关键词:ECX Ruckus怪物卡车,Duratrax Evader BX车,Futaba 4PLS 4通道无线电系统
来源:互联网 2015-12-18
原文:英文
By Terry Dunnon April 16, 2014 at 7:36 a.m.How To Get Into Hobby RC: Upgrading Your Car and Batteries
In my previous article, I talked about my experience with the ECX Ruckus monster truck and how it brought me back up to speed on current RC technology. One of the challenges that I faced with the Ruckus was that I thought it was too fast for my son to handle. He spent some time driving a slower car and soon had the skills necessary for the Ruckus. That gateway car was a Duratrax Evader BX buggy (which is no longer produced). It was a perfect starter car for him. It was slow enough to keep him out of too much trouble while he honed his driving reflexes. Yet, it was fast enough to get him excited about the hobby, challenge him on occasion, and satisfy the dirt-slinging ambitions of a pre-teen. Once he became comfortable with the Ruckus, however, it was clear that we needed another fast vehicle to keep both of us entertained. The modified Evader is slightly smaller than the Ruckus, but its performance is on par. Both are powerful and fast.The simplest route would have been to install a more powerful brushed motor and a new set of high-traction tires on the Evader. After briefly considering that option, I decided to modernize the buggy completely. I added ball bearings, a 2.4GHz radio, a brushless motor system and a quasi-monster truck makeover. Let's walk through that upgrade. Many RC cars include bronze bushings on their moving parts rather than ball bearings. They work okay for beginners, but they eventually wear down and the tolerances between moving parts get loose. Then things get sloppy, noisy, and draggy. Upgrading to ball bearings reduces quite a bit of friction, but also maintains the same tolerances throughout the life of the car. I purchased a set of ball bearings for the Evader and guided my son through the steps to install them. Ball bearings reduce friction between rotating parts, but they also maintain consistent tolerances over time. The bushings included with many starter cars eventually become sloppy and wear out.To install the bearings, we had to disassemble the whole transmission. This was a good opportunity for my son to get a look inside the gearbox and get a feel for what it does and how it works. There are also bearings for the rear axles and front wheels. It probably took less about an hour to do the whole thing. The radio that came with the Evader worked just fine. However, I wanted not only a 2.4 GHz radio, but something with more adjustability to help control the power I expected out of the souped-up Evader. I ended up with a Futaba 4PLS 4-channel radio system. What a radio! I’ll cover its range of features in the upcoming computer radio overview. But I can say that this is by far the nicest surface radio I’ve ever owned and probably the last one I’ll ever need. I removed the receiver that was in the car and replaced it with the Futaba receiver. It is held in place with adhesive-backed Velcro. The Evader has a flexible tube that is mounted vertically to elevate the receiver antenna. Since the antenna on the 2.4GHz receiver is considerably shorter than the antenna on the stock 27MHz receiver, I shortened this tube accordingly. I upgraded the Evader’s stock radio with a Futaba 4PLS 4-channel radio. It is a 2.4GHz radio with built-in telemetry features.Duratrax sells a brushless upgrade kit that is intended for 2-wheel drive buggies and trucks. Since motor mounts are pretty much universal across all hobby grade cars, this was a bolt-in replacement. I removed the stock motor and ESC from the car and the brushless components filled in the empty space. As with the receiver, the ESC is held in place with Velcro. The only remaining step was to remove the pinion gear from the old motor and add it to the new one. The