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Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: August 15, 2021, 05:06:11 AM »

So after getting the tank I was working on (KV-2) able to accept hits I started on the next one (ZTZ-99).  What a nightmare.  I spent the better part of yesterday and today updating firmware, swapping parts, backdating firmware, defaulting the board, and changing configs.  Nothing was working.  I tried three different Tamiya apples, two different apple mounts, and two entirely different TCB boards.  Nothing allowed this tank to take hits from a Tamiya, a fellow TCB, or a Heng Long tank.  I even returned to the Wiki multiple times to verify everything.

During the last look I took at the Wiki, I noticed that only the Tamiya apple mount was referenced.  Then I decided to take a closer look at the tank I had that was working. The tank that was working was a Tamiya and the tank that wasn't was a Heng Long.  Because of that the Tamiya tank had a Tamiya apple mount.  The Heng Long had a Clark apple mount.  What is the chance that something was different?  As it turned out...a very good chance.  I had already ohm'd the Clark mount to verify all wiring had continuity and verified it was just wired straight through (pin 1 on base to pin 1 on connector).  After disassembling a spare Tamiya mount I had I found that the wiring on the Clark didn't match.  As it turns out, the pins were reversed (pin 1 on base to pin 5 on connector).  I reordered the connector on the Clark apple mount and BAM...I was able to take IR hits.

I'll have to remember that for the future if I ever use a Clark apple mount on another TCB.

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News & Announcements / Re: It's all over?

« on: April 01, 2021, 11:44:52 AM »

It's a tough sell right now to find 250 dedicated orders.  Unless you get money up front you are taking on a big financial responsibility because people will ultimately back out at the last minute when it comes time to pay for their TCBs.  Personally I would buy more than one if they came available again.  I have three currently.  Dealing with electronics is tricky also since you may have to account for a few bad boards unless the manufacturer will warrantee them.  I doubt Hobby King had such an agreement since it seems they didn't make any money on selling these or didn't make enough to make it worth their time.  I know there are lots of folks that would love to get ahold of TCBs once again, but even 250 boards might be a tall order.

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Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 12, 2021, 03:04:51 PM »

The TCB has never had an issue receiving hits using the Tamiya apple mated to a Clark base.  With the new firmware increasing the IR pulse duration, it doesn't have any issues giving them now. 

There wasn't much in the form of documentation of the original HL MFUs since there really wasn't anything that could be user configurable.  From what I know, the older 5.3 and RX-18 use the HL signaling.  The TK-6.0 and newer boards have all been reported to use the Tamiya signaling.  The Haya board is slightly different from the HL boards, but it also uses the Tamiya signaling.  The outside of the Haya MFU looks different than the HL MFU, but it might just have the same innards for all I know since they both use the same mushroom receiver.  They do have different transmitters and different functions from the transmitter.  I just looked through the TK6.0/6.1S manual and there is no way to toggle HL or Tamiya signaling.  It does mention right in the book that it is compatible with Tamiya IR tanks. 

4

Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 12, 2021, 12:42:30 PM »

I believe I have an older 5.3 and possibly an RX-18 board laying around here I could do so testing with.  I don't believe they work with the newer stuff.  I'd have to remember or get the wiring diagrams for them since I probably de-installed and threw them in some box somewhere. 

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Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 11, 2021, 08:42:33 PM »

SUCCESS!!!

First shot registered without issues on both the HL T-72 and the Haya Chieftain.  Thanks for the help.  I wish all vendors of hobby stuff were so responsive.  Now I'm guessing if it to be incorporated into the hex code a new version will need to be issued?

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Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 11, 2021, 08:18:56 PM »

I will try it the new firmware.  I did notice with the visible LED test I did that the TCB firing duration was shorter than the Tamiya and even the Clark.  The duration of the pulse could also explain other behavior folks see when the Tamiyas shoot at HL tanks using the 6.0 and higher boards.  Typically when a HL tank shoots a Tamiya the hits are very reliable.  When a Tamiya shoots a HL, the results are not always consistent and it gets worse with distance.  Maybe the HL is expecting a longer duration of pulse to register a hit as you suggest.

