Raminator wrote:43rdRecceReg wrote:This flash unit from Taigen/Heng Long retails for around £12..
Taigen HL high intensity flash unit.jpg
This Tamiya unit for most of its models has a RRP of £55..
Tamiya flash unit.jpg
As this is absolutely the last part I need for my project, and not wishing to fork out £55 on a slimline cable sporting a flash bulb, and not much more than a wee capacitor (max?) for storing the charge........I wonder whether the HL unit could be adapted to work with a Tamiya setup?
My understanding of the Tamiya high intensity flash is that it receives its high voltage (I think I remember reading something about 300V?) from the MFU, whereas the H/L offering has its own high voltage supply safely contained externally. That's why the Tamiya's not compatible with anything, and why it's so much smaller; it doesn't actually contain the necessary electronics. You wouldn't be able to get the Heng Long flash to work with the Tamiya MFU unless you cut it apart and rewired it to the MFU's high voltage power supply, which is not a safe proposition at all.
43rdRecceReg wrote:I see that the Open Panzer TCB can be used with the DMD T-03 esc, and that the HL Flash unit can be adapted to work with the TCB. That, then, looks like one way forward. Any ideas?
If you're using the TCB instead of the Tamiya MFU, there's no reason to use the DMD unless you've already got one spare and can't flog it off on anyone else. It wouldn't make the tank perform any better than a cheaper ESC, and the TCB's going to do all the heavy lifting. If you're already building a hybrid piecemeal, there's no particular need to stick with Tamiya's (needlessly expensive) proprietary gear; cheaper, more flexible options are available to you. Then spend the money you save on the Tamiya bits that are worth it like suspension and sprues.
Very prudent, Dan. I guess that all there is inside the Tamiya unit is a wee capacitor and a tiny PCB which, when triggered, releases the charge. By contrast, then, the Taigen version has some sort of step-up transformer and capacitor built into it, and that makes it outboard to some extent.
As attractive as the TCB is, it still would leave me looking for a sound module (unless Luke's is now available), and suitable robust ESCs. But the biggest issue for me is Time. It's the one commodity that can't be replaced. Balancing life and home management, dog care, writing and recording music (my No 1 interest) and all the quotidian stuff this connected world requires of us, eat into the time available for Tanking. Meantime, I have a brand new and unused 3-D printer
I need to get acquainted with. This will require additional study of basic CAD and more. I'm also building gaming and VR-capable PC at the moment as part on another endeavour...blah, blah.
In short, I'm happy to make time for building model Tanks (that's the real buzz for me
), but want to spend the minimum time 'tuning' them up- so to speak. That's why, if the standard DMD units were available at sensible prices, I'd buy them. They really do just plug and play and, since I've no one to battle with, require no additional features. Simple and quick: that's it...with no hours agonising about configurations, or toggle travel percentages etc., or adding extra switches to my Spektrum DX6i. I added a working backlight, and that was enough for me.
I shall have to write all the potential options down, and cost them.. not only in monetary terms (and value for money terms)...but especially in terms of their Time needed factors. Tamiya DMDs may be dated..but so am I (not quite obsolete yet, but gradually morphing into a Royosaur
)
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
