NewBold DT2000 timer - connections

[lkweihl]

I'm hoping someone here is enough of an electronics whiz to help out our pack. We have a track that was equipped to use the DT2000 timer which we used in conjunction with DerbyMaster software. I never helped setup the track but I did help the main gentleman in charge with the software end of it one year. Well, this person has left the pack and moved from our area (as in several states away). To the people taking over the track his wiring scheme did not see to be the standard way NewBold's manual suggests. He may have also tinkered with the timer. We had a person, from a local Boy Scout troop(his son used to be in our Pack), who was willing to rewire the track with a different start switch and sensors. We were going to see if we could still use the DT2000. What I was hoping someone could share was which of the pins on the DT2000 need the start input and which need the stop sensor input. Also, what exactly does the connector look like on the timer end. I looked at the replacement cables on the NewBold website and their cables look like speaker wire with a single pin connector on the end of the wire for each stop sensor. I've never seen a single pin connector but I'm not an electronics whiz. We only have a 2 lane track. The gentleman who previously wired things had a 50 pin ribbon cable cut down to size that plugged into the timer. He then had soldered the ribbon cable wires to wires in a box full of resistors and then this box used an RJ-45 connector to go out to the track. He had other boxes with RJ-45 connectors out at the track to plug the start switch and sensors into. I was never shown the entire thing only bits and pieces that my husband brought home when they worked on it. We had no instructions or explanation of what this wiring was except for someone who mentioned that he did this to allow switching of lanes or some such thing. We've wired our track with a different kind of stop sensor but were hoping to connect our sensors to the timer to see if we could make it work.

Let me know if more information would help. I appreciate any feedback anyone could give.

Thanks,
Lisa

[gpraceman]

Lisa,

Best bet is to contact NewBold Products. It may help to take some photos to email to them so they can see what was done. Their website is at http://www.pinewood-derby-timer.com

[lkweihl]

Thanks for the reply. I believe the gentleman redoing the track already contacted NewBold and was told to look at the manual for how the connections work. Well, we have a copy of the manual and it's not specific enough. I just wanted some feedback from someone who had a working timer about where their connections plug in and what the ends look like. From there we'll try it on our own to see if our redone wiring could work with the timer.

Thanks,
Lisa

[pwdarchitect]

Lisa,

Pictures are worth a thousand words. It's really hard for someone to understand what you are describing without being able to see what was done. If you could post some pictures, then someone here might be able to decipher what was done and post some pictures back to you as to the right way to make the connections.

Jim

[DerbyAddict]

I don't have the DT series but I have the Turbo/Daytona. The wiring for this one is -
Start switch using thin "speaker wire" to a black two pin female connector
This plugs into the timer box. On the Daytona the plug is labelled ST
Each finish line sensor (what you are calling "stop sensor I think) is two wires that have a white 2 pin female connector
These plug into a circuit board with 8 pairs of pins in the middle
The board has a two wire connector with a 2 pin female connector that plugs into the timer also on a board that is attached to the top of the timer unit

Also, they may have told you all to look in the manual because they do not understand what was done. They may also be telling you that because it was modified from the original shipped state. I don't think they can be held responsible for trying to figure out all homebrewed modifications to their systems. I do know they are pretty easy to work with and will have helped me in the past.



| |
| | <-- Wires to go to the timer
| |
|--------------------------------------------|
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <---Pins for finish line sensors
|
|--------------------------------------------|

Don't know if that will help but it's the best I could do.

[lkweihl]

Richard,

Thanks, that does help a bit. I'm not sure what the gentleman working on the track asked NewBold he just told my husband they told him to look in the manual. We're not interested in making the timer work if our previous person tinkered with it to make it not work like a stock timer. I just wanted to see if we could get it wired up the way it was meant to be and see if it would work. Our DT2000 has 18 pins aligned in 2 rows.


As such:

| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |

The bottom is labeled Stop and the top left has a start marking. I will email NewBold myself and see if they can give me the information I'm seeking.

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Lisa

[gpraceman]

Our DT2000 has 18 pins aligned in 2 rows.

As such:

| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |

The bottom is labeled Stop and the top left has a start marking. I will email NewBold myself and see if they can give me the information I'm seeking.

That sounds like the standard pin setup for that timer. The top left pair of pins are for the Start switch, then next pair are for Lane 1, then Lane 2, and so on to Lane 8. Since yours is a DT2000, you only need to worry about the first 3 pairs of pins.

For each of these pin pairs, one of the pins is a ground connection and the other is the signal from the sensor or start switch, as the case may be.

[craig_newbold]

Hi Lisa,

If you would like, please email your questions to: support@newboldproducts.com or call us at 866-NEWBOLD. We will do our best to help you get the DT2000 running for your track, as long as it's not too heavily modified.

From your description of the 18-pin connector it sounds like the timer may not have been modified - at least not in that area. If so, you probably can get the system up and running simply with a new start switch and two stop sensors. These can be purchased from our website, www.newboldproducts.com, or www.pinewood-derby-timer.com.

If you would like us to test out your DT2000 to see if it still operates per the original design, we will be glad to do that free of charge. You can send it to us at:
NewBold Products
1200 Oakhaven Drive
Roswell, GA 30075

Regards,
Craig Newbold

[lkweihl]

Thanks Craig,

I just received an email from the gentelman working on the track and he said he called and spoke to someone from NewBold and was able to get the information we needed. It's nice to know that you are willing to help and I'll keep that in mind in the future.

Thanks again to everyone!

Lisa

[lkweihl]

Just thought I'd put a final closing on this posting by indicating that we did get a new working configuration with our NewBold timer. We now have a track that will work with or without the timer (without it there are lights that indicate the winning lane, only important if we loan the track to someone who won't be using the software) and we can still interface with the DerbyMaster software. I'd like to thank NewBold for being so helpful!

Lisa