Noobish Questions

Hey all,

I have some questions regarding the new developments that have taken place in RC, so please bear with me ya? I have been out of the loop actively since 1998, so I hope some of you will take the time to offer some suggestions or answers to my questions.

First off, whatever happen to the brand of ESC's called Novak? I don't seem to see many ppl on here using them. What are the better ESC's to use? Also, batteries, don't see Trinity much too. Which would be the recommendations and also chargers.

Next, regarding the transmission and transfer case, does this step down the transmission, like High and Low gears? If it is, is it selected via the Transmitter or other?

What kinda motors are best to use for trail crawling? waterproofed I assumed would be a ideal. So would waterproof servos, so which are the best?

I also assume that with the newer transmitters that work on 2.4ghz, there is no need for an antenna in the rig anymore. That really can make them scale like without the tell-tale sign of the antenna.

Beadlock tires... What the heck are they?

And lighting, oh the glorious lighting, like in Laneboysrc. I would like one... but I need a rig first.

Ok, that's all for the time being. I am just about to open a can of beer. Oh yes, if anyone else wants to list some questions that they need answers to but were to shy to ask, just add them here. We all could learn something new

LandyDaddy wrote:Hey all,

I have some questions regarding the new developments that have taken place in RC, so please bear with me ya? I have been out of the loop actively since 1998, so I hope some of you will take the time to offer some suggestions or answers to my questions.

First off, whatever happen to the brand of ESC's called Novak? I don't seem to see many ppl on here using them. What are the better ESC's to use? Also, batteries, don't see Trinity much too. Which would be the recommendations and also chargers.

hi bro...
let newbie boo have a try in the replies...

novak is still in the market... at least i know boss still uses them...
many of us use china escs and diy waterproofing... low cost and effective...

LandyDaddy wrote:Next, regarding the transmission and transfer case, does this step down the transmission, like High and Low gears? If it is, is it selected via the Transmitter or other?

depends on the truck you get, if you are getting the rcmodelex d110, it comes with a single speed transmission... you can't change the gear ratios on the move...

LandyDaddy wrote:
What kinda motors are best to use for trail crawling? waterproofed I assumed would be a ideal. So would waterproof servos, so which are the best?

most of us prefer using brushed motors for trails and crawls... no hassle and plug and play....

for waterproofed servos, hobbyking's BMS-620MG and 630MG are working quite well and low cost... many of us are using it... other than applying a little marine grease on the servo's output shaft, nothing much required...

LandyDaddy wrote:
I also assume that with the newer transmitters that work on 2.4ghz, there is no need for an antenna in the rig anymore. That really can make them scale like without the tell-tale sign of the antenna.

yeah, the antenna can be left under the body shell... no problems..

LandyDaddy wrote:
Beadlock tires... What the heck are they?

picture tells a thousand words...

beadlock wheels will come with additional rings, to "clamp" the tires between the wheel and the beadlock rings.... this eliminates the need to glue tyres to the wheels... and tires can be reused on other beadlock wheels anytime you want to...

LandyDaddy wrote:
And lighting, oh the glorious lighting, like in Laneboysrc. I would like one... but I need a rig first.

Ok, that's all for the time being. I am just about to open a can of beer. Oh yes, if anyone else wants to list some questions that they need answers to but were to shy to ask, just add them here. We all could learn something new

laneboysrc's custom made light unit is sweet...

but if you just need a simple light unit with signal lamps, headlamps and brake lamps...
you can get them from r2hobbies for around usd10 per set...

Thanks for your speedy response Boo.

Regarding the transfer case, could I have one added to step down the ratio from the transmission to the wheels? I am asking this as I would like to see some really slow crawls but with a lotta torgue, if I got that right.

Or would you normally do this with reducing the speed sensitivity from the controller.. forgive me, as I said, these are quite noobish questions I have.

Boo, with 3000 over post and a few scratch build under your belt and most active topic starters is no newbie .

LandyDaddy. The RCModelex comes with a 35Turn motor. From my experience and usage, 35T motor is enuf for most if not all terrain with the Landy. To increase torque, easiest is to change the motor to a 45T or 55T motor. But will be very slow. Tryout the stock 35T motor and decide later if you want to change the motor. Speed depends on the trottle stick.

My 35T motor landy's fastest speed is about brisk walk.

Boo and babyboy already answered many questions, anyway...

