Greetings from Kansas

[FarmBoyKS]

Just joined your forum. No tank yet. Looking at the Heng Long IDF Merkava IV Professional very seriously. Have raced RC trucks, monster trucks, and buggies…both electric and nitro. Live on a farm so have plenty of room for tank exploration. This is reason for wanting the steel parts for ruggedness.

Would love to encourage others in my area to get involved with this hobby and create a battle ground on my property for tank battles using competitive level IR.

Will be looking to this forum nand community for assistance and mentoring.

Looking for online stores to consider my purchase and that help with getting the tank battle ready.

[MrChef]

Welcome to the group from New York.

Definitely plenty to read, learn and gleam here from this sorted lot.

[tankme]

Welcome to the forum. A bunch of us in central Texas battle so if you have questions just ask away.

The Merkava seems like a good tank so far. Several of our guys run them and the seem to be reliable so far. I have one also, but haven't finished getting it ready for battle yet. Most of the clubs will use the LegoDEI "apple"/infrared receiver as it has better range and works in bright sunlight unlike the Heng Long "mushroom". The LegoDEI receiver also has hit indicators on it that are typically wired into the HL headlight or tail light LEDs. The lights will stay on until you turn the tail/headlights off using the controller. Once the lights are off, the receiver will blink registering hits. Sound complicated, but it's really not once you wire it up once.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I think the Merkava MK IV is a good choice for a first modern Main Battle Tank. Here are two sources in the U.S., both of which I have used with no problems:

Motion RC: https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3958-002
Toucan Hobby: https://www.toucanhobby.com/search?q=Me ... ix%5D=last

[FarmBoyKS]

Thanks for the Welcomes and information.

Besides the upgraded IR gear, what else is necessary to get the Merkava battle ready?

Thanks again

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I defer to anyone with more experience with IR and outdoor running, for I do not use any of my (too many) tanks for IR battle nor even run them outdoors. However, if I were looking for a toughie Merkava, here's my thoughts: a metal hull for stiffness and weight would be good, along, of course, with the metal suspension upgrades. So depending on how much one is willing to spend, I should think this beast would be tough enough and then some: https://www.toucanhobby.com/products/hl ... e947&_ss=r. (I see, however, that there are even more expensive ones, mostly with camera, etc.)

On the lower end, this might be all you really need: https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3958-002

[Meter rat]

Hello and welcome from Argyll and Bute.

A Merkava eh? That’s a different start to the wallet emptying process. Lang may your lumb reek, and you continue with the modern tanks.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Lang may yer lum reek.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1_Jsh-td-8&t=2s

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