Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Here is the place to talk about everything El-Mod! Help with installing and upgrading ect.
User avatar
wibblywobbly
Major
Posts: 6398
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:30 am
Location: South Wales Valley
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by wibblywobbly »

Jake79 wrote:Hey Rob

Is that all you need to buy just the Fusion Eco, I get confused with Elmod do you not need to buy the sound blaster as well is the Eco a complete set up......

Jake
The neat thing about the new boards is that everything is on the one board, including the battle system. You buy the Fusion board and that's it, way better than the previous modular versions.

They sell a cable that allows you to fit Elmod, Tamiya or HL mushrooms.

Sounds are on an SD card, so a few SD cards, one board, one speaker, and a few cables, and you can switch one board between tanks. They are good, friendly people, speak English, and reply promptly to emails.

...and not worried about off topic, if anyone is fitting a board to a tank, this is as good a place as any to discuss it.

Here are a few examples from YouTube.



Tiger 1 Late
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
User avatar
Jake79
Warrant Officer 2nd Class
Posts: 1058
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2014 9:10 pm
Location: Essex,Colchester, UK

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by Jake79 »

Thanks for that Rob, Elmod really impress me the sound is excellent... after what you've said it looks like I might actually be able to install one of those, I was put off in the past with no how to's around, I will buy an Ibu2 as the set up is easy and all the good reviews, but I'd willing to also try one of these now thanks to the all in one set up.. a is there much soldering involved.....
Tamiya: 2 King Tigers
H/L,Taigen :Initial Tiger 1, Panzer III, Kv 2, Panther G, Bulldog, Leo 2A6
User avatar
wibblywobbly
Major
Posts: 6398
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:30 am
Location: South Wales Valley
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by wibblywobbly »

The only soldering is to the motor wires from what I can see, though when I install any board I pull out all of the HL wiring and install my own.

It doesn't need to as complicated as they make it.
These always go straight to the board no matter which board it is:
2 drive motors.

These all go onto the 8 pin plug:
1 turret rotation motor.
1 elevation motor.
2 wires for the lights.
1 wire for the machine gun (it shares the positive with the lights).

This link has the diagram, the one at the top is one that I did years ago.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4555

Just use 15 amp multi strand for the motor wires, and thinner stuff for the rest. Use multi strand as it flexes, so wires won't break when the turret rotates.

The IBU seems like a good board, I was looking at the Pro version and comparing it to the Elmod Fusion Eco, which is just over £140. The Eco version only has one servo socket which is for a recoil, but that would suit me, the HL elevation unit is perfectly good without the need for a servo. The Elmod has 8 channel polyphonic sound, and a highly developed speed step system, which makes a big difference in sound quality.

It all comes down to that good old 'how much' thing, and what someones preferences are. If Clark hadn't given UK distribution to Tankzone I would go for those (I may still buy a couple) as for the money they are a bargain. I had two and they never went bang, despite hours of abuse off road.

RobG
Tiger 1 Late
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
User avatar
Rad_Schuhart
Warrant Officer 1st Class
Posts: 1979
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Spanish living in Graz, Austria. Heart in UK.
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by Rad_Schuhart »

wibblywobbly wrote:
The nicest thing is the mechanical grind as a tank changes gear, and the lurch as the next gear is selected. These are very clever boards now. All of the sound files are free to download, plus of course you can make your own. I used to do this, not easy I admit, but great fun once I had the hang of it.
Hi Wibbly, I am trying to make my own motor and machine guns for the fusion pro, but for some reason the sounds dont seem to work.
I discovered yesterday that the sound quality is only 22khz, and that has dissapointed me quite a lot (I expected 44khz, like open panzer and the ASPs!) but anyway, still cant make them work. Do you know if the motor sounds are somehow coded or if we have to do something else?
My RC tanks website, loads of free info for everybody:
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
User avatar
wibblywobbly
Major
Posts: 6398
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:30 am
Location: South Wales Valley
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by wibblywobbly »

The high quality Fusion sound files are stored in a subset of folders. Years ago I wanted to change the main gun sound and couldn't figure it out, so in the end I emailed Thomas. He came straight back and told me where to place the file to make it work, and it did. I don't think I would ever have found the location without him telling me.

It was so long ago that I haven't a clue where it was, but a quick email to Elmod will get an answer.

They also have an English speaking forum which they monitor, so if you post a question there it will also get an answer, and of course, the info will be available to anyone else with the same problem.

https://www.rceifel.de/forum/index.php? ... ken-board/

They have revamped the forum, so this url is an update from the old one which no longer exists.
Tiger 1 Late
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
User avatar
Rad_Schuhart
Warrant Officer 1st Class
Posts: 1979
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Spanish living in Graz, Austria. Heart in UK.
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by Rad_Schuhart »

wibblywobbly wrote:The high quality Fusion sound files are stored in a subset of folders. Years ago I wanted to change the main gun sound and couldn't figure it out, so in the end I emailed Thomas. He came straight back and told me where to place the file to make it work, and it did. I don't think I would ever have found the location without him telling me.

