FAQ

This is more like a travel tip - Grease Your Bearings!

When you do examine the trailer, and one of your wheels looks like the above photo, you or a mechanically inclined friend, (thanks Ken Miele) must examine things a little further.

When you need parts, and they are not readily available, you may have to wait around for a while. Moral of the story....Grease your wheel bearings often!! (Sorry Dan Fletcher - I don't want to sound like your National Dragster column, but they also call me "lucky".)

Using the MEGA 100, and MEGA 200 Delay Boxes

* Before mounting the unit, put power to it and be sure you can easily view the information in both day and night conditions. If the unit is mounted far below or above "eye" level, it may have to be tilted for best viewing. Keep power to it, as this is the easiest way to go through and learn how the box works.

* This box was designed to be very user friendly, please take a few moments to learn it's features.

* When you are racing, most of the time you will want to look at either the dial ins or the delay times. Pressing the 1 key will bring up dial ins while pressing the 2 key will bring up delay times. You will notice that the words "your dial" etc. are also written and lit up on the screen for ease of use. If you want to change a dial in or delay time simply press the corresponding * or # key and then enter a new value. This is all you need to know to operate the crossover delay box portion of this box.

* The numbers 3-9 will allow you to access all the other "extra" features in the box. If you intend on using any of these features, go through them and set them up to your racing application. It should be noted that they only need to be set up once.

* If you are using the replay tach feature on the Mega 200, the instructions show that you need a pushbutton or switch wired to the linelock terminal to arm the unit for recording. It is recommended that you use your linelock/ 3-step button for this. (The unit doesn't actually start recording until the transbrake releases. It is also recommended that you wire a "bypass" toggle or pushbutton switch for backing up- if your trans requires you to apply the transbrake when backing up. This way the unit will not start recording after you back up. To wire this, simply run 2 wires off your bypass switch, one to 12 volts and the other to the transbrake terminal on the delay box).

* If you have the unit programmed to shift, the signal will not go out to your shift solenoid unless the transbrake button is activated first. This will ensure that the unit will not shift in the burnout or pits. Note: After the transbrake button is released, the keypad will be "locked" until the shift point is reached or 15 seconds- whichever comes first. This is more of a reason to run a bypass button (as stated earlier) if you use your transbrake button to back up.

* If you are a first time delay box user or a pro tree racer and do not intend on hitting the tree twice (their top yellow and your top yellow), set the pushbutton mode to 2. This will tell the box that your single pushbutton is used to activate delay 1 only. This way, delay 1 will recycle every time you hit your pushbutton. Only change this to pushbutton mode 1 if you intend on hitting the tree twice with 1 pushbutton.

* When wiring the box, be sure to run a (15 amp) in-line fuse in the transbrake line (this will help protect the box if your tranbrake solenoid or wire shorts out). It is also a good idea to run a fuse in the 12v wire, t/stop wire, and the shift wire for additional protection. Also note that the shift wire should be run separately from the other wires (not in a wire loom with the others), this will prevent the shift wire from "spiking" other wires.

If you have any further questions, you can contact us at 732-683-0404 or call Digital Delay direct at 563-324-1046. Or if you need to view the full instruction manual Click Here.
GOOD LUCK RACING!!!

Using the MEGA 300, and MEGA 400 Delay Boxes

"C" KEY- press this key to bring you to the "main" screen which displays your dial-ins and delay times. This is the screen you will be spending most of your time in. If you run a throttle stop you will be frequently using the 4 stage timer screen. You can access this screen by pressing the "E" KEY.

"D" KEY- pressing this key brings up most of your "one time set up" information. Spend a few moments to set these features to your specific racing "style". These are items that only need to be set up once.

"F" KEY- pressing the "F" key allows you to access the features related to the Tach, replay, shifting, and driver reaction tester.

As you will notice, every screen that you bring up has the display information written (in plain English) and lit up on the screen, making it nearly impossible for you to screw up. After you have selected the information, you can change it by pressing the "A" or "B" KEY that corresponds to the information that you want to change and entering a new value.

