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Radio controlled cars as a hobby



Greetings

There are a lot of various radio-controlled (RC) equipment in the world, from very simple children's machines on the control panel to huge models of airplanes reaching the size of a car. In this article, I want to talk about the part of the RC world called auto-modeling, which classes of models come in, which categories they divide into, where to start, and so on.
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Details under the cut. Caution, a lot of traffic.

Types of models


Monsters (Monster Truck)

The most popular class of technology for entertainment.
It is a model with high ground clearance, huge wheels, high center of gravity, respectively, is very unstable.
Able to overcome any type of surface, ideal for jumping, slides and just for fun in the country.



Buggy

Typically, all-wheel drive. Able to overcome any type of surface, with the most optimal would be riding on tightly rolled ground.
It is this class that is most widely represented at competitions.



Short Course

It is a pickup truck with a short base and rear wheel drive.
It has a great similarity (copy) with these cars. Designed for the same surface as the buggy, that is, rolled ground.





Traggi (truggy)

Something in between a buggy and a monster.
It is characterized by the presence of large, widely spaced wheels and a small ground clearance. Accordingly, this class can perfectly overcome a variety of obstacles, jumps, uneven ground, while the handling is worse than the buggy, but better than the monster.
Excellent compromise option.



Crawler (Crawler)

It is characterized by a huge ground clearance, the same huge suspension travel, low speed.
Designed exclusively for accurate and leisurely overcoming obstacles.





Drift (Drift)

Exclusively highway cars.
Designed, as the name implies, for drifting on asphalt.





Rally (rally)

Along with a crawler is a rather rare class of car.
As a rule, all-wheel drive cars. Differs copy. Designed for rolled soil.



Trophy (trophy)

Differs in high copyty, a full wire - often with continuous bridges, low speed, soft tenacious tires.
Designed to slowly overcome a variety of obstacles in the form of puddles, mud, swamp.
Popular models sell a huge amount of tuning in the form of canisters, wheels, bodies, etc. to create an exact copy of real trophy cars.







Scale models


Models vary in scale from micro (1:18) to huge 1: 5 or 1: 4 reaching 1 meter in length.
Models of scale from 1:18 to 1:12 are actually toys and do not participate in competitions, while they are not suitable as a gift for small children and are not intended for riding at home, as they are able to develop a speed of 30-35 km / h.
The most interesting and popular scale is 1:10 and 1: 8. It is in these classes that the main part of the competition and the largest variety of models are held.
Models of 1:10 and 1: 8 scale can reach 50 cm in length and are not designed for pokatushek in yards and crowded places, since they can reach a very high speed (up to 117 km / h HPI Vorza), and in a compartment with a mass ( about 4-6 kg) can cause serious injury.
The largest models of 1: 5 scale possess, overwhelmingly, an internal combustion engine with a volume of 24-28 cm3 and in fact repeat the construction of real cars.

Engines


At the moment, car models have four types of engines:


Prices


Prices for cars, in contrast to aircraft models, have their own clear framework. So the prices for Chinese models 1:18 with collector motors start at 3000 rubles (~ 80 usd). With a more powerful brushless motor, the price reaches 4500 rubles (~ 130usd). The price range for hobby models (non-sports) of a more interesting scale (1:10, 1: 8) varies from 10,000 rubles to 25,000 rubles (300-700 usd). The most expensive, this model scale 1: 5, prices can reach 40 - 70 thousand rubles (1200 - 2000 usd).

Bundling (supply options)


There are two types of delivery models:


Hardware (appa)


One of the most important parts in the RC hobby is the equipment: remote control, receiver, telemetry. On the market there are a large number of options from very simple and budget versions of 2-channel equipment for 15-20 bucks:



Up to the heaped 4-channel, with telemetry, a bunch of settings and other chips and the price of 600 usd:



The design of the car on the example of my engine tragedy


General picture from the official site:



All-wheel drive model. Three differentials. Engine 4.6 cm3, 2.9 hp Two cardan diverging from the center of the differential front and rear. Two disc brakes are attached to the center differential. The engine is of the heating type, which means that to start the engine, the candle must be heated with a special glow, and then the candle helix keeps the temperature itself.
Lower deck:



The bottom deck is an aluminum plate 4.5 mm thick with holes for starting the motor using the starting table.
Front suspension design:



The design of the front suspension is in fact not much inferior to real cars in complexity and greatly surpasses them in terms of reliability, since a fall from a height of 2 meters to the ground with a dozen coups, as a rule, the car passes without any breakdowns.

What model to buy?


The question is complex and, as in the case of computers, one must first determine the budget and objectives. So for example, if you want to just drive on a model, jump from springboards and just get a fan, then your choice is a monster - for example HPI Savage. You are interested in large machines of the 5th scale, then you can look towards the HPI Baja 5T. On a number of forums there are special topics for beginners devoted to the election of technology - links at the bottom of the article.

Brands (manufacturers)


Currently, there are a large number of manufacturers on the market. They can be divided into three categories:


Competition


For fans of RC hobby competitions are held at the regional level as well as all-Russian. Competitions usually have strict regulations and are generally divided into the following classes:

It is necessary to stipulate that the classes described are a certain convention and may vary from city to city, depending on the popularity of certain models.
If you decide that you want to participate in competitions, think carefully whether you need it, because like any sport, RC racing requires a lot of time, money, knowledge and patience. As I mentioned above, to prepare a new model from scratch for competitions on the basis of a whale can cost 60 - 70 thousand rubles. Second-hand can be found for 25-35 thousand.

Nitro or Electro


Before the advent of BC systems in the world of automade, the ICE ruled, since collector motors have significantly less power. With the advent of brushless (valve) electric motors, the scales swung in the opposite direction, since electric motors with comparable power to ICE have a number of advantages, such as silence, reliability, there is no need to tune in, run in, do not start, maintenance is an order of magnitude easier and so on. In this case, there is a drawback in the form of the need to charge the batteries and swell the batteries in sub-zero temperatures.
From myself I can see that when I chose a serious model, the choice was on the ICE variant, which I later regretted many times, since the maintenance, tuning, etc. take a lot of time, but you can ride while there is fuel, and the furious roar of the engine coupled with a cloud of smoke does not leave indifferent more than one passerby.

How to start?


In order to understand whether or not to like it, decide on the model and in general, I advise you to come and see the competitions, pokatushki. People are usually sympathetic and sociable, they will help and advise, because they themselves once started. It is also worth asking with a question on the RC hobby forums.
In St. Petersburg, you can come and chat on the race track called “Under the Bridge”: http://maps.yandex.ru/-/CVvMuDY7 . At the weekend there is always someone riding, but keep in mind that the track is common and free, so you need to behave culturally and not crap.

useful links




Ask questions.

Thank you all for your attention.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/234057/

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