Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting hits

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KingRaptor
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Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting hits

Post by KingRaptor »

Hello all,
I am looking for help with this IR receiver not detecting hits.

I have a Tiger I (triggers broom style :haha: ) with a Clark TK 80S board.
I am trying to battle with my daughters HL Sherman V6.0.
The Tiger will send and hit the Sherman just fine, but the Sherman can only hit the Tiger when I have the Sony remote programming receiver in CN2. When I plug the Taigen (blue) IR receiver into CN2, the Tiger will not detect hits from the Sherman.

What am I missing here? Does the Taigen receiver need to be re-wired a certain way?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Last edited by KingRaptor on Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking." -Patton

Er, Heng Long Tiger 1?
Taigen Lower
Metal Road wheels, Sprocket, Idler, Tracks
TK80s
3s
FS-i6s
FS-iA10B
ETO Gearbox
Tarr Mk 2
Visaton 4ohm
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IR
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Jarlath
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver

Post by Jarlath »

Is the Tiger programmed to take hits from HL IR Code?

Press Volume Down on the remote when in programming mode and you want 1 flash. If two, you are not setup for receiving HL IR Code.
KingRaptor
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver

Post by KingRaptor »

Jarlath wrote:Is the Tiger programmed to take hits from HL IR Code?

Press Volume Down on the remote when in programming mode and you want 1 flash. If two, you are not setup for receiving HL IR Code.
Yes, I set it up to receive hits from HL and Tamiya. It will accept hits with the programming IR receiver plugged in(the one for the Sony remote), but not the Taigen blue IR receiver.
Does anyone know if the Taigen pins are in a different order?
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking." -Patton

Er, Heng Long Tiger 1?
Taigen Lower
Metal Road wheels, Sprocket, Idler, Tracks
TK80s
3s
FS-i6s
FS-iA10B
ETO Gearbox
Tarr Mk 2
Visaton 4ohm
Barrel Smoke, Flash unit, Recoil
IR
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tankme
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting

Post by tankme »

There is some info about the Taigen IR receiver here under the IR header. The Taigen apple is wired differently it seems.

https://openpanzer.org/wiki/doku.php?id ... install:ir
Derek
Too many project builds to list...
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Jarlath
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver

Post by Jarlath »

KingRaptor wrote:
Jarlath wrote:Is the Tiger programmed to take hits from HL IR Code?

Press Volume Down on the remote when in programming mode and you want 1 flash. If two, you are not setup for receiving HL IR Code.
Yes, I set it up to receive hits from HL and Tamiya. It will accept hits with the programming IR receiver plugged in(the one for the Sony remote), but not the Taigen blue IR receiver.
Does anyone know if the Taigen pins are in a different order?
OK. So I assume you are using the Clark board configuring kit (such as the one here: https://dakrctank.com/shop/ir-configuration-line/) which has a pre-built 5 pin JST-XH connection with an LED and a IR receiver built into it.

The fact that it works for programming proves that the Clark board is working and can take a hit. So my guess is a wiring issue between the 5 pin connector to the clark board up to the IR receiver connection.

OK.. I added an image.
Clark board Pin Layout:
Pin 1- IR Receiver +ve
Pin 2- IR Receiver Signal
Pin 3- IR Receiver -ve
Pin 4- Indicator LED -ve
Pin 5- Indicator LED +ve

Original HL & Taigen Apple Layout
Large Post
Pin 1- IR Receiver -ve
Pin 2- IR Receiver +ve
Pin 3- IR Receiver Signal
Small Post

Current HL Apple layout (Magnetic)
Pin 1- IR Receiver +ve
Pin 2- IR Receiver -ve
Pin 3- IR Receiver Signal
Attachments
Hand written layout
Hand written layout
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Jarlath
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting

Post by Jarlath »

Here is an image right from Clark's website regarding how to wire a HL/Taigen Apple

CN2 from left to right as shown. (Pin 1 - 5)
RX +ve, RX Sig, RX -ve, LED -ve, LED +ve

Follow the colours for proper wire location (colours do not represent polarity/function).
Attachments
HL apple to Clark connection.
HL apple to Clark connection.
hl_ir.jpg (38.11 KiB) Viewed 1240 times
KingRaptor
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting

Post by KingRaptor »

Jarlath wrote:Here is an image right from Clark's website regarding how to wire a HL/Taigen Apple

CN2 from left to right as shown. (Pin 1 - 5)
RX +ve, RX Sig, RX -ve, LED -ve, LED +ve

Follow the colours for proper wire location (colours do not represent polarity/function).
Thank you for this info Jarlath! Now it makes sense.

