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Losing grip – Transforming the TRX-4 transmitter functions
As far as plans go, mine was as simple as they come. Even so, it failed miserably when faced with reality. It was like this: 1) Buy TRX-4 kit and 2021 Ford Bronco body, 2) build and paint TRX-4 kit and Bronco body, 3) drive and enjoy TRX-4, 4) upgrade and do pre and post comparisons one thing at a [...]
- 9/26/2022
- 2:18 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip
Projects
RC Rock Crawling
Traxxas - By: Martin
Losing grip – Watch what the receiver receives
Knowledge ought to save money, but it doesn’t always. Lacking a BEC, a receiver can be powered by a receiver pack, often 5 NiMh cells with a nominal output of 6V. I knew this, and that’s why I just smoked my Traxxas TQi receiver and need to get a new one. Very annoying. Let’s start from the beginning. I have a [...]
Losing grip – Roundabout painting
When everyone else out there seem to be building their own version of the new TRX-4 High Trail, I’m as behind as ever and am turning a TRX-4 kit into a 2021 Bronco. Goes to prove that I never was an early adopter, and that Brian needs to raise my pay check. Speaking of money: if you want a TRX-4 [...]
- 9/12/2022
- 6:40 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip - By: Martin
Losing grip - Center of gravity and being clever about upgra…
Do you know where your car’s center of gravity is? I do, and you can find out in less than five minutes. It might save you money, and it might inform you to make better upgrade decisions. I’ll start by explaining center of gravity, will then touch on torque, do a quick brief on tipping point and base of support, and then run [...]
- 9/6/2022
- 3:08 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip - By: Martin
Losing grip – To BEC or not to BEC?
An external BEC is a nifty little device that I recently realised I use too often. Maybe you do as well? My Bomber, Yeti and SCX10III all have one, added by way of default thinking as I was setting up the electronics on them. I had read that it’s a good thing, and so added one to every car without [...]
- 9/1/2022
- 1:49 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip - By: Martin
Losing grip – Bring in the crowd!
How best to spread this great hobby of ours? It’s a rich one, with lots of different aspects to dwelve deeper into: driving (duh…), building, painting, racing, engineering. Indoors, outdoors, in mud, on asphalt, at the beach, in the mountains, on the trails. Not that I really have to tell you, you know what I’m talking about. If it is good, [...]
Losing grip – Trail running
The summer isn’t over yet, but enough of it has passed for me to label it as a good one. I have done a fair bit of trail running with my SCX10III, and although not quite as long walks as I had hoped, certainly enough to be happy about it and to properly evaluate some of the work I’ve put [...]
- 8/19/2022
- 1:46 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip - By: Martin
Losing grip – When to retire?
No, I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about my cars. When is it time to let a car retire? Or, put more truthfully, to put an end to it by gutting it of its electronics? Organ donation, so to speak. I have a specific case sitting on a shelf at home. Snowman, my Axial Yeti, bought and built in 2017. [...]
- 8/8/2022
- 5:09 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip - By: Martin
Losing grip – Lessons learned, and not
G’day mates! Last week I had the pleasure of showing off the new body of my SCX10 III, Viper. Today we’ll have a look at lessons learned. First, an easy one: black and yellow worked well as a recipe for one eye catching color scheme that would look good both out driving, and in pictures published on this very website. [...]
- 8/2/2022
- 12:30 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip
painting - By: Martin
Losing grip – Yay, yellow!
Done! Viper has shed his skin, blue has given way to yellow. I wished for something that stood out a bit more against the background, and, yes, I got what I wanted.Of course, the light from a setting sun does help a bit. But whether in the spotlight or not, yellow is en eye-catching color.Why Viper? Because all my rigs [...]
Losing grip – Raising my bar
Last week I wrote about all the ways this hobby can challenge us, this week is about what’s my chosen challenge for the moment. Giving my SCX10 III a new look, better than the previous one. New wheels from Locked Up RC, and a yellow paint job for more striking visibilty in photographs. I’m going with the same body as before, [...]
Losing grip – What’s the challenge?
What’s challenging about this hobby? I mean, we’re driving basically useless, miniature toy cars in our spare time. Paying extra to kit them out with licensed scale wheels and tires. Seriously? In my case, even spending a fair amount of time writing about something that to many might be perceived as a complete waste of time. And I certainly don’t have [...]
Losing grip – Wow! Wheels!
What’s so cool about wheels anyway? It’s hard to put a finger on just what it is that makes them cool, but in my eyes there’s nothing that pops a cars appearance as much as a nice set of wheels. As I was about to start assembling my new ones Jeremy popped up in the back of my head – [...]
- 7/4/2022
- 5:14 pm
- Columns
Loosing Grip - By: Martin
Losing grip – Voltage, locks and LiPos
A couple of weeks back I had the pleasure of working in a city situated along Sweden’s largest river, Göta kanal. Compared to rivers like the Amazon, Kongo or Mississippi, it’s but a trickle of water, but nonetheless it was both beautiful and fascinating. To be specific, the river was beautiful, and its locks were fascinating. The city boasted six [...]
Losing grip – On procrastination
Procrastination – a tongue twister if ever there was one. In the picture above there’s an example of it, a long since unfinished scale body for my SCX24. According to Psychology Today procrastination “implies performing an alternative activity to the one intended and is synonymous with idleness.” Regular readers might remember me writing about getting a scale body for the SCX24 way [...]