motor position is adjustable to accommodate different gears and to allow adjustment of the gear mesh between the pinion and its mating spur gear. I set the mesh by sandwiching a strip of paper between the gears. Inserting a piece of paper between the gears is an effective way to set the proper mesh when installing a motor. In this photo, I am installing a Duratrax brushless motor on the Evader. Note the small setscrew on the pinion gear…they strip easily.Sometimes it is necessary to change gearing when you change motors because of each motor’s specific performance characteristics. However, I was confident that the stock gearing would not overstress the brushless motor. The only question that remained in my mind was whether the stock transmission gears would hold up to the added power of the new motor. So far, they are working fine. At this point, it is worth pointing out the value of having quality tools when working on RC cars. Many times (as with pinion gears) you will need to remove small setscrews (typically 3mm) that have been tightened as much as possible. Trying to remove these setscrews with a hex wrench (aka Allen wrench) that is the wrong size or even slightly worn will very likely strip the drive cup of the setscrew. Then you are in for some real frustration! So keep metric and standard wrenches on hand and toss them when they start to become worn. Ball-end hex wrenches wear out and strip screws easily, so I generally avoid them. This photo illustrates the overall layout of the Evader after being modified to a brushless-powered truck.It is also a good idea to have a few Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) screwdrivers on hand. Many RC cars use JIS screws. They look much like Phillips screws, but the drive cups are slightly different. Using a Phillips screwdriver on JIS screws will cause premature wear on the drive cups and eventually strip them. Phillips screws, however, are quite tolerant of using JIS drivers. JIS tools tend to be rather expensive, but they are a worthwhile investment. Test DriveAfter the bearings, new radio and new motor were installed, the Evader looked pretty much like it did before. It was, in fact, a very different machine. My son and I test drove it and found that it was now much faster-nearly as fast as the Ruckus. However, the upgraded Evader had a strong tendency to spin out at every turn. There are numerous suspension adjustments that can be made to fine-tune steering response, but I think tires are the best place to start attacking traction problems. I was still using the Evader’s stock knobby tires which were several years old. Although they didn’t look very worn, they had hardened over time. Just as with full-size cars, soft tires are sticky tires. So, I set out to find some new tires that would be softer and also have a tread pattern that would work reasonably well on dirt or paved surfaces. The Duratrax Evader BX served as an ideal starter car for my son. It was fast enough to hold his interest, but tame enough that he could control it. Best of all, it readily accepted upgrades to improve its performance.Tires are typically glued to the wheels, so I couldn’t just pull the old tires off of the stock wheels (not easily anyway). I had to look for new wheels and tires for the Evader. I can’t even begin to tell you how many choices there are when it comes to wheels and tires. They are made to suit any application you can think of. You can even get paddle tires to run your car in loose sand or skim it across open water! For a 1/10 scale buggy like the Evader, you can expect to spend at least $40-$50 on a full set of tires. As I was searching for tires on the Tower Hobbies website (where I bought the Evader), I came across a set of four all-terrain tires for just $10.99. These tires are stock equipment on the Evader EXT 2.4, a not-so-distant cousin of my Evader