[Sub]

Hi Luke,
I have managed to resurect it, I had not changed anything on the TX, TCB or anything at all, It just threw a complete wobbler when i plugged it into the Computer and onto the OP without the radio switched on.
 
I pressed the reset button and down loaded an OPZ file I had saved and wrote it back to the TCB, it then started to work but all my radio settings were off so I then had to do a full radio re cal and its now back but it had reversed some of my settings ??.
don't know if it overloaded something and has had time to reset ?

So I have no idea but at least its now running again sort off, I need a lay down.
Sub.

[LukeZ]

Yes, go take a lay down! Who can say what happened...

[Sub]

Hi,
Well i had my lay down, head ache has now gone so back to it, i still cannot get the neutral turn to function correctly, it will work one way but not the other, i also noticed that when going in reverse it slightly turns to one side, but going forwards its as straight as an arrow, i will try the Esc's direct off the Rx by passing the TCB to see if they work fine, if so it must be down possibly to some wiring conflict with motor rotation / set up.
With neutral turn disabled the tank turns on a sixpence each way with the inner turn track stationary both at speed and very slow, its most frustrating.
All the radio settings on the OPZ appear fine and calibrated.
I will look inside one of my other tanks with a TCB with same make of Esc's to see if i can see any glaring motor wiring differences.
This one is proving to be a right pain to set up, all the others have been a doddle to do (6)..most likely operator error (me) lol.
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[LukeZ]

As you know the neutral turn on the TCB is defined as a turn command with no (zero) throttle command. Otherwise if it detects any throttle (forward or reverse), it will instead just perform a regular turn. There are actually various kinds of "normal" turns possible (Turn Mode), but at any rate, if any forward or back is detected it will not be a "neutral" turn where one track is moving at the exact same speed as the other track in the opposite direction.

Therefore, the first thing to check when neutral turns don't seem to work correctly, is whether we are accidentally in any way sending a throttle command, however small, since this will negate the effect.

We have several ways to confirm whether what we are "telling" the TCB and what it is "hearing" are the same thing. The quickest and easiest are the onboard green and red LEDs. If the TCB is performing a neutral turn, one or the other will blink (red for left, green for right). So if you can try doing your neutral turn that doesn't seem to be working, and you notice one of the LEDs is in fact solid, then you can deduce that somehow a throttle command is being sent against your wishes. The other way to confirm what is going on is to use Snoop, which I always recommend to everybody.

There are several reasons why throttle commands might be being sent even if you don't think they are: A) the TCB hasn't got your throttle channel center point memorized correctly, B) you accidentally or otherwise applied some trim or subtrim to the throttle channel on your transmitter, or C) your radio system is not perfectly stable and so even when the throttle stick is left untouched the signal is kind of wandering around a bit and the TCB interprets this as forward or reverse.

The fixes for these three are A) re-save your stick centers in OP Config, B) check the trim/subtrim on your transmitter (best to do this first in fact), and for C) you can increase the deadband on your throttle channel.

But first as I say, check the LEDs or Snoop to see whether the TCB is doing what you are telling it or doing something else.

[LukeZ]

Another thought - I have gone and read the manual for your Viper ESCs. They require a calibration routine to set their end-points, which is somewhat inconvenient to do with something like the TCB. Also, if you have Speed Limits set in OP Config (for example, slower in reverse than forward), and then you did the ESC calibration, that is quite likely to give you uneven neutral turns.

It would probably be best to remove the TCB entirely from the equation while doing the ESC calibration. Make sure the end points in your transmitter are set to +/- 100% for the throttle channel, plug the ESC directly into the throttle channel on your receiver, and perform the Viking calibration. Then do the second ESC, also plugged directly into the throttle channel of your receiver. After both calibrations are done, now you can connect the ESCs to the TCB and see if that helps anything.

