Speed World broken into again.

Bad news from our friends at Ferraro Speed World, in Hamilton Ontario. A couple of weeks back they were broken into. It looks like bad things came in two's, because they were hit again this morning. This was posted on the LondonRC forum by Maria Ferraro:

We don't have any good news to share with our loyal customers, family, and friends. We are limited how much information that we can disclosure. The police has given us authorization to release dates and times of the robberies and how they can be contacted if anyone has any information.

December8-2011 Speedworld was robbed at 11:17pm

December19-2011 Speedworld was robbed at 12:15am

There's a total of $10,000.00 in theft and damage.

If any one has information in regards to this please contact
CST. Raymond Wong at 905 546 4904 and the case # 11-789807....

Maria Ferraro

I sincerely hope they catch the bastards and make an example out of them.
If any one has any info, or is justifiably suspicious of anything they hear or see, PLEASE contact Speed World, or the police officer listed above.

[/Tim Sanderson]

Universal Raceway - by Tim Sanderson

This Saturday I went by the new indoor carpet-offroad track in Mississauga, called Universal Raceway. It is run by the folks at Big Boys with Cool Toys, and it is quite the facility! There are a few rooms for pitting in, and a store selling tires and parts. It's a very large track... my average lap time with my TLR 22 was 20.0 to 20.5 seconds. Here are a few photos, and a bunch of clips I put together. I'm looking forward to racing there in the future!

[/Tim Sanderson]

CC-01 Crawler - by Joe Bielski

My favourite form of RC racing is 1/10 scale onroad. I have been competing in the GT2 and CVTA classes every summer for the last couple years. This is a slower class that is great for beginners and seasoned racers alike. The only problem is that here in Canada, once October rolls around, the outdoor season is done for what seems like an eternity. Not having an actual 1:1 scale car, I have a hard time making it out to some of the great indoor tracks we have here in Ontario. This was the catalyst for my decision to build a 1.9 scaler truck. I wanted something that I could run in my apartment, outside over the snow banks and take with me on camping trips. I decided to start with an inexpensive chassis that had been around for a while and that there was a lot of information and hop-ups for. I purchased the Tamiya CC-01 FJ40 kit for under $100.00. This kit has an interesting setup as it used independent suspension in the front and a solid axle in the rear. The kit went together easily and looked great. The only thing I did differently from the instructions was to lock both gear diffs during the build. However, this kit did NOT handle very well. The tires were too hard, there was very little articulation in the suspension and the steering was beyond sloppy. It was time to do some serious modification!

I started out with what's called the "Pantablo" steering mod. There are various examples of this all over the internet. This mod moves the steering servo from way back in the tub chassis and places it over the front wheels like most of today's scale crawlers. This mod requires you to actually remove most of the front section of the chassis with a saw. I was very hesitant about taking a saw to a brand new chassis but I measured twice and cut once. It was actually quite easy. I attached an Axial AX10 battery plate over what was left of the front wheel wells and placed the servo underneath it. I then took the Steering Knuckles and turned them backwards. This lets you connect the two Steering Knuckles using a turnbuckle to each other and then to the servo horn. This took out ALL of the steering slop and made for very strong and precise steering.

The next step I took was to create a custom 4 link suspension setup in the rear. I chose to mount it in the stock locations and it worked out great. I measured the stock plastic links and cut 4/40 threaded rods to size. Then I took hallow aluminum tubing and cut that to cover the threaded rods. I finished the ends off with Traxxas Revo ball ends. These are the go to ball ends in any DIY suspension links. Now as a note I would have preferred to use metric sized rods and tubes on a Tamiya project but it is all I had available at my LHS. Even though I used the stock mounting locations, this gave me a bit more articulation in the rear.

Finally I finished by installing a 55T lathe motor, 90mm RC4WD shocks all around and Proline 1.9 Chisel tires on beadlock wheels. I was amazed at how well this truck crawled now. I took the truck with me to the Elora Gorge and I was able to get over some really rough terrain. The suspension just twisted beautifully over every rock and tree root it encountered. The tires just pulled themselves ever ledge I pointed the truck at. With some relatively simple mods, the truck was transformed from mild to extreme. I only hope that my next project based off of a Tamiya TLT truck will handle this well.

