Elmod WSN T34/85 Build

[wibblywobbly]

Ok, I bought a couple of Maplins potentiometers, 22kb Part JM72. Used my HL Jagdpanther which has an RX18. On the standard 0.5w HL speaker it certainly brightened the sound up, so I connected a bigger 8ohm 1w one that I salvaged from a CD Radio that I was binning. A lot more clarity, and depending on how I covered the speaker with my hand it made quite a difference to the audible frequencies. If I can mask the top end, then the deeper engine sounds, especially on tickover are much better.

Using the Visatron, the simple answer is that the HL amp isn't strong enough. It sounds worse than the 1 amp speaker. I will be back down Maplins tomorrow to find a speaker box to mount it in. That will improve the Jagdpanther sound for almost £nothing.

Back to the T34. I couldn't find anywhere to mount the on/off switch or the volume switch, so I developed a cunning plan. I had already created a pod for the driver to sit in, so I mounted a push button behind him, and drilled a hole in his back, I then removed the red cap from the switch and pushed the spindle into the drivers back. To start the tank I push the driver backwards, and to switch off I do the same again.

The new potentiometer is mounted over his left shoulder. I cut a slot in the end of the adjuster so that I can reach it with a screwdriver through the hatch.

It's all painted up matt black and when in the tank it is all invisible.

[wibblywobbly]

Done a bit more now. Once the speaker arrived I realised that my pcb layout wasn't going to work. I tried cutting out the entire WSN speaker mounting in the upper hull, but putting the speaker there meant that it snagged on the top of the soundblaster heatsink. There was nothing for it, I had to take all of the internals out and reposition everything. There is 'just' enough room to mount everything in the lower hull.

I also removed the standard ariel mount and filled the the hole, plus the hole left where the rear screw goes on the standard WSN. The grill is never going to be perfect but it is pretty well hidden now.

Once the gears arrive, I have been promised that they were despatched 2 days ago (they were ordered back on 19th August) I can fit those and it's running. Then I can go back, tidy up the rear fuel tanks, and repair all the paint that has been scratched whilst I have been working on the tank! Then a coat of lacquer, and it's all done!!

[vonrundstedt]

Looks fantastic!! great job Rob

[wibblywobbly]

Cheers!

The gears arrived today, they were an absolute pig to fit, and don't come with instructions. If you ever buy the full metal gears then be aware that you will need a pillion puller, a vice, a decent set of pliers, and the patience of a saint. They are low quality, one of the shafts is running out of true, and I had to run them in with toothpaste to get them to rotate, there was a serious hotspot on one side.

After cleaning the toothpaste off, I sprayed them with dry grease, but they are still incredibly noisy. Apart from that, and I have no idea if the metal gears are low ratio, it is running on 7.2v and climbs over anything with ease.

I am just doing some finishing touches, and then I will video the finished item and post it on You Tube, with a copy here.

[wibblywobbly]

As promised here are two videos, the quality is a bit naff as they were done on an ancient digital camera in video mode.

Part 1 is everything in this thread, eg the build.
Part 2 is the T34 running.

That's it folks!

Rob G

Part 1
Elmod T34/85 Installation Part 1

Part 2
Elmod T34/85 Installation Part 2

[vonrundstedt]

Fantastic comrade Robski A Lot of hard work, and it was worth it. Its giving me idea's of turning my German T-34 back to russian! Once again, excellent work

                    Regards, Luke

[wibblywobbly]

Cheers mate...you will notice that the slogan on the turret says 'Red October' in Russian (you did notice that didn't you?) 
, and the music is the theme from 'Hunt for Red October' which is called Hymn to Red October, arguably the best film intro ever.

Still working on the synching the sounds to the tank start/stop. It's getting there, plus in fun tank mode there is way too much power going to the motors on start off, need to resolve that either by using T34 mode, or reprogramming the tx.

[Matdragon]

that Fire sound and the following re-load sounds ... sounds exactly like the sounds from the IS-152 in the game Red orchestra!

excellent work mate, looking forward to using it as taget practice *cough* i mean battling it

Matt

[grim_marmazet]

Its coming along really well Rob, any comrade would be proud to driver it!  It seems you've really got the el-mod sorted now. How are you finding battery life on fun tank mode?
Cheers,
Rik

[wibblywobbly]

@Matdragon. If that is where the sounds came from then it is news to me, I don't have Red Orchestra so I always wondered where someone got those from. They are also now used in an upgrade to T34 v Tiger that I downloaded ages ago.
See you on the battlefield Matt, you Germans have had it your own way for far too long! 

@Grim. Believe it or not the turret functions stopped working..again, but as Thomas sent me two of the microdot N20 fuses I replaced what I thought was the blown fuse. It still didn't work, so I junked the HL 8 pin socket and soldered individual pins onto the wires (they are available from Maplins and are designed for the same sockets that Elmod use), that fixed it. It seems that the 8 pin plug does not take kindly to being soldered, as it detaches the pin from the solder but you can't see it as it is under the plastic. Ho-hum.  >:(

Battery life is massively extended in fun tank mode, I run the Tiger and the T34 like that now. However, Thomas reprogrammed the board that is currently in the T34 so that in Tiger mode it should give fun tank performance, I haven't had a chance to swap them and try it out yet, as I don't want to disturb anything till after the Swindon bash.