LukeZ

Some eagle-eyed observers have noticed the TCB is once again for sale at Hobby King. I have still not received a sample to test but let's hope they learned from the mistakes of this summer. If any brave soul buys one please report back your experience!

Springman65

Luke, Thanks for the update!
I must say that I would like to buy one or two; BUT, not until the product has been certified by you or others as being correct and working to specification. So, I will have to still wait and see.....
And, I think a lot of my peers will share that stance.
Maybe you could pass that on to Hobby King and they can step-up getting you a sample to test???

Thanks again,

Springman

LukeZ

Update - I've finally been able to examine a board from Hobby King. As it turns out, they are not selling new-production boards, instead they have gone back and manually replaced the incorrect components on the originals. This is obvious from a visual inspection. In talking with some other people who have recently purchased boards theirs are the same.

Although this is no what Hobby King told us they were going to do, it is certainly within their right and no doubt it made economic sense to them.

I thoroughly tested the board and all functions work correctly, including the ones related to the MOSFETs that have been replaced. So far no one else has reported problems with their fixed boards. I think the coast is clear for anyone to proceed with these boards if they are still interested.

LukeZ

By the way - I just noticed that Hobby King is selling a new version of the classic Turnigy 9X transmitter that comes bundled with a PPM-capable receiver, meaning it is compatible with the TCB out of the box. It sells for ~$60 US making it now the cheapest route to 8 channel control. (If you want more than 8 channels then you still need to either modify your 9X or buy a more expensive radio of which there are many to choose from.)

Crius

I ordered a TCB today. I've already got a 9X, but I'm going to use a flysky i6 for this one.

tankme

I ordered a TCB earlier this week so mine has already shipped. I have older Spektrum Gen 1 equipment that I'm going to sell and get a newer SBUS system. Probably going with the Frsky Taranis Q X7.

phordman

I love my taranis, and stoked this is back out. has anyone used them with the Sbus yet ?

Imex-Erik

Yes, confirmed both PPM and Sbus work fine. The TCB accepts both inverted and uninverted signals The new R-XSR supposedly has uninverted ports on it available as well, I haven't got one of the new ones yet. All 16ch work just fine on Sbus.

phordman

we need 2 esc's correct ?

LukeZ

One of our users (Jurgen) recently tested the XSR receiver as well as the Quanum FR8 Nano, both worked just fine. The Quanum is interesting because it shows that third-party companies are starting to make products specifically for FrSky gear.

SBus is a standard, so any receiver no matter the brand that can spit out an SBus signal will work (same with PPM or iBus).

LukeZ

You can use 2 ESCs but you have other options as well. Read the Wiki!

tankme

I'm actually going to be testing it on my 1/6th scale tanks so I have a Vantec RDFR38E ESC with dual 80A channels and some IFI Victor 883s @ 60A each. I'm currently looking for some smaller, cheaper, reversible ESCs to test it out in the Taigen T34-85.

LukeZ

I've been waiting for someone to stick one of these in a 1/6th scale model, so I will be very interested to follow along your project. Please keep us posted.

LukeZ

Stop the presses! One of our users who just ordered a "new" board has received instead the same board being sold this summer, with all the same, wrong components. As listed above all the "new" boards are in fact old boards with the parts manually replaced, but apparently they have not fixed all of them and certainly haven't tested all of them. Some do seem to be functional (the one they sent me is) but there is no guarantee what you will get.

I must conclude that Hobby King can not be trusted to get this right. It is not beyond their ability but they simply do not seem to care. If you have not purchased a board yet, I would suggest you do not unless you want to take a risk. If you have purchased a board, please examine closely the MOSFETs Q1 through Q8. If any of them have the markings "23EG" on them, they are wrong and your board will not function. The image below shows which components these are.

For those that receive faulty boards, you can take your chances and request an exchange, or if you want a refund let me know and I will provide you the email address of my contact at Hobby King so he can deal with this directly.

TheBennyB

Really just a complete bummer. I'm sure you know we are all behind you on this endeavor, then to have manu/dist not on board is crap. Keep work'n at it, though I'm sure craptastic at times. We appreciate your effort and attention to this thread and the product you envisioned.

Springman65

I have to say that I doubt anyone see any of the HobbyKing fiaso as Luke's fault; in fact, I think Luke has tried to go above and beyond in trying to help HobbyKing make their effort a success. This makes me wonder about other HobbyKing product creations as well??? Maybe we will be lucky and this will straighten itself out.....but, I don't see a TCB1 in my future at this point. I am sort of hoping Luke may possibly look toward the creation of a TCB2 (TCB and sound integrated) and possibly open a dialog with Clark at this stage?

Springman

jha13

Forget Clark - he make his own products
he can not be intersted in promoting a different tank control board!

Statements such as:
I don't see a TCB1 in my future at this point
are not very helpful!

actual one user get a not fixed board - Whatīs the Problem?
Send it back and refund or let swap the Board.
is 54 USD to much?
I think not.

