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Quote:

Originally posted by Aaron on 22October2002

I’m paying AU$250 for the lot which is pretty good I reckon – I couldn’t buy a half decent new chassis for that – and while I still need to get some radio gear and a decent ESC for it (has a manual SC in the bundle) it has potential to be a durable alternative to my CEN GX1-EP (Dual deck FRP, belt drive yadda yadda yadda).

Yeah, sounds like a pretty reasonable deal.

We brought in the first TA04PRO in Oz (xmas 1999), didn’t get time to build it and ended up buying a used PRO locally instead, saved me building it from scratch. Still, I stripped and rebuilt the whole thing again. Currently has:-

• std PRO balldiffs
• std PRO Tamiya blue BBs
• std PRO FRP chassis
• hard graphite suspension arms
• alloy motormount heatsink
• Tamiya gold super shocks
• std PRO stabilisers (useless)
• universals (all round, I think…)
• + racing front arm set, which I added.

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Got it real cheapmany months ago nowbut it was from a friend so that doesn’t really count. Its a nice setup, was benchmarking it against the original TA04 plastictub Ferrari Modena but just got no time in the last few months.

If can’t find any Tamiya bits, might be able to help you via the wife’s company (she does big RC:- Tamiya, Kyosho, HPI etc) but only on general stuff. Unfortunately she’s cleared out all 03 stock too.

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Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

Does anyone have a tamiya grasshopperII / super hornet bathtub chassis?

Got a unused new SH body only… but no chassis.

One of the local (Melbourne) shops had a huge box of SH bits from memory. Haven’t been back for ~12 mths now… but don’t think they’ll becheap, if its still there. Probably would still some there as its not a oft-replaced sparepart, butbetcha they’ll be asking $30-40 for something as big as a whole chassis. Is it worth that much to you?

btw: You planning on running proposed Hornet Cup?? :smiley9:

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Quote:

Originally posted by Aaron on 22October2002

I’ll be waiting with bated breathe to see what comes in my e-bay pruchase car! It sound like the selling is moving up to a TA04 based car becuase there’s stocks of TA03 bits he keeps adding to the deal 😉

Sounds good! Ya, there’s little that can be transferred over from the 03, even the diffs are different. Handling is different too… yet Tamiya still manages to make the 04 give the traditional ‘whine’, even with the lack of geared tranny.

The 03 is a great design; first time I raced mine at the local club (brand new car just assembled) I TQ’d the heats and poled for the final. That was a few years ago now, of course.

Its already got oilshocks; the only options you’d really need on the 03 are BBs and maybe universals on the front – this is my ‘base’ case. Then I’ve variously added balldiffs, stabilisers, lightweight screws, ss suspension shafts, alloy parts, motor heatsink, lightweight tranny shafts… and I really can’t objectively say this beast is any better than the stock car.

(Oooh… depending on where you run, the “front bumper” is a mandatory accessory too.)

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Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

Well..maybe..but i warn you some people will take offence to that. Cause this site is multicultural.(pointing the finger at chinese)

Heh heh… too bad if ppl take offence to the truth.

But had hoped you would had noticed… I *am* chinese…!! :smiley3:

Have nothing to hide; personally I don’t see any difference between a meal of Skippy, Bambi, Babe or Daisy vs Teddy, Rover & Fluffy. Don’t see what the drama is all about… ppl are just blind to their own preconceived convictions imho. Chinese (as in, those in ruralChina) historically both keep dogs for food and use as guard dogs, companionship too maybe.

Anyone heard of Wierd Al Yankovic’s “Cats in the Kettle” song? :smiley3:

That said, Chinatown “specials” not quite to my taste either (I’d prefer KFC, preferably Hot-n-Spicy anytime). More so being “special” on the menu means its always pricey… and methinks cheap food always tastes better anyway.

If you wanna be really grossed out… go watch a Twisties factory!! :smiley11:

Hey… where’s our galpal Kitty lately ??? :smiley8:

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Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

And whats a herpa?

Herpa is a German brand of “HO” size plastic models, they make some very detailed cars especially the euro BMs, Merc, Porsche, Ferrari etc.

Need to ask a train nut what “HO” is, all I know it stands for “Half-O”. The train’s tracks are about 1cm apart and its the smallest guage of toy trains. The cars etc are used for scenery although I used to like them just for themselves; I don’t like trains.

