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Trebor
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Posted: Sat Sep 20th, 2008 09:00 pm |
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I was in Radio Shack the other day and saw some 1/32 RC sports cars for $15.00. I thought they might be good for an RC tutorial. Then I saw an RC Hummer by the same company for $5.00. It was a discontinued model. That did it. The tutorial was on.
First thing I did was to take it all apart. Here is the chassis with the receiver and the motor. The battery compartment is built in right below the board.
These are the major components
I sniped off the wires for the steering and cut the wires to the motor leaving them about an inch long. Originally, I was going to remove the board and connect it to a separate battery holder but since the holder was already in place and everything was connected, I just trimmed the chassis. All I had to do was connect the two wires to the motor.
Here’s another picture showing the transmitter.
Here’s the best part. The original car did not have variable speed. I just went FAST but it ran on 2 AA batteries so it only had about 3 volts. Well, 3 volts lets this little 0-4-0 lope along at a nice crawl.
Nothing fancy, nothing complicated… just connect a few wires and GO. It took longer to write this article than to put it all together.
The only way this would be easier is if Woodie and I came to your house and did it for you.
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Bob
Frisco, Texas
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Paladin
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| Joined: | Tue Jan 24th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sat Sep 20th, 2008 11:38 pm |
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Great Bob, when are you coming to my house
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ytter_man
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Posted: Sun Sep 21st, 2008 02:48 am |
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I have that exact same hummer but i thought i might get away with using a smaller (read:too small, too weak) battery from a large Air Hogs helicopter. The post is probably here in the RC subforum about what i tried.
I wish my stuff was big enough to hold them batteries :(
Glad you got it to work though! 
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W C Greene
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| Joined: | Fri May 4th, 2007 |
| Location: | Dallas, Texas USA |
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Posted: Sun Sep 21st, 2008 03:44 pm |
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As ya'll can see-ANYTHING is possible! The little Air Hogs have a tiny 3.7 volt Li-Poly battery that HAS to be recharged from the model's transmitter. Don't think you can charge this with anything...you just might have a nuclear meltdown of miniature proportions! What Bob shows is affordable for anyone. NIKKO has gone "belly up" so you may be able to find these little cars for little dinero. Something you might try for some applications is to use a 3 volt Lithium Ion camera battery (CR-2) for power. These are pretty small and I used them when I got into r/c. Believe it or not...well it's true...one of these ran my old On30 Model T railtruck for almost 1 YEAR!!! Some of the Radio Shack cars have a 5 step proportional receiver so running most locos is easy & cheap. Right now, the batteries are the biggest space eater and money layout, but with a little searching, cheaper alternatives can be found. Don't forget animations also-I have used these little boards for things like rotary car dump control, conveyors, and I have one in my car hoist. All that stuff is run off AA alkaline batteries. I will tell you that installing this r/c stuff is EASIER than installing dcc and when it comes to reading about CV's and all that,-throw out the stinkin' book.
And yes, everyone who runs dc or dcc now can have their very own r/c loco which can run on the same track at the same time with NO hassle. Just remember that when the "traditional" control has a short, open circuit, or the wheels & track needs cleaning-your little r/c loco will run on happily, saving your operation.
Woodie-the real Outlaw troublemaker
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Trebor
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| Joined: | Tue May 2nd, 2006 |
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Posted: Sun Sep 21st, 2008 11:57 pm |
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You’re right Yetter-man, those batteries are pretty big but in On30 you can easily use a doodlebug or a Gnomy trolley. I have something else in mind. More later… time for the Cowboys to play.
The interesting thing is that the car and the porter hustler have the exact same motor so there wasn't any reason that it wouldn't work. Lucky find on my part.
Last edited on Sun Sep 21st, 2008 11:59 pm by Trebor
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Bob
Frisco, Texas
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Trebor
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 02:43 am |
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I got started on some molds for this creature.
Last edited on Wed Oct 1st, 2008 12:35 pm by Trebor
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Bob
Frisco, Texas
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ebtm3
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 03:21 pm |
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Aw Bob- yer teasin us!
At least show us the cavity!
Herbie
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"Cabs on small engines are to be avoided as unbearably hot in the summer, dangerous in case of an emergency, and inconvenient at all times on account of the dimentions. A stout Mackintosh is cheaper and better for the driver". Sir Art. Heywood
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DW
Member
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 04:14 pm |
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Great work Bob.
Here is my setup that cost $6 plus change. I picked up a ZipZap RC car at a Radio Shack not long ago. I stripped it down to extract the RC board. Not being an expert on electronics I was finally able to figure out what to connect to get my newly purchased AristoCraft motor block, 4AA battery pack and the RC board working together.
Other than the fact that I don't have variable speed, I'm pleased with the fact that I figured out how to get forward and reverse working. 
The transmitter is a small unit when compared to the 4AA battery pack. The top part has a built in cradle that the ZipZap attaches to so that it can charge the small 2.4v NiMh battery (not being used). I'm thinking that I can strip it down and fab a smaller unit that only uses the left side control (forward and reverse) and antenna. The right side control is for steering. Or I can leave the transmitter as is and maybe eventually have the steering control work the future critter engineer's head... having it turn from side to side using the ZipZap's micro motor. :Hmm:
Test run on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H81LgsCZFZs
edit: I dismantled the transmitter. The pc board inside runs the length of the case so it doesn't look like making a smaller unit is possible. Guess I'd use the other control to animate the engineer somehow.
Last edited on Wed Oct 1st, 2008 06:37 pm by DW
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Dwayne
Modeling in Dn30 (1:17n30)
Keylock Lumber & Mining Co
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Trebor
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 06:23 pm |
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| Now that's what we're talkin' about.
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Bob
Frisco, Texas
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DW
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Posted: Wed Oct 1st, 2008 08:21 pm |
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Trebor wrote: Now that's what we're talkin' about.
Here is a quick writeup. Had to break out my Pentax DSLR to get some close up shots for this. ;D
The first picture is an overhead of the Radio Shack ZipZap with the bodyshell removed. I picked up two of these for $6 each on clearance. Of the six wires on the pc board, you'll only use four - the white negative (barely visible at bottom of photo), the red positive beside it, the grey wire at the upper right and the tan wire just below it. The tan wire has a diode attached that I left intact on the wire.
The two remaining wires are a black and light red wire that actually run to lights on the ZipZaps that work when going forward. These wires could be hooked up into the headlight of a loco for lighting.
In the second photo everything is wired. The white negative is attached to the black wire from the battery pack. The red positive goes to a small on/off switch salvaged from an electric razor I stole from my wife Brenda. The circuit continues when attached to the red wire from the battery pack.
The grey wire was attached to the blue wire of the Aristo power block. The tan wire with the small diode was attached to the green wire. I don't think it matters which is wired to which to be honest. This was how I wired it and it worked so I left well enough alone.
None of my connections are permanent at the moment... just twisted together since I was only experimenting. Eventually the ESC/receiver from a Team Losi stadium truck will be used for power management of my eventual critter build. The Losi ESC/receiver will provide speed control and is about the same size as the ZipZap pc board. I mention my plans on my webpage: http://dweyrich.googlepages.com/dogbonewestern2
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Dwayne
Modeling in Dn30 (1:17n30)
Keylock Lumber & Mining Co
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