Springman65

Actually, if you read this thread's history, you can see that Clark did offer....

So, I can not be honest in that I have at this point lost confidence in HobbyKing's support of the TCB1? Use say one bad board is nothing to worry about....but its on the tale of the fact that the initial batch was of a bad manufacture and now we are understand the newest offerings are reworked from that bad batch - I have to wonder about the quality assurance that let the initial batch thru for sale? Is that same quality assurance in place for the re-worked boards as well? And, I have to say that the failure of Hobby King to address the initial consumers who bought the TCB1 was a bit disconcerning as well. So, yes, I am VERY tempered and cautious about the product at this stage; so much so, I would like "alternative" in the next version - if there is one?

Well, this news is a "Problem" to me...se I have already bought one bad TCB and went thru getting a refund......and, if you read this thread history you will see that was not simple or fun......

Sorry if you do not like my views...but that are my views....and, I want to voice them as I have done my best to support this project and I have bought bad product and frankly do not want to again......

Springman

jha13

Hi Springman,
the TCB ist a competitor for Clark....
What Clark did is a joke - no offer!

I am the one who has found the fault with mosfets - and did not hesitate for one second, simply reworked my four TCBīs and all is ok.
The TCB ist the best solution i know, and i have own a lot of control boards.
I support the TCB and found some minor errors in the software, which Luke has solved.
And now i create soundfiles for the sound card.....
Whatīs the problem?
Itīs a open Source Projekt, and all are invited to help!

Crius

Spring man, you keep right on voicing your opinions and don't let anybody stop you. I too, I'm starting to lose faith in this project, not because I don't have faith in Luke but because I'm losing faith in HobbyKing to actually produce a reliable and trustworthy board. I just ordered one about 3 days ago, right before Luke found out what they're doing with the old boards. Now I'm waiting to see what happens when mine gets here and if the mosfets have been replaced or what.

Springman65

Well, if I am not allowed a viewpoint as one of its consumers, its not sounding very open at that point.......
However, I can say that the more you tell me I should just blindely jump on board and by again, the more weary I am of such a step.....
You say Clarck's off is a joke? - OK then, that now makes me a bit more weary as I am just not confident in HobbyKing at this stage anymore...... And, I was never a big fan of Clark and their existing control systems;but, I was trying to be open to the possibility - but, i will stop......

But, I tell you what....lets let everyone keep posting their opinions and experiences and see what happens...let everyone decide for themselves? (I think that is what having a Forum is about, isn't it?)

Springman

Springman65

Crius,

Thanks!

I do really hope you get a good board! I really would like EVERYONE to get A GOOD TCB1. I wish it with all my heart! But, I just cant bring myself to jump again at this time...

I feel lucky as my slowness has made me take a "wait-and-see" on this. But, I really am hoping you and everyone gets a good TDB1 this time thru.....

Best Wished!

Springman

jha13

Hey Springman,
donīt misunderstood me!
I agree:
......lets let everyone keep posting their opinions and experiences and see what happens...let everyone decide for themselves? (I think that is what having a Forum is about, isn't it?)

What HK did ist usual business - they only want our money!
With the first shot TCBs, they burned their profits by wrong Mosfets.
The actual TCB is the same old one, the only diffrence is the replaced Mosfets.
The work look like they did at the backyard in a dark garage...
But the TCB work - if you get right one...

LukeZ

I've enjoyed the lively discussions and everybody's viewpoints. In a manner of speaking I am a customer the same as the rest of you and I sympathize with your frustrations because they are the same as my own. I don't mind hearing people vent, and I haven't taken any of it personally.

Springman is right about one thing - the (so far) single bad board from this "second" batch is a bigger problem than it would appear on the face of it when taken in context of what has come before. Confidence has taken a serious hit and I'm not sure it's going to be restored very easily.

Maybe there is only one bad board in the "second" batch, or maybe 50% of them are bad. We have no way of knowing and obviously Hobby King themselves don't even know. Nor are we now naive about Hobby King's customer service, after the debacle from this summer. They are no Amazon. They don't offer hassle-free returns, they offer hassle and maybe you will get a refund and maybe you will get store credit but for sure you will get a headache.

For every person who posts on this thread or in the other forums, there are countless more who are reading and watching silently. When the product was first offered for sale this summer, I think the majority of our potential customers did not make a purchase - the Open Panzer project itself was an unknown quantity, and I believe most people were waiting on the sidelines until some good reviews appeared. These failed to materialize because of course HK shipped defective products. People are still waiting. This was our second chance, and again HK has dropped a fly in the ointment.

Fair or not, this is a setback and a serious problem. I don't have an easy solution at this point but I will keep the wheels turning in the background and keep you all posted.

In the meantime post away!

tankme

My order from the second batch is scheduled to hit my doorstep today. I'll check mine this evening to see if it's repaired, new, or other.... My new radio won't be here for a few days though.