Building The Fastest Radio Controlled Car
Many people think of remote controlled cars as toys for kids. However, there is a huge difference between remote control cars for kids and remote control cars for adults. The complexities of the cars have a very wide gap. Kids cars will run on just a few AA batteries. RC cars for adults feature full miniature engines. Lots of the popular motor kits run on fuel such as gasoline or nitro. Others run on large battery packs that are essentially beefed up versions of kids toys. These cars require just as much maintenance as a real car, since they have all of the same components (plus all of the radio transmitting gear!) to deal with.
When building a remote controlled car, you will have many different choices regarding the quality of the components that you use to make it. You can stick with some simple hobby store components, but those are not likely to make a car that will win any races. If you want to go all-out on a project, you can get top quality parts. You should be prepared to spend some money to get what it takes, but once you have it all together you will have a car that you can truly be proud of. If you want to assemble this type of amazing car, you will need to look for several things in particular when buying components. These will help you get the maximum performance for your money.
The fastest engine choice that you can find is a nitro engine. Nitromethane is an alternative to regular gasoline, and runs much better for RC cars. It is usually heavier, and therefore more cumbersome on the handling of the car. However, if you are going to be on a fairly straightforward and tame race course, it is a great choice and will provide a huge speed. The only down side is that nitro engines are known for wearing down faster, and breaking at a higher rate. If you use a nitro engine frequently, you can almost expect it to break after intense usage. It is a good idea to have an electric engine that you can swap it out with when the need arises.
The other parts of the car are equally important when you are aiming for absolute fastness. If you are you going all-out on a project, you should expect to spend quite a bit on components like wheels and axels. Usually you want to get wheels that are extremely firm and light. If you have the opportunity to go out to a hobby store and test out a few different components, you will be able to decide exactly what you want based on experiencing it first-hand. This is the best way to shop for anything, and the same goes for remote control cars. Since the parts are usually highly swappable, you can directly compare one with another by trying them in quick succession.
If you aren’t a very technically inclined person, the thought of picking all of these parts might not sound very fun. However, you might not have to go through this process. It is possible to buy kits that include all top of the line parts, and are quite easy to assemble. With these you won’t get the high level of customization that you would get out of building a regular home-made car. Being able to choose all of the parts separately is a great benefit, although 90% of the time you can replace individual parts if you decide that you want to go for something that is of a higher quality or a little bit faster than what you had before.
All of these things really add up. If you have one part of a car that doesn’t perform as well, the entire thing will be affected. Therefore you need to choose your parts carefully to have the best remote controlled car possible.
Webmaster of http://rc.bizgosale.com/
Xbox 360 Controller for Windows
Xbox 360 Common Controller
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List Price: $ 39.99
Price: $ 25.07
Check out the highly-anticipated APC40 Ableton Controller in action. Rocking out with a Freestylers/Noisia/BustaRhymes/Dillinja remix/mashup – by Stephan Vankov. The APC40 hits stores May 30.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Choosing How To Run Your Radio Controlled Car
If you are building a radio controlled car, you will be faced with choices every step of the way. You will have to decide how to build the model, how to incorporate the radio transmitter, and how you want to paint it. You will also have to decide how you want to power your car. There are several different choices, and unfortunately there isn’t one that stands out as better than the rest. Each powering method has its own benefits and tradeoffs that may affect your decision. You will have to consider these benefits compared with what exactly you want to do with your car. Here are the three main ways that you can power a radio controlled car.
The first and most basic way to power a remote controlled car is to have a battery pack running the motors. This is the kind of system that you will see in beginning cars. If implemented correctly, it can be fairly effective. Its main strong point is that it is very light. Cars using electric power can reach all new levels of lightness. However, like all of the options, there is a tradeoff: electric cars are the slowest of them all. So, you will have to decide whether you want a light car that handles well, or a speed demon that will tear up the competition. And that brings us to the next choice, which is definitely a bit speedier than the electric option.
Gas-powered cars are by far the most common when you are looking at hobby grade cars. The equipment required to handle all of the gas and combustion weighs quite a bit, and tends to make the car less agile. However, it makes up for this deficiency by being one the fastest choices. These types of motor kits are very easy to find. If you want one for your car, your best bet would be to look in some online specialty shops, or your local hobby shop. While it is not necessarily a positive aspect in my book, the fact that the cars are much louder when they run on gasoline seems to attract some people, who enjoy creating the noisy little machines.
RC cars that run on nitro gasoline are quickly becoming the most popular and fastest growing segment of remote control cars. Nitro vehicles can come in many different forms. You can build the popular and durable trucks that will take jumps at high speeds and go on off road driving courses. Alternatively, if you are trying to reach very high speeds, you can build the type of racecar that is meant to speed along pavement, tracks or other prepared surfaces. As with gas, nitro requires the heavy motor equipment that some people find cumbersome. However, they are perfect if you want to swap out your electric motor during a race or other event.