[/Joe Bielski]

Congratulations to Keven, Martin & Andrew!

Congratulations are in order for Keven Hébert, Martin Crisp and Andrew Hardman on their excellent results at the recent US Indoor Championships in Cleveland. Andrew and Martin are both regulars at the Fastcats Depot track every summer and it is always a blast losing to these guys.

TC Mod Results
Keven Hébert 1
Martin Crisp 2
Andrew Hardman 3

TC Superstock Results
Keven Hébert 1
Andrew Hardman 2
Brad Johnson 3

sources: redrc.net & rctech.net

[/Joe Bielski]

Asian Touring Series Japan - Highlights

If this video doesn't put you in the mood for a little onroad TC action, nothing will! RedRC.net has put together this super-sweet video:

This is one of the best RC videos I've ever seen. (excluding our friends over at xxxmain, of course. ;) There are so many creative angles... I'd love to see a 'behind the scenes' video, showing how they got those shots!

[/Tim Sanderson]

My cat is fancier than your cat

And how do I know that? Two words...

Ozite.
Scratch pad.

Wait, no. Three words.






[/Tim Sanderson]

Kyosho RB5 custom chassis

A little while ago I drew up some plans to have a custom chassis cut out for my Kyosho RB5. With a little a lot of help from a guy named Brian, (bbad on LondonRC.com) I've managed to get myself to this point:
The material I've used for this prototype version is G10 Fiberglass. I bought it from a place called ThunderBolt RC in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I bought a 12"x12" sheet of 1/8" thick G10 for less than $22, and had it shipped to my door for just a few dollars extra. This stuff is even better than I hoped it would be. It weighs more than something like Carbon Fiber would, but is more than rigid enough for this project. You might notice it is very similarly shaped to the TLR 22. That's because I used my 22 to base the dimensions on. My ultimate plan is to make it a mid motor car, but that will require quite a bit more designing, as I would need to make a new gearbox, and solve the lack of a shock tower mounting position the new chassis has left me with.

For now, my plan is to run it in a rear motor setup, using the stock gearbox. The new chassis layout will allow me to run a saddle pack lipo, as close to the front as I need, in order to get the type of steering I'm looking for on carpet.

I'll be posting more photos is in the very near future!

The "Design tsan rc's Logo Bar" contest!

Now's your chance to bask in internet glory! tsan rc is looking for a new logo bar to go at the top of the site. Crack open your Corel Draw or PhotoShop, and make us something super sweet. The chosen logo bar wins it's creator $25 in cool hard Canadian cash! (Not to mention the gaining the kind of fame that can only be generated by the exposure to tsan rc's 129+ visitors per day)

The only requirements:

Dimensions = 777 pixels wide x 200 (or less) pixels tall @ at least 96dpi
Must include text= tsan rc & it's pronunciation key [tee-san ahr-see]
Pretty much any format is acceptable, although a PDF would be ideal

Contest closes Dec 11, 2011. Submit as many entries as you like to tsanrc@hotmail.com
Contest is open to anyone in the entire galaxy.
(planet-dwellers and space stations employees only... moon-residents need not apply)

Good luck!

[/Tim Sanderson]

6030 C7 Spy Helicopter -by JOE BIELSKI

I'd like to formally introduce tsan rc's newest contributing editor JOE BIELSKI!
Joe and I became friends a year and a half ago, after meeting at FastCat's opening day for the outdoor 'Depot' track in Toronto, Ontario. It's been all down hill from there. Hopefully we can all look forward to many more entertaining articles from Joe in the near future.

