sosidge.com

If you are interested in any of the stuff in this .xls file then leave a comment and I will get back to you.

parts_for_sale

This has been bugging me for a while.

Too many RC clubs out there are getting small turnouts for the simple reason that nobody knows they exist!

Here are three things that every RC club should be doing. No if’s, no but’s - do it!

1. You need a website. And it needs to be UP TO DATE. If your picture gallery is from 2002 and the last race results are from Summer 2007 - why would anyone think you were still running? And if you don’t have race times and a full address - how will anyone come to the track? Almost anyone with a broadband account will have some free webspace, and there is plenty of easy to use software to make a basic one. It will cost you nothing but a little time to keep a website going.

2. You need posters/flyers in every local hobby shop. Don’t count on word of mouth. Don’t count on existing members coming back for eternity. Don’t count on one shop employee doing all the promotional work for you.

3. You need to run special events that will get wider coverage outside the hobby itself. Run invitational meetings if your track is up to it, and let the local press know if a national champion is coming to race. Run demonstrations at local motor shows and community events. And while you are there, make sure that people get the name of the club and can have their questions about the hobby answered - print banners for the rostrum, have a table with some static displays and more flyers. Don’t hide behind a catch fence with your back turned, displaying a sponsored T-shirt and nothing else.

This is all really basic stuff, simple marketing, that will get more people racing. And the more people that race, the more fun it is for everyone!

…trust me, I found out the hard way.

Plugged the Corallies in the wrong way by mistake, heard a crack and a spark. Tried connecting the speedo up the right way, and although the servo was powered, there was no throttle, just a flashing led and a faint smell of burning.

Opened up the case (breaking the tabs as usual) and saw this…

I should make it clear that I am not an electronic engineer and I don’t have a clue what I’m doing (so copy me at your own risk) but this looked to me like a blown circuit track along the negative side.

A rummage around the pitbox found an old motor brush which donated its braid…

…which was then tinned and used to bridge the break in the circuit board.

End result looks a little like this (hope you can make it out)…

Standing well back I plugged the speedo back in. Nothing blew up. So I switched it on and tried the throttle…

SUCCESS!

I’m more surprised than anyone. Hopefully it will hold up, hopefully it will still run as fast as the other cars too.

If it does work it has saved me £20 and taught me not to plug things in backwards ever again… stupid boy.

Continuing the theme of cell testing this week I have been checking out the Vapextech 2700 AA cell, to see if it a good choice for high-drain use (i.e in my Kyosho Mini Inferno!).

You can download a spreadsheet with my findings here - Analysis of Vapextech 2700 AA

To sum up, the cells cope will with the 2.5A fast charge and cope well with a 3A and 5A discharge. But 10A is beyond them and they dump after only 700mAh.

The proof of the pudding will be a road test in the Mini Inferno - a report on that to come.

I will be rebuilding my packs into a different fomat shortly so I decided to take the time to cycle each cell (IB4200 original type) individually and hopefully re-match them at the same time.

The cells were straight from the factory and unmatched when built in late 2005. Unfortunately I did not keep a record of their discharge performance when new.

Attached is a .xls spreadsheet that includes all the results (19 cells in total). Analysis of IB4200 after approximately 100 cycles

It is clear that the cells have a much lower voltage and capacity compared to when new. Although the majority of cells are quite similar, there are a handful with significantly better/worse performance.

A few notes/disclaimers about the testing…

1. Charger used was a Much-More Cell Master attached to an Eagle single cell holder. The settings were 1 cell/5.0A charge/03mV delta/1min pause after charge/10.0A discharge/0.9V cutoff.

2. The cells were only cycled once

3. The cell numbering is just for reference, I didn’t take note of which cells had been built into which pack.

4. Cell 19 is the closest I had to a control cell. It was hanging around in my pitbox and has had only a few cycles, but had dropped to 0V in storage. It has a much higher voltage and a much lower IR but capacity is similar.

If you have any questions or comments then why not add them?

Courtesy of Kyosho America…

Kyosho Ultima RB5 Competition 2WD EP Buggy

Feb. 14, 2007 - Kyosho announces the new Ultima RB5 electric racing buggy. It’s a virtually all-new design that is the result of years of R&D and includes the collective experience of the world’s most experienced RC racing drivers and engineers from the world’s most experienced RC racing company. The main goal of the new Ultima RB5 is simple - to win the next IFMAR World Championship.