BX. I also found the matching wheel set for only $9.99. Just glancing at photos of the EXT 2.4, I could see that it shares the same core components as my BX. With the allure of a cheap set of tires, I ordered the EXT wheels and tires with the assumption that I could use them on my BX. For the most part, I was right. I did have to install longer front axles and steering knuckles from the EXT to make the front tires work. But even with those added parts, I was ahead of the game cost-wise. Although cost was a deciding factor, the main reason I wanted the tires from the Evader EXT was to make my Evader a little bit more versatile. The larger front and rear tires would give better footing on grass and rough ground than the smaller buggy tires (which are better suited to well-groomed dirt racetracks). Even with the bigger tires, I could have kept the original buggy body on the Evader. Keeping that form-fitting cover in place would help keep out a lot of the detritus that inevitably permeates into all parts of the car. The only problem is that it would have looked a little odd (oh vanity!). I found a prepainted monster truck body on sale for about $20 (a very good deal), so I picked that up as well. Because this body wasn’t specifically made for the Evader or any of its variants, I knew that I would have to find my own way to mount it to the car. I bought an EXT front body mount and I was able to fit it on the BX with a homemade adapter plate made from a scrap circuit board. The rear of the body is held in place with Velcro. I adapted the front body mount from the Evader EXT by fabricating a simple adapter plate from scrap circuit board.When I was done, my Evader was a hybrid of the BX buggy and EXT 2.4 truck models. After installing the larger rear tires (which is equivalent to changing gears), it now keeps pace with the Ruckus. The softer tires also alleviated much of the spin-out problem. I plan to tweak it further with suspension adjustments. The Evader upgrade was a very straightforward project and just a hint of the customization that is possible with RC cars. My goal was also to illustrate that older cars need not be discarded. In many cases, they can be upgraded to take advantage of new technology. My son and I now have a pair of cars with similar performance that we can enjoy together on the street or down at the park. The completed truck conversion of the Evader BX looks very different from the original buggy style. This radical change only required a few component swaps. Such adaptability is common in the RC car world.Battery ChoicesBatteries have progressed a long way during the past decade--a very long way. Lithium-Polymer (LiPo) batteries matured to the point where they can finally handle the extremely high discharge rates that hobbyists demand. These batteries are not only lighter, but they have much higher energy densities than Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) and Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) cells. Along with brushless motors, LiPo batteries are responsible for making ridiculous performance available to the RC car masses. Cars with out-of-the-box speeds of 50+ mph are not uncommon, with some cars being capable of more than 100mph! The performance advantages of LiPo technology come with a tradeoff--they are intolerant of abuse and mishandling.With all of the performance available using LiPo batteries, you may be surprised that I’m going to suggest that you ignore them for now. The performance advantages of LiPo technology come with a tradeoff. LiPos are intolerant of abuse and mishandling. The consequences of a scorned LiPo may be as slight as a premature death for the battery pack. A more severe reaction would be fire. Yes, cars (RC and full-scale) and homes have burned to the ground because an angry LiPo caught spewed flames. Don’t think that LiPos are akin