zipzap probs

natedogg4674 · #1 10-07-2002, 05:18 PM

Ok, I had two zip zaps, 27 & 49, I modified both antennas, I get unbelievable range on my 49, about 3 feet from the 27, i tried so many combinations on antennas on the 27, i gave up, its noy my spare parts car, i think it was a lemon. so now comes the hard part, trying to find any zip zaps anywhere, i just went to 4 different radio shacks, all sold out. i was able to find a few microsizers. for 34.99 each. almost twice the cost of zzs. and looking at them closely they look cheaply made, and the body styles suck, they all look too small and curvy. so now im waiting for my local radio shack to get more in this afternoon, hopefully ill score the track too. out of all the different brands out there, zip zaps seem made the best to me. the cotroller of the microsizer is ridiculous. anyway if anyone has any other ideas on increasing my range on the 27 ill be buying other than soldering a new antenna on which i tried please let me know. thx

mechanist · #2 10-07-2002, 06:03 PM

Check out some of the other threads. I've had the same problem and so have others.
A few of us have tried a bigger antenna on the controller with some luck.
I'm gonna be trying a new antenna on my car next.

Spitfire7001 · #3 10-07-2002, 08:34 PM

walk with it

go_zz_go · #4 10-07-2002, 08:41 PM

heck if your going to walk with it you might as well hard wire it straight from the controler put a 10 foot wire and you now have a range of ten feet haha but the controler antennea is the thing that did it for my 27mhz zipzapive got like thrity feet inside

#5 10-07-2002, 08:46 PM

I soldered a new antenna on my 27 and I got to the opposite corner of a double tennis court and it ran off the edge. We're talking past 100 feet easily. I don't have anywhere else to test the range, and quite frankly I had to tie a STREAMER (orange streamer plastic stuff used on smaller model rockets) to my car's antenna just so I could know exactly where it was.

It's 7 inches long, made from one of the four pairs from a category 5 patch cable. I also didn't tie a knot in it. It comes right off the PCB and comes out the stock location in the middle front of the PCB cover.

natedogg4674 · #6 10-07-2002, 10:54 PM

after searching 6 radioshacks i found another 27, its the porshe, i got the fast furious kit, i soldered another wire on it and inside i get about 6 feet, but outside about 30, but my 49 in the same place inside works great, i heard on this forum something about appliances causing interference, i think whatever is causing the interference is closer to 27 mhz than it is 49, thats the only way i can explain why it works so good outside but is lame inside, anyway in response to me walking along with the car, id junk it before then, that defeats the purpose of "radio control" if im gonna walk with it i might as well get a hot wheel for 99 cents and push it along on the floor!! anyway i love the whole idea of the tiny rc's, about ten years ago they tried it with off road cars that were a bit bigger but still much smaller than a 1/10th, but the idea flopped. props to the peeps that started this site, and ill keep everyone posted, my next mod is to get a bigger controller antenna. as far as the car antenna i used a single strand of 10 guage power wire, then to keep it from flopping all over i took about 3 inches of heat shrink tube and threaded it through antenna hole in car, superglued it on the inside, so now its similar to the antenna set up on 1/10th scale cars where you thread the antenna through the tube when you put the body on, it works great. ill get some pics soon, keep up the good work guys.Thanks again

SlackerZ · #7 10-08-2002, 12:45 AM

I put in a mod to my car's antenna and my range is better but still far from two tennis courts. I purchased the 22 inch radio shack antenna for my controller and I see an increase in performance but still far from what is being reported. My latest problem is my car seems to be falling apart. The front bumper is cracked from taking the shell on and off, the clear pcb protector lost one of its tabs and now rests loosely inside of the car, and my turning radius is horrible with my new antenna. I've been putting alot of thought into purchasing a microsizer or starting over with a new zz and not modifying it at all other than the obvious motor/ transmission upgrades.

#8 10-08-2002, 12:56 AM

SlackerZ:

I broke a tab off my pcb cover as well. I just hold the cover on with electrical tape now

The antenna might be too heavy. My antenna was causing terrible handling and rollovers. I shortened it to 7 inches from about a foot. seems to work great now.

Also, check your magnet, and check for metal shavings stuck under the car in front of the steering adjustment lever. Both of those things will make the steering less than impressive.

If your shell is broken, get a new shell. Go buy a fast and furious kit or one of the many kits that are coming out now that are JUST the body shell. I saw a box at RS that contained just mustang and pt cruiser shell. No actual chassis or wheels or anything just the shells. I'm sure there's other ones that are available.

SlackerZ · #9 10-08-2002, 10:26 PM

I learned about the magnet attracting metal debris the hard way. We do alot of drilling, wiring, and scrubbing with brillo pads at work and my zz seemed to have developed a tiny soul patch. I smacked it gently against a speaker magnet to loosen the metal scraps.
-slackerz

tinyrc · #10 10-12-2002, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SlackerZ
...my zz seemed to have developed a tiny soul patch...

LOL!!