4x the range
 

ok my buddy modified my controller yesterday by adding a 3rd aaa battery inside as well as putting a tv antenna over the original. as long as i am in line of sight i get a good 20 feet indoors. maybe more.

I guess I should add some info here about my vote. I voted "oops i cant see it anymore 15+ ft", but that is only for my 49MHz ZipZap and my cheap 49MHz Motor Works car :D

My 27MHz ZipZap has a range of 5-7', even after removing the knot from the antenna wire. It's also slower than the other ZZ :mad:

I just got the ZZs yesterday, so I haven't done any mods yet...

I would be interested in knowing if the majority of the people reporting good range are on the 49 or 27 freq. Seems to be a trend of the 27s having more range difficulties.

i choose opps i cant see it thats for both my cars 27 and 49 my 27 was at a range of like 1 foot serios it didnt move i changed the antenna out like in the other thread and wow its gone:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

Every 27 I've tried sufferes from the same problem. Short range and stuttering. I've added a thicker guage wire to my 49Mhz ZipZap and I swear, the damn thing amazed me today. I was at work and we have a large smoking lounge and I was able to control the car from a good 20 ft away without the controller pointing at the car. At first, the ZZ's range was pretty poor, even the 49. Seems like adding a thicker and longer wire to the car makes a big difference. No need to mod the controller at all for me.

i will second that...the controller mods seem to not do nearly as much as car mods at any frequency, on any kind of car (bits or zz)

i have to disagree i got nearly fifty feet no joke inside with the controller mod now its the first thing done and no mod to the cars antenna,well maybe color matching but thats it

mine is 27mhz. stock i got 5-6 feet.

same here...
 

I also got more than 30+ feet range (max about 50ft) on mine with just a controller mod.

When you talk about radio transmissions, the transmitting antenna is the first thing you always need to look at for improvements. Think about it, if the transmission is powerful enough, the receiver will be able to get it better.

I have it on both 49 and 27 mhz without any problems. Didn't do anything to the car.

HOG:
Was the battery added in parallel or series? I'm interested in knowing if more voltage to the contoller increases signal stength.

umm im not sure and i dont have the controller at home. my buddie is an electrical engineer who happens to really like cars and tinkering. ill take photos sometime this weekend. hes got a lot of good ideas that we havnt tried yet either. ill put up a buncha pics and videos of my car in action when i get my body done.

btw...

he also said that if i got a holder for 3 aa batteries it would make the range go even further.

Hmmm... AAA to AA shouldn't make any difference.... might last longer, but those put out same voltage... This is a curious statement.

See if you can find out from your bud about whether series or parallel.

I love EE!! When I start college next year I'm going to double major in EE and CS.