SLOT.IT OXIGEN DIGITAL O205A - Battery Holder Radio Cartridge

CLEARANCE - LAST ONE - replaced by O205B -

CONTENTS: 1 x Oxigen Digital Radio Cartridge for Slot.it Controller -
DIGITAL SYSTEM: Oxigen Digital by SLOT.IT -
NOTE: The battery holder turns the Slot.it SCP controller, in oXigen configuration, into a untethered device. For 9V a?" 6LR6 type batteries. Includes on/off switch.

Q: who is developing oXigen?
A: Galileo Engineering, the company known by the brand name 'Slot.it'. The same people who developed all the Slot.it cars and accessories, the SCP-1 electronic controller in all its forms, the Live Timing box, and many other electronic stuff for toy companies in toys, industries and multimedia (Giochi Preziosi, Landi Renzo, IK Multimedia, and others).

Q: how many cars can run on the track at the same time?
A: Up to 20 cars per track in digital mode, or as many cars as lanes in analogue.

Q: How does oXigen work?
A: Traditional digital systems use the track rails to bring both the power and the control signals to the cars. This limits the number of cars because the more cars you want to run, the more current you must provide. However, sending control signals to cars through rails becomes increasingly difficult when large currents are involved, as it is the case with many cars. Besides, the control signals are transmitted in a very noisy environment (rails, braids, dirt, and electric arcing from motors) which further complicates things. The oXigen solution is: full power on rails, control signal from wireless 2.4GHz transceivers. So the cars get all the power they need when they need it, and the control signal stays clean.

Q: what do I need then for an O2 system?
A: First of all, a track, controllers and cars:  Then, you need at least oXigen in-car chips (O2IC), and Slot.it SCP-1 controllers fitted with oXigen module. If you already have the SCP-1, all you need is the cartridge: investment in the SCP-1 is safe. With this setup you can run chipped cars as if they were analogue cars. A complete digital setup requires a 'dongle', which is a 2.4GHz receiver attached on the USB port of the PC, and lane changers, that can be standard SSD lane changers, or Ninco or Carrera upgraded with the specific LC driver. A Finish Line is not indispensable!

Q: Can I really do without a Finish Line?
A: Yes. O2 has now reached the ultimate goal of a digital track without a dedicated Finish Line but
with fully working Finish Line and Pit Lane features. We have devised a clever way to make the system work, count laps and lap times, detect pit lane entry, automatically reduce speed on pit lane, without dedicated track hardware. All it takes is placing appropriate magnets under the track, right where you want your FL and Pit lane to be, and in no time you're up and racing. It works well and saves a lot of money and complexity in the setup of the track... besides, removing a dedicated finish line has deep implication for multi-protocol racing.

Q: Does it have pit lane speed limit?
A: certainly. Each car's speed can be individually limited, so, once the car enters the pit lane, its speed is reduced. The feature comes basically free with the system. No specific electric hardware is necessary to activate the pit-lane. The system is smart to the point that, once the pit lane entry is detected, even if you remove the car from the rails while in the pit lane, the speed limiting remains in place until the car leaves the pit lane.

Q: What power supply does it need?
A: An adjustable power supply with enough power to satisfy your needs. 9V to 18V with at least 1A per car is what we would recommend.

Q: Is a PC strictly needed?
A: For lap counting and race management in O2 mode, yes. Other operations, like programming the car ID, and running the car alone, do not need a PC. In SSD mode, a PB is all you need.

Q: How do the cars get their ID programmed?
A: There is a specific procedure for the SCP-1: use the knobs to select the channels and program the car and the controller for a specific ID. The LED displays on the controller tell you the programmed ID. Alternatively, it can be done from the PC.

Q: Can the embedded software be reprogrammed in all the devices?
A: Certainly: reprogramming the software embedded in all the devices is of paramount importance, especially for a new technology like this one. New features can be added and software bugs can be removed throughout the life of the parts. All the components of the O2 system can be reprogrammed either through USB, in case of the 'PC dongle', or 'over the air', that is, by means of the 2.4GHz radio link.

Q: what do I need to transform the SCP-1 into a wireless controller for any system?
A: A complete SCP-1 with a standard oXigen cartridge, and an oXigen-SCP1 cartridge interface. The oXigen cartridge is of course a completely standard unit which can be used inside a full O2 environment.

Q: Does O2 support ghost cars? Refuelling? Pace car? Drive through?
A: The SCP-1 already has a built-in ghost feature. Further, the oXigen protocols allow individual setting of speed, braking, and lane changing for each car. This means that the PC can reduce top speed, or reduce braking, for each car to simulate a heavier car right after pit stop. You can even force penalties (drive through pit lane) or herd all cars back to the pit lane after racing. Pit lane speed and pace car mode speed are adjusted from RMS control panel.

