Ecurie out and about with Newcastle slot car racer Tim Murch

Hobbyists often dabble in all forms of modeling. Three of us aero modellers stayed with hard core Newcastle slot car racer Tim Murch and his wife Ann this past weekend.
In addition to knife making, slot car racing and aero modelling, Tim has a yen for off road rc racing. So much so that he has built this stunning off road track in his back yard for his 1/16 & 1/18 electric off road race cars.

The serious esses remind one of the old Newscastle slot car track and Tim and his buddies have a ball on the tight and fun track with their Associated and Anderson off road racers.

We also from time to time lead Tim astray to some mountain top slope flying at Volksrust, a midway mecca for the Highveld, Free State and Kwazulu Natal RC slope fliers:

http://springfieldchickens.blogspot.com/

http://berg-gliders.blogspot.com/

http://www.easternthermalbusters.blogspot.com/

slot cars of the sky....?

Is electric control line to model flying what slot cars are to model car racing.....?

For a change of pace, read the story here:

http://springfieldchickens.blogspot.com/2008/09/out-and-baout-3-magic-day-of-control.html

Checking transistor controllers

After battling with Gordon's' economy transistor controller, I had to come to the conclusion that the transistor may be fritzed. Before getting round to testing the transistor, I spotted this simple way to test on a web site:

"With the meter set to measure ohms, clip one meter lead to the base connection of the transistor. Touch the other lead first onto the collector lead and then onto the emitter lead. The readings should both be the same, either both high resistance or both low resistance.
Now reverse the leads and repeat the procedure. The results should be the opposite of those obtained before. If they were both high before they should now be both low. If they were both low before they should now both be high.
Now measure the resistance between emitter and collector. It should read high resistance in both directions.

Note that for this to work the internal battery of the meter must supply a voltage high enough to overcome the forward resistances of the transistors. Many meters have a position marked with a diode symbol which must be selected when checking transistors or diodes."

http://www.hobbyprojects.com/test_and_measurement/testing_transistors.html

(not sure where I lifted the reference pic but suspect in was from Chris Frost's excellent web site on transistor controllers).

The Next Step in Scale Racing

The guys in Cape Town are taking Scale Racing to the next level. Al Paterson has produced the bodies shown in the picture above for and endurance race at the Cambridge track. They will be mounted on 1300U chassis and raced for 9-hours. The bodies and interiors are vac formed. For more information please go to http://www.slotcars.co.za/phpBB3/index.php and check out the EVENTS section.

These Group C cars will more than likely be what we will be racing in the 2009 Ecurie April Event for Open Class, although the bodies will be fibreglass laminated with Vacuum formed windows & headlights. The idea behind this being that the "kits" will be cheaper, stronger and easier to put together, resulting in less waste and quicker build times for entrants.

Second show for the new Ecurie portable digital - pics and report from Phil Rix

A brief report on the Thomas More Fair.

At the outset, thanks to the team for giving up their day - Ashwin, Alwyn, Erlo, Mike, Costa and Phil. It made such a difference having a few more than we had at Bellair.

Our effort was a huge success. Despite a marginal location, There was hardly a break in the racing. Up to 6 drivers at a time, approximately 235 paying customers! Some commented on what good value it was. Marshaling was hectic, and without digital would have been almost impossible!

The layout had been further improved - see the red and white kerbs, the pit lane and the excellent and neat controller extension arrangement put together by Costa. Cars were well prepared by Costa which was a real plus. The idea for the barrier joiners came from Alwyn. Erlo made up a great banner which was prominently displayed. Thanks to Gordon for the vinyl numbers for the cars and controllers. Throughout the project, innovative ideas from all involved have contributed to the success of the concept. We learnt more and will keep improving.

The Fair was amazing. Massive, well organised and well attended. Club members missed a great event and the opportunity to see and experience digital racing. Erlo and Ashwin picked up some amazing bargains in 1/24 static kits. R30 per kit - an absolute give away!

Regards - Phil

IMCA Worlds Feedback

Hi All

Well the 2008 Worlds has come and gone. Unfortunately we were not as successful as we would have liked. The guys here have a huge advantage, in that they run these cars on a regular basis with stiff competition, so they are leaps and bounds ahead of us in terms of developing these cars.

Alan Paterson managed a 3rd place in concourse, and I managed to grab 6th place. So we are at least not coming home empty handed. I will post a full report with pictures as soon as I get back to SA. There are results up on the IMCA website.

The beer here is excellent!! :-)

Regards,

Whizzkid (in Belgium)

More on the economy transistor controller

Whilst cheap and cheerful is the name of the game for these economy transistor controllers, some concerns had been expressed regarding the long term wear associated with running the brass trigger tube on the sharp thread of a 2.5mm bolt. The test unit, packed with ceramic grease, seems fine so far but it was decided to also re look at the stock system of a 3/32 (2.4mm) tube inside the brass trigger tube. The biggest issue was to then source a 1/16 inch (1.5 or 1.6mm) bolt to support the 3/32 tube and uncle Lance of Durban Model Centre came to the rescue with the suggestion of cannibalising the "Radio Active horn" kits for the thin brass bolts and nuts. At R17 for a dual pack, yielding four bolts and eight nuts, there is little hardship in tossing out the plastic horn parts. The bolts fit perfectly in to the K&S 3/32 tubing and the vernier revealed these bolts at exactly 1.6mm diameter - perfect! This will be built in to the other Gordan unit to give a long term test comparison. The other upside is that one may be able to squeeze in the diminutive anti wobble nut without grinding a space on the bottom of the trigger.

Another issue was that it had originally been envisaged to retain the stock Parma three core cable but watching the 12 band diode unit built for Jacques/Daniel in action suggested that there may well be an element of full throttle power loss. An old article on the net on thin wire resistance had also supported this view and a visit was make to A1 radio to look for a much thicker although also cost effective alternative. There was a nice large core high strand but not uncomfortably thick clear shield dual speaker cable (part 140072) that fitted the bill at R14.95 per metre. This soft cable stripped apart beautifully, thus giving a twenty-two buck three core option. Soldered and braided lovely but obviously no where near silicon for heat resistance and life. Looks real larney, though!

All squeezed in!

Cheers

Dave