ASK Cub Reporter- You Ask the Questions and We Make Stuff Up, Version 11.03.2010

Yet another week, yet more questions….
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“Hi Cubby!
My friends and I have really gotten into the new Losi Micros Rally/SCT. These things are great on lipo! Since the batteries are so small (using FlightMax 350s – perfect fit!) we were wondering if we could make a harness to charge two of them at the same time. We’d set the charger at 4S. We’re not quite ready to step up to a multiple charger solution.
Thanks, and happy bashing!
Tor”

Cubby– Hey Tor, as much as I love to hate on Losi, I gotta give massive love to those Micro SCT trucks. We had some of’em in our booth at iHobby and those lil’ suckers are addicting.

Now, as for charging your two 2S 350 mah packs in series, here’s a simple answer- don’t. Yes, you “could” do it, but unless you make an adapter that goes from both your packs balance ports to a single 4S balance port that plugs into your charger, you are at risk of overcharging one or more of the cells. I know long charge times suck, but charging two separate packs in series is highly not recommended.

If you must charge both at the same time, charge them in parallel. In the case of your identical 2S 350’s, having them in nearly the same state of discharge is a plus, and you’ll be setting your charger to 2S Lipo at .7 amps, with the red/positive wires from both packs going to the positive wire of the charger output, and both negative/black wires from the packs going to the negative wire of the charger.

Now have fast and go fun.

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And here’s one I stole from Brian’s email…

“Hey Brian, I just came across your site a few weeks back looking for some info on Batteries and found some awesome info! This week I found some even potentially better info on something different.

I am gathering information and normal guy opinions on the dos and don’ts of opening a new indoor electric track for the winter season as a start. A group of guys I met and I built a 1/2 acre 1/8th scale track a few years back and ran it for a summer until it got too big and had to shut it down do
to neighbors complaining. We had over 60+ members and growing.

This fall I want to open a winter/fall track to see if it will support a year-round venue with an outdoor track. I am not a hard core racer but more like a hardcore builder. I grew up with scout clubs and go-carts and things and feel our younger group needs that old school place to go and hang out
and challenge each other on the track with their own builds and modded rides.

I don’t really want to have big races because it will scare off a lot of the noobs and those who cant afford big money stuff to really support it and believe me the attitudes would not fly with me trackside! I want a great place for kids and adults to come and hang out, do homework and hold classes on “how to” stuff for the sport and race their times and against others.
Also having points races and holiday races with a year end giveaway of something cool like a new truck and batteries and the like.
The information I am looking for is the insurance and business type info as well as best advertising tactics people have successfully used. I have started putting up request for racers of all skill levels around the rc venues with not much of a response and plan to put ads in the local papers.
If you guys could assist with anything in anyway that would be great! I am in central New Jersey in the Rutgers area of the Brunswick’s and Spotswood. I am hoping the RC folk will come out and support the track so maybe it could be a permanent thing.

Thanks!
And keep up the great work!
Joe C.”

Cubby– Well Joe, IMO, the world needs a lot more track owner/operators like you. Less emphasis on holding a ROAR nat, and a lot more effort put into just having a good time would go a long ways towards boosting attendance at the local level.

About business type info on an indoor track- you’ll have to inquire with your local authorities, as it will vary what will be required in your area. The requirements are based on if you are set up as a non or not for profit club, or as a for profit business. Also, you’d be amazed how many tracks race without insurance, but IMO it’s a must have. Your local authorities will be able to give you info on how much you’ll be required to have, and where to get it from.

As far as the best marketing plan for a new track, well, I’m a huge believer in going as big as you can. There is lots of free advertising to be had on the internet, as there are literally hundreds of forums and track locators that you can post on for free. But, you’ll want to get the word out more locally than anywhere else, so your idea of putting ads in the local paper is a great one and often used with success. My preferred method for a brand new track is putting race fliers in local hobby shops (and super markets and schools), there your track will not only be seen by local racers, but also by the local core bashers. As a whole, the more marketing the better, if you can swing it, do it.

But most importantly, as you already know from the success at your previous track, is “keeping” every single guy that shows up. A track really isn’t about how good your scoring system is, nor how good your jumps are, or how good your hot dogs are, a track is actually more about people. You only get one chance for a first impression, and to quickly build a racer base, you’ll have to go above and beyond for every single guy that shows up. This means not only making their racing experience a good one, but to make them immediately feel welcome and at home at your track. Too many tracks don’t GAS when a new guy shows up, they don’t even say hello, let alone showing them the facility or introduce them to the other racers. Those are the tracks with pathetic attendance at local races, who only get good numbers when they hold a big “trophy” race and 95% of the entries are from out of towners. Lastly, I’ve always said you can judge the health of a track by the size of it’s youth class (which rarely even exists now days), so bend over backwards to get kids racing.

Best of luck Joe, opening a new track is not an easy task, but sounds like you’ve got your priority’s straight.

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That’s it for this week ya bunch of Cub junkies, send us your questions (not that we’ll post’em), suggestions (not that we’ll listen to them), and anything else worthwhile to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com!

YOUR Cub Reporter