Questions on compatibility

Q: can I still run my analogue cars on the track, with my old controllers?
A: Certainly. O2 bridges the gap, it is100% compatible with your old analogue track. Of course, to Change lane, lane changers are necessary, but as long as they stay straight when lane changing is not requested, analogue cars can be run along oXigen cars. Not only that: the latest development in O2 takes advantage of the O2 cartridge, to turn the SCP-1 for any supported system, into a wireless, untethered controller.

Q: What protocols is it compatible with?
A: the LED protocol is based on Hornby's SSD system. In SSD compatibility mode, SSD Power Base and lane changers detect O2 cars as if they were SSD's own. The power Base does not control the car though. Note that by design, O2 cars do not recognize Hornby's rail SSD Protocol: the compatibility is at the lane changing/car detection level. O2 is not compatible with SCX, Ninco and Carrera protocols. However, O2 chipped cars can race alongside Carrera and Ninco cars on the respective systems. Read below for more information.

Q: Does it work with Scalextric Sport Digital?
A: oXigen is a sophisticated, high performance, reliable standalone digital system. Thanks to an agreement with Hornby, the communication protocol between the car and the lane changer / lap counter is compatible with Hornby's own. oXigen is the only known commercial system being compatible with Hornby SSD. Hence O2 can use existing box stock Scalextric Sport Digital LCs. Besides, if you already have a Scalextric Sport Digital track, O2 cars can be programmed as SSD cars with ID 1 to 6, and they are properly detected by Hornby's PB. You can confidently buy SSD LCs knowing that you will put them to good use in both systems. In other words: when in SSD compatibility mode, oXigen cars 1 to 6 are recognized by SSD power base as cars 1-6; any SSD lane changer works with O2 cars (yes, all 20 of them!); O2 lane changers are fully SSD compatible;  under certain conditions oXigen cars and SSD cars can race together.

Q: Does it work with Ninco or Carrera digital systems?
A: A custom, simple and cheap conversion electronic board is available for these systems: it is a effective, smart, lane changer board which replaces or even works side by side with the existing lane changer driver: in other words, if you want to convert your LCs to work with oXigen (or SSD) cars, just replace the existing electronic of your Ninco or Carrera LC. The board has been designed to replace the original electronics (fits in the same space) but can work in parallel with the original unit as well: this means the racer can run his existing system, switch to oXigen or SSD, and then back to the original digital system! (Some rewiring is necessary, as SSD needs its own power base, and oXigen needs a DC power. However, it is possible to have a multi-protocol LC). Or, if so desired,  race oXigen together with the 'other' digital system.

Q: What! Multi protocol racing?
A: Yes, we believe that it will be possible to race in mixed environments with oXigen and Carrera digital, or oXigen and Ninco digital, or oXigen and SSD. It is obviously a major breakthrough for  digital slot racing. It has already been shown that SSD and oXigen cars can race together. However, if O2 LC drivers are assembled in parallel with the existing electronics, no other change required on the wiring of the track, O2 cars can race together with Ninco and Carrera digital models, the race management gluing it all together.

Q: So I can run SSD on other track made by other brands?
A: Yes. Just replace or complement the other brand's electronic LC board with oXigen's  and hook up an SSD PB to the rails.

Q: Can I use O2 cars along with SSD cars in a SSD environment?
A: Type 'a' O2 in-car module makes it possible, through an external add-on board (a bridge rectifier), to place the O2 car on SSD powered rails and race it along with SSD cars. Type 'b' will work directly on the AC system used by SSD. The only drawback is that, as we make no attempt to decode the SSD protocol, race start and stop are not under the control of the SSD base, unless dedicated sw (e.g. PCLapCounter) and a dongle are used to start/stop the race, oXigen side. O2 cars can obviously be programmed as cars 1 to 6 only to be detected by the SSD powerbase.

Q: Can I use O2 parts within SSD?
A: Yes, O2 Lane Changers are SSD compatible.

Q: is the RMS software available for anything other than MS Windows?
A: The software tool that we use for writing the RMS is available for Linux and Mac as well. Our company works mostly on Linux PCs, but the world doesn't, so we developed a Windows RMS version first. Hopefully we will also release Linux and Mac versions (at a certain point). The dongle protocol will be disclosed free of charge. As far as the PC is concerned, the dongle is only a serial port. The Slot.it RMS has grown into a well-structured and capable software, which is available for free. Some features, like fuel based racing management, are left to the external developers' RMS, like PCLapCounter.

Q: will any of the existing RMS programs be compatible with O2?
A: PcLapCounter supports oXigen.

Q: can I use my analogue cars with O2?
A: On the same track, O2 can pacifically coexist with analogue cars, but of course to run digital races with all that's involved you need to run the chipped cars. However, please read the a?oSCP-1 cartridge radio interfacea?? section to see how O2 can turn any SCP-1 in a remote wireless controller.

Q: is O2 compatible with the Slot.it Live Timing (also known as Telemetry) Box
A: Yes: a Live Timing Box mounted on an oXigen SCP-1 in an oXigen world behaves just like a Live Timing Box mounted on an analogue SCP-1 in a standard analogue world. In addition, there is no need for the track interface box.