Crius

Mine will be here day after tomorrow so we'll see. My biggest disappointment is that I really wanted to use the TCB in my 1/6 Hetzer Paintball Beast, but Hobby king kept dragging their feet and I just couldn't hold out. You know it is with these projects, if we don't know when a particular part will be available we often go with something else. I used an IBU2 Pro in the Hetzer and it's worked out far better than I could have hoped, but I somehow keep thinking the TCB would have been a better fit. The TCB is made for this kind of thing, while the IBU was adapted from it's usual role in a 1/16 tank. But I do have to give hats off to IBU, it proved to be a very versatile and adaptable board. Maybe I'll be able to use a TCB in my next 1/6 tank and we can get some side by side comparisons. Hmmm, I do have the Sd.Kfz.250 I want to build next, so hey, Luke, how do you think the TCB will do in a halftrack? Will I be able to get both track and servo steering for the front wheels?

LukeZ

Every vehicle type is covered. You can even adjust the amount of steering by the tracks, as well as the turn mode used by the tracks (there are multiple ways to accomplish steering with dual tracks).

tankme

Cool I didn't know it would support the DKLM motor setup. If it works out well in my tests it might go in my Abrams... Been drooling over the full metal hull with the DKLM motor unit to power my Trumpeter M1A1 build since Taigen hasn't released their metal Abrams hull....hint...hint... It's an expensive option, but it looks bulletproof.

LukeZ

I have a DKLM and it is very smooth and powerful, I quite like it mostly because it is so quiet compared to standard gearboxes and I hate gear noise. Because the treads do not actually move independently on the DKLM you won't be able to play with the three turn modes I just mentioned, there is only one "turn" mode on the DKLM which is just to adjust the steering motor. But steering is quite good, and in fact the DKLM can even do neutral turns. I haven't taken one apart to see how it works but they must have some clever mechanical components in there.

Crius

Got my TCB today and it's obviously been repaired, but as long as it works I don't really care that they just replaced the bad components.

Crius

And I was wondering, Luke, do you think this hand repair will affect the longevity of the board? Could there be any future consequences because they chose to go this route, as opposed to simply running another batch with the correct stuff? Could any of the neighboring components be compromised down the road as a result of the repair?

LukeZ

If the repair was done correctly there should be no adverse effects or detriment to longevity. Of course when you go in by hand with a soldering iron it is certainly a risk that you could break something nearby, but if that happened you will know it right away.

On the other hand if the board was fixed and it works now, it should keep working forever. Electronics don't really wear out.

Let us know how you get on.

bowlman

You would of thought if they were going to fix them they would of had you ship back every one they sold . Yes I got my refund but I still got a non full working TCB .
Jimmy

tankme

Got mine the other day. Might have some time this weekend to play with it.

LukeZ

Still no word from HK about what if anything they have done about production issues. However, I've noticed the TCB has gone on sale for $35 (in both the Global and US warehouses). Maybe they are getting rid of bad stock? Maybe it's an incredible deal? I can't say, but for those that want to take a chance I figured I'd let you know.

Product page at HK

.

tigertiki

My question would be, the actual model on HK for 35$ would be a working model ? I would like to try it out on my 1/6 th models with sabertooth esc.

Crius

So the reworked TCB that I paid $56 for is now on sale for $35? That's the last straw for me. With all the problems I've had I'm sorry I ever got involved with this project. From now on I'll stick with the proven boards and leave all this experimental stuff to those of you that have the money to waste on it.

tigertiki

It is the reworked one ??

Crius

Yes, the TCB I just got has had the mosfets (sp?) replaced.

LukeZ

Yes, it should be a working model. Most people have reported theirs have hand-replaced MOSFETs but the function is the same.

tigertiki

Thanks for the replies, i just ordered 2, see how it works out. How about the sound card ? Will be available soon ?

LukeZ

There is no expectation of the sound card being available soon. Right now it is being re-designed to address some issues in the first prototype. Then it still needs a generous manufacturer to donate their money for production, an almost impossible likelihood. So please do not anticipate it. For now plan on using the Benedini Mini or the Taigen sound cards.

tigertiki

Thanks, i will use the benedini mini...

Imex-Erik

Hey guys! We have added the sound cards separately to the page now
You can find the listing HERE. As we add more sounds you will find them on that listing. This listing comes with the sound card, volume knob, and 4 wire connector cable. You will need to mod the cable to fit the OP TCB, you can find that link HERE.

LukeZ

Thanks Erik, this is great news. Finally an inexpensive sound solution for the TCB!

For those wondering, the adapter cable is not difficult to make if you are able to solder. In addition to the cable that is included with the Taigen sound card, you will need a standard servo cable. The TCB includes three servo cables intended to be used with a Benedini sound card, so you can just use one of those. You have to graft the Taigen cable to the servo cable as shown in the instructions that Erik linked to (I'm attaching the picture here also). The +5v signal from the TCB (middle pin on the servo connector) will actually need to be attached to two pins on the Taigen card. If you are familiar with soldering and splicing wires with a bit of heatshrink, the job will take you all of five minutes.

