ChrisJsy Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Hi Guys, I'm looking at getting back into RC models, particularly scale crawlers. I've dabbled with boats and helicopters in the past with mixed success, but now I'm after getting into the hobbie proper. I've spent the last few nights doing my research on crawlers and looking around at what kits are available and I think I've got it sussed. Below is a pic of what I am looking at. I have one, potentially big, question regarding radio sets. I want to invest wisely now in a decent radio that is going to be able to cover all the projects that I want to build. As I said earlier, I want to start with a scale crawler, but will also bring my boat back to life and depending on how hooked I get, get into more complex crawlers with dif locks/twin motors etc. My initial build will be the Vattera Ascender, but i will want to fit a winch and possibly lights to it. My understanding is that I will need a 4 channel radio to do this. Looking around the familiar name of spectrum is still in business. I was initially thinking of a stick style radio with the left stick being throttle and the right stick steering, with 2 top mounted toggle switches for the 3rd and 4th channels. However a lot of people seem to be using the DX4C, which is a 4 channel radio. I can understand the throttle and the sterling wheel channels, and see that is has many switches and buttons mounted on the handset, but how do the extra channels work... Are they just simple on and off switches? Or are they 3 position so i could say move a servo left, center, right? Or is this radio really not fit for the job? Cheers for the advice guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodore Bagwell Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Welcome to the forum....Your choice of parts seems spot on to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Looking good, I would go for this servo instead though: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/power-hd-lf20-metal-geared-servo/rc-car-products/388829 Spektrum DX4C would suit your needs in terms of a radio, Also can't go wrong with a rebuildable motor, I had to replace the brushes on my Ascenders motor after a good few runs, nice to be able to replace brushes rather than throwing away the whole motor (55t will be very slow, 27t much better for an Ascender) http://www.modelsport.co.uk/etronix-sport-tuned-modified-brushed-motor-27t/rc-car-products/366354 And this is the most popular scaler/crawler budget ESC: http://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobbywing-quicrun-1060-brushed-esc/rc-car-products/382831 Enjoy Edited September 5, 2015 by ostewart 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex97 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Maybe go straight to lipo as you'll get longer run times. Have a look on hobbyking, use their UK warehouse. That design if esc isn't great. The switch cables are known to snap. Maybe have a look at the hobbywing 1060 esc, they are very popular on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisJsy Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Looking good, I would go for this servo instead though:http://www.modelsport.co.uk/power-hd-lf20-metal-geared-servo/rc-car-products/388829Unbelievable, I had that servo in my basket initially but I thought it might be overkill and draw too much current. Is this not the case? As for the radio, can you help explain how the extra channels function? Thanks for the tip about re-buildable motors. As for the 55t motor, I was under the impression the slower the better, seeing a scale truck speed around at high speed looks odd? Is it just that a 27t motor will still be slow, but a 55t horrendously so? Cheers for the heads up on the ESC too. Reference lipos, I will eventually get some, I went Nihm for now to keep costs down, and chose a charger capable of both, but i will check out the hobbyking website mentioned too Thanks for all the help guys. Edited September 5, 2015 by ChrisJsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex97 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) I think that most people run smaller lipos in there rock crawler's, you should be able to pick 2 lipos for up for around Edited September 5, 2015 by alex97 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 27t will give you a good compromise between wheel speed and torque, 55t will be horribly slow. Extra channels for winch, lights etc... whatever you want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisJsy Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 27t will give you a good compromise between wheel speed and torque, 55t will be horribly slow. Extra channels for winch, lights etc... whatever you want Thanks for the info on the motor. What I meant to say, but perhaps wasn't clear enough about was how do you use these extra channels, are they sliding switches with 3 positions, and u set a servo/accessory up to operate in these 3 positions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamiyacowboy Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) channels will be in the means of a switch and/or a twisty knob. Most Handsets with wheels will come with around 4 channels maximum you only need a couple extra in some cases. lights and winch. now if you find spectum kicking out a 5-6 channel wheel handset you will have a huge amount of switches at your command. and being digital a good amount of control over them. they work as a on-off switch sending a signal to the device plugged in and say turn on - turn off. but only when you engage the switch. so with more channels comes more devices. headlamps and the main drive lights, you could add with an extra channel spotlights - bull rail lights . you could add a winch but then add a second winch, one in front one in the tail. some trucks come with a low-high gearbox, meaning you can select a high gear ratio or a very low ratio. having this on a switch is nice, you can seamlessly swicth from high to slow ratio while still moving. Usual switches found on rc. most common are two way on-off toggle switches ( a trainer/bind toggle is momentum it has to be held in all the time) second are the three way toggle - off - on low - on high third are rotary dials ( these can be ideal for winches set midway , posstive turn gives winch in - negative turn winch out In some cases swicthes can be mixed. we can take two normal two way switches and make them act like a three way switch with the radios mixing functions but this comes down to the radio, you may find some cheaper models do not allow switch mixing Edited September 5, 2015 by Tamiyacowboy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 they have switches, DX4C has one where your thumb rests,and some more above the steering wheel. But you can program them how you want them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisJsy Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Excellent, thanks to you all for a your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomlad Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Don't forget a BEC http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/topic/211203-what-exactly-is-a-bec/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisJsy Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Is a BEC not inside the ESC I have listed above? Also I have decided radio wise to go for a Fly sky GT3C. Its alot cheaper and so keeps initial costs down, its 3 channels so my initial build can roll straight away and still have a working winch, and the hack-ability opens up 8 possible channels! Which for the price is amazing! enabling me to have 4ws and Dig etc if I do end up going down that road. My only trouble is trying to find a green version as I have read the green is an improvement over the orange. Thanks for all your help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.