MicroZ

[amsoofi]

recently i bought a microz nissan exterra 26.995MHz band1 with stock everything. it was running ok but then after the antenna extention the range just dropped down to less than 1 foot. you think i fried something in it??

p.s. every connection is fine its just the range.

[Azimov]

A fellow member was kind enough to send me one of these little jewels and I just love it. These things are the natural next step in improving the Zip Zap line of micros. They are much more to scale as being slightly larger allows the wheels to look more proportionate to the body. The removable wheels are the single best modification on the chassis. Removing lint and hair is no problem on these MicroZ GTs. The steering on mine is smooth and strong. I can't discern any actual steps when I watch it turn. It just seems to just move more and more as I turn the wheel. No stuttering at all. I wish these things would come to the US. I guess the Canadians are first this time around. Kindof a payback for having to wait for Zips a few years ago, lol.

then after the antenna extention the range just dropped down to less than 1 foot

I'm not familiar with this mod. I'm assuming you just soldered a new, longer antenna on the thing.
First, be absolutely sure all connections are good. A cold solder joint may look great, but have a lousy connection. If all is solid, I would next suspect that you have an improper length of antenna. The RX is tuned to the factory length which is an even fraction of the actual length needed to recieve the signal the strongest. Which is the actual length of the radio wave measured from the top of the curve of one wave to the bottom of the next. I have no idea what that would be for 26.995MHz, but you don't have to have a slide rule to get close. You can find the antenna tuner on the PCB and turn it gradually with a small screwdriver, test, and repeat until you adjust to the new length of antenna. Or, you can add or subtract small lengths from the antenna, test range, and repeat until you get better range. Actually, a combination of the two is best, but snipping the antenna is the easiest. Of course, snipping til you reach the original factory length kinda negates the mod.
Still, I would put my money on a cold solder joint.
Range doesn't seem to be an issue on my MicroZ, so I'm not sure why you would mod to improve it, or is it an asthetic modification?

[amsoofi]

surly microzs are the next zip zaps and they work great and ya its payback time!!! lol... i tried these two things and got great results and now with 1 foot copper speaker wire i actually get 10 feet (4 inches stripped) with some tuning on the controller and the car i get this even better... i was wondring if it has a cripple cap in the car or somewhere because there are so many orange caps i dont know if one is present there. which car do you have and what motor... its great that you guys have it too so its not hard trying to explain the circuit to you. i was a thread which had these lenghts but i dont know where to find it, i've looked so many times and still nothing see if you remember it.

thanks again Azimov

[Azimov]

which car do you have and what motor

I have the Ford F150 pickup with the stock motor. I decided to go with a truck since they are usually slightly larger than cars and I only have one MicroZ to go with my Zips.

[amsoofi]

on the car and on the remote there is a pot to tune the signal...the pins on the bottom are like so>1 2 and below 345, on pin 2 or 3 i put anything metal and get an extra boost of range. it has to have the orignal antenna and another one starting from pins 2 or 3 have to be there in order to work but this would mean two antennas for both the car and the remote. currently i have it with the remote and planning to put one on the car(didnt find any extra speaker wire yet lol). lets see what happens to the range.
thnks 4 the info.

[amsoofi]

i used some high pressure grease (spray can) on the gears of microz gt and the problem is gone ofcoarse it will cause a slight delay while turning on the weaker side but the car will be very quiet now.

[RCCarFreak]

Sorry about the delay on my post...I just got back from holidays. Happy New Year all.
I now have all six bands of the GTs...and a single 49 and 27 freq regular microz. 8 racing cars at once!!!
Sorry to hear about the loss of range. I'm not sure what to suggest other than what Azimov suggested. Nice to hear that you got a microz you both. Told you that you'd like 'em!
I think the prices have gone back up to normal here in Canada...40 for the GT and 30 for the regular microz.
Hope you can solve the range problem.
Cheers

[amsoofi]

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL and thankx for the hope RCCarfreak. i just put everything back in the car and now i have the extended antenna in the recevr and the 26 guage antenna in the car. i put in a 3.7v li-ion from a cell phone battery but after some running around at 3.6mph at stock motor the car's stearing has started to cause some problems. but you are right these cars are soo much fun and fast!!! lol the range sadly is still around 7-10 feet but once i got the range upto 20 feet and then back to 7 lol. luckly i bought it on the sale time for 30 i think .

[amsoofi]

HAPPY WARM 2007 (to Toronto Canada)
removed the two resistors from the reciever part and removed the resistance which is with the antenna. removed some other resistance from it and got the range to 15' . i added a 1 foot antenna to the car which brought it upto 16' then the pot mod to both the reciever and the car gave me 20'. took out the battery from the car and put a cellphone battery on it (3.7v li-ion) still use the phone to charge... i put a rechargable 6v battery pack to the reciever and now get upto 4 days of playing on one charge because i dont have to charge the car from it lol. and now i got some minor problem with the stearing and the stuttering...
thats all for now.

EDIT :- the steering problem was caused by the high voltage and the fet or transistor got fried... everytime i turn it on it gets very hot and the steering only turns one way so be careful with this pcb it might not take more than 3.4v to burn it!!!