H.O.D.R.A.

R & D Slot Car Show
Saturday October 18th, 2008
Taylor Town Trade Center 22525 Ecorse Rd Taylor, MI  10:00am - 3:00pm
Telegraph Rd.and I-94 (Corner of Pardee and Ecorse Rd.) General Admission $3.00 Vendor 8 Foot Tables - $20.00

Model Motoring Club - Oct. 26th, 2008
Richfield Quality Inn
OH Turnpike exit 173
4742 Brecksville Rd.
Richfield , OH
Contact: Brad Bennett
email: brad.bennett@copley-fairlawn.org

Midwest Slot Car Show and Meet - Nov. 9th, 2008
Lincoln Center
2450 Lincoln St.
Highland , IN
Contact: Mike Dore

Popularity: 43% [?]

What is RSS?

RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. This includes H.O.D.R.A. members.

Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS

RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually and it ensures your privacy.

Popularity: 73% [?]

 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS -  H.O. DRAG RACING

• Not if you don’t want to. New and used cars are frequently available from your local track, or can be built for you. Motors can be purchased assembled, both new and used, or can be built up from components if you prefer.       

 How much do motors cost?

• Slot car drag motors range from $10.00-$12.00 up to $65.00. As with real drag motors, more modifications, torque, and r.p.m. escalate the cost. Many people happily and successfully Bracket race motors they’ve purchased used for as little as $5.00       

What are the tracks like?

• The tracks are 1/64^th scale drag versions of the real thing,  1/4 mile (for reference, a scale 1/4 mile track is standardized at 20 ft. , 7.5 inches) and the electronic timing systems found at most tracks can be easily programmed for a 3-light “Bracket ” tree or “Pro”  heads-up tree, and have large light displays for pre-staging and staging. A computer enters  the delay time before starting either light sequence.Depending on the size of the home or commercial space they are in, slot car drag strips may be free-standing or, most commonly, mounted along a wall of the building. They are usually approximately 10” wide and  they take up little space. The power for the car’s electric motor is supplied by steel rails or magnetic braid on either side of the slot, which is energized by a variable trigger operated “controller” the driver utilizes. The cars can do burnouts, slow rollouts, or  full-power passes .    

    How fast do the cars go?

• At a vast majority of tracks, speeds are recorded in real miles-per-hour by an electronic timing system, and are displayed, along with e.t., reaction time, and 60-foot time, on a visual display board or computer screen. Speeds range from 25mph -30 mph for slower Bracket cars to over 90 mph for the unlimited inline motored cars.     

    How quick are they?

• Slower Bracket cars may run e.t.s between 2 and 3 seconds on a scale 1/4 mile, while the fastest cars are capable of making a pass in less than .175 of a second !!      

  How do they slow down and stop from those speeds?

• All the cars, no matter what their speed, use the same method. Immediately after crossing the finish line, there is an electrical gap in the track rails or  braid; power is functionally removed as the car passes over the gap. The car then passes into the track’s “shutdown” area (guided by the slot but now un-powered), and either coasts to a stop or is slowed down the  magnets acting on the steel rails or braid.   The motor the generates reverse EMF  (electro magnetic field) to slow the car down and to stop.          

Is it difficult for the beginner to get started?

• No !  It takes a little while to get used to the “christmas tree” starting light system. A little bit of practice will quickly get you successfully compete in “Bracket” racing and later with experience, “Heads Up” racing.     

   What kind of cars can I race?

• Almost anything that you desire within the guidelines!  Body styles and motors are a plenty !. Index racing (racing against a given pre-set minimum e.t.) Classes have some body style restrictions in some Indexes. Index and Class racing are run under a National set of Rules published by the H.O. Drag Racers Association and is designated by chassis style and armature type.       

Are there many different bodies available?

• Almost too many to count! Many different manufacturers produce a huge selection of bodies in both hardbody shell and lightweight shell varities.  Your local slot car track will probably have a selection of the more popular bodies available, and generally has catalogs that describe other bodies the track can order for you. Most are molded in a thin, clear, impact-resistant polycarbonate or poly -  butyl styrene that must be painted either from the inside if clear  or outside if opaque.  Pre-painted bodies are available for those who don’t wish to paint their own.         

Where do I start?

• Start at your local track. You can find tracks both private and public at the H.O.D.R.A. Drag Strip Finder on the links page and  the H.O. Drag Race Registry created by Phil Trover  www.hodragraceregistry.com/  Read, watch what goes on, see how it works, and don’t be fearful of asking questions .         

Honestly - Is it very difficult or frustrating for the beginner? 

• Less difficult or frustrating than almost any other hobby of its type. Cheaper by far and lots less complicated than model railroading, r.c. car racing, model boats, or airplanes. It permits you to enjoy the hobby by yourself, if you choose, just “playing” with the cars in your free time. If you choose to compete (which most of us do) it allows and encourages you to compete at a level you feel comfortable with. You can probably afford more than one car, and, in most circumstances, can enter more than 1 car in most Bracket, Index, or Class Races (local Rules may vary, so check with your local track).Compared to road racing, H.O. slot car drag racing is far less frustrating for the beginner. It is also far less abusive on the equipment, featuring far fewer crashes and destroyed cars.  H.O. slot car drag racing… Rocks!

