Winter break and winter breakage...

Well, I couldn't resist. It was cold, it was dry - I took the firestorm out for a raz.

Proline Edge on the front and Goosebumps on the rear - it gripped like crazy...

I broke it :/ :



After 20 mins looking for the driveshaft; I got it back on the workbench (new!!!) :



that's the new work area in the cellar. It's great :)

Winter break

I took the new tyres out for a spin today. They're a gazillion times (at least) better than the stock ones. The Goose bumps clog up a bit more than the Step-pin ProLines, but they stay way grippy, and the Edge ones on the front are loads more incisive.

Overall, they're great, offer loads more grip - I'm well pleased with them. The HPI dish wheels look the part too.

The track is now getting really wet - the part of the field it's on is quite damp and never really dries out over the winter, so today may have been the last run there for a while. I can now get on with seeking out a club...

Tyres, wheels etc

I received this morning a big box of tyres, wheels and stuff. Have now some new tyres to try out - specifically :

• JConcepts Goose Bumps (Rear)
• Proline Step Pin (Rear)
• Proline Edge M3 (Front)
• Proline Blade M3 (Front)

The blade will probably not be much use until spring now - but I'm looking forward to trying out the rest.

More telemetry

Well, I finally got that last part of the telemetry fitted - the rpm sensor. You can see that the sensor fits just fine inside the spur/pinion cover - and once I found the right place for it with double-sided sticky, it was held in place by a little screw. The wires route out via the cover that's used to adjust the slipper. Quite neat, and I'm altogether pretty pleased.



For completeness, here's a shot of the aluminium mount I made for the lap-timing trigger..



.. and the new receiver (which is a lot bigger and heavier than the more modern one that the telemetry system doesn't work with :(( ) and the telemetry box itself :



Wires, wires everywhere. I'll tidy them up a bit now I'm happy it's all working, but some of them really are only just long enough, so getting them tidier may be tricky.

Back up to a 15T pinion too today, and broke my lap record for the farming (now stands at 24.8 secs - should be able to get a sub 20 sec in good conditions and once I've l2drive). Mostly because the conditions were much better (less sticky).

The temp sensor is great, the voltage sensor is pretty useful and the rpm sensor is, well, fun. It measures spur speed, but of course, you only need to tweak the throttle whilst you're airborn and you get a crazy high max speed reading :/ It'd be useful if you have a pit guy to keep an eye on the telemetry real time, but apart from that, it's not the most useful bit of the kit. There were many reviews of the Spektrum telemetry stuff which slated it - but it is actually quite a good setup - you can get them on the internet for far less than the Novek Data sentry stuff, and the voltage and temp are really quite useful. The rpm sensor could be a pain to mount (I guess it depends a lot on the car) but on the e-firestorm it's really quite straightforward if you can drill a hole straight and are willing to spend 15 mins or so getting the stuff in exactly the right position.

RC Pedia

Good old Chris has set up http://rcpedia.wikidot.com/

Go there and make it happen! :)

Gah spektrum!

Got most of the telemetry plumbed in and...

couldn't get the handheld to bind properly so checked the internet. Telemetry is compatible with all Spektrum surface receivers... except the one I've got. Gah! Mine's a DSM2 - will only work with the DSM1 ones.

Off to ebay we go...

Telemetry

The telemetry kit arrived. I can see what the reviews on the internet meant when they say it's a PITA to fit...

Fitting to the e-firestorm will require :

1. A mount for the IR lap timing sensor. Current thinking is that this will be made from aluminium and be screwed down to the screws that hold the battery down. they are very long on mine, as I had to change them
2. A cutout (or at least a polish to make the lexan transparent) so the IR "eye" can "see" out.
3. A mount (again from alu) to get the rev. counter sensor close enough to the spur gear while still fitting under the spur/pinion cover. I've no idea yet how this can work...
   
4. Re-soldering the battery connector on in order to add the harness to the voltage sensor.

I'm not so bothered about 3. 'cos I genuinely think it's gonna be the hardest of them all. Info would be useful to have for gearing, though :/

I'll keep you posted with updates - gonna try and make some cardboard patterns this afternoon.

Fun on the track

No photos, I'm afraid, as my dear wife is starting to get bored with having to trek across the field to the Farmring and watch me spin round the track whilst she points the camera. Unreasonable, huh? :)

Anyway - a good session on the Farmring - some tweaking of the car has improved things no end. Swapped the rear springs for softer ones (now have 3.3lb springs on the front and 3.0lb springs on the rear - previously had 3.3 on the front and 3.6 on the rear). That has radically improved things down the front straight, as the car sticks to the track much better, and so you can keep the power on. this is how I discovered that the newly reshaped jump on the front straight is deadly at high-ish speeds :) I've calmed it down a bit now, but it still needs to be taken 'just right' or you tumble into the scenary.

