Pre-processor for the DIY RC Light controller

For my Tamiya XR311 I needed one of my DIY RC Light Controllers. If you are not familiar with it, please refer to my blog post: DIY car light controller for 3-channel RC

The XR311 is a small car and does not have any lights attached to the chassis, only to the body. So there was no need to have a full blown light controller on the chassis like in our Dingo, but I still wanted the convenience of having only a single servo extension wire between the chassis and body.

The HobbyKing HK-310 radio system I am using does unfortunately not have a PPM output on the signal pin of the battery connector as some receivers do, so this route was out of the question.

So I came up with the following solution: use a stripped down light controller in the chassis, serving as kind of pre-processor for the steering, throttle and Channel 3 signals. Since only one chip is needed for this function, why not add it directly into the receiver?

Tamiya CC-01 steering repair using GPM parts

Over time all CC-01 suffer from this: the steering rod that goes through the chassis wears out, adding a lot of play to the steering. This makes the handling of the car very unpredictable, even at modest silver-can speeds.

To fix this one can either do a DIY repair job as described in https://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=499. or use a simple to install repair kit from GPM Racing Products. For us the GPM kit was the better route as we would otherwise have to buy parts for the DIY solution.

Our Tamiya M1025 Hummer

Recently we acquired a Tamiya M1025 Hummer. It came RTR (ready-to-run) with an old Acoms 27 MHz radio, a rather new NiMH battery, a charger and this vintage car that was first released in 1995.

DIY car light controller for 3-channel RC

Light systems for RC cars are available for relatively little money. But for our Dingo I wanted something custom, something special. So I made my own.

The goal was to be able to control the lights from a simple 3-channel RC car radio controller, such as the HobbyKing HK-310 or the FlySky GT3B -- both of which we own.

The following functions have been implemented:

• Parking, Low-beam, Fog lamps and High-beam can be switched on/off using CH3
• Brake and Reverse lights are automatically controlled by monitoring the throttle channel
• Indicators only come on when you want to. You have to stay in neutral for 1 seconds, then hold the steering left/right for one second before they engage. This way normal driving does not trigger the indicators for more realism.
• Hazard lights can be switched on/off using CH3
• Programmable servo output designed to drive a steering wheel or a figures head

This video shows the functionality of the light controller:

A new face for our Axial SCX10 Dingo

Since we joined the SG Crawlers on their trails the small Tiger Crawler didn't cut it anymore. So we bought an Axial SCX10 Dingo.

One thing that turned us off when we first saw the Dingo was the front area. The stickers of the grill and lights just looked wrong. That was definitely an area we needed to improve on ours.

Tiger Crawler rear axle repair

Our Tiger Crawler from Thunder Tiger has seen a lot of use lately. And it developed a few problems on the rear axle. With a bit of DIY, some scrap material and a fresh set of gears we got it running again in no time.

DIY temperature sensor for 4-button RC battery chargers

Most 4-button chargers on the market appear to have a connector for a temperature probe. Unfortunately almost none of the chargers come with the sensor in the box, and even aftermarket availability of temperature probes is non-existent. With a little bit of DIY you can easily build one yourself though.

Thunder Tiger Tiger Crawler 1/18 scale RC rock crawler mini-review

Thunder Tiger's Tiger Crawler is a small, inexpensive entry-level rock crawler. It comes as ready-to-run kit, all you need are 8 AA batteries for the transmitter to get going.