[/Tim Sanderson]

______________________________________________________________

6030 C7 Spy Helicopter
-by JOE BIELSKI

As a radio controlled vehicle enthusiast for the past 8 years, (the last 2 years spending most of my RC time racing 4wd on road cars and 2wd off road buggies) has kept me content. But recently I have found myself exploring other genres of the RC world. Last year I built my first 1.9 scale crawler truck from an old Tamiya CC-01 chassis. Lots of fabrication was involved, and the experience was very satisfying. Who knew that going slow could be so much fun. My friend Tim, who happens to be the creator of this blog recently picked up his first RC Helicopter at a swap meet in Hamilton. This got me interested in the possibility of conquering the skies myself.

I started doing a bit of research on what would be a good helicopter for a beginner. There are so many different scales of helicopters, 2D controlled versus 3D controlled, and so on. As I was digging through the internet I came across the SH San Huan 6030 C7 Spy Helicopter from China.

This is actually a very cool little helicopter that has a tiny camera attached to its belly that uses SD memory cards to capture footage. The camera is turned on and off from the radio controller so you don't have to physically turn the camera on when taking off or landing. Then I found a commercial for this helicopter on YouTube. The commercial is from China but has been recorded in English. This is when the hilarity ensues.

It actually took me a minute to realize that the ad was in fact in English. Lines like, "Push the button, the light will twinkling, the camera start working. Enjoy your flight, enjoy your life. The witness of your family's happiness" had me laughing so hard I started to tear up. The production value is pretty funny as well. At one point you clearly see the footage from the helicopter is actually footage from a camera on a set of rails. It gets better. In other shots, the helicopter is super imposed over wildlife footage of wildebeests running through the Serengeti. Never the less, the helicopter looks good, however bad the commercial is. Here it is for your enjoyment:

[/Joe Bielski]

Axial Exo Terra Buggy

This is pretty slick. The official video for Axial's new EXO TERRA BUGGY.

I don't know what's more impressive, the buggy, or the fact that they used an RC helicopter to film it! You can see the helicopter's shadow from 2:37 to 2:42.

[/Tim Sanderson]

Speed World 2WD SCT Enduro winners!

That's right, Team Super Pit took the top spot at Speed World's first two hour 2WD Short Course Truck Endurance!

Super Pit's team consisted of the usual suspects, Bill Jones (left) and yours truly, Tim Sanderson. However, the third team mate was Super Pit's newest member, 11 year old Julia Ferraro. The three of us ran Bill's Traxxas Slash to the checkered flag. While pretty much all all of the parts on Bill's slash are stock, (with the exception being the electronics) it was 'Jonesed up' with the usual Bill Jones set up magic.

I thought this was worth noting, to remind the other teams of what beat them:

Firefox suggested I change the name of the truck we won with, to 'Trash Slash'. In yo' FACES!

Julia started off the rotation, followed by me, then Bill. It was very close for much of the race. After about 1.5 hours into the race, Team Dingo had a 5 lap lead on us. Then, Team Dingo's bad luck (or our good luck, depending on how you look at it) saw them break a front bulk head on the SC10. The time it took them to repair their truck gave us more than enough time to build up a comfortable lead for the remainder of the race.

Thanks to Alicia for taking the photos below:
(P.S. someone needs to use a flash when taking photos indoors!)

I'll add captions with people's names when I have a bit more time.

Here were the final results:

1st Place: SUPER PIT @ 425 laps | Tim, Bill & Julia
2nd Place: TEAM DINGO @ 415 laps | Calvin, Steve & Mike
3rd Place: TEAM HAZARD @ 318 laps | Dan, Steve & Spencer
4th Place: LEE RACING @ 305 laps | Aaron, Jason & Phillip
5th Place: TEAM FERRARO @ 272 laps | Dominic, Lucas & Rex
6th Place: TEAM MITCHELL @ 188 laps | Rob, Steve & Mike

Thanks Speed World, we all had a lot of fun!

[/Tim Sanderson]

Venom Gambler SCT

A few weeks ago I picked up an almost brand new Venom Gambler Short Course Truck roller. Other than the old SC10 tires/wheels on it, everything is brand new.

The cool thing about this truck, is that it can be run in the mid motor or rear motor layout. This is it in the mid motor mode.