to live hand grenades - it’s not that severe. They do however require respect, diligence, and knowledge of their proper care and feeding. A common rookie mistake is leaving a battery plugged into your model and simply turning off the switch to deactivate it. If left overnight in this condition, housekeeping current demanded by the ESC could drain the battery below its safe discharge voltage…leaving you with an irreparable battery. As you get more familiar with the quirks of RC equipment, you may decide that you’re ready for the jump to LiPos. Then again, maybe you won’t. I have a workshop full of LiPo batteries that I use in my RC aircraft, but I still have not found a compelling reason to use them in my RC cars. Here are examples of three different battery chemistries used in RC. The top battery is a 7-cell (8.4V nominal) 2400mAh NiMH pack. Below it is a 2-cell (7.4V nominal) 2100mAh LiPo battery. The bottom battery is a 2-cell (6.6V nominal) 2300mAh A123.As the advancement of LiPo technology has stolen the RC spotlight for several years, NiMH batteries have quietly seen similar leaps in capability. For instance, the battery that came with my ECX Ruckus truck is a 7-cell NiMH with 2400mAh capacity. Other 7-cell NiMH packs are available in the same physical size (classified as Sub-C, as compared to AA, D, et al) but with more than 5000mAh capacity. Theoretically, such a battery would provide the same performance, but with more than twice the run time. The primary difference between the batteries is cost. Whereas LiPos have some unintuitive requirements, NiMH cells can tolerate users with layman-level battery knowledge.Of course, you can also do stupid things with NiMH batteries that would cause them to perish or catch fire. However, such things usually require malicious intent. Whereas LiPos have some unintuitive requirements, NiMH cells can tolerate users with layman-level battery knowledge. For that reason, I suggest that beginners start out with NiMH batteries. NiCad batteries are also a valid option, but they are not as prevalent as they once were. The batteries that I most often use in my cars are called A123 cells. Specifically, their chemistry is Lithium-Nanophoshate (LiFePO4). A123 Systems is the company that brought this battery technology to market several years back. In short, A123 batteries are a compromise between the energy density of LiPo cells with the robustness of NiMH cells. There are other LiFe batteries on the market, but as I write this, only the A123 cells have the discharge rates needed for powering amp-hungry electric motors. Along with A123 cells, the other LiFe batteries are often used to power the onboard radio equipment for gas/nitro-powered cars and larger airplane models (where the required discharge rate is much, much lower). A123 cells are my preferred battery type for RC cars. Here, we have a triad of different configurations: a side by side 2-cell pack (bottom), and end-to-end 2-cell pack (top left), and a factory-assembled 3-cell pyramid pack.Most often, I use a 2-cell A123 pack in my cars. The fully charged voltage is 7.2v, which is roughly equivalent to a 6-cell NiMH battery. Each cylindrical cell is about the same diameter of a standard C-sise battery, but the A123 is roughly .6 inches longer. The original version of this cell has a 2300mAh capacity, but newer models (which I have not yet used) are 2500mAh. Compared to an average 6-cell 2500mAh NiMH battery, the 2-cell A123 has slightly less voltage and capacity, but only 45% of the mass (5.5oz vs. 12oz). A123 batteries are a compromise between the energy density of LiPo cells with the robustness of NiMH cells.Without getting mired in the discharge characteristics of the different cells, I will say that I detect very little difference performance-wise between the A123 and the stock NiMH in my Ruckus. If I didn’t know which