RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Its been a while since I posted anything since I built My Brummbar and with my next project in the process of acquiring the parts I decided to give building an Open Panzer TCB as the cost of another IBU2U board was putting me off as my next project is Pz3 Based and I would struggle to fit one in anyway.
I searched the internet to get as much information as possible and was surprised at the amount of various ones that have been built by far more talented people than me.
And before I go any further I will admit I have minimal experience with electronic components and how they actually work.
So A BIG THANK YOU to every body who has taken time out to share their findings and information to enable a novice like me to even attempt to try and build one.
My advice to anybody who would want to have a go at building one is start with the Open Panzer Forum and read as much as you can as I did and follow any links to other peoples builds as there are plenty out there that have very clear instructions and parts lists to enable you to get started.
I built my test board using some PCB prototype board and an Arduino MEGA2560 Pro
Like this one
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174014097131 ... Sw6zNdaWhG
I downloaded a electronic circuit building program called Fritzing and started designing my TCB using a collection of diagrams and assorted info found and printed off regarding the componants required and how to connect them to avoid setting fire to it all'

## EDITED 08/02/2022 Updated Fritzing diagram to reprizent the finished board ##
This is what I ended up with.
It does not have the IR battle capability added as i just want a TCB that has movement,sound,light and servo control for traverse,elevation and barrel recoil all of witch the OP TCB can do and adjust accordingly.
The movement will be provided by 2 cheap brushed ESC's.
Like these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384276691240 ... BMuuL-ptdf
The sound Can be provided by a Taigen sound card just as a standard Taigen tank would use so you would need a card and speaker along with a volume knob.But I will be using a Dasmikro mini sound card on my one.


This is my prototype board and yes it is messy but it has had various things added and not all are used as I was trying different outputs to see what did and did'nt do what I wanted.

This was an early test to see if it all worked and I was more than pleased with how it went.

Hi Baldrick131.
I have now built 3 of the Aduino Mega 2560 DIY Open panzer control boards and they are fantastic, the Open panzer software is just awesome, i am surprised more people don't have a go at making their own TCB the adjustments are endless and Open Panzer forum is great for support and help, there are a few of us on here who have gone this way so welcome, i am just finishing off an Arduino board for a 1:11 scale halftrack scratch build that i am presently doing complete with a true halftrack proportional steering to track turn ratio all from the Open Panzer config from lukez.
Truely awesome.
Well done on your build, i just added a 5v BEC to run the servos as i note you added Mosfets to cater for the extra loads needed great stuff.
Regards
Sub.

Well done on figuring all that out and getting to work.

Woah man, first of all I applaud your effort and skills, but I have a question. Please don't take it wrong.

I'll start saying I have one Open Panzer TCB with the Open Panzer sound card prototype in my King Tiger and I like it a lot. I just had to add the dual ESCs, receiver and done, but the question is: What is the sense of building the TCB you have created?

I mean, you still have to wire speed controllers for the motors, you are using servos for elevation, recoil and other moving parts, you are also planning to use a benedini mini for all the sounds and lights... What I mean is, besides IR battle capability, I don't see any need for using a TCB because you can do all that the TCB does just programming your radio.

I have a tank that way, dual ESC for motors, mini ESC for smoke, servo elevation, servo recoil. The benedini mini takes care of all the motor sounds, user sounds, 2 machine guns, headlight, spotlight and noteks. Inertias, curves, speed of recoil, track recoil and all of that, are programmed with the radio using erskytx or open tx software. So what I mean is I see no use for the TCB itself as it is.

At the other hand I'd find all the sense in the world if you make an all in one package with soundcard and ESCs integrated. There is a guy in the OP forum, Heclo, which has created his own version, all in one, and added even more functions, and sells it for a very reduced price. That is really, really cool.

Hope you end making something similar please don't take it like a critic, I am just curious, and hey, you might end making your own ultimate improved version!

Why build the TCB yourself?
Because you can!
And because it's fun to build everything yourself.
Or you have special applications where you need to build it yourself.
This can be a lack of space that requires the electronics to be divided up: There are many reasons for that... that´s hobby.

jhamm wrote:Why build the TCB yourself?
Because you can!
And because it's fun to build everything yourself.
Or you have special applications where you need to build it yourself.
This can be a lack of space that requires the electronics to be divided up:
There are many reasons for that... that´s hobby.

Lol, yes, I undestand the fun of it, building and wiring is 3/4 of the fun for me too.

Rad_Schuhart wrote: Lol, yes, I undestand the fun of it, building and wiring is 3/4 of the fun for me too.

Mega LOL..
the fun is when it works without holy smoke!

I guess its more fun if you can say it was all build by yourself.
As for just using the dasmicro to control it to be truthful didn't Know I could do that.

This is my first go at making a proper PCB I had a go with the fritzing program but it wasn't working as easy as I would have liked so I found easyeda and it was easier to work with once I had worked out how to make the parts to use on the PCB that weren't available in the easyeda library.

It was a bit of a rush job and I missed off silk screen printing and the sockets in the parts library were numbered different to the diagrams I was working from so all the sockets needed to be fitted flipped over but I did let the smoke out of a taigen flash unit but that was my fault rushing to get it working.

So after trying it and seeing how easy and quick it was to get some PCB's from china I set about refining my layout and added the battery monitor circuit and more detailed silk screen printing labeling all the sockets.


All I have to do now is to get the tank done to try and fit all of the bits in.

So my main reason for posting this is to prove a complete novice with no electronics background and average ability with a soldering iron is more than capable of doing it

Awesome sauce! I got an arduino 2560 and a nano I plan on making an OP board and a nano for stabiwii. Too bad I’m so lazy.

Rad you should make a “how to setup tx for rc tanks” tutorial.

Hi Rick, I'm very impressed. You went from a self-confessed novice to a professional circuit board designer in very little time! And now you absolutely do have something you made yourself which is very cool.

I'm interested in the green and red connectors on your final design. If I had to guess it looks like you've provided convenient power taps to your two drive ESCs (green), and I guess the two reds are one for the battery and a second for powering other stuff?

As you mentioned there have been several other users who have made up their own designs and it's always interesting to watch as each one takes a slightly different approach. I very much like what you have done, it is clear to me you put a lot of thought into what you needed and what could be let go. Some features have been left off, but what remains probably does 100% of what 90% of users would ever want, and in exchange you have gained something easy to assemble, small, and I'm guessing also inexpensive; all worthy advantages.

My hat's off to you, and I'll look forward to seeing it in your next project. (I just checked out your Brummbar by the way, it's fantastic!)


Luke