RC Tanks Australia Forum

Thought I do something useful with parts from the spares box again.

So used HL Tiger turret and cannon, metal mantlet and Asiatam recoil. Also extended the cannon as well. Put it all together and sits neatly on a box of quality street (tough job but someone had to eat all that chocolate )



Originally I planned to constantly power the recoil unit so every time it fired it would trigger the microswitch to activate the flash and IR emitter. But this was two frequent so decided to leave the recoil as static for now.

Moving onto the electronics using a RX18 and original MAKO board. And if you add a 0v supply to the trigger pin on the RX18 it constantly fires but using the MAKO it adds a time delay until next fire, on this board it is about 7 seconds. And this MAKO board has a LED flash output as well so using that.



Once I got it all working as an automatic firing device I thought about adding the Panzerturm too receive hits. Originally wasn’t going to bother as this MAKO board was the original and didn’t support HIT LED. But with comparing it with a later v2 MAKO board I figured out how to add a HIT LED indicator. So added all that wiring to the turret as well.



Think I take it to the Hyde meet on Sunday and see how it performs, sure hitting any tank in it’s line of site should add a bit of extra fun to the IR battle.

Then it needs painting.

Ian.

_________________
HL/Asiatam Metal Tiger 1
HL/Asiatam Metal KV-1 (1941)
WSM T-34
SU100
HE Abrams
HL Leopard 2A6
HL Jagdpanther

Well it went down a treat at our meet managing to catch everyone including myself.

One thing though is it stopped been able to receive hits tried different tanks in case faulty ir emitter in the tank. Couple of receivers and even different wiring harness but no luck.

Any way a member of our team gave me a kv1 turret, RX18 and mako board to make another for spectators to use and interact with ir battles without risking damaging peoples tanks. So will post that soon.

Ian.

_________________
HL/Asiatam Metal Tiger 1
HL/Asiatam Metal KV-1 (1941)
WSM T-34
SU100
HE Abrams
HL Leopard 2A6
HL Jagdpanther

HI Ian

Well that's a bright solution for your constant firing. Should of thought of that - well done.

The MAKO code could be adjusted to have a varing reload time if you wanted a little randomness in when the gun fires

Cheers
KG

PS Geez that is an OLD MAKO - still it can do everything the very last MAKO1 can do with a firmware upgrade.

_________________

rctanksaustralia.com

Hi everyone heres an update for mk2 version.

This one is intended for RC control so it has that plus sound. I let the pictures do the talking.







And a quick video.



Plus figured out the issue of not receiving hits. The MAKO chip is damaged, it still fires and hits all tank types just not receive them will have to see about getting a couple of replacement chips

Ian.

_________________
HL/Asiatam Metal Tiger 1
HL/Asiatam Metal KV-1 (1941)
WSM T-34
SU100
HE Abrams
HL Leopard 2A6
HL Jagdpanther

HI Ian

If the MAKO board is not receiving hits triple check the connections to the IR receiver both externally and on the MAKO board itself (the solder tracks). A chip replacement will probably not help as it is not really possible for the program on the MAKO to not do a part of the program yet still do other parts unless there is an external factor.

It's just after 6 in the morning here in Oz and last night Phil and I worked on bring helicopter attack to the tank battlefield I hope I can get out and do a video.

Cheers
KG

_________________

rctanksaustralia.com

Well both the first and second versions (both using original MAKO board) worked fine then didn't. I do recall at some point whilst putting the second one together that I got a smell of burning electronics, so guess I shorted something out somewhere although I couldn't see any damage.

Tried using couple of receivers and wiring looms but nothing yet.

Suppose when I say it isn't receiving hits, the hit LED isn't lighting up (but is working) I can check the motor outputs to see if the RX18 is doing the silly recoil jerk, as not having them connected I over looked that

Ian.

_________________
HL/Asiatam Metal Tiger 1
HL/Asiatam Metal KV-1 (1941)
WSM T-34
SU100
HE Abrams
HL Leopard 2A6
HL Jagdpanther

HI Ian

If the hit LED is lighting up otherwise then there is no signal being received by the chip from the IR receiver. Fault could be between the chip and the 5 pin connector on the MAKO board OR the MAKO is not sending power to the receiver. Do you have a multimeter to do some continuity checks?

You need newer boards anyway I'm embarassed looking at those huge old things

Cheers

_________________

rctanksaustralia.com

Think I figured it out (well at least the KV1) I'm using 5mm LED's as hit indicator and I think it is just taking to much power.

Tried with 3mm red LED and works. So next will try keeping the 5mm LED's but with a 100ohm resistor to see if that works. If not looks like I need to swap to smaller LED's.

Kevin, these MAKO boards might be huge compared to your latest line but are just perfect for this situation as no restriction of space etc.

Ian.

_________________
HL/Asiatam Metal Tiger 1
HL/Asiatam Metal KV-1 (1941)
WSM T-34
SU100
HE Abrams
HL Leopard 2A6
HL Jagdpanther

Sorted 100ohm resistor works a treat on the 5mm LED's

Ian.

_________________
HL/Asiatam Metal Tiger 1
HL/Asiatam Metal KV-1 (1941)
WSM T-34
SU100
HE Abrams
HL Leopard 2A6
HL Jagdpanther

ARRGH - you should of told me about your LEDs. That's the reason why the newer MAKO boards have the jumper to diable the onboard LED and the new Hammerhead units have surprise surprise a 100 ohm resitor on the board. Glad you got it all sorted and you were quite correct in your assumption. The microcontroller on the MAKO can only supply a limited amount of current from its own pins. Enough to drive a few LEDS but not enough to do a few LEDS and send a strong enough signal back to the RX18 without limiting the current to the LEDS.

I'm sending you a MAKO2 PM me your address - no one should have to use those ancient MAKO boards. The M2 has separate outs for the LEDs and the signal back to the RX18. It also has a much better LED flash routine - the number of flashes increase with increasing number of hits.

Cheers
KG

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rctanksaustralia.com