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Messages - LukeZ
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721
« on: April 19, 2018, 06:00:24 PM »
Very nice, thanks for the detail. I've some sonic smokers before and I think they're a brilliant idea. Much more simple, and more realistic at the same time.
722
« on: April 17, 2018, 10:47:07 PM »
You could power the TCB from only a single of your 12 volt batteries. But you would need to be very careful doing this, you need to give the TCB absolute ground and 12 volts. In other words, it matters which of the two batteries you use, if you supply it with relative ground and +24 volts you will have problems. So in other words, be sure you use the "low" battery and not the "high" battery. The other solution which involves a small cost is to get a BEC (battery eliminator circuit) to power the TCB. The TCB runs on 5 volts but it needs a few volts higher than that to function correctly, most BECs output 5 volts exactly but you can find some with variable outputs such as the YEP BEC sold by Hobby King, and I'm sure there are others if you look around. Or just get any of the various LM2596 buck converters sold on Amazon, eBay or wherever for a dime a dozen (well, close). These take a wide variety of input voltages and then you set the output to whatever voltage you want (so long as it is less than the input voltage). Feed the converter 24 volts, and just set the output to anything over 7 volts and feed that to the TCB. You can continue to use 24 volts to your Sabertooth, they don't have to use the same voltage as the TCB so long as they all share a common ground.
723
« on: April 17, 2018, 06:04:28 PM »
The Geko is just a brushed speed controller, it's not clear he's even still selling it, but any brushed ESC (with forward and reverse) would work the same ( this one from Banggood would be small and cheap). This would let you use your standard HengLong/Taigen turret drive instead of a servo. The whole setup would be independent of the TCB. Just set your turret rotation to RC Output, attach the gyro unit to RC Output 3 on the TCB and then attach the output of the gyro to your ESC which then controls the turret motor. But yes, that does require you to buy an ESC. There isn't really a good way to use the onboard drivers in this capacity. The way these inexpensive gyros work is by modifying a standard RC signal. Because the onboard ESCs are precisely that (onboard), there is no RC signal to tap into midway between the processor and the motor driver chips. Nor are we presently able to read a standard RC signal, which is what these gyros put out. Right now the I/O pins only read analog or digital inputs but not PWM. Theoretically, it may be possible to program the I/O pins to read PWM (although I'm not sure off the top of my head if we have the processor resources to do this). If so, theoretically, it may be possible to send an RC signal out the TCB, into the gyro, then from the gyro back into the TCB through one of the I/O ports, then use that to control the onboard motor driver. This is all theoretical but I think I it is rather complicated and I am not likely to pursue it...
724
« on: April 17, 2018, 05:44:37 PM »
Very cool, that's a great contribution to the community!
It's hard to tell from the photos, is your smoker driven by the movement of the speaker, or is it still being pushed by a fan?
725
« on: April 15, 2018, 03:47:35 PM »
It sounds like your Mini has gotten confused. As mentioned, I have had this happen to me before. The sounds wouldn't play correctly even in TBS Flash, let alone when used with some other device like the TCB.
Try my process for loading the sounds listed at the beginning of this thread. Before that it wouldn't hurt to re-flash the Mini firmware so you know you are getting a clean start. Perhaps after the engine sounds, add only a single sound at a time, then test in Flash. It may be you have one sound file the Benedini doesn't like. Try to narrow down the faulty behavior to a single cause, otherwise it is impossible to solve the problem.
726
« on: April 15, 2018, 01:33:48 PM »
I was planning on powering it with the 5.5v BEC off the TBS, so that would go to 2-5VDC and GND on the amp. The two outputs from the Mini go to the A Plus and A Minus on the board input, and of course I would install a JST male on the board for the speaker to plug into (4 ohms works on this too). Since A+ and A- are fully differential, it should work? What do you think? I'm not an audio design expert and I don't know why Thomas recommends the hookup arrangement he does. What you suggest seems logical enough and you could try it, but to be safe you should ask Thomas first. Let us know the results. That's a very inexpensive amp and if it made a noticeable difference without much hookup hassle people would be interested to know.
