DIY Track Timer, Part 3

These beam sensors can be connected to a wide voltage range, AC or DC, polarity is not important. You can connect two 9 volt battery in series to create an easy 18v power source. Or a cordless tool battery could work too. I use standard North American 120 volt power outlet.

The relay switch has two positions, Normally Open and Normally Closed. I connect the white and black wires to the USB interface, I do not use the gray wire.

I recently found these AV adapters with screw terminals that work great with the X-Keys USB Switch. The common 5 volt signal from the USB switch can trigger any channel, but it cannot be used to power the beam sensor.

Programming the custom triggers is easy with ControllerMate.
I use a simple one letter ID plus a carriage return to move the cursor to the next cell as fast as possible. I also added a 1 second "Dwell" function to filter out multiple hits from the same sensor.

The timestamp is still made on Google Sheets, but I have moved the all of the other calculations offline. I'd like to figure out how to script the timestamp in ControllerMate or OpenOffice directly.

I'm constantly refining my timing system, adding more sensors, trying to increase accuracy. I'm still working on the final printout, but I've always wanted to do a real time speedometer.

[rkan]

I recommend checking out the USB joystick-controllers, as they seem to be the cheapest things with a USB-encoder. Also I thought about som COM-port solution for transferring the signal. It should be realtively easy to make a plugin to the chosen software that way. Dunno which encoder would work best for that though. I think even the joystick keycodes could be registered directly by the program somehow too.

Also the main reason I am actually interested in these photocouplers, is to trigger a camera.

[AwesomeSyrup]

Hey! This all sounds pretty good! Do you have an estimate of what your setup cost is? I see that the sensors run about $50 per sensor setup. So it 2 Sensors + Adapter + Wires + Tripod(or mounts) + Power is going to be at least $200 or so? Does that sound right?

[ETModulo]

Hi Scott, I am trying to replicate your timing system. Is there a way that you can guide me with the how to start with the programing after connecting the xkeys usb into the computer and selecting Hardware mode? For a unknown reason Apple stop working with PI Engineering, so programing has to be done in PC. I have my sensor, xkeys, batteries and MacroWorks 3.1 running in the PC computer, it is just the fact to understand the logic process after connecting the xkeys usb and starting the software . I will really appreciate your help of course, if it is possible. Thanks in advance.

[nrakma]

Enforcer products fail and stop Gate function during mist or light rain. USELESS for outdoor use. I have E-931, 50 ft on 24 ft opening. Common problem for, this company products.