Herpa cars are about 1.5cm wide, 4cm long… pretty much about 1/60 scale. They are usually very detailed – rubber tyres, unique rims, even door mirrors. I even have Herpa’s Merc SLK with a removable top.

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Mmmm! Brushless?

Haven’t dissected one yet, no available victims. Anyone got any ‘innards’ pix?

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Hmm… maybe Bit motors get dirty inside too; big RC motors should be cleaned every run. Even the hi-po Mini4WD motors give off quite a bit of brush dust.

Not sure even how long Bit motors should last…

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Quote:

Originally posted by Aaron on 22October2002

Yeah you can buy from Toyeast – don’t forget your currency conversion changres – shipping charges etc etc 🙂 Prices work out very similar 😉 if not marginally in our favour!

A&D must have this reply on a “rubberstamp” macro somewhere… :smiley1:

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Quote:

Originally posted by Gomisan on 22October2002

I noticed the ToyEast site has Mini Z’s for around US$90-$99 this makes them around $200 , which seems heaper than all the prices mentioned here so far.

Add in postage, packing and the risk of customs charging you GST & service fees and you’ll have little change from A$250… imho might as well just buy it locally & support local hobby shops.

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Wow -nearly as small as a Herpa!

But really… isn’t it all getting a little ridiculous?? :smiley1:

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Could be the BCG battery. Those tiny things are only rated (at best) at the factory for 500 cycles; the way RC uses them you’re lucky to get 100-200 charges. If you can think back how many times you’ve already charged it, I’d say 2 mths is probably good ‘active’ lifespan anyway.

Swap in a new cell…

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If you nuke the cell it *could* spew nasty caustic liquid all over the electronics… that wouldn’t be very nice. Then again, there’s only so much volume in that tiny cell… :smiley2:

Actually, bit of lunchtime dreaming here… what if we could make that battery easily removable (like RC packs), then can charge them offsite and the BCG can run continuously. ENDURANCE RACING??!! Hmm… maybe cut a hole on the side, heh heh heh.

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

I don’t like the primative controller charger…but you cant use deltapeak, or “smart” chargers, because the reciever is always drawing current, and they don’t like this.

I’ve still got an ancientKyosho LambdaPeak from when deltapeaks first came out for RC and this is super-sensitive, so I know what you mean. Its even sensitive to input voltage so its can be run off 12V battery only, not even a regulated powersupply.

But the RX takes a constant current and its very small anyway, so I don’t think it’ll adversely affect the modern smart chargers. As long as the car doesn’t pickup any TX signals and activate coil or motor, it should be ok.

Unfortunately I’ve got tons of different chargers for RC packs but I haven’t got anything that’ll peak a single cell. I’ve got a single-cell charger for my gloplug but this pumps out 5A into a subC 2000mAh… haha, yup this’ll totally nuke the Bit cell.

Ahh, I’ll just stick to the mod’d TX.

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

Someone tested the charger on the TX, and it chaged at about 400mAh, which gives it just a ‘zap” of power.

I find the current is highly dependent on type & freshness of the batteries in the TX, and also how charged your BCG is at the time. (My max current was with fully-charged 2x NiMh and a totally dead Bit – I got spot of about 1.5A!!)But either way… yeah, DON’T use the 200mA setting on the multimeter – definitely will blow the fuse. :smiley1:

Have now got “switchable” std/double charge time on my TX now. Timed it manually:- Std = 49s, Double = 1m40s. Car doesn’t really go any faster, only about 50% longer.

Picked up a plugpack for charging 4.8V “Jet Hopper” packs (pumps out 400mA)… methinks might be handy for home charging – time to do more experimentation. Was only $0.50 too.

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My bro tried nicads and they worked ok; but I use alkalines exclusively for their higher voltage. There’s not much difference between alkaline brands imho – most would come from the same few factories anyway, just brand-engineering.

If I could afford them, Energizer-Lithiums put out about 1.65V per cell. This might put extra oomph in your Bit… but it is cheaper just to charge it longer.

Fresh batteries in the TX is a must if you want to maximise your range. Once they drop below 1.4V each, I find the range drops quite a bit.

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Usually a break in the wires leading to that coil.

Check everything closely with a magnifying glass… has the wire ever been bent or crimped badly before?

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

It was a joke, i like animals…..lots of baby bunnies living in my back yard :smiley4:

Yum! You won’t starve during the war, then :smiley2:- “bush chicken” (you read much history?).