If you build your car the right way and avoid attaching the engine in permanently, you can switch whenever you feel a different one would be more appropriate. The average remote control enthusiast will accumulate quite a few different engines over the years, and will become familiar with which ones are best to use in a given situation. So don’t worry too much about buying the wrong engine and being “stuck” with something that you didn’t want. Just consider the pros and cons of each one, and compare them with your goals with your remote control car project. Think about how much speed you want, compared to how much agility or how much turning speed. If you have a local hobby store that stocks all of the different types of engines, then go in and ask to test drive a few of them to get a feel for the type of engine. You will be glad that you put so much thought into it.
Webmaster of http://rc.bizgosale.com/
Wii Nunchuk Controller – White
- Motion sensor function (3 axes)
- Two buttons – C, Z
- Uses the communication function of the Wii Remote Control
- Size(LxWxD) – 4.45 x 1.5 x 1.48 (113 x 38.2 x 37.5 mm)
Wii Nunchuk Controller. Connect the Nunchuk controller to the Wii Remote and get ready. The Nunchuk controller and the accelerometer contained within it are the next leap in gaming. In first-person shooters, the controller carries the burden of movement, freeing you to aim and fire using a more natural motion with the Wii Remote. In a football game, you can make your quarterback elusive with the Nunchuk controller while you look for an open receiver to throw to using the Wii Remote.The Wii Nunchuk controller is a secondary controller that adds even more innovation to the next generation of gaming, and does it all with less physical movement.
Used in conjunction with the standard Wii remote, certain games need the Nunchuk controller for additional control options. Contoured perfectly to fit a player’s hand,
The Wii Nunchuk (left) connects directly to the Wii remote. View larger. |
the Nunchuk controller builds on the simplicity of the Wii Remote controller. The Nunchuk contains the same three-axis motion sensor found in the Wii Remote, but also includes an analog stick, and two buttons to help assist in character movement.
Many games will allow you to control your character’s movement with the Nunchuk in your left hand, while your right hand is free to execute the action movements with the Wii Remote. For example, the Nunchuk is particularly useful for games like Wii Boxing. You can use the Nunchuk to punch with your weaker hand, while you use the Wii remote to punch and jab with your predominant hand.
Take the fun to the next level with two-handed control of your games. View larger. |
In first-person shooters, the Nunchuk controller carries the burden of movement, freeing you to aim and fire using a more natural motion with the Wii Remote. In a football game, you can make your quarterback elusive with the Nunchuk controller while you search for an open receiver to throw to using the Wii Remote. Serious gamers may even want to use two Nunchuk controllers to gain a fierce competitive edge.
Because the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers are only relatively dependent on each other, players are free to hold them in whichever hand is most comfortable. Perfectly suitable for either right or left-hand use, the Wii Nunchuk controller grants accessibility not often seen in previous game controllers.
Also, the Nunchuk controller doesn’t need its own power–it plugs into the Wii Remote controller when it’s in use. So there’s no need to worry about charging or replacing expensive batteries.
Adding a Nunchuk to your Wii system will definitely help you open the doors to the next level of gaming, and seriously step up performance. Just be careful not to knock out your significant other, or bruise the dog, severely, while using one, or two Nunchuk controllers.
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List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 6.99
Silverfish Control: The Ultimate Guide to Get Rid of Silverfish
Silverfish Control: The Ultimate Guide to Get Rid of Silverfish is an ebook that explains how to get rid of silverfish naturally and permanently without using pesticides or chemicals.
Silverfish Control: The Ultimate Guide to Get Rid of Silverfish
This video will show you how to mod your controller. Send a message if you have any questions. PS I got all my supplies at radioshack. Rosin-core solder, mini screwdriver, wire, momentary push-button. Those four total about -. And yes, the normal trigger still works like it always used to, a plain old trigger. PPS I’m sorry, but i had to remove the comments, cuz people were putting some stupid stuff up there. And I am not responsible for any damage done to you or your controller. Enjoy.
Strobe controller
Image by AMagill
My strobe controller project finally got soldered up in a nice project case. In short, it’s a programmable strobe controller for high-speed photography. You can load it with simple scripts to (usually) wait for a certain input condition, and then switch the outputs with very precise timing.
One particularly elaborate example: Have it trigger an electronic water valve for a few milliseconds, just long enough to let one drop of water through. Wait until it sees a drop fall through a photogate, and then open the shutter on the camera. Wait until the contact mic under a bowl is triggered by the drop impacting on the bowl, fire the flash, wait a few milliseconds, and then close the shutter on the camera. Perfect water drop pictures every time.
I bought a Koala protoboard, a matching case, and a compatible LiPoly battery from Sparkfun, plus a whole bunch of 3.5mm headphone jacks and some other odds and ends from JB Saunders, and soldered it up last weekend.
The board is pretty cool- it comes with USB-serial (an FTDI FT232R, regulated 3.3V and 5V from battery or USB, and battery charging from USB. The battery is tucked under the board.
