RC Tanks Australia Forum

Hi folks,

Ok, so after spending some time at work perusing different forums I had to hide my credit card in case of an impulse buy...

I have some general questions that I would love to get some input on before I tie myself into another hobby (of which there are many).

ok so random start point, RC tank battles: I have done a little digging into the local tank club in Melbourne (via this site) and noticed that the few videos of battles seem very chaotic with no real rules and the IR system did not seem to do anything, the main battle I saw ended in four tanks huddled in a ball firing at each other but not accomplishing anything... is there no hit system or digital scoring? Sorry I may be missing some thing obvious here but so far this has stood out to me more than anything.

Tank kits: I have not found many local suppliers for kits yet, the main being an ebay shop with Heng long models. I have some reservations in regards to what I am reading on these kits so far (more about mechanics and contents than quality).
- Are they kits or are they pre-built?
- Is it possible to get a bare bones kit so you can use your own radio gear?
- Is there better options for importing a kit? So far local variety seems limited.

I have so many other questions rattling around in my head but i think these are the two main ones, clearly I have much more research to do but any input or maps for the right direction; would be much appreciated.


Oh and some details on myself. Located in Victoria and I have flown RC planes on and off (mostly off) and I am recently getting back into the sport on a small park fly level (also just picked up my first helicopter). I like to tinker and build but have a limited budget due to a fanatical gate keeper who watches over the finances like Cerberus watching the gates of hell.... ok maybe that is an exaggeration but I swear she can hear me open my wallet from the other end of the house!

I think tanks are cool but have never really gotten into the modeling side of things (save for some warhammer tanks when younger) but I love cool stuff and from what I have seen I am interested.

Ok rambled enough, thanks for reading.

HI Evolution

You are so correct in your observations on the IR battles. Basically the RC tank world is shackled to an IR battle system developed in the 70's and has not advanced since then. I don't know why local clubs don't develop their OWN rules/standards since there is no way that someone in Australia is going to have regular tank battles in the US or Europe.

The IR system developing here at RCTA has a wide variety of options that for best use will require a break from the boring old system and ideas. First and foremost the religious adherence to the "Tamiya" standard needs to be rejected in favour of realising that things have progressed 30 years.

Unfortunately I haven't got the time to expand on here but basically clubs need to devise their own rule sets. For example, rather than using just the 3 weight classes, battle tanks should all be given a score/number rating and two teams made each having the same Total Score. Taking a classic case. your Tamiya user will forever complain that Heng Long tanks do not slow down once hit. Fair enough, so you give your Tamiya tank a lower score than your Heng Long tank. So you make a Tamiya tank worth 20 points and your Heng Long tank worth 25 points. Then say you want to make up two equal teams of 100 points each. You can then have on one side 5 Tamiyas versus ONLY 4 Heng Long.

With such a points system in place you can then make use of Bergepanzers, fixed heavy guns, and so on. By giving each item a score you then can have "equal" teams. This also introduces a bit of strategy into game play as you can decide how and what elements to make up your team.

The IR range issue..... AS I said the leading companies are using a 30 year old design. Tanks should be fitted with systems that reliably operate in excess of 10 metres. There is a particular mushroom out on the market that barley makes for a range of 5 metres.

Finally, and a shameless plug. Getting behind and supporting new systems would also help. The RCTA IR battle system has an option to send wireless info back to a display screen.



Once the bind to the old systems is broken it is possible to send ID info into the IR codes - In such a way it is possible for everyone to know who shot who and this info sent back to a central location.

Later on I'll get onto your questions about tank kits. Basically there are a lot of options out there however, for any of the real good stuff you need to spend a lot of time in the building and be able to craft/devise your own parts.

Cheers
Kevin G

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rctanksaustralia.com

Thanks for the reply Phyrephish, you are definitely passionate

From what I gather so far the systems in place are kept very simple to make it easier to be brought online by more people. While I think that is a good idea if you were trying to increase the number of people easily, I agree that it seems very limited considering it is a fairly specialized hobby. I am surprised those already invested have not done much to progress 'battles' as a sport. Having said that, this opinion is purely from what I have gathered online... I don't know what is going on behind the scenes

Evolution
hello

did you make any decisions regarding a purchase
tamiya kit
asiatam parts and your own tx rx
taigen rtr

I would be interested to know how you are getting along