M1A1HA, 9/18/23 update. Delay of Game, two week penalty!

[BarryC]

“It’s Alive, it’s alive, my creation is ALIVE!!!!!”

I have made good progress over the last few days. I completed the On/Off switch throw bar/Pental Hook by getting it all soldered together and drilling and installing both pins. The interior pin holds the switch arm and the slide tube together making it very easy to disassemble. The exterior pin is the “lockout” pin that prevents inadvertently turning the main battery on.







Using the battery and motor connectors supplied with the ElMod Board I terminated the battery wiring from the battery disconnect and On/Off switch to the board. I then terminated the motor wiring from motors to board.







I connected up the receiver and battery and turned on the Transmitter.



With fingers crossed I turned her ON and to my delight the “Blue” LED flashed a couple of times then went steady On! It worked just as advertised!



I have not activated the “Reset” switch which will power the motors using the ElMod’s test function because I still need to add the suppression capacitors between the motor terminals, later today I hope.

TAFN,
Barry

[BarryC]

Well the "reset" test went according to the ElMod manual but after that things got a little confusing.

What it boiled down to was the functions of the right stick were swapped. What should have been the throttle/engine start/stop was steering and the steering was throttle and engine. So left input started engine and commanded forward and down input steered left! All connections between ElMod and Rx were verified correct.

Long (all afternoon) story short between suggestions from Rob and MichaelC. and with some timely intervention by my son-in-law who was over for burgers and dogs and big into RC Cars it all "seems" to work now though I am not quite certain how or if I could do it again!

Before the son-in-law arrived I tried to do some troubleshooting using my "vast" knowledge. I though if channel 1 and 2 were swapped coming out of the receiver that should cure the issue.......well then nothing worked, so I contacted Tech Ops (Rob and MichaelC) for assistance.

I later down loaded the M1A1 sound files and the main sounds seem to work except no turret rotation or gun elevation sound. Not sure there is even a elevation sound but hey Machine Gun and Cannon Boom work well.

Got to figure out a way to quieten down those gearboxes some, man they seem awfully LOUD! I can not here the sounds with them running above mid speed (upper hull not on) and I have yet to go into the sound control setup in the ElMod and set individual sound levels.

Learning as I go, thanks to all who have help thus far...many questions to follow I am sure!!
I will be happy to get back to the modeling aspect where I will be back into my comfort zone.

TAFN,
Barry

[BarryC]

Hi Guys,

I have been thinking about the amount of noise the gearboxes make and reading several posts here with suggested paths I have formulated a plan.

I am going to mount the GBs with small rubber isolation mounts from "Vibration Store" (located in Australia) on eBay. They are 8mm x 8mm with an M3 stud on one end and a M3 female on the other. I will mount them to the hull using M3 blind nuts up through the lower plate at the 3 existing mount locations plus one additional placed where HL has a locating post but not an actual mount.
OR
I am also considering mounting the GBs on a plate then shock mounting the plate to the hull. Besides rough measurements suggest that the shock mounts will be approx. 3mm under height to properly located the GB lower base at the center and aft point and approx. 6mm short at the two forward locations. A plate will allow me more freedom in the placement of the shock mounts and help make up for the height difference.

I will add 5mm thick, self adhesive sound proofing material on all the interior walls of the motor compartment (where it will fit) as well as to the inner surface of the upper hull area above same.

Thoughts?

Barry

[BarryC]

To me the gearboxes look very new, My guess would be that they will quieten down a fare bit with a few hours of running behind them. I have just put different gearboxes in my Abrams, and Chally 2 both of which are new and loud, but I am confident that they will quieten down over the next few weeks as they get used.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Brand new is more like it, they do not have 5 minutes of consistent run time but I was amazed at how loud they are. The hull seems to amplify the noise 10 fold or more; what type of gearboxes do you run Paul?

Thanks,
Barry

[tao]

Awesome work! For breaking in new gears I found putting some lube of choice then running them fast forward and backwards
with a drill for a min or two each way does an amazing job of breaking them in. I didn't calculate the ratio.. but turning the drive shafts that fast would take a looooong time running with the motors from the other end:)

[BarryC]

Thanks Paul!

[HERMAN BIX]

Doughnut turns on dirt accelerates the run in process!
My STuG with its winter tracks has huge traction and took ages to bed the gears in

[BarryC]

Doughnut turns on dirt accelerates the run in process!
My STuG with its winter tracks has huge traction and took ages to bed the gears in

[BarryC]

Hi guys,

As noted in a previous post, I decided to move the main gun mount and elevation servo as well as the turret battery pack from the upper turret half to the lower half. I have spent the past days doing just that.

The main gun mount is a self-contained unit that is removable being mounted to the lower turret half using 3, 4-40 screws and blindnuts. I was able to salvage the “heart” of the elevation servo mount from the upper turret and reuse it with little modification. The base is secured with glue and the servo tray is secured as originally designed.

I built up a new “shelf” for the turret battery pack on the aft side of the providing a counter balance for the main gun assembly. I had to mount the battery a little further aft than I would have liked due to interference between it and the depressed portion of the commander’s cupola.

I have also fabricated the mount for the slip ring and have mounted it. Plan now is to install magnets in both upper and lower halves to secure the two together. I plan on placing a magnet on each of the kit’s mounting towers giving me 8 mount points. Once that is accomplished it will be time to start wiring up the turret.

Here are a few pictures showing what I have accomplished.

TAFN,
Barry

[BarryC]

Here is how I have used magnets to secure the upper and lower turret halves so the upper can be removed without removing lower half from hull. This will allow me to operate the tank if needed for maintenance without the upper turret half installed.

I have installed all magnets in both upper and lower halves as per the drawing, waiting on epoxy to set on the lower magnets. So far it has worked as planned.

TAFN'
Barry