Hot Rod Hobbies, Sep 29 2011

Last night myself and a few other Speed World regulars made it out to Hot Rod Hobbies for their weekly club race. This is only the third time I've been, however it is the first time I've been since they've recently moved their drivers stand. It is definitely a big improvement! Blind spots have been greatly improved, as well as getting a better perspective of the track.

I didn't have the best luck last night, as I kept ripping ball studs out of my rear bulk head. I knocked myself out of one qualifier, as well as gave myself a DNF for the main. I didn't do as well as I should have in the qualifiers I actually made it though, and got myself relegated to the B.Q. position. Getting myself ready for a bump up into the A-main, I made a silly mistake, and popped another ball stud out of my already weakened bulk head, prematurely ending my race.

All in all it was a fun night! I'd also like to thank Joe from HRH, for saving me from another silly mistake I made... I left my charger at home. He was able to lend me an Onyx 230, to ensure I was able to make it through the the rest of my night. Thanks!

I did manage to record the 2WD buggy A-main. Bob Zahn managed to walk away with this one, although for a very brief period Norm Klebert managed to borrow the lead.

Enjoy!


[/Tim Sanderson]

Kyosho Turbo Optima Mid SE parts

Yesterday I received a package in the mail from a guy named rangerg on rc10talk.com. He was nice enough to offer a bunch of pre-cleaned Turbo Optima Mid SE parts, for simply the cost of shipping. Seeing as I bought a Mid SE a few weeks ago, it was a perfect deal for me!

Here's what I got:

The Mid SE I bought is basically complete, but there are a few parts that have been replaced with parts for other cars. (I think the steering rack was from an RC10, for example) I plan on replacing any weird/broken parts wit the ones given to me by rangerg, then 'pay it forward', and offer these parts to someone else on rc10talk for free as well.

Thanks rangerg!

[/Tim Sanderson]

Julia @ HardCore RC, Sept 18 2011

Here is a video of everyone's favorite little butt-kicker, Julia Ferraro. I think she's only 11 years old, and has been doing very well running 1/10 scale indoor carpet offroad. She's beaten quite a few of the top guys at Ferraro Super Quads and Hobby (aka Speed World), and has been trying her hand at 1/8th e-buggies.
Here is her run in the B-main, at the Hard Core RC race track in southern Ontario:

Good going Julia!

[/Tim Sanderson]

DRCRC GT2 Fall Enduro 2011

Last weekend was DRCRC's first annual GT2 500 lap Fall Enduro. There were about 7 or 8 teams of threoe, while our team (The TSAN / JB EXPERIENCE!!) had just two drivers, myself and JB Catricala. All the cars were GT2's; 4WD TC, 21.5 brushless motor, and had an FDR of no more faster than 4.0. It was also required that each car have working headlights and tail lights. For our Tamiya Ferrari Modena body, I rigged up a set of head and tail lights out of a Losi Dessert Truck. It wasn't pretty, but it was legal!

For some reason, we decided to run my TB02 for this race. (See pic 1 below) A lack of reliability was definitely an issue! We had to make way too many pit stops due to parts popping off/breaking, and it made it difficult to keep up with the leaders after the first 40 minutes or so. Every ball stud and kingpin had to be glued back in at some point in the race after getting ripped out of the car. We even dropped a dog bone on the track at some point. That's right, we were using a car that still ran dog bones! However, when the car was running, it was running very well. It just didn't like tapping the boards.

None the less, it was a lot of fun, and we managed squeeze out enough laps to put us in the low 400 range. I am definitely looking forward to doing this again next year. There was even a discussion about running an multi-track endurance series between DRCRC and FastCats!

I managed to take a few photos before we started racing, and even a little video of the TB02 in action at the start of the race. If you listen to the audio, It sounds like there's only a minute or so left in the race... I guess there's a minor bug in the software that thinks it's a normal length race, even though it is set for 500 laps.

[/Tim Sanderson]

Onyx 245 Dual Charger

Duratrax has just released it's newest charger... the 245 AC/DC Dual Charger.

I'm a big fan of one of their older models, the 230. It can't be beat (until now!) for it's simplicity. It charges at 6 amps from AC, and 7 amps from DC. The 245 looks like it does the same, but now it does 2 batteries at a time! Sweet! I'll definitely be picking up one of these. It looks like it sells anywhere from $120 to $170.
Here are some specs for ya:

SPECS:    General Specifications;

           AC Input: 110V AC 60Hz switching supply with U.S. plug

           DC Input: 11-15V DC, built-in lead with alligator clips

           Protective Devices: Solid-state reverse polarity and current

            overload

           Dimensions: 7.95 x 6.1 x 1.77" (202 x 156 x 45mm)

           Weight: 28.2oz (801g)



         Specifications for Each Output;

           Battery Types: 4-8 cell NiMH or NiCd, 1-3 cell LiPo or LiFe

           (3.7-11.1V) packs

           Battery Capacity: 100-7500mAh

           Fast Charge Current: 0.8A, 1.5A, 3A, 5A linear (80W total, 40W each

            output)

           Fast Charge Termination: Peak detection for NiCd and NiMH,

            cc/cv for lithiums

           Fast Charge Safety Timer: 90 minutes

           NiCd/NiMH Peak Sensitivity: 8mV for NiCd; 5mV for NiMH

           NiCd/NiMH Auto-Trickle Current: Auto (50, 100, 150, 250mA)
[/Tim Sanderson]