Upgrading Heng Long Electronics

[bikerdude]

Hi all, I've read a few threads on here and, from what I can see, general consensus is that if you have a 27MHz it won't work properly if upgraded to 2.4GHz?

I have a few questions about that, firstly, have I got that right? Or is it just the really old RX13 board that can't be upgraded? And would the Taigen system as advertised at Forgebear be any different? I have read about IBU and clark boards, but they're not for me, the stock Heng Long electronics work well enough for me, if I needed to upgrade to an IBU, I'd just buy a new 2.4GHz tank and save the difference.

Basically I have a Tiger that's fitted with an RX13, and was looking to upgrade it. If the 2.4GHz system isn't possible, would it be possible to upgrade it to the RX18, but still on a 27MHz?

I've also just today bought a Bulldog (£20 seemed cheap to me), opened it up tonight and inside it is a box with everything plugged in, rather than the bare board and soldered wires of the RX13. Does this mean that it's an RX18? It's got the separate receiver board, and comes with a non-Heng Long controller, so I guess i'll need to purchase a new Heng Long control?


Been up a long time so that might not make much sense, if it doesn't just say and I'll try and explain it better tomorrow.

Thanks.

[Aussie]

It sounds like , yes , you have the RX18 version.
The second gen 2.4ghz is a plug and play as I've converted 5 of my 27mhz tanks so far and all are brilliant.
The newest two sound 3'rd gen 2.4ghz , however , has been mentioned in here quite a few times as being nigh on impossible to retrofit , though I'm fairly sure some peeps have managed it after a lot of wiring work.

[c.rainford73]

Hi all, I've read a few threads on here and, from what I can see, general consensus is that if you have a 27MHz it won't work properly if upgraded to 2.4GHz?

I have a few questions about that, firstly, have I got that right? Or is it just the really old RX13 board that can't be upgraded? And would the Taigen system as advertised at Forgebear be any different? I have read about IBU and clark boards, but they're not for me, the stock Heng Long electronics work well enough for me, if I needed to upgrade to an IBU, I'd just buy a new 2.4GHz tank and save the difference.

Basically I have a Tiger that's fitted with an RX13, and was looking to upgrade it. If the 2.4GHz system isn't possible, would it be possible to upgrade it to the RX18, but still on a 27MHz?

I've also just today bought a Bulldog (£20 seemed cheap to me), opened it up tonight and inside it is a box with everything plugged in, rather than the bare board and soldered wires of the RX13. Does this mean that it's an RX18? It's got the separate receiver board, and comes with a non-Heng Long controller, so I guess i'll need to purchase a new Heng Long control?


Been up a long time so that might not make much sense, if it doesn't just say and I'll try and explain it better tomorrow.

Thanks.

Hi IMHO the Clark and IBU boards are such a leap in quality options and sound they are hard to beat but....

If you choose to stick with stock electronics my reccomended upgrade would be the Taigen setup from Dave. Plug it in and play. The last generation Heng Long 2.4 with dual sounds is a pain in the a@$ to convert to your old system.

The board without wires soldered to it and Jst connectors plugged in is an rx18.

[jarndice]

I am intrigued, why do you think the "Bulldog" is a Heng Long product,?
The "Bulldog" is made by other company's as well and with an unidentified Control board and a non Heng Long Transmitter as well as a separate receiver it could even be an aftermarket board,
So it could be a Heng Long product but with non standard electrics !
We need more information PLEESE.
Shaun.

[bikerdude]

It sounds like , yes , you have the RX18 version.
The second gen 2.4ghz is a plug and play as I've converted 5 of my 27mhz tanks so far and all are brilliant.
The newest two sound 3'rd gen 2.4ghz , however , has been mentioned in here quite a few times as being nigh on impossible to retrofit , though I'm fairly sure some peeps have managed it after a lot of wiring work.

Thanks, so the old soldered wiring/board is upgradable as far as 3rd gen Heng Long, which is fine as I prefer my 3rd gen to my sons 4th gen controls. However it does leave me with a dilemma.

Hi IMHO the Clark and IBU boards are such a leap in quality options and sound they are hard to beat but....

If you choose to stick with stock electronics my reccomended upgrade would be the Taigen setup from Dave. Plug it in and play. The last generation Heng Long 2.4 with dual sounds is a pain in the a@$ to convert to your old system.

The board without wires soldered to it and Jst connectors plugged in is an rx18.

Thanks, I don't doubt the quality of the clark and IBU boards, but (at the moment) the Heng Long does everything I want, I find the sound quality adequate, and the proportional controls of the 3rd and 4th gen controls seems fine to me, so can't really justify the cost of upgrading to the expensive boards. Especially as it's for a cheap tiger that I don't especially like, my main reason for upgrading it is that I want to use it in a landing craft. So as long as all I'll need to do is buy the taigen set and a set of wires/plugs, connect the wires to the plugged wires, plug it all in and away I go, that'll do for me.

I am intrigued, why do you think the "Bulldog" is a Heng Long product,?
The "Bulldog" is made by other company's as well and with an unidentified Control board and a non Heng Long Transmitter as well as a separate receiver it could even be an aftermarket board,
So it could be a Heng Long product but with non standard electrics !
We need more information PLEESE.
Shaun.

The main reason, it says Heng Long on the bottom... Lol I should've been clearer in my initial post, the box inside is marked as Heng Long, but not whether it's an RX18, and I wasn't sure if there was a 14, 15, 16, or 17 in between the RX13 of my Tiger and the RX18.


Here's a few photos of the insides:











So now I've got a dilemma. The Bulldog I've just bought all works, though some of it seems temperamental, some things working intermittently, so that needs looking at, though I don't know where to start, so maybe that'd be best to just swap everything out as well?

I'd rather not spend on 2 complete set ups, so maybe rather than upgrade the Tiger to Taigen I could get 2 sets of RX18, and share a 27MHz transmitter? But at the same time I do prefer to not have a massive aerial on the tank and the transmitter, plus if the kids use it, 27MHz transmitter is in danger of it's aerial being snapped off.

Hmm decisions... I suppose the other option is to upgrade the Bulldog to 2.4GHz, and use the electronics from that in the Tiger and hope the intermittent problems are solved in the Bulldog and don't get transferred to the Tiger?

[bikerdude]

I just remembered theres a transmitter and board set for sale on here, its Torro branded, does anyone know if this is the same as the Taigen set and so would also be a straight swap?