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This page is to help and guide you thru the install, setup, and use of the PineWood Racer software program. These instructions are to be used on the "Track Computer". This computer is the computer that will be connected to the derby track. The other computers (network and terminal computers) are not discussed in this documentation. They will be covered in a later documentation.
Run Software test Run the PineWood Racer program (Start -> Programs -> PineWood Racer -> PineWood Racer) you should see the green "Power LED" light up once this program starts. If you do not see this, make sure that the cables are connected correctly and the Parallel port on your computer works correctly. Contact me by email if you do not get a Green LED. Now that the program works, we need to tell the program the number of lanes your track has. Select Track Settings from the Edit menu. Here you will have the ability to select the number of lanes your track has. By default the number of lanes is six, but to change this number use the up and down buttons beside "Number of lanes: 6" and change the number to the correct amount. If your track is six lanes then you will not need to change anything. Do not worry about the other settings, we will come back and set them latter. Press "save" to save the settings and return to the main screen. Now look in the upper right hand corner of the screen. You will see the track indicators. You will see either "Triangles and/or Dots". If you aim the top sensors into a light source then you will see dots (indicating no car present), but if you hide the sensors from light you will see a triangle appear (indicating a car is over the sensor). You will also notice that the sensors are labeled one number for each track. Verify that the one labeled one is track one (the first in the lineup) and track two is the second indicator and so one. Now press the gate switch. When the gate switch is pressed you will see an UP arrow (indicating the starting gate is up) and when the gate switch is not pressed you will see a down arrow (indicating the starting gate is down). Next to the gate arrow indicator you will see a letter "T" this is telling you that you are viewing the status of the top sensors. Click on this button and it will change to a "B". You are now viewing the status of the bottom sensors. Again repeat the steps just taken and verify that all sensors are working for the bottom sensors. If something does not seem to work correctly don't hesitate to email me, and I will be more then happy to help get everything working. Quick Race (your
first simple race) After you have the hardware fully installed we will need to do some testing to verify that the sensors and gate switch are working correctly. Run the PineWood Racer program again and take a look at the track indicators and verify that you see only dots for all lanes on both top and bottom sensors. (click the T and/or B to switch back and forth) Using your hand over the sensor to block out the light from the light bar verify that lane one is lane one and on both to and bottom sensors. Also close and open the gate to make sure that when the gate is up (cars can not race) that the arrow is UP and when the gate is Down (cars start racing) that the arrow is down. If you find that the sensors are always indicating that are car is on a line then this can be because of dirt on the sensors. Blow on them to make sure that the sensors are clear of dust and have director light from the light bar getting to them. Once all the bugs are worked out start a quick race by selecting Quick-Race from the Race menu. Race the gate and place some cars on the track. As you place the cars on the track verify that the computer indicates the car placement correctly by showing the correct placement of the cars. Once all the cars are on the track then start the race by dropping the gate. The computer will sit and wait for the cars to cross the finish line. Once all the cars cross the finish line you will see the results on the screen. If all the cars do not cross the finish line then you will need to reset the gate, this will set the computer up for another quick race. It will also show the results of the last race. Setup the software The general settings screen allows the setup and settings that pertain to your computer's configuration. To get to the general settings select "General Settings" from the "Edit" menu. You will have the following options available to you. Display Looks This setting will change between a display look of an old "DOS" look or a symi-graphics mode. By default the setting is in graphics mode. But some video cards and laptops have problems with this mode. So change this to "Text" mode may help display problems that you could have. (note: in text mode your mouse will not be a pointer it will be a box) Enter car Names This setting allows you to decide if you would like to log in the car codes before or after the race. If your Track computer is at the top of the derby track then you will be using the "Before" mode, but if you plan on having all your computers at the end of the track you should use the "After" mode. (note: all examples in this documentation will describe how to run a race using the before mode. Setup Terminal In this box you will determine how your terminal (if any) is going to be connected. I will go into detail on how to use this in a later documentation. Load Window Drivers You should always have this option set. This option will enable better system performance by disabling the multitasking part of windows during the critical timing parts of windows. This would include any timing events such as during a race. If you find the computer locking up during a race then you may need to disable this option. But if this option is disabled it make the timing of cars less accurate. Load HiRes Timer This option I recommend using during the race. You can enable it all the time if you would like but the problem is that when enabled the program will take allot longer to start because it setting up it's HiRes timer system. The HiRes timer allows much better accuracy of car times. You will notice when this option is disabled and you have a race that most of the cars come across the finish line at the same time that the times will be the same for all the cars. To correct this problem enable HiRes timer. Beep on errors If errors are to be displayed and you would like the computer to beep to let you know then enable this option. Mouse Popup Help If you need help telling you what the icons do at the top of the screen and the messages at the bottom then