Mako Board Review.

[Tankbear]

Got to try out this board today so thought I give a quick review of it.

First up installation. Very straight forward, unplug 5 pin IR plug from RX18 and plug into Mako board then connect supplied lead back to the RX18. Job done.

Road testing, basically we had a few Tamiya, SLU tanks and it works well against them. We didn't get it working with WSM/Torro tanks (more later). It was obvious however the HL IR emitter was putting out to big a beam and hitting most things, the Tamiya standard is to have it in a short tube (9mm long) so this isn't a problem with the board but makes it a bit unfair in battle.

Another comment which hopefully can be built into the board is when you take a hit the HL will just shudder, Tamiya will light up a few LEDs on the apple to indicate a hit.

On a side note during testing we found the SLU was compactible with Tamiya, HL with Mako board and WSM/Torro. So maybe if the Mako board could also be WSM/Torro compactible I think it be an even bigger seller.

Ian.

[Reaper332]

Hi Ian,
Glad you liked it, I have spoken to Kevin already and we are going to look at doing something with the WSN tanks so they can join in. Also I think Kevin is design a apple for the Heng Long tanks that will have Led's that light up like Tamiya, I know one of his other units and I think its the ATRC mk 11 ( dont quote me on this one) has the function to light up led's when you have been hit that way you can place them around the tank ie: under engine grills and so fourth.

Cheers Ken

[Tankbear]

Hi Ken,

Yes enjoyed the board. meant we had a good few tanks running at same time all joining in on the battle.

Great to know Kevin is putting a lot on new products out there and constantly developing them with feed back.

Ian.

[RCTanksAustralia]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the input on the MAKO. Tankbear you got one of the very first Makos and a lot your wishes have been fulfilled. The beauty of the MAKO design is that with a simple chip replacement and some simple mods on your part you can turn your version 1 MAKO into the lastest version quite easily.

As of about 1 hour ago I've added WSN support to the MAKO. So keep the feedback coming.

Cheers all
Kevin G

[Tankbear]

Hi Kevin,

That's great news about adding the WSM support to the board. As the WSM and HL are both in the same-ish price bracket it now means people can battle each other with the latest Mako board.

Keep up the great work.

Ian.

[mustclime]

I saw one of these in a battle last week....one thing you might want to look at. With the hl panther, the IR emitter without a tube to narrow down the beam would spread out to about 5 feet at 15feet from target....That means it is easy to hit a whole bunch of tanks with one shot.

[Tankbear]

But that is the HL issue not the Mako board.

Sure it is easy enougth to add tube to IR

[971wright]

Hi Kevin has an Add-on board comming out mid year called the Mamba board works with the Mako it gives you flashing lights and reduces the speed of the tank.So you can upgrade your Heng long tanks a bit at a time (or if you want all at once)He is going to look at the battle unit (apple) after the Mamba.To see if it can be improved.
I think this is a great item very cheap to buy and works well .Plus you dont have to be a electromagian to fit it.
This has to be the best starter system out there

regards pete

[Reaper332]

Hi Guys,
Thanks Ian and Pete for your support and help, Kevin is a great guy and with our help and suggestions will be able to make tanking more fun and affordable for everyone and thats the name of the game.

Cheers Ken

[r32]

Has this Mako board been benchmarked against the industry-standard Tamiya Battle Systems, because better or worse than the Tamiyas isn't going to be good either way, it should work exactly the same with the 3/5/9 shots and corresponding speed reduction scale?

That would open up the hobby to a broader audience.