Motor: Cheap brushed is the way to go for trailing. Brushed motors work in water too, though sometimes they stop due to dirt lifting the brushes, but usually a slight bit of hand pushing gets them working again straight away.
35T is sweet as babyboy suggested; if you have a Tamiya silvercan (27T) lying around (or can get very cheaply from someone) then that should be fine too.
With the modern ESC you have tons of torque even at slowest speeds, a gearbox is only needed if you want to go faster than trailing speed.

ESC: The SGD 13 China ESC works indeed well and is engineered well, but needs waterproofing. Beware though that this ESC doesn't have a LiPo cut-off. If you look hard enough you can find waterproof brushed ESCs that also have other interesting features like drag brake (for careful descends) and LiPo cut-off. They can easily cost SGD 80 + shipping.

Servo: Bluebird from HobbyKing works well, as Boo said. Hitec also has nice waterproof servos for <SGD 60. Personally I like the Feetech servos: waterproof, high torque and affordable (SGD 65 or thereabouts for a 15kg waterproof servo)
Watch out that most brands also now offer "high voltage" servos. These are designed to connect directly to the battery. They do not work (well) with just plugging them into the receiver/BEC, you would need extra splitters and wiring to connect them to the receiver as well as power from the battery. Not worth the trouble at all for normal trailing, so ensure you get a servo that operates in the 4.8-6V range (like the BMS-620MG mentioned already).
It should definitely have metal gears as climbing over obstacles can put a lot of stress on the servo.

Battery: First of all, don't forget that you need a decent charger. Again HobbyKing has cheap and good stuff. The "4 button chargers" that can charge all kind of batteries are affordable and do a fantastic job keeping your batteries in good conditions.
If you ever plan to do something faster than trailing forget NiMH and go straight for LiPo. Again HobbyKing has good and low priced batteries. If you use the China ESC you should use a LiPo alarm to prevent deep discharge as this will damage the LiPo battery very quickly. LiPo batteries have a very flat discharge curve so once you notice the vehicle gets slow it is already too late...
LiPos are excellent, but you need to take good care of them. They should be in storage charge when not in use, must be charged to precise voltages, and may need balancing (all done by the 4 button chargers). Google and YouTube can tell you all about it.
And you should decide on a decent battery connector from the get-go. "Deans" and "XT60" are good choices, the Tamiya ones that come on the China ESC amongst others are outdated. Ensure that your battery and charger purchase have matching leads, and do order male/female connectors to change on the ESC.

Transmitter: Definitely 2.4 GHz, don't even think of anything else! From HobbyKing ultra-cheap to several hundred bucks you have a wide choice. Again trailing does not have any special requirements (although a 3rd or 4th channel can be nice to switch a winch or lights ) but if you plan to own other cars as well then you should look at higher spec'ed radios that have "model memories" for quick and easy switching between vehicles.

LandyDaddy wrote:
And lighting, oh the glorious lighting, like in Laneboysrc. I would like one... but I need a rig first.

Once you have a rig, you know where to find me

LandyDaddy wrote:
.........
First off, whatever happen to the brand of ESC's called Novak? I don't seem to see many ppl on here using them. What are the better ESC's to use? Also, batteries, don't see Trinity much too. Which would be the recommendations and also chargers.........

Novak ESC user here.





Still running this on my wild dagger with dual motor, not bad for an aging esc.

Now comes Part II of my questions:

Motors: What is the difference between Brushless and Brushed (beside the obvious). I would like to know any technical advantages. Also, I understand if to use brushless, the Turn would be lower than Brushed. I also noticed, no one speaks of the pinon gear. Any reason ?

With LiPO Chargers, are they all using a 12V Battery to charge or do they have one connected to a house power point?

For brushed vs brushless have a look at http://www.thinkrc.com/faq/brushless-motors.php.
The biggest issue with brushless in a scaler/trailer is low speed driving. Without a sensored motor/ESC it is hard to get a brushless motor going.

Re chargers: cheap chargers require an external power supply (e.g. a laptop power brick) but more expensive models have the power supply built-in so they can connect to the mains in your home.

laneboysrc wrote:For brushed vs brushless have a look at http://www.thinkrc.com/faq/brushless-motors.php.
The biggest issue with brushless in a scaler/trailer is low speed driving. Without a sensored motor/ESC it is hard to get a brushless motor going.

Re chargers: cheap chargers require an external power supply (e.g. a laptop power brick) but more expensive models have the power supply built-in so they can connect to the mains in your home.

Thanks for the advice. I am planning to purchase the Novak system with brushless motor combo. I read that using a 18.5t is equivalent to a 35t brushed motor.

Now, I will begin looking for the chargers and batteries. Can we find them here locally? I mean good charges and batteries. I am getting my controller this week if I can make it to Singapore. That will be my first step