* If you are using the replay tach feature on the Mega 400, the instructions show that you need a pushbutton or switch wired to the linelock terminal to arm the unit for recording. It is recommended that you use your linelock/ 3-step button for this. (The unit doesn't actually start recording until the transbrake releases. It is also recommended that you wire a "bypass" toggle or pushbutton switch for backing up- if your trans requires you to apply the transbrake when backing up. This way the unit will not start recording after you back up. To wire this, simply run 2 wires off your bypass switch, one to 12 volts and the other to the transbrake terminal on the delay box).

* If you have the unit programmed to shift, the signal will not go out to your shift solenoid unless the transbrake button is activated first. This will ensure that the unit will not shift in the burnout or pits. Note: After the transbrake button is released, the keypad will be "locked" until the shift point is reached or 15 seconds- whichever comes first. This is more of a reason to run a bypass button (as stated earlier) if you use your transbrake button to back up.

* If you are using a single throttle control to function as both a starting line control and a downtrack throttle stop, you should hook your wire from your throttle stop terminal on the box and run a jumper wire from this terminal to the S.F.O. terminal.

* If you are a first time delay box user or a pro tree racer and do not intend on hitting the tree twice (their top yellow and your top yellow), set the pushbutton mode to 2. This will tell the box that your single pushbutton is used to activate delay 1 only. This way, delay 1 will recycle every time you hit your pushbutton. Only change this to pushbutton mode 1 if you intend on hitting the tree twice with 1 pushbutton.

* When wiring the box, be sure to run a (15 amp) in-line fuse in the transbrake line (this will help protect the box if your tranbrake solenoid or wire shorts out). It is also a good idea to run a fuse in the 12v wire, t/stop wire, and the shift wire for additional protection. Also note that the shift wire should be run separately from the other wires (not in a wire loom with the others), this will prevent the shift wire from "spiking" other wires.

If you have any further questions, you can contact us at 732-683-0404 or call Digital Delay direct at 563-324-1046. Or if you need to view the full instruction manual Click Here.
GOOD LUCK RACING!!!

Using the MEGA 450 Delay Box

Before mounting the unit, put power to it and be sure you can easily view the information in both day and night conditions. If the unit is mounted far above or below “eye” level, it may have to be tilted for best viewing. Keep power to it, as this is the easiest way to go through and learn how the box works.

PRO TREE MODE AND BRACKET MODE
The concept of the Mega 450 was to make things simple for racers. To do this, the Mega 450 has a separate mode for pro tree racers. The settings in this PRO TREE MODE are independent and separate from the settings in the BRACKET MODE. This means that you can switch back and forth from Pro Tree racing to Bracket racing without having to change any of the settings. All settings in each mode are retained in the memory (even when you switch modes or shut the power off.) To get into PRO TREE MODE press the SETUP key followed by the PRO/ 9 key. At this point you will see the words ‘PRO SCREEN’ and all of your “PRO TREE” settings (pro tree delay, throttle stop timer, and shift point setting) will show up.

BRACKET MODE
To switch back to BRACKET MODE simply press the ‘BRKT’ key. Pressing the ‘BRKT’ KEY (‘BRKT’ stands for BRACKET race) brings you to the main bracket screen which shows dial ins and delay times. If you are a bracket racer, this is the screen you will be spending most, if not all, of your time in.

‘SET UP’ KEY- pressing this key allows you to view all of your setup information, along with the reaction tester and replay tachometer. You can access a total of 8 setup screens with the SETUP key. Each time you press the SETUP button you will scroll through the different setup screens. If you want to go directly to a specific setup screen, you can do so by pressing the SETUP key followed by a number key.
EXAMPLE: The Shift Information screen is considered setup screen number 6. To access this screen you can either: repeatedly press the SETUP key until you get to that screen, or you can go directly to it by pressing the SETUP key followed by the number 6.
Note: Whether you are on the main bracket (dial ins/ delays) screen or any of the setup screens, you are still in bracket mode.
Note: Spend a few moments to set up the box to your racing style (shift point, pushbutton mode, etc). All these settings need only to be done once and are retained in the memory even when power is shut off.