I'll let you know how it goes.

7

Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 11, 2021, 11:28:40 AM »

Forgot to answer a few of your questions.

Yes the TK40 and the TCB work well together.  Both take and send hits to each other just fine. 

I haven't been able to test one of my Tamiya MFU based tanks against the TCB since the plan was to replace my Tamiya MFU with the TCB since I hate the Tamiya MFU usability.  I have another Tamiya MFU based tank, but I need to set up a TX/RX for it before testing.  I bought it used and have never tested it out.  Either that or I can hook a battery up to my other MFU that has been taken out and test with it.

8

Open Panzer Help / Re: Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 11, 2021, 10:10:25 AM »

as I understand it[/i], these boards accept and transmit only the Tamiya signal. The Tamiya signal is by definition the same no matter who uses it, so theoretically the TCB should be compatible.

Of course this is a very simple thing, but make sure you have the Tamiya IR signal selected in OP Config, and make sure you write those settings to the TCB.

If your Heng Long board is not taking hits from the TCB, try the TCB with other boards and see what happens. Are you able to send and receive Tamiya hits between the TCB and your Clark TK40? (Set both boards to Tamiya IR first). You mention a "Tamiya electronics tank," do you have a Tamiya MFU? If so, is it able to send and receive hits between the TCB?

I am curious since you have the new Heng Long board in hand. Does it only send and receive the Tamiya IR signal, or is there some option to switch it between Tamiya and Heng Long compatibility? I've tried to figure this out but the documentation I have seen says nothing about it. So far as I can tell, the HL 6+ boards only shoot Tamiya signals, but maybe you can tell me if that is correct.

I do have the Cannon IR Protocol set to "Tamiya" the OP Config and have it written.  I even erased all the settings and started from scratch with only the bare minimum to get the board running and sending hits.  I saved the complete config off to a file for restoration later.

I thought as you do that the new HL boards used the Tamiya protocol for taking and giving hits.  I went to a local tank club meeting and the HL T-72 played with the Tamiya MFU based tanks just fine.

The test setup is only about a foot from each other with the emitters pointed directly at the apple (similar height).  I am not using a slip ring in any of these tanks.  As far as the Heng Long taking hits it is as follows (I only have one 6.0 board):

1. Takes hits from Haya Chieftain (Haya 6.1 board)
2. Takes hits from Tamiya (standard Tamiya MFU and IR emitter included with Tamiya kit)
3. Won't take hits from TCB #1 (Digikey IR emitter direct wired with no current limiting resistor)
4. Won't take hits from TCB #2 (Clark IR emitter direct wired with no current limiting resistor)
5. TCB #3 untested as of yet since it's not installed in anything
6. Takes hits from Clark TK-40

On TCB #1 I changed to 3 different emitters and reversed the polarity on each one during testing to ensure it wasn't wired backwards.  I used a Tamiya emitter (via the TCB adapter cable), the Digikey emitter recommended in the Wiki, and another IR emitter from Clark obtained from here: https://dakrctank.com/shop/ir-emitter/.  I built a JST female to JST female cable for testing.  The LEDs were plugged directly into the JST connector (except the Tamiya emitter which used the TCB adapter cable).  Cable was verified working with a visible white 5mm LED and it did light up when the cannon shoots.  None would give hits to the Heng Long. 

I repeated most of these steps using the Haya Chieftain as the target with similar results to the HL T-72 target.

The Haya Chieftain and the HL T-72 could give and take hits from each other all day long.  Both of them use the HL mushroom looking receiver (apple).

My Clark board based tank and both TCBs use the Tamiya apple, but none of them had any issues receiving hits.

It's puzzling to me...

