Amateur Build. HAYA Centurion KIT. Power Up the Tank!
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2024 3:15 pm
After checking everything (several times) I eventually plucked up enough courage to connect the battery and switch the tank ON for the first time.
No smoke or burning smells were detected, so my worst fears came to nought and I was able to relax a little...but apart from both headlamps giving a brief "flash" as the thank was switched on - all was silent!
I moved the left hand stick unit left and right and the turret turned around - and when I moved this same stick unit up and down the main gun moved up and down. All good so far!
The two different machine gun sounds were found and they sounded good (not sure why there are two different machine gun sounds when there is only one red flashing LED bulb) - and I noticed that neither of them caused the red machine gun LED (mounted in the mantlet) to flash at all.
This was a worry as I had taken care to ensure that the long leg of the LED (+ positive) was soldered to the red (+ positive) wire and I had also checked its function by connecting it to a 3V battery - and it lit up OK - so I know the bulb was working.
The main gun switch was found next and it made an impressive firing sound - and the gun flash LED in the barrel worked too so everything was OK with the main gun function........but I did notice that the small LED in the barrel was quite a long way down inside the barrel as the wire it was mounted on was too short. By comparison, the LED on my RTR Centurion hangs out the end of the barrel - so that one is probably just a bit too long. Both will need adjusting eventually.
I found the combination of switches to activate the Rolls Royce engine sound and it worked OK - but it was not very loud! This seemed a little strange as the main gun sounds (both of them!) and the main gun sounds were plenty loud enough!
The volume control was turned to "max" and it made very little difference - the engine sound is too quiet. The main reason for buying a Clark board was to hear the authentic Rolls Royce engine sound. NOT impressed!
The engine sound can be made to rev more (or less) without the tank moving until the drive is engaged with the gearbox. Very nice - but still far too quiet!
After using the correct combination of switches I was able to engage the drive and see the drive sprockets turning (I had removed the tracks when I had to remove the gearboxes to re-solder the wires onto them). This was the first time I had seen the non-standard blue motors turning under control of the radio system so I was pleased that they were working OK.
Moving the right hand stick in different directions shows the appropriate response on the drive sprockets so I was able to engage forwards, reverse, and "turn" in either direction..
I followed the prescribed sequence for switching on and off the two headlights - but nothing happened, and despite not giving in too easily (tried switching them on and off lots of times) - they simply did not work!
Again these two headlamp bulbs were tested (before and after soldering them together( to make sure they had been wired with the correct polarity ) and tested on a 3V battery to confirm they were working.
When I finally gave up and switched the tank off - these two (non working!) headlamp bulbs briefly flashed on again - proving that they did work - but not when I wanted them to!
Intrigued by this, I switched the tank on and off a few more times - and the two main headlamp bulbs flashed every time!
No smoke or burning smells were detected, so my worst fears came to nought and I was able to relax a little...but apart from both headlamps giving a brief "flash" as the thank was switched on - all was silent!
I moved the left hand stick unit left and right and the turret turned around - and when I moved this same stick unit up and down the main gun moved up and down. All good so far!
The two different machine gun sounds were found and they sounded good (not sure why there are two different machine gun sounds when there is only one red flashing LED bulb) - and I noticed that neither of them caused the red machine gun LED (mounted in the mantlet) to flash at all.
This was a worry as I had taken care to ensure that the long leg of the LED (+ positive) was soldered to the red (+ positive) wire and I had also checked its function by connecting it to a 3V battery - and it lit up OK - so I know the bulb was working.
The main gun switch was found next and it made an impressive firing sound - and the gun flash LED in the barrel worked too so everything was OK with the main gun function........but I did notice that the small LED in the barrel was quite a long way down inside the barrel as the wire it was mounted on was too short. By comparison, the LED on my RTR Centurion hangs out the end of the barrel - so that one is probably just a bit too long. Both will need adjusting eventually.
I found the combination of switches to activate the Rolls Royce engine sound and it worked OK - but it was not very loud! This seemed a little strange as the main gun sounds (both of them!) and the main gun sounds were plenty loud enough!
The volume control was turned to "max" and it made very little difference - the engine sound is too quiet. The main reason for buying a Clark board was to hear the authentic Rolls Royce engine sound. NOT impressed!
The engine sound can be made to rev more (or less) without the tank moving until the drive is engaged with the gearbox. Very nice - but still far too quiet!
After using the correct combination of switches I was able to engage the drive and see the drive sprockets turning (I had removed the tracks when I had to remove the gearboxes to re-solder the wires onto them). This was the first time I had seen the non-standard blue motors turning under control of the radio system so I was pleased that they were working OK.
Moving the right hand stick in different directions shows the appropriate response on the drive sprockets so I was able to engage forwards, reverse, and "turn" in either direction..
I followed the prescribed sequence for switching on and off the two headlights - but nothing happened, and despite not giving in too easily (tried switching them on and off lots of times) - they simply did not work!
Again these two headlamp bulbs were tested (before and after soldering them together( to make sure they had been wired with the correct polarity ) and tested on a 3V battery to confirm they were working.
When I finally gave up and switched the tank off - these two (non working!) headlamp bulbs briefly flashed on again - proving that they did work - but not when I wanted them to!
Intrigued by this, I switched the tank on and off a few more times - and the two main headlamp bulbs flashed every time!