Other main tweak I made is to use the Exponential setting on the DX3R to make the steering less twitchy around the midpoint, while keeping reactivity when you get to full lock. It has made me much more fluid round the track, and really helps me get the power down better without it fishtailing.

The telemetry kit should be arriving this week, including the timing stuff - so I should be able to post some lap times!

The firestorm is now filthy. Must get it cleaned.

Farmring Action!

Just a few photos to give you a taste.

Getting some air - even though the jumps need re-shaping after the 'gate', you can still get airborn if you've got enough... :)

You can also get it wrong :


Throttle control is important - some bits have more dust than grip. I'd changed down to a 13T pinion, and vmax is still pretty hard to hit

And to end with, here's one of the e-firestorm with a big grin on its face at the end of the session. The new Edit stickers have improved overall performance ;)

Farmring Walkthrough

Well, I know lots of you have been waiting for some snaps of the Farmring, so here's a walkthrough of the track. Bear in mind that the gate ruined most of the jumps and banking, and that hasn't been fixed yet. (If that sentence makes no sense, I suggest you read a few previous posts :) )

Let's get started on the front straight :

Nothing much to say, other than some difficulties will be added later (a rough zone, for example). There was a big mound that was to be a tabletop, but that got flattened. The soil is still there, but it need making back into a pile in the right place.

The straight leads into a left hander (the course is anti-clockwise, in fact, though for the moment it can be used either way since all the jumps are gone.

The turn is up a hill (the photos don't show it too well, but it's a decent gradient) and tightens progressively :

This then leads into what should have been a banked 'S', but again the gate got the better of it :



And then onto the back straight - same remarks apply as to the front straight, there was (and will be) some jumps on here :

This part then starts to swing left into what was (and will be...) a sort of banked hairpin. I must admit, I've been struggling to get this bit right. It may just remain a tight corner :)

After the hairpin comes Frankenstein's Corner - its a hard to describe crossover between a jump and a banked 'S' - the photo doesn't do it justice, and the gate calmed it down somewhat - it's a fun thing though, that it's quite hard to get right.

And after Frankenstein's - it's back onto the front straight :


Overall - the track has so far been quite a learning experience. I'm following a scraper blade for the tractor on eBay, because I think that's the best way of getting a good finish on it. The jumps and final finishing needs to be completed by hand. The track is not as wide as I would have liked it - but a) for the moment, there's only ever one car on it anyway :) and b) I was limited by the size of the heavy objects I used to drag round there. The scraper might change that :).

I'll try and convince my dear wife to take a few action shots (wish me luck!), and I think now that I'll gear down to 13 or 14T pinions, as the 16 that's cool for bashing is really too long for the track. Lots of fun to be had - shame that winter is now closing in...

Elvis fully approves of the track, btw :))

Welcome to the Farmring!

Well, firstly, apologies. I am full of fail (hello, Brench!) cos the camera is in Paris, about 400 kms from the Farmring.

There is some good news, however. My idea of dragging a big log round the 'ring was sucky. The log wouldn't stay behind the tractor. After searching around the farm, though, an old gate was found that did a damn good job. Once the overall finish was smoothed, a bit of handwork with a broom and a rake to clear the excess vegetation, and the 'ring is about finished. The jumps and banked turns need revisiting by hand, as all of this dragging stuff around meant that things didn't stay the shape I wanted (you can get airborne over a couple of the jumps, but to do so you have to be so damn fast that the next turn'll wipe you out anyway : / )

More Farmring

Well, on the weekend, I got further than I thought. Once the basic layout was rotovated, I moved a lot of earth (well, the tractor did ;) ) to start on the banked turns. I now only really need to get a way of hardening the earth round the track around 2m wide - which I think I can do by dragging around a big heavy log. Updates will be posted here :)

The Farmring - Part 2

Work started on the Farmring (permanent course :) ) today. That meant, first and foremost a good trim for the field in question with the flail mower. Hadn't been done for a while. I'd read somewhere on the internet (which knows everything, remember) that rotovating (or tilling, as they say in the US of A) is a good idea as not only does it help "draw" the track but it also make the soil much easier for moving around for jumps etc.

That's how far I've got. Tomorrow, if the weather holds, I'll get the spade and shovel out and start "shaping" it - but I suspect bigger features like banked turns will have to wait a while until I'm happy with the overall layout and have tried it out a bit.

The Farmring - Part 1

Knowing that the weather wasn't going to be kind enough to let me make a real start on the big track, I cobbled together (using thin logs and laid down fence-posts) a "short-track" Farmring in the yard. And I'm really glad I did. For a bit of a n00b like me - it was a great way to find out what kind of shape I think the Farmring should be.