Everything is wired into a TI EZ430-RF2500 target board (I really only wanted the MSP430-F2274 micro on it; the wireless is going to waste at the moment). It communicates with a desktop app I’ve written in C#, where you can see and control its status in real-time, write scripts, and send them to the device. I’ve created a simple little scripting language (and corresponding bytecode language) so the device can do interesting and precisely-timed things with its outputs (the five jacks on bottom) in reaction to stuff happening on its inputs (the button and the two other jacks). It needs some polish still, but it really works quite well.
I’ll do a proper writeup on my website when I’m closer to being truly done.
Choosing A Radio Controlled Plane
When you buy a radio controlled plane for the first time, you may have some difficulty choosing the plane that will introduce you to the remote controlled hobby. You will want something that will be fairly cheap to purchase, and will give you a chance to learn how to fly remote controlled planes before you move onto more advanced planes. If you buy the first plane that you see, you could end up having a very bad experience for your first time, and be completely turned away from the hobby. This is why it is very important to know that there are many different characteristics that you can look for. In this article I will go over most of them. So read on to find out about what you need to look for to have the best experience possible when you fly a radio controlled plane for the first time.
First you need to assess your own building skills. You can buy airplane kits that require you to build the entire thing from scraps of wood, or you can buy kits that just require you to snap a few parts together. If you want to make a huge, prolonged project out of your radio controlled plane, then you can buy one that requires full assembly. However, you should always be sure that your building skills are up for it. If you don’t want to spend the time required to do this, or if you don’t have the prowess to build it, then you can buy a plane that does not require any assembly at all. You just pull it out of the box, and you’re ready to go flying for the afternoon.
Next you will want to look for something that has stability for people without are flying for the first time. It may not seem like it, but to fly a radio controlled plane you need at least some skill. But, if you search for the right item you can find something that is more geared towards beginners. Slow flying speed is always a benefit, just as driving slow is a good way to learn how to control a car for the first time. You will want a light plane with larger wings that can catch the wind better. This will make takeoff easier. You will also want to look for planes that have flat bottoms, and wings mounted high on the body. If you get a plane that has all of these features, your maiden flight will be as smooth as possible.
Next you need to consider the model of the airplane you are going to buy. You can get model replicas of almost any type of plane, from the first Wright Brothers’ plane to modern military jets. If you are buying a model plane, you are probably already interested in planes to begin with. Think of what plane you are most intrigued by when you look through plane books, and see if you can find a kit that is modeled after that plane. This will give you a personal interest in the model that you are getting. When you fly it for the first time, it will be almost like being in the cockpit of the actual plane.
After you have decided on these issues when picking your plane, the rest is just up to personal preference. But if you pay close attention to these and pick your plane carefully, you will find that radio controlled flying is a great way to spend your time. It is a very rewarding hobby, and it can last you a lifetime if you choose planes that are compliant with your level of skill. After all, you don’t want to go out on your first flight and then crash your plane directly into the ground or a tree. So choose your first plane carefully, and you can avoid being immensely frustrated in the future.
Webmaster of http://rc.bizgosale.com/
Panic Attack: Understanding & Taking Control
This No-Brainer Easy Sale is created to give the Prospective Buyer the Most Value for their Buck! A practical guide on how to rid your life of the Panic Attacks and to regain Total Control of your Life in the shortest period of time possible.
Panic Attack: Understanding & Taking Control
One of a daily series of videos showing a month in the life of Sgt Vanessa Neilson, an Air Traffic Controller in Basra, Iraq. Today she shows us a runway inspection.
freeduino wireless 4 channel TTL flash controller
Image by fotoopa
Wireless remote control receiver for 4 channels. The wireless unit is the RFM12B module, the hardware is the freeduino board with the Atmega168 AVR controller.
Software is ready and tested on the Intronix logic analyser and very soon the transmitter side will be connected to see if both modules works.
The receiver have 4 TTL flash controls output via an ULN2803 driver. Multiple flash tables (for SB-80-DX, SB800, SB29S) are into the AVR controller to control the different flash types. Power will be 3 AA batteries giving 3.6V. A small diode in serie is used to adjust the max level because the batteries gives 3.9V at the max charge.
I wait now for the Nikon TTL flash cables to build the receiver into a small box.
See also photos:
www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/3798474398/in/set-721576…
www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/3778250766/in/set-721576…
Update: 2009 Aug 13
The Freeduino receiver module works! I use the max transfert speed of 115 Kbaud. The 4 flash channels are driven correctly. The SPI speed is the same as obtain by the Hardware version. I need 23 us to tansfert 16 bits data via the SPI. Now I need to implement a few extra commands to change remote the powerlevels and the EV steps. But this is only a few software lines to add. I wait now for the Nikon SC-27 TTL connection cables but normal they will furnish next week. I need also a small box to mount the receiver module and batteries.
Next planning is to build the transmitter also with the Freeduino print and the AVR controller. But there I need an extra LCD display to enter the remote parameters for the receiver. At the end of this year, the transmitter will be integrated into the CPLD unit because there is also a display and buttoms on this unit.
Update 2009 Aug 18:
For the TX module see:
www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/3819906473/
The first interface routines are written, the LCD display works now. The next days the RFM12B module as transmitter will be tested.