PRO MODE
The ONLY way to get into Pro Mode is to press the ‘SETUP’ key followed by the PRO/ 9 key.
As stated above, the Pro Mode has one main “PRO SCREEN” that shows all of your pro tree racing settings. There are only 2 other screens you can access while in Pro Mode. These screens are the driver reaction tester and replay tachometer. This allows racers to use the driver reaction tester or view the replay tachometer while in the pro mode. Pressing the SETUP button while on the PRO SCREEN will scroll through these other 2 screens.

THE KEYPAD
‘NEXT’ KEY- pressing this key allows you to move the selection arrows from one line to the next. Ex: If the selection arrows are on “your dial” and you would like to go to “their dial”, you would hit the next key to move the selections arrows to “their dial”.

‘CLEAR’ KEY- after you have selected the line you would like to change, you can hit the clear key to erase that line. After that, you can enter a new value by using the number keys. Ex: If you want to enter a new value for “their dial” simply move the selection arrows next to “their dial” and press the clear key. Use the numeric keys to type in a new value.

SCROLLING UP/ DOWN KEYS- these UP and Down arrow keys on the keypad allow you to make small changes to Dial ins, Delay Times, etc.
Ex: If you want to add 2 thousandths to “delay 1” simply move the selection arrows next to “delay 1” and press the UP arrow key twice.

THE DISPLAY
The display is a large screen that has 4 lines of information on each screen. All the display information is written in plain English, making it very easy to use. The display also has selection arrows showing the line that is currently selected.

OTHER TIPS

If you have any further questions, you can contact us at 732-683-0404 or call Digital Delay direct at 563-324-1046. Or if you need to view the full instruction manual Click Here.
GOOD LUCK RACING!!!

Practicing with the "Final Round" Practice Tree

For best training results practice in small time increments. Those of you who sit and practice for hours at a time may not achieve the results you want to. You won't concentrate as much when you practice in long sessions. Try to hit a series of 10, record your best reaction time, worst reaction time, and series average. Then take a little break, (5 or 10 minutes), and do it again. Watch how you will improve!

Try to simulate your race conditions, if that means sitting in your own car, do it, don't be afraid to throw your helmet and other safety equipment on. You can hook up the button in your car, (we can tell you how) - of course you must disconnect all the electronics and wiring leading to that particular button. But, that is about the closest simulation you can get.

Good Luck Practicing and Racing!!!!! Also, check out our Frequently Asked Questions section for some help on setting your rollout.

Tips for a struggling "Bottom Bulb" Racer

The main idea is to leave as soon as you see the bottom bulb, react to the "flash", that is what makes you consistent. But due to the "distraction factor" of the top two ambers we can sometimes be inconsistent. So, what we suggest to do is the following : take the top two ambers out in each lane, you can do this with the table version "Final Round 2, or 3" by unscrewing the top 2 lenses, and pulling out the bulbs. The bulbs can not be pulled out of the versions with the LED bulbs, such as the Final Round 4 (FR4), but the FR4V2 model has an option to shut the bulbs off) Or, you can do this with the Full Size Tree by simply unscrewing the bulbs. This makes it easier to put your focus solely on the botton amber. (Of course you should make sure there is no handicap set in the unit, because we want your bottom amber to come on before, or simultaneously with the bottom amber in the other lane).

React to that amber as fast as you can, (for those who are not used to this, it may take a few shots). This may take some more concentration now, since we don't have the top two ambers giving us the warning of the third coming on. But, those two top two ambers are there for no other reason but to distract you!!

With this method we can now figure out the rollout to use in the practice tree by adjusting the rollout number until you are in the 5 - teens, or 5 - twenties. After you have established an average competitive reaction time, you are ready for the final step:

Put all the bulbs back in, leaving the rollout number the same, and "hit" the tree just as you did before. Try to forget that the top two ambers are there. If your reaction times are about the same and as consistent as they were before, you are learning to master the full tree, which is the hardest "tree" to conquer. (it requires the most discipline). If you master that, set the tree up, so that you give the other lane a 1/2 second or full second handicap, because that will create more distraction, and if you can master that, then you are ready for anything.

