PandaBear

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Funny that… sky in your pictures reminds me of Hong Kong! The locals there swear that’s “normal”. 😯

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If its grip you’re after you can also try adding some grit (eg sand) to your paint before it dries.

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Well, looking at the markups… if you’re buying a fair amt of stuff, I’d suggest perhaps an economy airfare to Hong Kong might be the way to go. Might work out cheaper!! 🙂

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That’s a relief.

FYI Melbourne is sharing your scenic view too. We woke up this morning smelling of smoke and the entire sky is greyed out in smog. We think the winds has brought the smoke down from the north. Can barely see more than 100m, can’t see buildings more than 3 blocks away.

I wish it would just Rain!

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yeah i bought a mph/kph kit and i wanted to use the gears to slow it down cauz i have a track set and my bits are too fast for it but i cant get the rear axel to fit

KIT gears are actually much *higher* than BCG gears, the motor doesn’t have enough torque to drag the BCG along – that’s why its slow. Its like starting off from stationary in 5th gear.

I don’t think its very good for the motor!

If you want your BCGs to go slower, put in the 12:1 gearset and a 1.0 motor.

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Sorry, we’ve only ever got 1 schematic for the US Microsizer 49MHz from the patent office and that’s it. No cars, no different freqs, nothing.

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Dave:- Depends where you are.

There are some shops in the cities that stock BCG bits, but usually their prices leave something to be desired.

Heck, let’s face it – we all only do mailorders when there’s $$ to be saved. If there’s a local guy that sells them for even a little more just next door I’d patronise him too, but there ain’t. These are small items and laughably easy/cheap to post.

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hey PandaBear, how do we upload pictures?

Easy! Just check the BBS’ FAQ here:- AusMicro FAQ

You’ll need to load your pix to your ISP’s webspace
that they give you and make sure its publicly accessible
(hint: type that URL into your browser, your pix will come up).

Then put the same URL as a inline link on your post.

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this sounds dangerous….
the reason they shouldn’t be recharged is cause sometimes the wrong reaction occurs… instead of reversing the reaction, another reaction occurs instead, this one involves creating hydrogen gas…. thus explosive

Ahh, all you doubting thomases… 🙂

Firstly… there’s not much volume inside an AA and there’s not much space for electrolyte. If it did gas, the volumes wouldn’t be much.

Secondly… err, I’ve forgotten all my highschool chemistry now but I don’t think charging a carbon-zinc battery will produce H2 by itself, as if it did it’ll be by breaking up H2O in the paste electrolyte and there’ll be equal molarity of O2 as well.

But yes – I charge my leadacid (“car”) batteries *outside*.

Have tried charging C-Zn cells in trickle chargers before (who hasn’t?) but all of them rose in voltage but they go open circuit too. Probably a good indication that the electrolyte has dried up.

Have no idea how the charger does it. Computer-controlled, so probably some kind of reverse pulsing is possible (eg 3 steps forward, one step back kinda idea). All a “trade secret” I’m sure.

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Kyosho Perfex works OK, and its on par with all the better entry-level radios on sale. Kyosho even puts it into their big gas trucks! The only thing it lacks is “end point adjustment” but you don’t need it in a mZ with its preset electronics anyway.

Other than that its up to personal choice, all AM TXes will work fine. On Friday found an Acoms Technisport (same innards as Perfex) and a Futaba MJ sitting spare both on the mZ’s frequency, so chose the MJ as I think its got better weighting – all the batteries sit in the bottom ‘leg’, not inside the handgrip. Worked fine.

If you want total overkill… I’ve seen guys using the Sanwa (aka Airtronics) M8 controller which has a huge LCD screen and its worth $500+ in its FM+PCM guise. Its a computer radio, everything is digitally adjustable etc etc. Then you have to find Sanwa’s $100+ AM module (downgrade??) to make it work with your mZ. Crazy? 😀

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and also i found out that dse, jaycar, and altronics dont have crystals over 10mhz… but i can get 25mhz easy enough..would this work?

Welcome to world of ‘big’ RC. 🙂

mZ use AM xtals on the 27MHz band, they come in matched pairs. If you change your TX xtal you need to change the one in the car too (its that oval hole near the switch on the bottom, pull out its silver tag to yank it out).

27MHz AM xtals are easily available from any hobby shop, pricewise approx A$12-20/pr. Any brand will work, it doesn’t matter but make sure the RX side goes into the car and that the RX xtal is not too long for the mZ chassis.

Don’t buy “FM” ones as they’re dearer ($30-40?) and they won’t work in mZ. Also don’t buy ones on other bands (29, 40Mhz etc) as you’ll detune your radio system and severely lose range.

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wow…no jitters. my z is now caffine free:)

Jitters? talking of which:

What happens when you guys turn your car On with the TX Off?

Both of my mZs start jittering its steering all over the place & the motor runs pretty fast too.

Not happy as I’m used to turning the TX off and then expecting the car to just sit there doing nothing. The ESC should just stay quiet when there’s no radio signals found.