The new Ultima RB5 only shares rear hubs with the Lazer ZX-5 and a few common hardware items, but the essential and distinguishing components of the car, such as the chassis, transmission, bulkheads, shock towers, suspension and the sleek aerodynamic body, are all new. Each aspect of the car is specially designed and tested to produce maximum performance. Likewise, the materials chosen for this new Ultima are exhaustively tested - all with the goal to create the ultimate no-nonsense competition car that’s ready to take on the world.

Chassis - The chassis plate is light and strong, featuring a specially formulated carbon fiber composite for the best balance of performance and durability. Strategic braces molded into the chassis enhance the stiffness without adding any unnecessary weight. Separate front and rear “clips” allow fast and easy removal of the front or rear end of the car, which makes maintenance and repair much easier. Designed to accept stick packs and racing-style 6-cell matched packs, the RB5 chassis features an adjustable battery mounting position that allows you to shift weight bias to suit track conditions and your driving style.

Transmission - The new transmission features a smaller, more compact housing that keeps the motor as low and close to the transmission as possible, which reduces CG and improves bump handing. The three-gear transmission features an internal ball differential that uses standard 3/32-inch diff balls and 1/16-inch thrust balls. The differential is also externally adjustable, and a dust cover fits over the adjustment holes so the thrust bearing lasts much longer. An injection molded gear cover is included, which better fits the motor plate to minimize dust and debris for longer gear life.

Rear Suspension - The rear suspension arms are symmetrical so a single replacement arm can be used on either side of the car, saving money and space inside your pit box because you don’t need to carry as many replacement parts. The inside of the arms are attached to the chassis using separate suspension mounts, which will allows anti-squat adjustment. The rear wheel hubs feature three lower hinge-pin holes, which allow modification of the ride height with minimal disturbance of the suspension geometry. Vertical ball studs for the both the inner and out rod ends of the upper link mean the rear suspension geometry can be fine-tuned with shims.

Front Suspension - Longer, straighter and symmetrical suspension arms connect to a narrow front bulkhead. The bumper/skid plate, suspension block, nose plate and front bulkhead all come together to form a very rigid assembly, to which the front suspension arms mount. The standard position of the suspension mount produces 25 degrees of hinge pin angle in the front suspension arms, but simply flipping the suspension mount increases the hinge pin angle to 30 degrees. The added flexibility of having adjustable hinge pin angles means you have more options when it comes to setting up your car. Like the rear arms, a single replacement arm can be used on either side of the car.

Offset steering hubs make high-speed handling a dream, while floating axles ride in bearings that are mounted in the hub instead of the wheel This moves the weight of the bearings inboard for more responsive suspension, the bearings are under less stress, and they’re better shielded from the elements. This means the front wheel bearings last longer and run smoother. The front track width is also easily adjusted, which means the amount of steering response is easily increased or decreased for track conditions and driver preference.

Steering Assembly - Ball bearings provide smooth movement of the steering bellcranks, which are mounted on the chassis at the same angle as the suspension arms. This eliminates bump steer and produces more accurate Ackerman geometry throughout the entire range of steering motion. The steering plate (center link) features horizontally mounted ball studs, which mean Ackerman can be fine tuned using shims behind the ball studs, offering a nearing infinite range of adjustment.

Captured Hinge Pins - A simple button head screw captures all the outer hinge pins of the Ultima RB5. The rear inner hinge pins are truly captured between the suspension mounts, and the notched inner front pins are secured with a setscrew through the front suspension mount. This means that the hinge pins are much more secure and less likely to come loose.

Low-Profile Shock Towers - The front shock tower is mounted as far back on the chassis as possibly, as are the shocks, to keep the mass as low as possible. Likewise, the rear shock tower is also designed to keep a low profile, yet allow enough suspension travel to ensure the best possible handling. The shock towers are molded from an exhaustively tested composite, which is much more costly to produce than shock towers made from woven graphite, but will also provide greater durability.

Threaded Aluminum “Triple” Shocks - Kyosho is well known for silky smooth shocks and the new “Triple” shocks included with the Ultima RB5 are no exception. The shock body consists of three major components - a top cap, threaded body, and a lower cap. The aluminum shock bodies feature a threaded spring pre-load collar for quick and easy adjustment. The threaded adjuster features an O-ring that prevents the preload settings from moving, which ensures consistent performance from start to finish. The lower shock cap allows quick and easy maintenance of the double O-ring seals.