A Quick Tip to improve your "Finish Line Driving"

Well, the answer is simple, I think. Race as much as you can, and with the experience you gain, in time, your "Finish Line" driving will improve. I'm only kidding, I would not make you come to this section and just tell you to race more often.

I really did think of a method to improve a racer's "Finish Line" driving. For the most part, it is best applicable for "Super" racers, who make time trials alongside racecars that run almost the same E.T. as each other. What I suggest is this: when making your run, always check out your opponent as you are headed down track. (Of course, don't do this if you are fighting the car, or there are some severe side winds present! I'm assuming that everyone who enters this section is an experienced drag racer, and I don't need to give out driving lessons!) When you approach the finish line.... that is where I suggest you pay the most attention. What you should do is take a look over, and see where you are in comparison to your competition. Keep a mental note of that distance, and try to decide who got to the finish line first, and by how much. Decide on a number before you pick up your time slip, and see how close you can get. If you do that all the time, you may get a better idea of what's going on at the finish line.

I can't tell you how many runs I see from the finish line, even during time trials, and I see racers looking straight ahead. Maybe sometimes you need to keep your eyes on the guages, or other times you can see well out of your "peripheral vision", but when its real "tight" during a time run, I'll always use that time to try and learn something.

This method of guessing who got to the "stripe" first, and by how much should be done during eliminations also. I know it's probably the furthest thing from your mind when you are at a big race, but think of the long term benefit it could have. For dial-in racers, eliminations are probably the only time you can practice this method. I know in all my past experience of making time runs in brackets and Super Stock, I've rarely made a run with someone who ran within a couple of hundredths of me.

Using a Throttle Stop

1/ FINDING THE RIGHT THROTTLE STOP "CLOSED POSITION" OR "BLADE ANGLE" -
Finding how much to mechanically shut your throttle down is crucial. You want to find a setting that will work well and be consistent. I have found 3 blade angles that work well (find the settings below). The most accurate way to adjust your "blade angle" is by RPM- (the rpm your engine drops to while the throttle stop is engaged). Once you have the right throttle stop RPM, you are done with the mechanical part of it, and all ET adjustments should be done with a timer.

As mentioned above, I have found 3 blade angles that work well:
- A "throttle stop rpm" of 3900- this will work well if your car runs 1 second under the index.
- A "throttle stop rpm" of 4300- this will work well if your car runs .3 to .9 under the index.
- A "throttle stop rpm" of 4800- this will work well if your car runs less than .3 under the index.

2/ FIGURING OUT YOUR THROTTLE STOP RATIO -
Before figuring out your ratio you first must enter a number in timer 1 of your throttle stop timer. This number indicates when the throttle stop will come on after launch. Most people prefer to have this number set early for high mph. I recommend having the throttle stop come on between .15 and .3. Once you set this, you will never adjust it again. To adjust your ET you will change timer 2.

Whether you are using a weather station to predict a throttle stop or not, I highly recommend you learning your throttle stop ratio. The Throttle Stop Ratio is the effect the throttle stop time has on your ET. Here's an example- if you add 2 tenths (.2) to your throttle stop timer and it changes your ET by 1 tenth (.1), then you have a 2 to 1 ratio. To learn your ratio do the following:

Make one run with a small amount of time (duration) in the throttle stop timer (.5).
Make a second run with a large amount of time (2.5). Let's say run # 1 was an 8.40 and run # 2 was an 9.40. You can figure out your throttle stop ratio by dividing the change in the throttle stop time by the change in ET. The change in throttle stop time divided by the Change in E.T = T/S Ratio. OR (2.00 divided by 1.00 = 2).

This is called a 2 to 1 ratio. Learning your ratio will allow you to correct for changing track and air conditions. Your ratio depends on your "throttle stop rpm". For most applications a 3900 T/S rpm results in a 2 to 1 ratio, a 4300 T/S rpm results in a 3 to 1 ratio, and a 4800 T/S rpm results in a 5 to 1 ratio. These ratios are based on cars equipped with converters that stall in the 5800-6200 area. Extremely loose or tight converters will result in different ratios.