The Farmring (Short course) evolved a lot over the laps (and not just because I kept hitting the logs :) but the final version had a hairpin at one end, a long (well, relative to the rest) "straight" that, in actual fact swung left slightly with a wider, faster turn at the end, leading into the back straight with an "S" that could be taken flat out if you got the exit right of the fast turn at the end of the straight (and, of course, your b4lls are big enough :) )

There were some nice terrain bits too - where there were choices to be made between what was in theory the best line round and a slightly "slower line" but that offered better grip.

All round, lots of fun. The car now needs quite a clean :/

Alloy hubs - The End...

Well - just a quick post tonight.  Basically Mirage don't know when they'll have any hubs available, so I've agreed that they'll send me the equivalent value in some spare parts.

The End...

?

The front hubs don't fit

It's official. Mirage have received the parts and confirmed they won't fit. Unfortunately, they don't have any to replace them with (although 4 days ago they did have some to try on a car...)

I have asked if it's a problem with all of them (design fault) or a particular run of the part - we'll see what they say, but for the moment BEWARE: The EDIT Front alloy hubs don't fit the firestorm (or the e-firestorm - they share those parts). I've yet to find any evidence, even on the internet (which knows everything) of anyone ever actually having fitted these successfully. So for the moment, my statistics are 100% "DON'T FIT" (sample size = 1 pair :)) )

Better days

On the RC front, I received the radio yesterday, and fitted it today. It's a big difference from the RTR stuff in the HPi pack. Nice light handset, much quicker response, and loads of features.

Had a good run for the first time since the hop-ups were fitted, back on the plastic stock HPI knuckle arms. The Edit ones are just plain the wrong shape. I've told Mirage this, and will be sending them back for a replacement. I think it's shocking that an HPI company, with access (probably) to all the original designs can f*ck up this badly. The front brace needs shims to fit, and the knuckle arms need a miracle to fit. Not good. Not good at all.

So, for the minute, my opinion is very far down the "Edit Suck" end of the scale.

Good shops, bad shops and badly fitting parts

Today has been a bad day. The radio arrived, but the goofballs had shipped a DX3.0 and not a DX3R - so had to send it back. They're shipping the DX3R today (so they say). All this was ordered on the 9th Aug - so it's terrible service all round. Though the shop has been very good about correcting its mistakes, it's been so slow and then getting the wrong radio shipped was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I'll not name names, unless pushed to do so. But it's the last time I'm ordering from them.

Next bit of bad news is that the Edit knuckle arms don't actually fit. They rub on the rims of the wheels even before the wheel nut is tightened, and when the nut is tightened they press so hard that the wheels don't go round. I didn't notice this at first after the build in all the excitement about taking photos for the blog :) . With this and the alloy brace not fitting without using shims, I've gone from quite impressed with the perceived quality while building of the Edit parts to a sense of disappointment that some of them just don't seem to fit. I'm even starting to struggle to believe that they've actually tried these parts...

On a better note - I must say how good Mirage After Sales have been. I contacted them via that URL and have had a few very good emails back about my questions. Doesn't make the parts any better, but makes me feel better about the people selling them. I've asked Mirage about the Knuckle arms, and we'll see what they have to say - but I suspect my next mails will be about sending some of the parts back to the e-tailer that I bought them from.

Photos of the firestorm

Here's a few snaps of the e-firestorm as it currently stands. Only hop-up left is the radio, which should be here tomorrow :)

Front alloy hub carriers :



Rear alloy hub carriers :



There's also the titanium turnbuckles, and of course those magnificent shocks, of which you can see a small part :)

Here's what the whole lot looks like now without its clothes on :)

Hop-ups

Today has been a good day. I got the pinion gearing down to 15t which has helped somewhat. the ESC now takes a while longer to get too hot. I'm still thinking I might add a fan to the ESC...

As for the hop-ups, today I built and fitted all the Alu shocks - they look so much better than the plastic stock ones, let's just hope that my build ain't too bad. I've also added all the Edit parts I received (all of these except the titanium ball studs). They look great, and seem much lighter and stronger than the original plastic parts. I've also changed the suspension arms for the composite ones, front and rear.

The only exception is one of the Edit parts, which I don't quite understand. I've asked on Oople so we'll see what comes of that. Basically the front brace looks too thin. I've put back the HPI Alu hop-up part for the moment.

Back in business

I got most of the pieces today to put the e-firestorm back on the off-road :) Had one stripped screw in a piece I didn't actually need to replace, that pissed me off a bit - I'm particularly careful about screws in plastic since I used to work with skis, and even so, it stripped. Not the world's best quality, I fear. As for the screws that sheared that started all this off I can only recommend DO NOT USE THREAD LOCK ON THE ALUMINIUM PARTS. Though the rest of the world generally can cope with thread lock on metal/metal screws, it seems HPI's "top quality" screws can't take it, and the heads will shear when you try and unscrew.

Took the opportunity to fit the new composite suspension arms on the front - they are way stiffer than the stock ones.