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get a white shell, you can barely notice anything

Wonder if we can dye that white plastic…? :shy:

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Okie, I answered my own question… 🙂

After doing enough donuts on the coffee table with the new arrival I pulled it apart and threw the calipers at it. There are 4 pcs in the wheels of 6x2mm and the 3 in the rear axle are 6x3mm – total 7.

What’s the best contact for Bit CharG Oz? :blush:

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Man i want one of those laser thermo guns. I just wonder how the **** they work.

Everything gives off InfraRed radiation in proportion to how hot it is. All the tempguage does is to measure the amt of IR coming off, and convert it to a value. They’ve been around for yonks, the aircon industry has been using them for years.

Its not really “laser”… the laser pointer is there only for cosmetic convenience.

Raytek MT2 is minus the pointer, MT4 is with the pointer but us Oz beggars can’t be choosers. It was MT4 or nothing when I came across this one locally; RRP is US$99 I think and can be found on eBay.

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Got some big grey box invented by some fellas in Melbourne that I put the alks into. Strangely it just does the job…! :shy:

Have tried quite a few different cells in it… from D, C, AA, AAA and even 9V and lantern 6Vs, even the lithium thingy from my Minolta.

Only catch is that the battery can’t be totally flat, its best to recharge often and > 1.4V. This way can usually get 10+ cycles from each cell.

The thing even signals if each cell is ‘good’ or ‘give up’ at the end of charge.

Zinc-carbons can go in too, but they seem to fail faster after only a few cycles. Alkalines do best of all the supposedly non-rechargeable cells.

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i really need a metal pinion as the plastic ones get soo thrashed. any ideas where to get one a bit cheaper??

How much are HPI’s, Jamie?

I think they’re the only big name that makes metal pinions. There’s various other asian companies (eg Topcad) that might do same, but not widely known.

I’ve still got plastic on the mRS4. 😯

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Steve did you a deal???? I paid full price, but i’m still happy with what I paid.

Steve’s prices are pretty good already (~$220?) for mZ, and probably better than many shops even in Singapore.

However for playing I didn’t want a ReadySet, as I don’t like Kyosho’s TX. So when Steve said he had a spare unloved rolling chassis… heh heh, couldn’t resist.

Just received it today.
Haven’t tested it yet, still stuck in office.

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Back on topic :), I am wondering if there is any ‘milspec’ type batteries in this size, or is there not enough demand in these sizes…..:question:

There is milspec in everything… just need an accomplice friend who works in the army storeroom. :smiley2:

You should see how many energizers alone they go through… but the latest types of army torchlights use lithium batteries – like the ones used in cameras.

Their rechargeable batteries are mainly used in portable radios.

The only legit way for mortals to get milspec stuff is thru army disposal tenders. When their stocks get stale (everything has a ‘use by’ date), they will sell it off in job lots. There are some companies that buy and resell to consumers.

Jamie:- you’re knowledgeable in mobile phone stuff.
Check out batteries for the Ericsson GF788 and GH388.

Yeah I know they’re ancient, but if you can still find
packs for them get some. The AAA cells inside them are
fantastic, much better than anything you can buy easily.

I rebuilt some dying Ericsson packs with cells from
you-know-where and they didn’t even last 6 mths. Hopeless!
With the original cells, the same packs under same usage
pattern lasted me 3 yrs’ use, with daily cycles.

So you won’t blame me if one doesn’t have very high regard
for you-know-whose unlabelled China cells.

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Did anyone see the ford front end extension job. Looks like a mod someone could use for a full dragster?

Yeah cool.

Wonder how strong it is?

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Krupukpecel has had quite a few listed on eBay before:
http://cgi6.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&userid=krupukpecel&include=0&since=30&sort=2&rows=25

Expensive though! :blush:

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…all my emails get sms’d to my phone.

Not even emails from my girlfriends get that much priority Jamie, pray tell why would anyone be expecting so many important emails?? 🙂

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Nah, there’s heaps of room in the wheels to add discs. The suspension doesn’t impinge much.

All the ones I’ve seen are just plain discs of metal or plated plastic. I’m sure you can easily cut your own.

I was yanking yer chain on the callipers.:) Not possible to put rotors on… as they’ll just go round-n-round. Not even on the Micro RS4, which comes from the factory with discs.

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The charging-up figure usually isn’t too accurate, if your charger can cycle them use the figure from the discharging instead.

AAA alkalines actually work better than imagined in an MiniZ… they do pump out 6V total. Plus I’ve got a charger that can charge ’em, as long as they’re not run flat.

Am still waiting for Sony or Energizer Japan (not Mexico) to bring out some AAA batteries. Their AAs are great and longlived.

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BCGs really don t have enough power to do serious power-on slides, the most you could wish for is hooking the tail out whilst turning a corner.

Try putting hard tyres on the back, then driving on a glass tabletop.

Nothing like a bigger RC though, with full proportional control – especially a big 21 buggy with tons of excess power. It’ll go sideways more than it goes forwards.

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