3/ YOUR THROTTLE LINKAGE -
An "In-linkage" throttle control is sensitive to the entire throttle linkage system. It is very important to have an absolutely solid and rigid pedal stop. Without this you can stretch your linkage causing inconsistency. Your cable attaching bracket must also be rigid. Any flexing or binding will ruin the consistency.

4/ TIME SHIFTING WHILE ON THE STOP
Is it beneficial to shift on time (have a timer shift the car during the stop duration) while on the stop?
The answer really depends on how fast your car runs. Example: If your car runs well under the index (over 1 second under the index), you can gain consistency by shifting on a time. There are 2 major benefits for shifting on time.

*** Cars running less than 1 second under the index will most likely not benefit from shifting by time.
*** When shifting on time, it is good have it shift a few tenths (.3 to .9) after the stop comes on.
*** When shifting on time you should raise your throttle stop rpm 300 to 500 rpm higher than the suggested rpm mentioned in the above #1 example. (Example: cars running one second or more under the index should have a throttle stop rpm of 4200 to 4400 as opposed to the 3900 suggested rpm described above.)

Using the Tag Systems Weather Station

This weather station has quick reacting gauges, which will pick up weather changes/ fronts very quickly. Because of quick reacting gauges, the temperature may move 1 or 2 degrees under certain conditions-(wind or sun going in and out). We recommend waiting for the temp. to setttle to it's "middle" or "average" temp. and then locking these conditions in by using the "hold weather" feature. Now, whether you are entering in a run or predicting a run, you will use the "weather on hold".

ENTERING RUNS / MAKING PREDICTIONS:

REMEMBER THIS: if the runs make sense and are accurate, the predictions will be accurate!

Here's how you can check on runs in a database to see if they are good:

Let's assume RUN 3 is 10.18 at 850 feet. By this we can see RUN 2 is the "bad" run and should not be entered (if it was entered you should delete it). RUN 1 and RUN 3 make sense together while RUN 2 does not. It may be a bad run because of wind, 60 foot change (traction), or fluid temperature(water, trans, rear). If predictions are off, you should always write down or download the runs (E.T. and D.A.) in your database and check them. (This same system can be used for throttle stop users; compare T/S time/ E.T./ and D.A.)

A database should consist of runs that have a large range of density altitude. Having different density altitudes in your database (ex.200 feet - 2100 feet) shows the computer how your car responds to a big weather change. A throttle stop database should consist of runs with a large spread of throttle stop data. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of quality runs in your datavase. A database with four or five quality runs will predict better than a database with 15 runs where 5 of them are "bad".

Predictions from one track to the next are usually accurate, However- due to variance in rollout, wind direction, track surface, and traction form track to track- predictions may be off. If after your first run at a new track, your prediction is way off, you should start a new database with that track.

We recomend setting up your weather station for multiple databases, this gives you more flexibility in splitting up runs. Following the Density Altitude can help you make mental "common sense" predictions. When the density altitude goes up, your car should slow up. When the density altitude goes down, your car should speed up. By how much depends on your combination, jetting, etc. A good rule of thumb to start by is (Gasoline) - a change of 150 feet of density altitude= a change of .01 in E.T. (Alcohol)- a change of 250 feet = a change of .01 in E.T. *note: large humidity changes may also effect performance (more so with alcohol)

Using the Performaire Weather Station

ENTERING RUNS / MAKING PREDICTIONS:

REMEMBER THIS: if the runs make sense and are accurate, the predictions will be accurate! Here's how you can check on runs in a database to see if they are good:

These 2 runs do not make sense with each other and therefore will confuse the computer when entered with each other - leading to inaccurate predictions. In RUN 2 the D.A. was lower- which means better. Therefore, your E.T. should have been better. It wasn't and we now have to figure out which run is the "bad" run. To do this you need a third run. Let's assume RUN 3 is 10.18 at 850 feet. By this we can see RUN 2 is the "bad" run and should not be entered (if it was entered you should delete it). RUN 1 and RUN 3 make sense together while RUN 2 does not. It may be a bad run because of wind, 60 foot change (traction), or fluid temperature (water, trans, or rear end).