©2008 H.O.D.R.A.

Popularity: 90% [?]

Jim Russell developed and marketed the original Russkit controller in the early 1960’s.  Russkit was caught in the downfall of the slot car hobby in 1968. Jim Russell sold the tooling for the Russkit controller to Parma’s Ken MacDowell in 1969. Parma simply produced the units with improved resistors under the name “Parma Tiger”, with a sticker showing not a tiger believe it or not, but… a spider.  Parma used handles with the Russkit “R” and crest for several years before they changed them.

Bob Emott was first enthusiast to install microswitches in the Parma-Russkit (as they were called then) controllers, and John Gorski Sr. of New Jersey (recently deceased) went into producing such controllers, followed by… Parma that marketed them under the ”Parma Micro” brand.

But heat was a serious problem, sometimes melting the solder retaining the microswitch plates to the Russkit steel frame. The brothers Nyug of the San Francisco area built similar controllers featuring  hard wood triggers to reduce heat to the finger. Regardless, controllers often failed during races due to heat and the odor of burning polycarbonate was unbearable.

In 1974, the new “Turbo” controller was introduced with a new aluminum heatsink frame that took  care mostly of the heat problem AND the weight, replacing the microswitches with simple brass and sintered bronze contacts. This is also the time  when the Russkit “R” trademark was removed on the handles and replaced by the Parma (word) logo in the crest.  The new controller also had a heat-insulated  plastic trigger mounted on positive bearing surfaces.

The “Turbo” survived to this day but was rendered obsolete by the electronic controllers that sprouted in the mid 1990s. The handle design has survived and is still the most popular handle available even when compared to relatively newer designs like the Trinity-Slotworks / Professor Motor  handle and the recently introduced Kelly Racing Products handle.

Sidenote:  Jim DiFalco and I spoke for several hrs. over several days on the needs of the H.O. dragracer back in early 2001.  The H.O. Dragtroller was developed and unit works extremely well.  It’s great for heads up sportsman and  pro racing as well as for bracket racing. The original H.O. design comes with detailed instructions and a set of plug in “personality chips” for adjusting the feel of the non-linear stroke. In other words how quickly the power comes on to full power and with reactivity and responsivity adjustments via the chips. Also, a full range sensitivity pot  provides complete control over run speeds. It has a super high amperage power transistor - (our testing showed that one powerful transistor was more reliable than two low amperage units in parallel!)
This transistor design - means no high power on wiper bands, no arcing and it’s virtually maintenance free! A Short stroke nickel plated circuit board won’t tarnish and gets you to full power fast!  You won’t find this unit on their website, so dropping Jim an email certainly will insure that you’ll get hooked up with your very own.

©2008 H.O.D.R.A.

Popularity: 88% [?]

  Historical Perspective: Carrying your “Toys” to the track - The UMCO Possum Belly   

The Ultimate Drag Box?

In the early 60’s , slot car racers built wooden boxes to house their ever growing collection of slot racing cars from Vibes, to Tjets to Tyco S cars. Often, the stable of recers would soon out mass their box.  Soon, after, H.O. enthusiasts discovered the fishing tackle box. It appeared “perfect” for storing all of their cars and racing gear.  The first ones were homemade of wood; the early ones were made from drawn steel or hammered aluminum.  Manufacturer names like, Heddon, Old Pal, Buddy, Kennedy, Walton and J.C. Higgins were popular and revered.

Later on, “space age” plastic became all the rage. Molding companies began to produce lighter weight boxes with stationary or moveable hinged trays.  Names like Viking, Flambeau and Plano dominated the market.  However, there was a little known manufacturer out of  Watertown, Minnesota  that began making what some believe was the ultimate fishing tackle, er, I mean slot car racers box.

The year was 1969…the introduction of the “Super Box” for fresh and saltwater fishermen by a small plastics manufacturing company in Minnesota had arrived.  That company was  UMCO Corporation.  Umco produced this hip roof hinge tray box in both aluminum and later plastic versions aptly named, The UMCOlight Ultimate Possum Belly .  This box was produced in multiple variations in 1000, 2000, 3000, 3500 and 4500 series. The largest had upwards of 102 individual lure compartments, er,  I mean, H.O. slot car compartments. The plastic boxes with 8-10 trays are the ones sought after by the drag racers.  They also feature under tray compartments originally designed  for storing and cooling sandwiches, beer and soda and other gear too, hence the name ” Possum Belly “.   The boxes came in polished aluminum with aluminum trays and black blow molded tray inserts. Later models came in  green, brown and later in light gray injection molded plastic with matching cantilever plastic trays (highly sought after). The company folded in the mid 1970’s and the original design was purchased by WMP. Both companies produced thousands of these boxes and today they are highly sought after collectibles and utility boxes prized by both fishermen and slot car enthusiasts.  They can range in price from $35.00 on the low end to as high as $200.00 on the high end.

Seeking one out today to store and carry your H.O. drag cars to the track can be as much fun as racing itself.  They still turn up on ebay and can sometimes be found in other places like flea markets and garage sales as well.

©2008 H.O.D.R.A.

Popularity: 100% [?]