Pictured here are the electronics I plan to try out in it. One of my trusty Spektrum 6040 high speed servos, a 35amp Hobby King ESC, and a Spektrum SR 3000 receiver.

The motor I plan on running in it (for the time being) is a 13.5 turn LRP sensored motor. Seeing as this ESC is only rated at 35 amps, a 13.5 is the fastest motor I can safely run on it. Originally, I had bought it to try out in one of my touring cars, but since I won't run much onroad until the spring, I figure I'd try it in the Gambler.

Pretty much all that's left is to Shoo Goo in the ESC and servo capacitors, and buy some new wheels/tires. I'll post some videos of it when I bring it to the track.

[/Tim Sanderson]

2WD & 4WD SCT mains, Speed World, Nov 13 2011

As promised, here are the Short Course Truck mains from Speed World, Sunday Nov 13, 2011.
See the index at the start of the video for when each race starts.
Enjoy!

2WD SCT B & A main, and 4WD SCT A main


[/Tim Sanderson]

2WD mains from Speed World, Nov 13, 2011

I tried experimenting with a new video editor, and have made one video with all 3 mains from Sundays club race at Speed World. There is an index at the start of the video that tells you what time each race starts at. I'll be uploading the 2WD & 4WD SCT mains later tonight.

Enjoy.
2WD C, B & A-main, Nov 13, 2011


[/Tim Sanderson]

Speed World, Nov 6 2011

Don't this month's simple-looking layout fool you. This layout pretty much gave everybody a hard time. The strait-a-way and the double-double whoops after coming off the wall proved to be a difficult (and sometimes deadly) combination. I think my fastest was a 12.7, but I know some of the faster guys where hitting somewhere in the 11's.
Also, I forgot to mention to Steve Mitchell that, unless he turned a faster lap in his main, my 12.7 in-race laptime was faster that his 12.8 laptime. :P (P.S. I'm just teasing Steve. I'm just trying to make myself feel better after being out qualified and beaten by him all day) I had a very tough time with my qualifiers, and didn't finish a single one. I fried a spur gear, and had to change my ESC before the main. I finally found some what of a rythym during my main, and managed to turn one second shy of 27 laps.

I managed to record the 2WD A-main yesterday, at Ferraro Super Quads / Speed World in Hamilton, Ontario. Steve Dziuban was a good contender for the lead, until he lost a wheel during the last minute or so. Like usual, Dave Lyons took it in the end like a champ. (He also won the A-main)
2WD A-Main:

I've also embedded a couple of videos recorded by Michael/TracktionRC:
2WD B-main: (BTW, that's me in the the blue t-shirt, marshaling like a super-star)

Short Course A-Main:


Martin/M76 has uploaded a video he recorded on his cellphone too. It's not very good quality, but it's still great to be able to post.
4x4 SCT A-main:


I'd also like to give a big thank you to Michael for giving me a lift to the race/swap meet yesterday. If not for that, I'd never have been able to unload as much stuff as I did at the swap meet. Also, I'm looking forward to making it out to Hot Rod's with Mike on Thursday for a little more racing. Thanks, buddy!
[/Tim Sanderson]

Kyosho Pro XRT & Marui Galaxy

Last week I picked up a couple of new/old cars. The first is a Kyosho Pro XRT stadium truck. Other than being a little dirty, it's actually in great shape! Both the body and chassis are quite damage-free.

Even the underside of the truck looks great! The rear tires are pretty cool. They say "Team Losi A-7690" on the side. They probably have pretty decent traction on pavement... the rubber is quite soft. Also, if you take a close look at the back wheels, you can see some plastic covers over them. I assume these were to keep dirt from building up on the wheels during a race. (assuming you weren't running onroad radials on asphalt. :P

The second car happens to be the first non-Kyosho vintage buggy I've bought so far. It's a Marui Galaxy. It's missing it's wing and it's steering linkages, and the tires are pretty bald, but overall it's also in pretty sweet condition.

Doing a little investigation is my buddy Marvin. After a few minutes of sniffing, he seems to have deemed it to be a non-threat!

[/Tim Sanderson]