727
« on: April 15, 2018, 01:22:15 PM »
It sounds like you are experiencing multiple problems. Let us focus on the Open Panzer TCB first. I think Snoop doesnt work.. Look at image attached. In Snoop mode I move sticks and nothing happen. Snoop works just fine or else you would see nothing. What doesn't seem to be working are your function triggers. Did you run through radio setup? Meaning, did you correctly save the stick centers and the min-max values? There is a whole page in the Wiki including a video to describe this. In your screenshot I see you have LVC (low voltage cutoff) enabled at 6.6 volts, but you are powering the TCB only from the USB port (5 volts). In that configuration nothing will work until you attach a battery. Please post your OPZ file for me to examine.
728
« on: April 13, 2018, 05:33:15 PM »
When I click SNOOP, I see all settings in one window. Moving sticks or toggling switches do nothing. But in RADIO section, when I click READ RADIO sticks/switches seem to work fine. Do you have function triggers assigned? You mentioned using the turret stick to control user sounds. On the Functions tab you should have created a function trigger, an example would be "User Sound 1 - Play Once" assigned to "Turret Stick - Top Left" Regardless of what the Benedini Mini does, if that function trigger is correctly assigned, when you move the turret stick to the top left position the Snoop window will show that you issued a command to play a user sound. See the attached image for an example. I guarantee you the TCB works if set up properly. Most likely you are missing something very simple. When we can confirm that TCB is setup correctly, then we can move on to troubleshooting the Mini. I still suggest you re-load your sounds to your Mini using the process I suggested. Once it gets confused there is no way to fix it until you recreate and reload the sound files.
729
« on: April 13, 2018, 04:46:54 PM »
I guess each user is different. Personally I don't care for sound to begin with and the only time I've used the Mini or even my own sound card is for testing, and then at reduced volume.
However I will say that with the correct speaker (such as my 8 ohm Heng Long or a Visaton) the Mini can get surprisingly loud. I think it is every bit as loud as stock Taigen/Heng Long/Tamiya.
But yes, 1.2 watts is not very much. I thought I would get ahead of the curve and my original sound card prototype implemented a 2.6 watt amplifer (and was compatible with 4 ohm speakers). People complained and said it needed way more. Already my ears were bleeding. The new design I'm working on now has 10 watts but it amplifies sound so much any dead space in a sound file comes across as a very loud hiss, and it picks up any stray signal or interference and has become nearly impossible to get a clean output from... I don't blame Thomas for sticking with the low watt design!
730
« on: April 13, 2018, 03:59:50 PM »
I have noticed the Mini can become confused and get sounds mixed up and generally give odd behavior. I am not sure what causes it, but I believe it happens when you load the sound files. The process I have started using is to: - Connect the Mini to the computer first (otherwise Flash won't see it). Mini must have power from some external source (can be TCB)
- Open TBS Flash, select the COM port, connect
- Load your sound files in TBS flash, and test each of them with the Play button to make sure they sound right
- Save a sound file for backup
- Write sounds to device
- Click Disconnect in Flash
- Remove Mini from computer, and remove power to Mini
- Exit TBS Flash completely
It seems that if I try to play any sounds on the Mini without disconnecting, or I don't close Flash completely after loading sounds, that is when problems occur. Also, be sure you are using TBS Flash V3.0.1 and that your Mini has V3.0.1 firmware installed. As for whether the triggers on the TCB or working or not, please use the Snoop function in OP Config while you toggle your switch or move your turret stick. It will tell you if the user sounds are being played or not. If not you need to double-check your function triggers and maybe you need to run through Radio Setup.
731
« on: April 13, 2018, 12:55:12 AM »
One thing I not sure about is how much current the gearbox motors can take. They have no rating on them and so with the X45 being able to deliver 45amps you could be in a stall situation or uphill etc and burn the motors out. That is why I fused the ESC's with a 25 amp fuse. This is a common misunderstanding of the way electronics work. Your motors will draw whatever they will draw, regardless the rating of your batteries or ESC. You can offer a thirsty man a lake to drink, but that does not mean he will drown. He will drink as much as he needs and then stop, even though the supply be infinite. In fact it is important that your battery and ESC be able to provide more than the maximum your motor will draw, otherwise you risk damaging not the motor but your battery or ESC. Typically as Jurgen says the motor draws the most current when it is completely stalled. If you have an amp-meter you can measure this amount yourself, then you will know exactly where you stand. Of course it is possible to burn out motors, but when that happens it isn't the current supply that is the cause but rather trying to use an under-powered motor for a heavy job. To use another analogy, if you tried to run a semi truck with a lawn mower engine you would burn out the engine, but it wouldn't have anything to do with the size of the fuel tank. Your idea of a fuse is still a very good one, although again you'd really want measurements of your system to know what size to use. As Jurgen says, 25 amps may be far beyond the stall current of your motors in which case it will do nothing. A fuse is a great tool in saving your drive-train during stall conditions. Lot cheaper to replace a fuse than a drive sprocket!
