Spartan First Runs

I took advantage of the fantastic spring weather the other day and got to try the Spartan. I ran it on 5s. It's plenty fast on 5s (it can also run on 4s or 6s). I managed to flip it over once, which was unfortunate. However, thankfully I had chosen my location based on the wind direction so all I had to do is wait a minute or two for the wind to bring it close enough to shore to grab it. There is a large piece of foam in the bow of the boat so that it doesn't sink, which is why it floats with bow in the air.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable experience and I look forward to running it some more. I had no issues with anything getting too warm, or the water cooling jacket on the motor leaking.

Traxxas Summit

I had a Summit several years ago (like 6 or 7) and ended up selling it. I always missed it more than the other RC stuff I have sold and got a new one in October of 2016. The Summit is a really nice vehicle because it has remote locking differentials, and a high and low gear. Combine this with the large and soft 7" tires and it is very capable at off road fun in the woods.

Recently, I decided to install some FPV gear I already had and drive it. The one nice thing about the FPV setup on the Summit is that the whole thing is a self-contained module that simply zip-ties to the roof rack of the body. It's very quick and easy to install and remove.

Driving it FPV was somewhat successful, but very bumpy, and ultimately, the limited range of the stock radio is the limiting factor. I will likely try it again at some point.

RC28T: Indoor FPV RC Car

Since winter has been particularly tough for me this year with regard to not being able to use all the stuff I've been working on (covered in my other blog), I decided to try indoor FPV. I bought a Team Associated RC28T and a Spektrum VA2510 camera/video transmitter setup.

The RC28T is a small step above toy quality. It uses a built-in 1s lipo for power and has rear wheel drive. It has rear shocks and a solid rear axle. It has a fully proportional but very slow steeing servo.

It was a bit of a challenge to get the FPV system integrated on the small body of the RC28T. The VA2510 requires 5-13V to operate and I wanted to use a 1s (3.7V nominal) battery to power it, for the sake of weight. I ended up using a tiny step-up regulator which takes a 1s lipo battery and "steps-up" the voltage to the required 5V. It works well. I mounted a switch on the FPV system as well, so it's a simple matter to turn on/off the FPV system. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Driving it is kind of fun. The apartment is just too small, and the carpet can make it drive weird, where it won't track straight sometimes. It works well. It's just not a great environment for it unfortunately.

Traxxas Spartan

I decided to get a boat this year. This will be exciting to use out on Lake Wylie when we visit family down in South Carolina this summer.

Here are some pictures of the limited edition green Traxxas Spartan.