9

Open Panzer Help / Heng Long IR compatability

« on: March 11, 2021, 12:38:16 AM »

So I verified everything is working on the IR side by shooting my Clark TK-40 based SU-152 with a Tamiya apple.  I'm using the Digikey IR LED that is recommended in the Wiki.  The Heng Long (TK6.0 version) is verified working by shooting and taking hits from my Haya Chieftain.  Problem is it won't take hit from either of my TCB equipped tanks.  It will take hits from a Tamiya electronics tank. 

Does the TCB have compatibility with the newer HL boards that come with the little mushroom?

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Open Panzer Help / Re: Power switch questions

« on: January 18, 2020, 08:10:37 PM »

Well I bypassed the switch and it works fine.  Had the tank out for a spin today after rewiring it minus the switch.  The wires were soldered (not crimped) into the blade connectors so I doubt it was a connection issue.  The switch was an automotive type I picked up at a local auto parts place.  I guess I'll just connect the batter via the XT60 connection as I'm doing now and not worry about it.  I suppose most people would use a relay if they need to switch higher amp loads and I don't want to add the extra wiring/relay.

11

Open Panzer Help / Power switch questions

« on: January 17, 2020, 12:01:49 PM »

I recently preemptively bought some higher amp rated power switches (20A) to use with my TCB and Hobbyking X-car 45A ESCs since the HL switch was giving me issues.  After wiring up the 20A switch I noticed issues when running the tracks.  I used the blade terminals and soldered wires to blade connectors rather than heat up the switch by soldering to it.  Wanted to make sure the heat wasn't a factor in killing the switch.  The tracks were stopping and starting at the same time the TCB would reset playing the engine startup sounds.  During further troubleshooting I noticed the switch light would dim and brighten up leading me to believe the power switch can't handle the battery feeding the ESCs through the switch.  I bypassed the switch and everything works fine. 

My question is, what kind of power switches are people using since it seems the HL and my automotive 20A switch don't work?

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Open Panzer Help / Re: Anomaly with HK 45A ESCs

« on: July 27, 2018, 04:06:45 PM »

Jerry,

What kind of solder are you using?  The 60/40 (tin/lead) has a lower melting point than the 40/60 (tin/lead) solder.  I heard people say the 60/40 is much better when heat is a concern.

13

Open Panzer Help / Re: Reading stick channels 1-4 but not switches

« on: December 21, 2017, 01:22:38 AM »

I'm an idiot...   Well it seems that even though I assigned the switches in the Input screen, it seems you have to also assign them to a function in the Mixer screen on the X7.  Never used OpenTX so this is a learning curve all around...

It's working now.

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Open Panzer Help / Reading stick channels 1-4 but not switches

« on: December 21, 2017, 12:59:46 AM »

Hey folks,

Finally have some time to play with the TCB and my new radio and ran into a problem.  I watched the radio setup video on Youtube.  I'm using a Taranis Q X7 radio with a X6R receiver.  Radio is set to internal module D16 Channels 1-16.  I upgraded the OP software (0.92.14) to the latest level and the TCB to the latest firmware (0.92.15) tonight.  I have bound the receiver to my radio.  Verified that works because when I turn off the radio the receiver goes red.  Turn it back on and it goes green.  I have the receiver connected to the lower SBUS port on the TCB.  Brown ground wire is closet to the edge of the board.  I can connect to the TCB via the OP software and read from the TCB just fine.  I go into the radio tab to set up the radio.  I clicked on read radio and the display shows the min/max pulse information.  I can successfully read the pulse info from both the sticks (channels 1-4) with no issues.  I even re-assigned the channels to get the driving on one stick and the turret functions on the other.  The issues comes in when I try to get the switches to register.  No matter which switch or analog pot I try, no pulse registering is happening. The main screen of the Taranis is set to show me when a switch moves.  All of that works as it should.  So the radio is registering the switch moving, but the board isn't. I have two TCBs.  Both are doing the same thing so I don't think it's the TCBs. Wondering if it's something in the radio setup.  It is running the standard OpenTX software.  Any ideas?