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View Full Version : How do you get a ZZ to have a 100ft range?


Baller Status
10-05-2002, 11:56 PM
I tried using a futaba receiver antennae, and soldering it to the existing wire like the Futaba instructions said but it barely gave it any feet, and it weighed the car down.

I just want a straight forward answer, like the part number of the type of wire you used, and any tips and precautions when installing it.

So far I heard using 10gauage speaker wire? How exactly was this installed, and do I have to mess with the transmitter?

Thanks!

Axel
10-06-2002, 12:28 AM
The 10 guage speaker wire was me, and yes, I got a 100 foot range outside (between 30 and 50 feet inside). For the 10 guage speaker wire I obviously didn't use the whole thing because that would be HUGE!! I took one of the little strands from the speaker wire. It was very thin, about 1/3 of a mm. About 12 inches long total. I unsoldered the old antenna and resoldered this one there. Then I just strung it out, and outside the car I coiled it by wrapping it around a pencil and then sliding it off since it wouldn't stand up straight without that. No modding of the controller needed!

Unfortunately though, my car no longer gets that reception, due to a recent casualty during an agressive modding of the car (and controller) that left my car unoperational.... I'm working on it right now, my fingers already scorched with soldering iron burns :-P

MTL
10-06-2002, 12:34 AM
ouch..i havent burned myself yet...i bet i will one day, and im gonna scream like a girl

im thinking of replacing my antenna also...not THAT long...but maybe 8"-10" one...

Mattydiah
10-06-2002, 03:41 AM
A little OT here, but when I was about 12 or so, my dad and I were soldering something on the wiring harness on my dirtbike, and the gun was sitting on the ground, hot, and I leaned back with my full body weight and pressed my hand right into the hot tip of the iron.

WORST.PAIN.EVER.

Please, people, solder safely, think of the children, THE CHILDREN!! :p

Baller Status
10-06-2002, 09:36 AM
Thanks!
Is it still possible to keep it around in my pocket by wrapping the new antennae around the car? I hope moisture or finger oils will not corrode the wire..

P.S. How did the 3.8 motor with 2 serial batteries project work out? I was plannign to do that too...

Axel
10-06-2002, 01:31 PM
Ya, the wire might get bent up in your pocket, but keep a pencil handy and you can just straighten it back out and curl it up again real quick. Works great.

Ah, the dreaded project. Started out very successfully. The 2.4v series battery mod pushed the 3.8 fine but I was having probs keeping a good connection on the slightly different sized 3.8 motor. So I put my nos back in and was running it back the old speed, which is still super fast with 2.4v. Then after like 3 charges, it started slowing down horribly to a pace that was barely moving. I got my trustly volt/amp meter out and I was only getting .5v and 50 mA through to the motor!!! I couldn't find any bad connections so I took it all apart and found that only the first battery in the series was charging!! The other one was totally dead!!! So I figured, ok, bad battery. But I tried to charge it outside of the series circuit and it held just fine. Put it back together and it flew for two more charges, then the same thing. I don't understand why only one battery is getting charged. I have my controller bypassing the board so it's getting 3v through the charger. If anybody has any ideas on this let me know, cause I'm stumped. I took out the other battery for now and am running it stock.... yuck!!!

tinyrc
10-11-2002, 07:29 PM
Axel, have you tried direct charging using a peak charger, or something as simple as an adjustable AC/DC adapter? (careful!)

Axel
10-11-2002, 11:48 PM
I figure I must have a bad battery and it's just not holding the charge for a very long time. Because I'm putting about 2.6-2.8V through to charge it... I haven't charged with anything special though. Just a two AAA battery pack.

Props on the 150 mHa NiMH's!!! I might have to grab one or two of those and try this dual-bat thing again. Because they aren't even holding more than 20 seconds after I totally take em apart and charge em separate and put them back together. That's disappointing. I don't have that kind of spare moola! :-)