Low-Profile Body - no less than ten versions of the new body for the RB5 were thoroughly tested to maximize performance and to ensure that you have the best-looking car on the track. The entire R&D team as well as the factory drivers were involved in the development, and the finished product is the best-performing body ever used on a 2WD buggy according to the team.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Category: 1:10 competition 2WD electric buggy

Wheelbase: 10.63 in. (270mm)

Track width: 9.84 in. (250mm)

Weight: 57.2 oz. (1620g)

Chassis: Molded carbon composite

Transmission: Compact 3-gear

Differential: Externally adjustable ball-type

Transmission ratio: 2.6:1

Slipper: Double-disc, spring-loaded

Bearings: Teflon-sealed (transmission); metal shielded

Suspension: Lower H-arm w/steel turnbuckles

Shocks: 3-piece threaded aluminum, oil-damped

Driveshafts: Steel CV-type

Gears: 48-pitch

30074B - Ultima RB5 Competition 2WD EP Buggy

These haven’t come out at all well. The combo of wood floor and strange indoor light doesn’t really work out. And I haven’t got the camera skills to compensate!

For those moments when your “unconventional” line doesn’t work out…

Simply take a scrap piece of lexan from the bottom of the bin and cut to suit. This version is curved across the top to cope with lateral racing incidents, and flexes back in case of longitudinal action.

Whether or not is saves the shock tower effectively I don’t know, but I haven’t broken one since fitting it.

Brilliant!

I was a bit worried that the cars wouldn’t handle on our slippy floor track at NERCR - how wrong could I be.

Even when the grip was non existent at the start of the day the TT-01 was well balanced and a pleasure to drive. More of a pleasure than the more powerful Open class cars at the club which are always on the edge.

The TT-01 was only just over a second a lap slower than the Open cars around a 20s or so lap, which was a big surprise to me.

The combo of wide tyres and a slow motor should mean a lot less tyre wear, and an all round easier drive. Controlled option parts means nobody will benefit from spending loads of money on the car. Great for beginners - great for me too! I was actually 3rd fastest overall after the 3rd round, then I switched to the supposedly faster Kyosho TF-5 and was still 3rd fastest (with a much better time though)!

Car is now ready to race after the addition of a few key hop-ups - Eurocup Stock legal of course!

Pictured are 1x 50477 24/25T AV Pinion Set, 2x 50746 CVA Super Mini Shock Set, 1x 53569 Clamp Type Wheel Adaptor, 1x 53620 Aluminium Propellor Shaft, 1x 53662 Turnbuckle Tie Rod Set, 1x 53665 Speed Tuned Gear Set.

I just wanted to say also how much of a pleasure it is to build and upgrade Tamiya cars. The fit and finish is excellent (people complain about slop, but Tamiya know more about moulding than anyone, the slop is there for a reason), and what is even nicer is the little instruction manuals and diagrams that come with the different hop-ups to make them a doddle to fit.

Time now for a few more build tips…

5. 50746 CVA Super Mini Shocks - these are surprisingly smooth for a plastic body, very easy to build. For a TT01 you need the short shock bottoms. I built mine with the 2-hole pistons, CVA springs and Much-More #350 oil all round. I’m not saying this is the right way to do it, in fact they seem underdamped, but you have to start somewhere. I will update the site once I get a good setup.

6. 53569 Clamp Type Wheel Adaptor - a bit of an extravagance, make no difference to the performance of the car, but stop the wheel axle pins from falling out when you change tyres. I’ve got bored of that already and I haven’t even run the car yet!

7. 53620 Aluminium Propellor Shaft - if you plan to fit this DO IT WHILE YOU BUILD THE CAR! It is a right faff on to work on the propellor shaft and the spur gear. The rear gearbox half needs to come off, that means the suspension comes off too. The spur assembly invariably falls apart as you try and slot it in too. Shaft looks bling when fitted.

8. 53662 Turnbuckle Tie Rod Set - I had a little trouble getting the longer ballstud to thread into the steering block. Solution was to use a hex-head M3 machine screw and a little grease to tap it. This really is an essential part, the steering is very restricted otherwise.

9. 53665 - I fitted the 58T, combined with the 25T pinion - see note 7 above.

10. Shimming - as well as the 5mm shims for the wheel axles as mentioned before, I also used some 4mm shims on the steering cranks. I used Yokomo parts ZC-S40 and ZC-S50, other shims are available from the likes of Kyosho.

11. IB4200s - these are a shade bigger than the cells the TT01 was built around, my side-by-side packs just fit, the battery strap is right on the limit though. Hopefully it will hold up.

Just for the sake of it I also took a couple of pics of the TT01 side-by-side with a Kyosho TF-5 shaft car. The shaft drive is really the only similarity. The difference between the Tamiya Xsara shell and the Protoform Stratus 3 AP is massive!

I’ve given the car a quick blast around the living room, seems pretty nippy, the track will be the real test.