New Member...Help?

[JonnyC]

Morning All

I came down on Sunday to watch, and the impressive track and organisation has reaffirmed my desire to get back involved in racing after a 20 odd year absence. (I was a former member of BMSBC).

I have a newish car (purchased a few months ago CatSX3) and still have my old Tamiya car from the early 90s, but I am struggling to adapt to the new technology, and understand how best to tune it

Who would be the best person to speak to with regards to joining, and would anyone be willing to offer some tips and advice to help me get re-educated?

Many Thanks

Jon

[budfish]

Hi mate
Si Coe is our re-education coordinator pm him I'm sure he will advise on electrics. My one bit of advice on electrics is buy cheap buy twice!

Buy expensive as its better and if you don't like the hobby it'll be worth something when you sell it unlike cheap gear that will just give you grief from the start and worth nowt if you decide to sell



Regards

Buds

[Chris Elworthy]

I'd have to agree with Bud's here, I started up racing again last summer and went down the cheap route with components, I have since replaced absolutely everything apart from my batteries.

Things have changed a hell of a lot since the days you used to race where I imagine you were using mild modified brushed motors, early ESC's and Sanyo SCR batteries. These days we all run brushless motors and speed controllers which as the name suggests do not use brushes touching a commutator to create power it is all created through the magnetic field within the motor can...please do not ask me to elaborate further on the mechanics as that's about as much as I know and all you need to know really. These motors have absolutely no touching parts so there is no wear at all, install it in your car and forget about it, I'm running the same motor since last summer and have no intention of changing it. Different motors do off slightly different characteristics and feel so that is generally the only reason people will ever change them they won't wear out.
In order to operate the brushless motors we also now use specific speed controllers designed for these motors. Most of these offer fully programmable software so you can fine tune your power to suit track conditions easily trackside...sort of like an ECU or something an F1 team uses in the pits to make the engine smoother or more aggressive for example.

The other major change since your days of racing is the use of lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries, similar to the ones that power your laptop. This for me is the biggest advance as unlike the Nicad packs we used to run where we had to carefully gear our car to last the 5 minutes without dumping and you would need to discharge the batteries before charging to keep them in top condition this is no longer an issue. Lipo batteries can be continuously topped up with charge with no damage caused to the battery and here's the best bit....you get up to 20 minutes duration from one fully charged pack!! This means you can get away with using just one (as I do) pack all day and just too up with a bit of charge between runs, many use the same pack for 3runs without any recharging and have no problems.


My advice is nip into JE Models in Pilsworth and speak to Stu or Nick, they will give you all the info you will need and if you ever need help trackside were a friendly bunch who always have time to help.


Chris

[Gavin Collingwood]

God where do you start??...... Yeah what Chris said....

[budfish]

I don't know your budget but this is everything you'll ever need no matter what your driving skill level

Here's the link

http://www.jemodels.com/electric-mod...tegory_id=1276

[JonnyC]

Thanks for all your replies, greatly appreciated, and especially to Chris for the detailed explanation. My old SC wasnt even electronic, and I even remember discharching the old batteries after every race with a car bulb, Im liking the new LiPo batteries, but i didnt know they could be part charged, so thanks again for the info.

Maybe I wasnt very clear in my first post, with the advice from a model shop, i have my car running with all the gear in it as follows:

Cat SX3 CF
Etronix Photon 2.0 SBS 9.0R Motor/60A ESC
Spektrum DX4S 4 Chl. DSMR Transmitter w/SR410 Receiver
Thunder Power Lipo 5000mAh 2S saddle x 2
Savox Steering Servo

I suppose my question should have been, is the above gear any good and suitable for racing, or do I need to look at changing it, and also how should the car be setup for the Bury track? eg Suspension, Tyres etc

I was also wondering what would be a good spares package to take to a race (Im sure Im going to break something)

What makes/types of cars do most people race at Bury?

And finally, who should I be speaking to about joining the club?

Sorry for all the questions, but your help is greatly appreciated

Jon

[Si Coe]

Reventons have a rep for bugs though. Most SP users run the older GT's.


As Chris said, in the electric world its true we've really never had it so good. Unlike the old days, at last weekends regional the cars in the lowest final were just as quick as the cars in the top final - there are no more 'team spec' cells or motors.

I'm not totally convinced that its all buy cheap buy twice. ESC's I would certainly agree, but other stuff not so much. I've got £25 Turnigy NanoTech cells that are just as capable as my much more expensive Orions, and I've seen a few people with Turnigy Trakstar motors that look decent enough.
Radio wise I've been burnt with cheap ones that don't work and won't give up my KO in a hurry but I also see plenty of happy Flysky owners. Even with servos I've bust a few cheap ones but also got some still going strong that perform as well as my much more expensive Ace 1015.

Its just about knowing what you are getting and more importantly what you can do if it doesn't work.