If predictions are off, you should always write down or download the runs (E.T. and D.A.) in your database and check them. (This same system can be used for throttle stop users; compare T/S time/ E.T./ and D.A.)

A database should consist of runs that have a large range of density altitude. Having different density altitudes in your database (ex.200 feet - 2100 feet) shows the computer how your car responds to a big weather change. A throttle stop database should consist of runs with a large spread of throttle stop data. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of quality runs in your datavase. A database with four or five quality runs will predict better than a database with 15 runs where 5 of them are "bad". Predictions form one track to the next are usually accurate, However- due to variance in rollout, wind direction, track surface, and traction form track to track- predictions may be off. If after your first run at a new track, your prediction is way off, you should start a new database with that track.

We recomend setting up your weather station for multiple databases, this gives you more flexibility in splitting up runs. Following the Density Altitude can help you make mental "common sense" predictions. When the density altitude goes up, your car should slow up. When the density altitude goes down, your car should speed up. By how much depends on your combination, jetting, etc. A good rule of thumb to start by is (gasoline) - a change of 200 feet of density altitude= a change of .01 in E.T (Alcohol)- a change of 300 feet = a change of .01 in E.T. *Note: large humidity changes may also effect performance (more so with alcohol)

How to determine the proper rollout for your Practice Tree

.500 (Actual Reaction Time)
-.175 (Human Reaction Time)
.325 (Roll Out)

The correct way to practice is to react as soon as you see the bottom amber go on. It MUST be a reflex, because if it isn't, you will never be consistent. If you use a number in the rollout based on the weight of your car you will be using a number which may demand that you learn to leave just before or after the last amber is lit. Trying to learn that, will be virtually impossible and very inconsistent. So, if you practice at .325 (or between .300 and .340), and get your reaction times in the consistent .510 to .530 range, you have reached the goal with the practice tree.

APPLYING THE ROLLOUT NUMBER TO YOUR CAR
Now that you have trained your mind to react to the amber, and not anticipate or "sit" on it, the next step would be to get your car to work with you. The way you can do that is to make a couple of time trials, and figure out your average reaction time in your car. If you are certain you are reacting to the last amber, exactly the same way as your practice tree, and you are only able to produce a consistent .625 average - your next step would be to make the car bring your consistent average down! For example, raise your launch RPM, or stage deeper to bring your reaction time to a competitive level. (This is the reason you see many of the street driven or slower vehicles deep staging). You see, once your mind is trained to be consistent, you can make the car do the rest. You and your car must compliment each other to produce the results you are looking for. Keep in mind, if you're average reaction time in your car is a red light, you may have to work in the opposite direction. For example, decreasing the front tire pressure, (a safe amount), or decreasing your launch RPM, or simplest of all, add some numbers in the delay box, if legal in your class.

DELAY BOX RACERS
If you are using a delay box to react off the top yellow, it will require ading 1 second to the delay box. Since your rollout is established at .325 (or whatever it may be),you will practice with 1.000 in the delay box, and .325 in the rollout. The reason for adding 1.000 is because each amber takes .500 (5 tenths of a second, or 1/2 second) until proceeding to the next. We need to delay the reaction time for the total of 1 second (2 ambers).

FOR PRO TREE RACERS
For Pro Tree, or .400 (4 tenths) racers, it is very simple. Practice with no rollout on the .400 (Pro tree), and you will arrive at about a .175 human reaction time, and you will be able to figure your rollout out from:

.400 (Actual reaction Time)
-.175 (Human Reaction Time)
.225 (Roll Out)

For you Pro Tree racers, there are many different converters, transbrake buttons, smaller front tires, and suspension adjustments that can help your car react faster. Many Pro-Tree racers can't redlight, which is not good, because you can get to a track where the rollout is long or the sun is bright on the tree - and you will be fairly late!! It's kind of a trial and error situation. You should get your car setup so you are capable of redlighting, so you can just add some numbers to the delay box to put you where you want to be.