Hope I'll get to start on the track tomorrow - plan is to take the flail mower to get the grass as low as possible then to take the rotavator to the top few cm's of soil.

Disaster

Disaster has struck the E-Firestorm... While starting to take it to pieces to change the suspension arms for the stiffer hop-ups, the heads sheared off some of the screws. The crazy thing is that, though these screwed had been put back with some thread lock, it was alu on alu, and yet rather than move the screws, the heads sheared off. I've ordered all the required spare parts and a Spektrum DX3 radio :)) Should have them tomorrow or the day after, will need a rebuild of much of the front end to get all the parts back.

Track Project

This is the biggy. I've finally got approval from my very, very dear wife-to-be. There's a spot where she'll entertain the idea of having some kind of RC track (off-road, of course). Hopefully will get time to get the tractor to it in the next couple of days, and see what I can make of it and with how much effort. It'll need the flail mower taking to it first, and then, ideally, I think rotovating and watering then packing. Might have to invest in a roller ;)

Will keep you posted here...

Upgrades

Well, well, well. Had a bit of time today, so fitted the new servo and soldered the Dean's Ultras in place of the existing connectors. They are not so easy to solder, particularly as the LiPos have stupidly thick wire, so getting the female connectors on needed a bit of a fine hand (hint, I have dexterity that would make many gorillas giggle). Once in place they are, however, fantastic. No idea why other connectors exist :) The connectors are wonderful - much better solution than the big (6mm!) bullets I had before, and much safer. I had also ordered a LiPoSack for charging, so feel better about that too.

Now the servo. After a bit of farting about, I got it fitted and it makes an incredible difference. It's a BLS351, if anyone cares. The setup I had to correct the understeer now makes it oversteer like a crazy banana - so back to the drawing board on that - but I think I'm going to wait until I get the stiffer suspension arms and uprated shocks on and do a setup once things have stopped changing so frequently :)) Undoing bits of it also make me think that some bits might be better replaced by something stronger. Might have a chat with the local CNC shop if they can help me in exchange for a beer or two ;)

I also knocked back the advance on the ESC, mostly cos after all that I couldn't be arsed to fiddle around with the gearing. Motor reached about 90°C and ESC about 95°C after about 20 mins hard bashing with the advance knocked back. Now at least I have the thermometer thingy to check it. I'd like to change the gearing too, as I'd like a bit more acceleration, and am willing to trade top speed (which is still CRAZY).

Next step - get the rest of the hop-ups done (essentially the stiffer suspension arms and the better shocks) and then a decent radio :)

Parcel

Well, I'll not apologise for not posting before now. A few things happened that changed my plans somewhat. Anyway, back to RC - my parcel of spare bits has arrived, so I have a Futaba BLS351 servo to fit, and some composite suspension arms, some dean's ultra connectors, some alloy hub carriers as well as the thermometer thingy and a load of pinion gears from size really small to normal.

Next step is going to be resoldering the battery connectors with the Dean's stuff, then fitting the servo and running and checking temps. According to findings, gear changes will then take place, and possibly some ESC tuning..

Watch this space.

Next steps

So now I've got a new servo on order (I know, Chris, I should l2drive first..) - so that'll be the next big step - though I don't know much about this, I must admit the servo seems weak. A better radio will probably be needed when I get to the track but that can wait, until I, erm, get to the track - or at least build a track :) . I've also ordered a good range of pinion gears from 13T to 23T (IIRC) and a thermometer thingy - so I can play with the gearing, 'cos as it stands it's a) far too fast in top speed for bashing in the farm yard and b) running what I suspect is a bit hot (ESC and motor...)

Before I change the gearing I'll have a play with the ESC settings, too, as I think they might help point b), but the intarweb seems to think a 17T pinion is a sweet spot for this setup in the firestorm.

Got some Dean's connectors coming too, to limit the shorting risk with the crazy 3S lipos :)

Understeer

I've fixed the chronic understeer - without changing the springs. Basically tweaking the toe-in and camber this afternoon got me to a setup that I quite like - probably a bit too aggressive turn-in, but with the POWAH! that the mamba gives me, and for bashing around the farmyard, I can manage the oversteer with the throttle. Will need some better setup when I get it to a track, but for the minute, I'm pleased that I've gone from chronic understeer to a little aggressive turn-in, and haven't even touched the shocks yet.

Also fitted the aluminium hop-up bits I got with it (basically the front suspension arm mount) today. Haven't built the alu shocks yet - that's still to come.

Mamba'ed E-firestorm

Here's a couple of photos of the mamba'ed e-firestorm that got all this started. No action pics yet, as I can't drive and take photos at the same time. I can hardly drive :)

Welcome to the RC Porn Site

Welcome! I know the URL will get this blocked by most website filters - but rest assured, this is nothing but unadulterated radio-control!