732
« on: April 13, 2018, 12:43:04 AM »
So I use channel 7 on the 9x for volume, Pot #2, and I setup the TCB with Channel 7 as Aux 3, digital 3 position switch. Function setup is: Position one is start raising volume, position two is stop volume, and three is start decreasing volume. It works a treat. Thanks for reporting back. In this case we are still using a 3 position switch so far as the TCB knows, but in reality you have a pot as the actual control. It is good to remember the user is free to assign a variable ("analog") physical control as a digital switch in OP Config, and vice-versa, the suggestions are not hard and fast rules. However there is not often a need to do so, but this is an example of a time where it makes sense. A side question on the Benedini though, I purchased some very small rectangular speakers in 8 ohm impedance, and hooked it up today. The volume is very low compared to others on 4 ohm speakers like the Taigen sound card. Same size speaker, just different impedance. Will I smoke the Benedini with a lower impedance speaker?? It does look rather delicate.... Actually, according to this user who contacted Thomas about speaker impedance, the Mini should only be used with 8 ohm speakers (directly, if you use an external amplifier with the Mini then that may not be a limitation). All else being equal, a 4 ohm speaker will draw twice the current of an 8 ohm speaker, so yes, it would seem 4 ohm speakers may risk damage to your Mini. I've been using an old Heng Long speaker on my Mini for years, I don't remember where exactly I got it. But it measures 8 ohms so apparently they do exist from the standard manufacturers. It was probably from an old RX18. However like you I measure a more recent Taigen speaker to be 4 ohms.
733
« on: April 11, 2018, 01:10:11 PM »
Others have been helping with that on RCTankwarefare but essentially I will use the HobbyKing XCar 45A ESC's you recommend for the turret, gun elevation and to rotate pyro chamber and probably the Sabretooth serial motor controller, although I am a bit undecided whether two separate controllers may be better (if one should fail for example and it would be quite a saving). In my personal view the dual motor serial controllers are superior in ever way to 2 ESCs, except for one, which is cost - the serial controllers are typically more expensive. However they take up far less space, require vastly simpler wiring, and have superior specifications in terms of whine and resolution although you may or may not notice those in a tank. I have never seen a serial controller fail if one has been sized correctly, although they also come with over-current protection so it is hard to kill them. There is nothing wrong with using 2 ESCs but my impression is that most people who do, do so for the cost savings. Or else they are using brushless motors in which case the serial controllers are out. Regardless of what you choose, you definitely need to have an idea of what your current draw will be to guide your decision. If your pyro unit uses a relay, you may just be able to swap in one of the recommended relays from the Wiki (not all relays are the same, the TCB needs a 5 volt relay). Then attach it to IO Port A or B. I was able to find your thread at RCTankWarfare for anyone who wants to follow along over there. I will post a few thoughts there as well, since this thread is primarily on the topic of your pyro unit.
734
« on: April 10, 2018, 08:08:19 PM »
I do remember the suggestion to add some light outputs to the sound card and I am considering it. It is a good suggestion. Probably I would not put quite so many as 6 but maybe a couple. Adding these is not so difficult in terms of hardware although the more components you add obviously the larger the board becomes. The real work is in creating all the options for the user to manipulate them.
Already I have realized that when used by itself in RC mode the sound card is going to need its own configuration program similar to OP Config for the TCB. I have started on this but it has a long way to go still, even though I am trying to keep it relatively simple...
735
« on: April 10, 2018, 08:01:27 PM »
Hi and welcome to the forum! It would help to know what kind of signal your pyro unit requires, and how much current it draws. But yes, the Aux output is one possibility. Since you aren't using the onboard turret motor controllers for your turret, those can also be re-purposed as electronic switches (2 amps each). The smoker output can also be re-purposed as a switch if you aren't using a conventional smoker (up to 3 amps). Finally, there are general purpose outputs A & B that could be used, these are low-current outputs but you can attach a relay to them to drive larger loads. Not many 1/8 scale tanks out there, and probably even fewer with pyro units. Feel free to post pictures of your project in the Show and Tell section, I'm sure a lot of people would be interested to see more about it.
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