proportional speed control

[thwobble]

Hi,

First of all, I'm new to this group and know nothing about r/c tanks, which is a great start!
However, I've bought a basic Heng Long Panther tank for my son's Christmas and it seriously needs proportional speed control as it's either fast forward or fast reverse, and quite difficult to control. I've done a bit of basic research and found something called a Transmitter Proportional Control Unit which I assume is fitted to the transmitter that came with the tank. Question is - does this replace the original controller or do I need to buy another transmitter? Or is there another way to control the actual spped of the tank? Any help for this rank novice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

thwobble

[BIGMIG]

Hello thwobble,
          Well first off I see this is your first post so I would like to say welcome to the forum,and I will try to give you a little help and general info on the HL tanks.There will be lots of guys here who can help you out with any questions you may have,and we all started out with our first tank.It apears to me you have the ----  Non smoke and sound model tank,so lets start there and make sure this is the case.The easy way to tell if your tank is "not a smoke and sound model " is to look at the transmitter first. Down on the bottom right hand corner of the transmitter there is a place with the markings ( A-B-C- ) and there is a selector switch--------You have a non smoke and sound model tank.
The smoke and sound model will also have the same markings (A-B-C- ) but will have a plug in crystal in place of the selector switch lever.Also under the bottom of the tank hull on the non smoke and sound model tank you will find another switch marked (A-B-C-) with a selector lever in it to select the A-B-or C chanel.
          Lets start here and make sure which tank you have and then we can help you with any other questions.This might be better posted in the    General Discussion  area of the forum,if so mabe Matt can move it there.Again welcome to the forum-

                                                        BIGMIG 

[thwobble]

Hi Bigmig,

Many thanks for the kind welcome to the forum! It is indeed non-smoke and sound model (I described it as basic) and, to reiterate, I want to be able to vary the forward and reverse speeds on this tank.

Cheers.

[Matdragon]

hi thwobble,

to my knowlege, i dont know if its possible, but if i find a way then i will let you know, but most people would just buy a smoke and sound tank, which are only generally about £20 - £30 more, these have slight proportional drive, and as they are called smoke and sound

but because im sure you dont particulary want to just buy another, then there im affraid not many options if you were to acheive this, then it would probably cost more than the tank itself

cheers,

Matt

[fv432]

hi thwobble you can get a smoke and sound upgrade kit from military might also from this forum and replace the electronics not cheep but still get you what you want 

ps welcome mate

[tiger205]

hi thwobble and welcome to the forum,   the cheapest way to get proportional is to upgrade youre non S&S tank to smoke and sound, this is easy enough to do, you can get a complete set of all you need to do this from ebay http://toys.shop.ebay.co.uk/items/Tanks ... catZ140984 this link will take you to the listings for all things related to rc tanks, expect to pay in the region of 30-35 quid, andy from militarymight is a member here on this forum so he may be able to help you out. one thing you need to bear in mind is niether the non s&s or the s&s  are true proportional, the non s&s has 2 speeds, and the s&s has 10, therefore the "smoker" appears to be proportional, where as the non "smoker" only goes fast and faster. the only way to get true prop' is to gut the tank of all the electrics and spend quite abit of money on after market electronics, i hope this helps

                      regards
                                 Tony

[BIGMIG]

Hi Bigmig,

Many thanks for the kind welcome to the forum! It is indeed non-smoke and sound model (I described it as basic) and, to reiterate, I want to be able to vary the forward and reverse speeds on this tank.

Cheers.

Hello again,
      I assumed it was a non S&S model,but it's best to make sure.To add to what the guys mentioned above I can add the following.To change over what you now have to smoke and sound will require the following.====The smoke and sound version of the  (transmitter)  (matching set of crystals)
(set of S&S boards--these go inside the tank)  (one speaker)  (the smoker unit--but this is not required if you don't want it.) The above is what will give you the more proportional speed control like the regular smoke and sound tank.The smoker unit is not required to accomplish the retro-fit to better speed control.Everything else pertaining to the tank itself is the same,except as stated above.
This will require some soldering,and you will most likely need some help from the guys here on the forum with the wiring.The non S&S tanks are still fun,but just so you know the S&S models are the best.The cost of up-grading these can be 2/3 the cost of a new tank.For me here in the U.S. the price difference between the Non S&S and the S&S model is only 8 to 10 dollars new,and the last time I bought a new tank they were around $70.00 dollars with shipping.And to up-grade a non S&S tank can cost around $45.00 to $55.00 dollars or more plus the shipping for the parts.I know the prices are hard to compair between country's due to different types of money and pay scales.Hope this will be helpfull to you as to what you choose to do with your tank.Others may be helpfull here also in what they have done and where they got the best deal on up-grade parts.
                              Best Reguards                            BIGMIG 

[FireflyKeith]

Hi, thwobble and welcome to the forum,  if it was me in your position i would buy the smoke & sound version and re-sell the one you have as it would probably work out cheaper in the end, but i understand christmas is just around the corner and you are now pushed for time, so if you can put up with the speed problem, stick with it and upgrade later, Hope your son enjoys it 

[thwobble]

Hi Everyone,

A BIG thankyou to all who took the trouble to reply. Think I'll wait to see if my son gets on with his Xmas present and take it from there.
In the meantime, seasonal greetings to you all!

thwobble

[fv432]

no worries thwobble sounds like a good plan to me
if you need any assistance in the future dont forget we are here and raring to help 

(when you gettin your own tank LOL)