enable this option for a little popup message box with help. Save Windows on Exit You can move or resize the windows to your liking. By default I have them setup so they will show the best view of everything. But if you would like to changes the view of the windows then feel free to do so. When this option is enabled it will tell the computer to restore the last window view every time you start to the view it was when you turned the computer off. Use Buffer Entry The only time this option should be considered is if you are using a barcode reader and enter car codes before each race. It will allow you to scan all the cars to be raced and then place them all on the track in order that you scanned them. Normally you must scan a car and place it on the track, then scan the next car and so on. Ask for Title You can assign a race title to each race if you would like. This allows a label to be assigned to a race. Such as "final runoffs" "final race" and so on. When this option is enabled it will ask you for the title after each race is finished. Get ready for next race After every race the computer by default goes back to the main screen. And you must select New Race from the Race menu. Or click the "+" icon on the top row of icons to start a new race. With this option enabled the computer will get ready for the next race once the previous race is finished. Top 10 List The top 10 list allows you to see the best 10 racing cars very quickly. You can have this data sorted in the following orders. Best Overall Winning Position. When sorting by this method the cars with the best winning record will be listed first. Example if a car comes in first place four times and second place once it will receive a better ranking then a car that comes in first place three times and second place two times. Even though the second car may have a better average speed. Best Average Time. When this option is selected the all cars are averaged and the car that has the best average time will be displayed first. Best Time. With this option the car with the best time will be displayed first. (the times of all races are not averaged out) Save Settings Once you are finished with all the settings, click Save Settings. This will save all the settings to the hard drive. Some settings will require the program to restart. And other settings will take effect imedently. If the program restart there will be no data lost. All data is saved after every race. Printer Settings Printer Name This is the printer driver that will be used. By default there are four drivers. Generic Text Only Printer This driver will work for all printers but may not look as neet as the other drivers would on there appropriate printer. HP LaserJet For all HP Laser Jet printers. HP DeskJet For most HP DeskJet printers Dos-Matrix (Epson Compatible) Will work with almost all Dot-Matrix printers. Take a look at the manual and make sure the printer is in Epson compatible mode. Printer Location This will be how the printer is connected to the computer. No Printer If you do not use a printer then select this option LPT 1-3 Select the port that your printer is connected to. If you have a mapped printer port over a network then select the correct Port that windows has assigned for this printer, you must have Dos-Mode enabled in windows. To File This will printer to a file on the Hard drive or any drive you have setup. This option is setup mainly for advance use only. Automatically Printer Select this option if you would like a printout of each race after the race completes. This is a nice facture if you keep a paper log of all info! Letter Quality This option only effects Dot-Matrix and DeskJet printers in general. This option will tell the printer to print slower but at a better quality. (If you are running in windows. This setting may be ignored.) Finish After all settings are correct make sure that you click Finish and then Save in the General settings window. Track Settings Length of Track Enter the length of that the cars travel from start to finish. This will NOT be a strait line path. Because the track curves downward. A tape measure will need to start at the start line. And be measured allot the travel path of the cars to the finish line. The amount should be entered in feet. 30.5 (for thirty and a half feet) Track Number This number is always one unless you will be using more then one track at a gathering. Each track must have it's own track number. (This is a requirement if you have multiple tracks on a single network.) Number of Lanes Some tracks have 3 lanes and some have 6 lanes. You can enter any number between 2 and 6 as the number of lanes that your track has. Bad Lanes A bad lane is a lane that has fault with it and will no longer be used for the term of the race. For example if you have a six lane track and one line is misaligned and or causing problems to the cars. Then a check mark should be placed beside the lane that has the fault. DO NOT reassign the computer from 6 lanes down to 5 lanes this will only cause problems... Race Finish Button This button is at the end of the track and is used by the person that will get the cars and remove them from the track. This button should be pressed if a all cars that race do not cross the finish line. One this button is pressed all the cars that did not finished will be labeled as "DNF" Did not finish. (Because of this there data will not be kept in the top 10 list) Save Click Save to save the new settings. (to quite the PineWood Racer program just select Exit from the File menu) You will need to get a hold of some derby cars and stickers for your first race. Place a sticker on each car but do not label the car yet. Determine how the race will be run.Define how clubs/groups and age/Levels will be used. There are 3 levels for each club. The levels are based upon Age. Youth, Teen and Staff. Every club is broken down into these three "age/levels" The Conference is broken down into several different Clubs, Example of club names are "Frederick Firefoxes" (my local club) and "Susquehanna Indians" see the list of Conference Club Codes When you start to log in the car names you will be asked what type of car coding you would like to use. You will have a list to chuse from. (Note: ALL codes must be 5 characters long) XXXXX No code assignment will be used ABXXX, AABXX, ABBXX, AABBX, ABBBX, AAABX The previous code options allow various possibilities. Seeing how each character can be any letter or number this means one character can give you 36 possible options. (26 letters and 10 numbers) For example the code ABXXX will allow 36 clubs/groups and 36 age/levels and over 46 thousand names for each. This means that each age/level in each club/group can have 46 thousand cars. With this in mind because each club/group can have 36 age levels then each club/group could possible have over1.5 million cars. Personally I don't think this would ever happen. I'm just trying to explain how the car coding works. For our Pathfinder clubs. We use the third option in the list. AABXX Log in the carsOnce we know how the car codes work we must start logging in the cars that will be racing. All cars should be logged in before the race starts. But there is no problem to quit the PineWood Racer program and then log in more cars, then return to the PineWood Racer program. To start logging in names we must setup the computer for the type of race we will be having. Go to the start menu and start the login program: Start -> Programs -> PineWood Racer -> Name Login One you start the login program for the first time you will be asked the following information. 