battery was installed, I couldn’t tell the difference by driving. The only issue I run into with A123s is their form-factor. Side by side packs are often too wide to fit in stock battery compartments (the Evader is a notable exception). End to end packs have a small girth that may not mesh with the car’s battery retention method. I’ve always been able to figure out a workable solution with Velcro in strap form (Ruckus) and/or the adhesive-backed variety (Evader). I think that I may be somewhat alone in my continued usage of A123 batteries. If you care to join me, you can buy factory assembled A123 packs from numerous vendors. Those of you comfortable with heavy soldering can save a few bucks by assembling your own packs from individual cells. In fact, most of my A123 packs were built with cells scavenged from certain DeWalt cordless drill batteries. Also note that A123 cells require specific chargers. Hooking one to a NiMH charger would be a bad idea. Many new RC chargers can handle multiple battery chemistries, including A123. Coming UpThis concludes my RC car overview. I hope you now have a better idea of what is available off-the-shelf, as well as the potential for customization and experimentation. In reality, what I’ve shown here is a very narrow snapshot of the hobby. I’ll revisit the car topic periodically to touch on new developments or interesting projects. Next time, I'll assume the role of the Fun Police and take a critical look at Norm and Will’s testing of the DJI Phantom 2 Vision + quadrotor. They committed a few common rookie mistakes that are worth pointing out! |
自动翻译仅供参考
如何操作业余RC:升级您的汽车和电池
特里Dunnon 2014年4月16日在7:36 amHow进入业余爱好RC:升级你的车,电池
许多遥控汽车包括他们的移动部件,而不是球轴承青铜衬套。他们的工作好,适合初学者,但他们最终拖垮和运动部件之间的公差松动。然后事情就变得马虎,嘈杂的,和拖拉。升级到球轴承减少相当多的摩擦,同时也保持了相同的公差在整个汽车的使用寿命。我购买了一套球轴承强制收兑,并一步步引导我的儿子来安装它们。
附带强制收兑的无线电工作就好了。不过,我想不仅是一个2.4 GHz无线电的事,但有更多的可调节性,以帮助控制我的预期了马力向上强制收兑的力量。我结束了一个双叶4PLS 4通道无线电系统。什么是无线!我将介绍即将推出的电脑无线概述功能范围。但我可以说,这是迄今为止我永远需要最好的表面收音机我曾经拥有的,可能是最后一个。
我删除了,这是在汽车,并与双叶接收器取代了它的接收器。它举行的地方用胶粘剂支持魔术贴。强制收兑具有被垂直安装于提升接收机天线的柔性管。由于在2.4GHz接收机上的天线是比股票27MHz的接收器上的天线相当短,我相应地缩短该管。 唯一剩下的步骤是从旧电机拆下小齿轮和将其添加到新的。电机的位置是可调节的,以适应不同的齿轮,并允许该小齿轮及其配对正齿轮之间的调整的齿轮的啮合。余由齿轮之间夹着一张片设置网格。
在这一点上,值得指出的遥控汽车工作时,有质量的工具的价值。很多时候(与小齿轮),你将需要删除的小定位螺丝(通常为3毫米)已拧紧尽可能。试图删除这些固定螺钉用内六角扳手(也称为内六角扳手),这是错误的大小,甚至轻微磨损很可能会剥离驱动杯的固定螺丝的。那么你是在一些真正的无奈!因此,保持指标和标准扳手的手,折腾他们,当他们开始变得磨损。球头内六角扳手磨损,带螺丝很容易,所以我尽量避免使用它们。
我还是用强制收兑的股票多节的轮胎这几个岁。虽然他们并没有看起来非常破旧,他们已经硬化随着时间的推移。正如全尺寸轿车,软胎是粘性的轮胎。于是,我开始寻找一些新的轮胎,这将是更柔软,还具有将工作相当好有污点或铺设路面的胎面花纹。
当我正在寻找塔爱好网站上的轮胎(我在那里买强制收兑),我遇到了一组四全地形轮胎为$ 10.99。这些轮胎是车辆设备上强制收兑EXT 2.4,我的BX强制收兑的不那么遥远的表妹。我还发现了匹配轮只有9.99 $设置。只是看了一眼照片EXT 2.4的,我看得出来,它共享相同的核心部件为我的BX。有了一套轮胎的价格便宜的诱惑,我下令EXT车轮和轮胎,我可以用他们对我的BX的假设。在大多数情况下,我是对的。我也必须从EXT安装较长的前轴和转向节,使前轮工作。但即使有这些增加的部分,我是超前的游戏成本方面。
虽然成本是一个决定性的因素,最主要的原因我想从强制收兑EXT轮胎是为了让我的一个强制收兑一点更灵活。较大的前部和后部的轮胎将给草和粗糙的地面比小越野车轮胎(这是更适合整齐干净的污垢赛道)打下基础。即使有更大的轮胎,我可以保持原来的马车身体上强制收兑。保持这种形式的合盖到位,将有助于保持了很多不可避免地渗透到汽车的各个部位的碎屑。唯一的问题是,它会显得有些奇怪(哦虚荣!)。
我发现在售约$ 20(一个非常好的协议)一彩涂怪物卡车的身体,让我挑了好了。因为这个机构没有专门针对强制收兑或任何其变种而成,我知道我必须找到我自己的方式将其安装到车上。我买了一个EXT前机身卡口,我是能够在BX适合它用自制的适配器板从废旧电路板制成。主体的后部以替代与魔术贴保持。 强制收兑升级是一个非常简单的项目和自定义这是可能的RC车只是一个提示。我的目标是也以说明旧车不必丢弃。在许多情况下,它们可以被升级以利用新技术。我和儿子现在有一个对汽车行驶性能相似,我们可以在公园一起享受在大街上或向下的。
不要以为LiPos是如同活手榴弹 - 它不是那么严重。不过,它们需要尊重他们适当的照顾和喂养,勤奋和知识。一个常见的新手的错误离开插入到你的模型电池,简单地关闭开关,关闭它。如果在这种情况下放置过夜,按ESC要求的看家电流会消耗电池低于其安全放电电压......让你有一个无法弥补的电池。当你更熟悉的遥控设备的怪癖,你可能会认为你已经准备好为跳转到LiPos。话又说回来,也许你不会。我有一个完整的,我在我的遥控飞机用锂聚合物电池的生产车间,但我仍然没有找到一个令人信服的理由来使用他们在我的遥控车。
我在我的车最常使用的电池被称为A123细胞。具体而言,它们的化学性质是锂Nanophoshate锂(LiFePO4)。 A123系统公司是把这个电池技术推向市场几年前的公司。总之,A123电池是锂聚合物电池与NiMH电池的稳健性的能量密度之间的折衷。目前市场上的其他寿命电池,但因为我写这篇文章,只有A123细胞有需要的电源放大器饥渴电动马达的排出速度。随着A123细胞中,其它的LiFe电池经常被用来板载无线电设备用于气体/硝基为动力的汽车,以及较大的飞机模型(其中所需的放电速率是非常非常低)供电。
我想我可能是在A123的电池我继续使用有些孤单。如果你愿意和我一起,你可以买到从众多供应商的工厂组装的A123包。那些你熟悉重型焊接可以从单个细胞组装自己的包节省几块钱。事实上,我的大部分A123包均建有细胞一定得伟电钻电池清除。还要注意的是A123细胞需要特定的充电器。挂钩一个镍氢充电器将是一个坏主意。许多新的RC充电器可以处理多种电池化学组成,其中包括A123。 |