21 st Century 1/6 scale M5 Stuart R/C tank | home
conversion to proportional Radio system
update 06/29/2006
( the plug and play version will follow very soon )
converting this M5 Stuart tank to a fully proportional Radio system is almost a must
I plant to do this with Tamiya's multifunction-system out of one of the 1/16 scale tank's
but as an cheaper solution I was thinking about this conversation here
the main thing is to have proportional control over the 2 drive-motor's
what can be done with 2x 12 volt ESC's ( electronic speed-control )
( my choice here cost's around $ 55.- each )
I am assuming that you already have a 4 channel radio-system
( if not , a 4 channel 27mhz system starts already at around $ 100.- ,
or a 75mhz FM system for arround $140.- ,
or even better choice for future upgrades a 6 channel for starting at $ 160.- )
The idea is to connect a proportional receiver via an interface-board to the existing Stuart R/C board..
this allone will give you the option to drive more when 1 Stuart at the same time
without interfering each other
( the stock Stuart comes with an 27mhz AM R/C system with no crystals to change ! )
when we are adding the 2x 12volt ESC's to have true proportional driving-functions..
additional ESC's for turret-rotation and gun-elevation plus firing-channnel
are just a few more possibilitys now
or even what I have in mind to install a paint-ball-gun...
in that case a 6 channel radio would be a better choice ...
of course we could just junk the original Stuart R/C board ,
and saving the trouble with building an inetrface-board ,
but the idea is to archive the proportional driving-functions
and keeping the original sound-board...
these are the 2 x 12 volt ESC's ..very nice units , very smooth ...2.4khz switching-frequency ,
10 amps continues current ..what is good enought for the type motor's installed in the Stuart
( found some differnt choices in the meantime , will lsit them soon )
( see here Motor analyses )
these ESC's are original designed for large model-rail-roads , like the LGB or similar ..
therefore no brake , but a nice smooth reverse like forward ....and completely water-tide !!
1 button-setup , super easy ...with 5volt 1 amp BEC-circuit ...
these ESC's are made by Mtroniks in the UK
on the left ESC you can see that I removed the power-wire ( the red one ) ,
since it can lead to disturbances if you use 2 BEC-circuits running into 1 receiver ...
I soldered a plug on this wire and also connected a negative ,
that way I have an additiona 5 volt 1 amp source for additional functions in the future ..
the thicker red / black wires are the looped 12 volt , the yellow and blue wires are the motor-cables,
yellow = positive / blue = negative
the switches on each ESC will stay always on , since the main-power ( 12 volt ) is switched )
each one of thee ESC's is connected parallel ( over a servo-Y-cable ) with 1 micro-switch-equiped servo
to the receiver ...
this is not a must , I just wanted to get rid of the cheap connector's .....
here are the functions on the Stuart receiver-board
the interface-board will be connected to the Stuart receiverboard
that interface-board will replace the electronic switches showen in the yellow box
in the photo bellow ...
photos from the final "plug and play"version will follow very soon ..
so stay tuned ....
for any idea's or comments to this ,
please send me an email
06/2004