[jhamm]

Hi,
an other way...
try a higher value for deadcenter on throttle:

[Sub]

Hi.
Thx for all your time and great info chaps all good valid points that i will try, one thing that stuck out reading the advice was that i did calibrate the ESC's connected to the TCB and i do have forwward and reverse speed difference set to 100% forward 50% reverse.
I will check the TCB lights and snoop ASAP,  from memory i think they were all fine last time i connected the TCB and all radio settings were at center, but i will re do them again and everything as per your advice.
Regards.
Sub.

[Sub]

Hi luke.
Powered up the TCB.
Snoop shows motor forward green LED lights solid, reverse red LED lights solid shown on snoop forward and reverse, snoop shows neutral turn engaged both ways and LEDS  flash in TCB, when neutral turn is initiated
HOWEVER When i commence a LEFT neutral turn the GREEN  LED flashes, when i commence a right neutral turn the RED flashes 
Which is reversed from your post above
 ( green led flash for right and red led flash for left )
The neutral turn on the TCB appear to be reversed.
Have we found the issue ??
 I will attach some screen shots of the snoop screen if i can
Sub.

[Sub]

Hi luke.
Powered up the TCB.
Snoop shows motor forward green LED lights solid, reverse red LED lights solid shown on snoop forward and reverse, snoop shows neutral turn engaged both ways and LEDS  flash in TCB, when neutral turn is initiated
HOWEVER When i commence a LEFT neutral turn the GREEN  LED flashes, when i commence a right neutral turn the RED flashes 
Which is reversed from your post above
 ( green led flash for right and red led flash for left )
The neutral turn on the TCB appear to be reversed.
Have we found the issue ??
 I will attach some screen shots of the snoop screen if i can
Sub.

[Sub]

Hi,
I have gone into the OP radio and reversed the steering channel now it shows RED flash for LEFT neutral turn and GREEN  flash for RIGHT  neutral turn.
I will re cal the speedos to the RX off the TCB and remove the wires from the motors and re attach them to correspond with left / right turn movements on the TCB.

Do you think that should fix the problem.

Sub.

[jhamm]

The values in the first picture of the four stickchannels all different.
I think the stick calibration in your Transmitter is wrong.

Look at this:

[Sub]

Hi,
Thx for the vid, i was already aware of the stick calibration thx, mine are not that far out of alignment yet to justify altering every models settings for a minor variance, the monitor on my screen looks ok at present.

I have finally sorted everything out, i have full forward and reverse that corresponds to the correct TCB commands and correct left / right equal neutral turns.
It was down to the radio set up on the OPC, with my radio when the steering channel in my case Aerilon is set to normal it actually reverses the neutral turn functions ie green flashing instead of Red and red instead of green, so i reversed the steering channel so the neutral turn direction corresponded correctly on the TCB, ( my radio sticks were always left for left and right for right) then i set up each speed controller to that setting and solded the wires back to the motors to give correct rotation according to the TCB neutral turn settings and it was perfect then.

It was you luke that gave me the correct led colour flash for left / right neutral turn that made me spot it straight away.
I have since read the Wiki over again and found the picture of the LED lights and it shows you on that, but i did not find it written anywhere else on the wiki when reading the neutral turn set up or radio set up, ( i will stand corrected if i have missed that too ) If its not maybe you could just pop it in somewhere on the written set up steps, just a thought...

I would like to thank you both for your time and patience on this issue, i was sure it was the set up and not any fault of the TCB as i have done quite a few and not encountered this before.
Cheers.
Happy tankin.
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[LukeZ]

I'm glad you were able to get everything sorted out. Getting the directions right with a tank model can be confusing as you have found, because it is possible to have reversed channels and things seem to work most of the time but then when doing neutral turns suddenly it seems not to work. The best approach is as you have done, do the Radio Setup first and confirm that when you move the stick forward or right OP Config says "forward" or "right," and then wire the motors so they turn the correct direction.

You are right, the LED graphic only showed up on the Board Layout page in the Wiki. I've added it a few other locations as well and hopefully that will help others.

And happy tankin to you!