Don’t joke about food, man. The chinese will eat anything with 4 legs, bar the table. :smiley9:Its a man-eat-dog world, matey!! :smiley15:

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by Aaron on 21October2002

Yeah I know it’s not the best out there Panda but as I’m a carpark hack driver the TA03F will do well.. Especially since is has all the Pro bits on it as well.

TA03 is fantastic for experimentation! For back-2-back testing, I have mine identically set up in both Rear and Front motored… then there’s also the 2 lengths (std & short) and 2 different chassis tubs too (battery fwd, battery back). It might be a bit harder mucking around with the PRO’s FRP chassis, so why not grab some spare plastic tub chassis… only about $10-15 usually.

If you’re keeping it a while,be sure to scab as many spares& parts as possible – they’re getting harder to get nowadays. Quite often see them half-priced in the chuckout bins too, so have a scrabble through.

Quote:

Originally posted by Aaron on 21October2002

BTW how do you find the M03? TL01 with FWD only is what it looks like to me…..

M03 doesn’t share much with the TL01 at all; more like FF02 (FWD). M03 is a hoot to drive; when its setup properly for racing, it can do anything. Probably out-handles quite a few bigger cars too!

Again I like to experiment:- aka “which new parts actually do something”. Only way to do it is to run 2 identical cars…

FF02 is a pretty good chassis too, but just not as nimble. Its a fast runner for what it is, and simple to maintain. On long tracks the top speed is often handier than having all-paw traction so the FF02 is better.
Imho FF02 also handles “authentically” to the real Celica 2000 that we had chance to punt around a racetrack at its Oz launch. Here’s mine we had signed by Neal Bates at the launch:-

As for TL01… well, it does a good job of holding up display bodies. :smiley2:Cheap way to get a nice Tamiya body and full set of wheels and tyres anyway.

[PandaBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 22October2002

I love cats…. They taste just like chicken.

There’s a GOOD REASON for this, J.

Becoz after a restaurant skins & cooks them – usually in a steamed soup, they use lotsa chicken stock (aka “superior soup”) in there anyway. Same as when they double-boil your sharksfin soups; it *all* tastes like chicken.

If you’re really seriously looking for it… ask for “possum”, “squirrel”or “musang” soup. We all just know the truth…

Personally I’d just prefer KFC, but having heard stories from their processing centres… just don’t be too sure “it” don’t happen there either.

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Quote:

Originally posted by KittyKatSmack on 21October2002

http://www.toyeast.com/proddetail2.asp?pdtid=ARCKYZ089

Ah so desu… Truunoh MiniZee-desu!!

(Sorrylah, though you meant it was a silver BCG…)

Quote:

Originally posted by KittyKatSmack on 21October2002

Methinks you be a big fat sh*tstirrer Panda!!!!

Well… you got it half right… :smiley2: nicks don’t stick for nothing.

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Silver AE86, eh girlfriend?

What kit # is that… or are you handy with a spraycan? :smiley1:

[PandaBear]

If you guys are serious about racing & modifying your little cars, you should check out the HPI MicroRS4 car. This one’s a genuine belt-drive 4WD mini tourer, adjustable diff, a LEXAN SHELL that can take the abuse and at 1/18th – it might be a little bit bigger than Mini-Z but is big enough to accept ‘real’ RC gear. You’re not forced to stick with Kyosho Perfex (not!!) gear.

If you think Mini-Zs have too many hopups, mRS4 has even more.

And yes – you have to BUILD it from kit (although RTR version also available now).

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Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 21October2002

get a 3.6v NiMh a 3.8 motor, soft tyres and an 8.25:1 gearset……

err… you’re on the Mini-Z side of the BBS, Jamie!! :smiley12:

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Quote:

Originally posted by jamiekulhanek on 21October2002

Firstly what is your car?

Starting to smell a r@t too, eh Jamie… :smiley5:

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Quote:

Originally posted by Caine on 20October2002

Also thier was a linux set sold especially in Japan or something which contained…

Keyboard,Linux discs,modem and a service provider for like ?150 I think

PS2 Linux kit should be available internationally, *but* only from Sony direct. It isn’t stocked by any stores here, not even Sony Centres. Pricewise its about same price as a whole PS2 console kit; no you don’t need it to go online, only to program the thing.

Kit contains:

• keyboard & mouse
• IDE HDD
• Full Linux on disc
• video output cable for VGA & Sound

[/list]

Was tempted to get one to wordprocess on… :smiley9:

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