NOTE: The wire colors shown in the diagram will not match the wire colors of the cables you receive. Just be sure you connect them in the correct order and ignore the colors. The colors in the diagram are traditional colors for representing the purpose of each wire (ground, power, signal) but the colors that are used in China make no sense!

Imex-Erik

Always glad to help! I personally LOVE open source and I'll continue what I can here at Taigen to support this project!

LukeZ

Just an update on several new features added to the TCB recently. To take advantage of these you will need to update first OP Config and then flash your TCB with latest firmware.

Benedini Micro - Limited Support
You will now see an option for the Benedini Micro on the Sounds tab of OP Config (in addition to the Mini which was already there). The Micro has its own page now in the Wiki as well. Functionality is very limited - you get engine sounds, machine gun and cannon fire, that's it. This isn't really a change in policy or addition of features, since the Micro has always been able to work with the TCB this way. It's just gotten to be such common knowledge that I decided it would be easier to make it part of the official documentation rather than answering questions about it.

Now because the Benedini Micro was designed for use with standard RC gear to begin with, you can in fact take advantage of its other features but you will need a programmable radio and some expertise, you can see Rad Schuhart's thread for more tricks and tips on that topic, but I will not be actively helping people figure that stuff out. This is as far as I am able to go down this path since as we all know the Micro has been cloned by the Chinese and I don't want to undercut Thomas's business.

Now if you choose to use Benedini's Mini sound card then you don't need any fancy computer radio and the TCB will take care of all the extra features for you, and you get 15 extra sounds in addition to the engine sounds.


Support for Transmitters Without Self Centering Throttle
This was suggested by a user from Slovakia, you can read his thread here. Most transmitters don't come with self-centering throttle stick and he asked if we could create a function where the direction could be selected by a 3-position switch (neutral, forward, reverse), and then the throttle stick would be used only for speed. This is a perfect example of a clever idea I didn't think of but which we were able to implement with a simple change in firmware. (Warning: not every idea pitched to me seems clever.)

If your transmitter has a self-centering throttle stick, do nothing and the TCB will operate as it always has. If you don't have self-centering but do have a 3-position switch, assign that switch as triggers for the three new Manual Transmission functions. Note that the TCB will prevent you from starting the engine unless you have put your gear switch into the neutral position. Also note that you lose the ability to brake (unless you change gears from forward to reverse or vice versa). Braking is only needed if you use high levels of deceleration constraint (momentum).


Support for Tamiya DMD Drive Units
Tom Hugill pointed out an obvious fact which nevertheless I had never thought of, that the Tamiya DMD units are just 4 brushed speed controllers crammed into a single box with a V-Tail mixer for the tracked drive, and therefore might work with the TCB. You can read his thread here. In fact they will work but we can't have the TCB and the DMD both trying to do track mixing so we need to turn it off on the TCB. For this you will notice a new entry in the Vehicle Type drop-down on the Motors tab of OP Config, the entry is called Tank (Tamiya DMD). (If you hadn't been paying attention we also added a new entry there for the DKLM gearboxes a few months ago). Then you just connect the DMD Rudder cable to the TCB RC Output 1 and DMD Throttle to TCB RC Output 2.

As always, there are details and caveats: First, because the Tamiya DMD has a BEC (battery eliminator circuit) you must remove the center pin from the servo connectors before you attach it to the TCB, otherwise you could damage one or both devices (this precaution holds true for all hobby speed controllers with a BEC). See this page for a photo of what I am talking about.

Also, because the DMD is doing the mixing you can no longer use the TCB's various Turn Modes which require the TCB to do the mixing. Finally, the neutral turn (super spin) behavior is now defined by the DMD. I only have a T-08 model to test with but I think they are all the same, the DMD performs spin turns when under ~50% throttle while the steering is held all the way to the left or right (the TCB by comparison performs neutral turns when throttle is zero and steering is applied).

Now everybody already knows that Tamiya will only sell you a DMD for the price of about two kidneys and a lung, so if you don't already have any speed controllers I wouldn't recommend buying one, there are better and cheaper options. But if you already have a DMD in one of your Tamiya tanks and want to update the MFU to the TCB, you can do that.


I hope some of you find these changes useful, and thanks to everyone for giving me creative ideas to improve this product.

bowlman

I just checked the HK site the TCB is back to $56.16 wondering if its now all new boards or still re worked boards .
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/rc-tank-...___store=en_us
Thanks
Jimmy

tankme

I bought two spares while they were at $35. I just took a look at them and they are not repaired units. All of the solder joints are the same consistency and don't look anything like my repaired board. MOSFETs Q1 through Q8 don't have the bad "23EG" marking on them either. Can't tell what the repaired board MOSFET number is, but the new ones are 6FDMR. I'm pretty much off until the first of the year so I should be able to test one of the new ones soon. The text silk screening on the new board one is not quite as crisp as the original I got. I'm thinking Hobby King changed manufacturers after they got screwed.

LukeZ

Several people have reported getting "clean" boards but who knows for sure what their stock situation is. I also ordered another board during the sale but it still had manually-replaced MOSFETs.

But I should think they would have pretty much sold off the originals by now, otherwise they wouldn't have started a second production run.