Here is how i had it wired.
From CN2 V+, Sig, V-, LED-, LED+
to IR end V+, V-, Sig, LED-, LED+

I see in your diagram the + and - are reversed from what i have, i will try this tonight and update my findings here.
The Sherman came with that magnetic black "apple".

Thank you everyone for your help!
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking." -Patton

Er, Heng Long Tiger 1?
Taigen Lower
Metal Road wheels, Sprocket, Idler, Tracks
TK80s
3s
FS-i6s
FS-iA10B
ETO Gearbox
Tarr Mk 2
Visaton 4ohm
Barrel Smoke, Flash unit, Recoil
IR
User avatar
tankme
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting

Post by tankme »

Was just troubleshooting why one of my tanks wouldn't take hits last night. I found an internally broken wire on mine. I put my voltmeter in diode mode so I get an audible beep when it measures a short (that's a good thing when checking resistance of a wire of course). It's funny because the break wasn't at one of the connectors, but actually in the wire itself under the sheath with no visible damage. I had to remove the wire going to the apple mount completely and replace it. The only way to catch this was to ohm out the wires. Otherwise I'd still be scratching my head. I had put the apple on another tank and it worked fine. I even went so far as to change the order of the wires in the mount because this was a brand new installation on my JS-2. I thought maybe I wired it backwards. When that didn't work was when I broke out the voltmeter. I should've ohm'd the wires before I installed it.

Lesson learned.
Derek
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KingRaptor
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting

Post by KingRaptor »

So, I finally got some time to work on this.

I switched the + and - on the IR receiver wires and plugged in the Taigen apple.
When i turned on the Tiger, my transmitter beeped as it connected to the RX but the Tiger wouldn't respond to any inputs. (no sound, no movement)
I unplugged the apple and tried again, the Tiger responded as normal.
So having these wires crossed stops the Clark board from responding to any inputs from my transmitter.

I wired the IR plug back to normal, and plugged in one of the IR receivers i bought of amazon and everything worked as it should. Received hits from the Sherman (HL 6.0)
I may just have to get a different apple for the Tiger, because this has me stumped and i don't want to keep messing with it and get that "magic" puff of smoke from my TK-80S :wtf:
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking." -Patton

Er, Heng Long Tiger 1?
Taigen Lower
Metal Road wheels, Sprocket, Idler, Tracks
TK80s
3s
FS-i6s
FS-iA10B
ETO Gearbox
Tarr Mk 2
Visaton 4ohm
Barrel Smoke, Flash unit, Recoil
IR
User avatar
Jarlath
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Posts: 402
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2016 2:45 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Re: Clark TK80S with Taigen IR receiver help, not detecting

Post by Jarlath »

KingRaptor wrote:So, I finally got some time to work on this.

I switched the + and - on the IR receiver wires and plugged in the Taigen apple.
When i turned on the Tiger, my transmitter beeped as it connected to the RX but the Tiger wouldn't respond to any inputs. (no sound, no movement)
I unplugged the apple and tried again, the Tiger responded as normal.
So having these wires crossed stops the Clark board from responding to any inputs from my transmitter.

I wired the IR plug back to normal, and plugged in one of the IR receivers i bought of amazon and everything worked as it should. Received hits from the Sherman (HL 6.0)
I may just have to get a different apple for the Tiger, because this has me stumped and i don't want to keep messing with it and get that "magic" puff of smoke from my TK-80S :wtf:
Hmmm... I'll need to double check the pin outs on the later HL apples then...

Thanks for the feedback. Glad a new apple solved the situation.
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