1. Contest Date 2. Contest Title 3. Enable Graphic Tree 4. Select the Car Coding Note: The "Contest Date" and "Contest Title" can be changed later if need be. But the Car Coding method can not. Once a coding method is selected you will be unable to change it. The only way get change it will be to use the following options below to delete all the race data and start over with a new race. If some data has screwed up and you must keep all the data you entered. Then contact me by Email for further support. Add Car Entries You will be asked the following information. After typing in the information needed just press enter for the next field until all the info is entered for that car then press enter until your cursor returns to the top "Car Code" field. Then your ready to enter the next car. Car Code Driver Level Name Club Name Save Search Exit Search for Car Entry Search For: Modify Car Entry Delete Car Entry View detail login data Once you open this up you will see some icons. The files you will see are described below. (simply double click to view data. 1. data.ini (program data only. You should not need to view this file) 2. name.pwr and data.pwr (car icon): This is the race data files. double click on these files will open PineWood Racer program. 3. namedb.csv: If you have Microsoft Excel you will be able to open this file. It has all the car names in it as a data base file. Feel free to use this file in an excel spreadsheet to use for logging point or other data. 4. names.txt This file will list out all the names of the clubs and groups. In alphabetical order. This is a good document to print out as a reference paper Because you can lookup someone's name and find there car number. 5. data.pwr: This file will give you a layout per club/group and age/level all the cars that are entered. This is a good reference to find a cars name by it's car number. Perform first race Once you are running the program you will be ready to start a new race. If you look in the lower left corner you should see the Contest title and date. Check this to verify that the data files are loaded correctly. To start a new race make sure the track is ready. Place the gate in the UP position. Then Select "New Race..." from the Race menu. You will get a window titled "New Race Entry for Race Number: 1" "Car to Place" type in the first car number that will be placing on the track. Once all five digits are typed in the car's name will appear beside the box. You will also see little arrows beside the lane numbers telling you where you can place the cars. Because this is the first race it will tell you that you can place the car on any lane. Place the car on the lane you would like to race it on. Once you place the car on the line you will see the name and car number will pop down to the corresponding lane number. If you need to move a car from one lane to another simply one car off of the lane and onto another. The computer will automatically move the car corresponding to your moving. Just make sure before the race start that each care on the track is listed on the computer correctly. Once you are ready to start the race you can click the "Start Race" button. But this button will only work if you have an electric gate release, and use the Gate Control option on the interface. Otherwise you will just need to drop the gate manually and once the gate switch is tripped the computer will see that the race has started. Note: To do more races just keep repeating the steps listed above. When you enter the same car numbers again you will notice how the computer will tell you what lanes the car should race on. Keep in mind this is only a recommendation. You can race any car on any lane any time you would like. The computer will wait for all the cars to cross the finish line. If all the cars do not cross the finish line you can either press the Esc key on the computer's keyboard or press the race finish button at the end of the track (if your setup is equipped with this). The computer will then make note of any car that has not crossed the finish lane as "DNF" Did Not Finish. Once the race is over the computer will ask for the race title and print the results if you have these options enabled. You will then return back to the main screen unless you have the automatically start new race option enabled. At the main screen you will see a window with the results of the race. View Results of Race Note: If you do not see any of the windows noted below you can click on the Windows menu and select the one you wish to view.
Race Status The Race information is very simple. You have seven column of data. The first one "Pos" is the Winning position of the car 1 is first place 2 is second and so on. The "Lan" is the lane number that the car was in. "Time" is the time (in seconds) that it took from start to finish. Car is the car's number. And Driver's name is the name of the car. Then you have Club/Group code and Age/Level code. Age/Level code is most likely off the screen. You can place your mouse on the vertical line between Driver's Name and Club/Group code to move the dividing bar left if you need to view the Age/Level code. All the vertical dividing lines are movable. Top 10 Cars Track Status Print results of the race Get
Detail Car Information Search for Cars or Races Backup race data for future access To backup the data simply select Start
-> Programs -> PineWood Racer -> Other Utilites -> Race Data
Folder. This will open up a window that has six files in
it. The files listed above are the data files you will need to
backup. But the other files are noted below.
Delete race data for new race |
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