It was so long ago that I haven't a clue where it was, but a quick email to Elmod will get an answer.

They also have an English speaking forum which they monitor, so if you post a question there it will also get an answer, and of course, the info will be available to anyone else with the same problem.

https://www.rceifel.de/forum/index.php? ... ken-board/

They have revamped the forum, so this url is an update from the old one which no longer exists.
Hi, no probs, I have found the exact place of all the sounds, from the common ones to the ones currently used and so on. But the problem seems there is something in my hand made sounds I am missing, and I dont know what it is. It might be something quality related, or even worse, something code protected. All Elmod sounds are now somehow coded so you cannot use in other boards. I wonder if my own sounds need that sort of code... I already wrote thomas yesterday, so I am waiting for the answer.

Edit: Got an answer "the correct format is: 22kHz, Mono, 8-bit." Ill try it tonight, but I think I already did it.
Again, shame the quality is so low...
My RC tanks website, loads of free info for everybody:
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
User avatar
wibblywobbly
Major
Posts: 6398
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:30 am
Location: South Wales Valley
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by wibblywobbly »

I was just about to suggest checking the format, but you got there.

The NextGen soundsets are higher quality as they are designed to work with the onboard sound system.

The quality of DIY sounds is affected by several things. To get the highest quality the source sounds need to be WAV format and as high quality as you can find. Eg using a low quality source file will only produce low quality results. If the sound is converted from another format to WAV and is lower than 22khz then you will lose quality during the conversion process. If the file is too loud then Audacity will clip the upper and lower frequencies, which will dull the sound. This has the biggest effect, so only use source files where you can see that the graph is not clipped.

It's also possible to play around with settings in Audacity to improve the sound by changing amplitude, high and low frequencies, tone etc. It's a powerful program but takes a bit of time to get to grips with it.
Tiger 1 Late
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
User avatar
Rad_Schuhart
Warrant Officer 1st Class
Posts: 1979
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Spanish living in Graz, Austria. Heart in UK.
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by Rad_Schuhart »

wibblywobbly wrote:I was just about to suggest checking the format, but you got there.

The NextGen soundsets are higher quality as they are designed to work with the onboard sound system.

The quality of DIY sounds is affected by several things. To get the highest quality the source sounds need to be WAV format and as high quality as you can find. Eg using a low quality source file will only produce low quality results. If the sound is converted from another format to WAV and is lower than 22khz then you will lose quality during the conversion process. If the file is too loud then Audacity will clip the upper and lower frequencies, which will dull the sound. This has the biggest effect, so only use source files where you can see that the graph is not clipped.

It's also possible to play around with settings in Audacity to improve the sound by changing amplitude, high and low frequencies, tone etc. It's a powerful program but takes a bit of time to get to grips with it.
Yep, I already know that... I am just a bit disappointed with the quality of what the Elmod can play. It is a bit pale against my Open Panzer and ASP boards...

Anyway I must still say I like the board a lot, but you know, if it sounded a bit better...

(And if it was tons cheaper... LOL)
My RC tanks website, loads of free info for everybody:
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
User avatar
wibblywobbly
Major
Posts: 6398
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:30 am
Location: South Wales Valley
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by wibblywobbly »

There is a reason why 22khz is used. Most humans can't detect anything higher than that.
By means of bone conduction we can hear up to 50 kHz, and values up to 150 kHz have been reported in the young (Pumphrey, 1950). However, it is indeed generally agreed that 20 kHz is the upper acoustical hearing limit through air conduction.
Tiger 1 Late
Panther G
King Tiger
M36 B1
User avatar
Rad_Schuhart
Warrant Officer 1st Class
Posts: 1979
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Spanish living in Graz, Austria. Heart in UK.
Contact:

Re: Elmod & Motors - Read This Before Buying Motors

Post by Rad_Schuhart »

wibblywobbly wrote:There is a reason why 22khz is used. Most humans can't detect anything higher than that.
By means of bone conduction we can hear up to 50 kHz, and values up to 150 kHz have been reported in the young (Pumphrey, 1950). However, it is indeed generally agreed that 20 kHz is the upper acoustical hearing limit through air conduction.
I dont agree with that at all. There is indeed a lot difference!
Not onlw the 44khz sounds better, but the tank/computer speaker does not make any annoying background bzzzz sound!
more than 44 I dont find any difference, but between the 22 and 44khz I do find a lot. I dont think I am a rare human. Well, I am a rare human, but not because of that, lol.
My RC tanks website, loads of free info for everybody:
https://radindustries.wordpress.com/
Post Reply

Return to “El-Mod”