryan is the technical director (he writes the software to compile and standardize the times.)
Bryan came up with the idea originally when he wrote the FullGrid program that is at the heart of ORS. Chris just took that basic idea, tried to make it entirely too complicated, and then realized what he wanted already existed. A little html work and a web site was born, and the Inaugural Series was launched.
Since we aren't your normal racing club, this is kind of tricky. You can help us promote ORS. (See question 7.) We're not in this to make money, we're in it for the fun of it.
If you want to actually advertise on the ORS site or be a series sponsor, e-mail me and we'll talk. I'm really easy. This could be a good way to promote any cross-scale slot business or product. We also do prizes to competitors on a raffle basis. (This discourages cheating to win.)
In case you're wondering, SMI earned "honorary sponsor status" for all of their help and making the FullGrid viewer software available and modifying it to better suit ORS needs. If you want to do something just as helpful, contact me for ideas.
Trackmate users--
- Start TrakMate
- Set up a "Quick Race" for the desired number of laps.
- Run the race.
- Exit TrakMate completely so you're back at the DOS prompt.
- You should still be in the TrakMate directory. Copy the laptimes.txt file (I think that's what it's called) from the TrakMate directory to another directory or floppy with a new name, if desired. Something like "copy laptimes.txt a:\12kevin.txt".
- Repeat for the rest of your cars. Every time you start TrakMate a new laptimes.txt is created, overwriting any existing file. If you don't exit TrakMate after the race, each subsequent race will be appended to the existing laptimes file.
- Delete your old logfile.txt in the C:\scudm directory or save it to another name if you wish to keep it.
- Start Dino
- Enter your information
- RACE!
- When you complete you race, exit Dino
- Copy the logfile.txt file to a floppy, rename it, attach it to your e-mail, etc.
Normally you start a race just behind the detectors. When the race starts lap 0 is your reaction time to the start. All you need to do for flying starts is place the car just AFTER the detectors. Then you'll complete almost a full lap for lap 0. You'll be up to speed when you cross the detectors for the start of lap 1.
Online Racing Series