Yo, tankers! I've just received one of the remarkably cheap Vex radios that are going for $9.99 on the surplus market (this one's from Marlin P. Jones (www.mpja.com, item number 17044 MI). You did NOT misread that.
NOTE: The receivers for these units DO NOT demultiplex the individual PWM channel signals, you must do this externally with a microcontroller or a simple logic circuit. Otherwise, it's a "normal" R/C unit. Since I do microcontrollers for fun, this is not a barrier to me. I am blown away by the excellent build quality and functionality of this radio system, folks. The 6-channel transmitter has plug-in TX and RX crystals, programmable servo mixing, exponential throws, 6 storable control configurations, battery voltage display, a "tether" output that bypasses the receiver to test the circuitry the receiver controls; all the sorts of things you'd want in a mid-range R/C transmitter. It is VERY solidly made, and has 4 actuator buttons on the back that are suitable for fire or traverse functions. Vex did a VERY nice job on these units; it suggests that their other products are also well made. At $10, this is an incredible bargain. MPJA have 31 in stock as of this writing, down from 61 last week. Downsides: 1) No charger jack for the tranny, gotta use AA NiCd or NiMH cells and charge'em separately. 2) Radio range is unknown as yet, but given the obvious high quality of the unit, I'd be amazed if the range is anything less than the 1/4 mile common to R/C units. 3) Ya gotta do your own demux. It occurs to me that, if there were sufficient interest, this transmitter/receiver would combine excellently well with Anvilus' Mini Relay Controller or SSR controller (requiring a 5V regulator for power and a fairly minor tweak to the Anvilus controller's firmware) and Voila! Complete tank control system. (It will also work well with a Gumstix Robostix controller, which has lotsa I/O for R/C servos.) Since I'll be doing most of this anyway for myself, I would be entirely willing to provide the necessary tech data, and probably the microcontroller code, to accomplish this feat. Of course, once the supply of surplus TX/RX units goes, the design will be an orphan (or maybe not; I happen to know that the 3-pin power connector on Airtronics VG series receivers outputs the same kind of multiplexed pulse stream as the Vex receiver, and other radios may do similarly.) Now for the other item: I notice on the back page of the MPJA catalog item #17265-MD; this is a lead screw assembly with a DC motor and incremental feedback encoder, much like one I cobbled together for Sancho Panzer's main gun elevate mechanism. At $30, it's not way cheap, but it's still well worth considering as an elevate mechanism. Regards, Steve --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
