The world of electronic upgrades

[lmcq11]

Hi,
In the past 10 years, I've been enhancing my Heng Long tanks with extra surface details, metal tracks, sprockets, road wheels, new barrels, gearbox and done many resin conversions. But I never felt I needed to change the electronics. Heng Long electronics always seem to work fine to me, but I really do not know what I am missing by not upgrading these. But since I joined this blog, I keep reading exciting comments about Clark or IBU boards. Other than my old Futuba that I used in my Tamiya and Bandai tanks long ago, and the Matorro stuff that I threw right away in the garbage, I have never known or used anything else than Heng Long electronics. I even installed an Rx-18 in my T-55 and Elefant... sacrilege to some I am sure. I would appreciate if someone can highlight to me what spending on upgrading the electronics would bring. I am really not knowledgeable in that area.

Best regards, Louis

[Max-U52]

I think I've tried most of the popular aftermarket boards, except for the elmod, and I think you're asking a question that will have many answers. A lot will depend on the specific tank you put it in. Are you familiar with my youtube channel? I have a whole plethora of videos of a bunch of different electronics upgrades, starting with the add-on stuff like the RC2TG through the Clark, the Asp and the IBU series. As for what they bring, the rewards are significant. Starting with much better control, all the way to the extraordinary things they're doing with sounds. Here's just one example, an Asp board in my S33 Tiger provides the voice and music through an Asp, and the engine start and tank movements are in my 332 Tiger, which runs on an IBU2 base.

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The Tigers (including the KT and JT) are great tanks to upgrade because they have a nice amount of space to play with. Getting aftermarket stuff in a Stug or Panzer IV is a different story, and that's why I used a Clark TK22 in my Sherman. But I was able to stand an IBU2 on it's side and stuff it in this Stug.

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If you want to participate in IR battles with any well organized club then save yourself a whole bunch of headache and get a freakin' Tamiya!! Most of my tanks are airsoft, and I must say my go to board is the IBU2 base. I think you get the most bang for your buck with the IBU and it's most definitely the easiest board there is to install.

[Afrikakorps]

Hi Imcq11,
I may be a bit biased coming from Australia, but i tend to think that the Asp2 is the best board on the market. (They are made in Australia )
Marketed by RCtanks Australia, there is an online wiki page full of info and loads of Utube vids on how to do.
They have tons of features for both IR and airsoft and are Tamiya battle compatible !
Not to mention a great little IR battle unit called the Pirhana.
Its an IR emitter and receiver all in one small package.
Asp2 is the second generation Asp, and is well worth a look at. I dont know of anyone who has tried one and not been impressed.

As Max-U52 said there are significant rewards to be gained from all the different electronics upgrades, its just a matter of choosing what you want for a particular tank.
Take your time and Good Luck with your decision.
Cheers
Afrikakorps

[hotte8487]

Excactly - and so has every tanker his own preference. The most important difference opposite HL and Tamiya is the possibility of those boards, that you can adjust many features as you like it. The same also applies for the sounds.
And last but not least - I use Elmod boards and I'm satisfied with it...

[Tiggr]

You can also piggyback a Beier Electronics board off an HL board (provided it is 2.4 ghz)
The Beier boards are totally programmable as are some of the other boards listed above.

With the Beier board you get to keep using the radio and the existing board.

[Raminator]

I would appreciate if someone can highlight to me what spending on upgrading the electronics would bring. I am really not knowledgeable in that area.

It depends on what you're after and how much you want to spend. There are boards that improve driving, sounds, features, battling, or some combination of them. There's a (slightly dated) thread that covers the highlights of some of the more popular offerings; your best bet would probably be to see which feature set appeals to you and ask what owners of the board think.

I'd agree with Gary that the IBU2 base is a great place to start; it's plug-and-play, vastly improves the driving behaviour over the stock electronics, it's customisable and it's reasonably priced. In my opinion, the sound libraries that come with it aren't great, but you can always make your own or share with others.

[HERMAN BIX]

For me its simple

The newer H/L gear wont work for some reason so,

Forced to make a decision on a new board it will be:

- simplicity to program(im an E-retard)
- sound
- functionality(recoil option etc)
- availability(how easy is it to get)
- and cost/effectiveness.

[lmcq11]

Thank you everyone for the information. I am at the planning stage of starting a Juckenburg Nashorn mounted on a standard Heng Long IV chassis. I am not sure what I will be able to achieve in terms of gun control. For me, as you may have noticed, the looks and accuracy is extremely important, especially on a open fighting compartment. I want it to look perfect, so there must be nothing sticking out of the floor that is apparent. I cannot create something too complicated either because my lack of engineering skills will prevent it. The space available underneath the Narshorn fighting compartment is also very limited because the compartment floor is deeper into the hull. I was hoping to use a couple of simple small servos under the floor of the gun to drive some elevation and directions (without barrel recoil) but I can't find servos available that can plug and play into an RX-18 to replace the larger gun and turret rotation motors/gears. It would have been too simple... i likely need to replace something but it must be able to reuse the heng long gearbox and most other items. Any idea ?

Thank you, Louis

[MichaelC]

Louis, I built my Juck Nashorn on a Heng Long Pz IV chassis a couple of years ago. Here are some pics of the inside compartment as well as the inner hull so you have sense of spacing. I didn't do rotation or elevation, but did built-in a servo recoil. I think rotation with Heng Long units underneath, and elevation as well with with some linkage rod off a Heng Long pulling elevation unit.

[lmcq11]

Thanks Michael !
Cutting the battery box away from the bottom hull... now why didn't I think of that ? it's so simple. Yeah, this makes room for the gears. thanks !
Louis