drag racing timing lights

[texasfabguy]

I want to build a simple light set up for drag racing events. starting lights I can handle but making a win/lose lane lights are kicking my butt.

Any ideas? not spending 4k on a system,thinking about using laser lights or something like that from a garage door opener system.
I would also like it to work on 12 volt so it can be run off a car battery.

Starting lights would not need staging lights or red lights,just yellow green like a pro tree.
If I can figure out the finish line triggering then I can add timing.

 

[hemigremmy]

Maybe look at old BMX tracks that had starting lights, I used to race BMX and it was similar to a pro tree light wise but was more like a regular tree the way the lights dropped. When everybody was staged against the gate, the gate keeper hit a button and the lights drop and it beeped as they went down, and the gate dropped on the last bulb. But there would be your tree and your bulbs, then just figure out the timing lights. You could always buy a converter to run off your car battery.

 

[metal man]

you could use a flip flop setup going with both can fire but when one side fires it cuts the power to the other side . maybe dual relays ? and for the win lose light use a latch switch , just wire 2 light to the switch . one win and one lose .
some thing like this could be used in you setup . Latch Switch
pretty easy to build something like that .
then use say laser pointers for the trip beam . most hobby electronic suppluys have the them or you could take cheap ones and rework them . using a voltage regulator like a lm317 to feed the pointers the voltage they need to work . and a cds cell as the reciver with some shield tint to only go off on the laser .

 

[texasfabguy]

Thats the stuff I'm looking for,I even thought about using tubing to trigger a switch kinda like the old gas station bells.

 

[68sportcoup]

do a search on pinewood derby race tracks and timers like what cub scouts use they sell timers and you should be able to find one that shows you how to build your own you should be able to adapt it to racing

 

[metal man]

something i was thinking for the finish trigger is there was a few plans for beam alarms . easy to make home built stuff . maybe search out them for the finish line triggers :shrug: