UPDATE:
After Thursday's event where we had a hard time setting Car IDs using the buttons on the PowerBase, I decided to have another look at the stand-alone ID programmer. I had a theory that it may not have been getting proper power, so I started by checking the very short manual to see the power requirements. Here's what it said:
Specification
Power: 8-16VDC, 2.1mm DC Plug, Positive center
Input: Button and Serial port (RS232 TTL)
Output: Scalextric Sports Digital protocol
Looking at the power requirements, I thought that my 9v battery power may have been minimal, so today at work I had a "brainwave". We sell external 110v AC to 12v DC power supplies for hard drives and I remember some of them having the same type of 2.1mm DC plug required for the SSD programmer, so I brought one home to try and presto, it not only worked, it worked perfectly! The red light on the programmer was much brighter and most importantly, it allowed me to set a car to each of the six IDs immediately with each try. I could tell that the chip was programmed because it briefly spun the rear wheels as I set each ID.
This device will show its true worth from the next event on.
