TROOPS!

Next Phoenix event is Saturday MAY 21, 2011 at the club field in Phoenix. It is our outdoor season Finale and our much celebrated night battle. Action starts around 2pm and clean up begins at 10pm. For those of your who like the darkness, this is the event for you!


http://desertarmor.com/DAK2/DAK_Battlefield.html

Looking forward to it.  Trying to decide who makes the cut, what mods and repairs we'll make to the lineup, and what accessories we'll be bringing...its the usual drill. 

We've got a few new surprises we'll be bringing. 

Looking foward to it Ethan. I now have a working LED for my main gun fire (using the recoil function... thanks Jeff for the help) that I can hook up to my 250/9 half track for the night battle. =)

Good luck Jeff on deciding what to bring. That can't be easy!

Dave

We're still messing with Saturday's lineup, and charging tanks tonight.  We're installing some new batteries in the Sturmtiger and a King Tiger.  The new batteries are 8400mha LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phospohate) and work great.  Should be able to go all 8 hours with no recharge.  We are very interested to see how they hold up. 

I've been given orders from beyond the grave that ALL German armor must be thrown into the fight Saturday night, including my Sleepy Basket Case of a Tiger.

You guys aren't getting off that easy.. One not cobbled together, but thrown together and shaken, not stirred Tiger complete with Peenemunde Night Fighting Cannon will be showing up Saturday night, with its last commander. Darkness indeed will descend upon the DAK field, pray for those who dare to oppose it. This may be my last battle, but I will NOT go quietly..

I'll be there Ethan, looking forward to it. RHEA glad you'll be coming, why do you say this might be your last battle? Are you going to quit? See you all tomorrow!

Pics coming along......


http://desertarmor.com/DAK_Events/DAK_EVENT_GALLERY/Pages/DAK_5-21-2011.html<br type="_moz" />

cool lol i like that Russiancaptured Tiger

DANG!! You guys know how to feed the troops! Nice assortment of meat on the grill!!!


- Jeff

Panzer F, that's the real reason we all show up! If your tanks crap out on you, the Kitchen Battalion will always come through! =)

The nightside shots.....

We had a great time.  The field looked great and BIG!  Thanks to all who worked to make it special and fun.  We love playing with tanks!

Our only casualty was the King Tiger which destroyed an Impact transmission unit.  Poor thing just couldn't take the stress.

Looking forward to the June battle in Tucson.  Already servicing tanks.

FYI, our battery experiment was a resounding success. The LiFePo4 batteries worked great.  We'll be phasing out all of our NiMh batteries with the new technology.

Can you talk us through this new battery? What are the pros and cons? Increased cost? Use the NiMHchargers or would we need to get balancing LiPo chargers? etc...

TIA

Pros: No self discharge, no memory, about 1/2 the weight of NiMH, non combustible, and non-explosive (unlike it's cousin, Lithium Polymer batteries), about the same cost as a NiMH of comparable MAH, super high MAH available and a life span of 1000 + cycles without capacity deterioration.

Cons: Don't let them fully discharge, or they are ruined, and the lower voltage per cell (3.3v) makes them bad for power hungry applications (such as racing), but just fine for tanks.

Charger: You'll need a modern charger to charge them up. LiFePo4 are 3.3 v per cell, and top out at 3.6v per cell. Some Lipo chargers will work IFthe charge voltage is adjustable down to 3.3v (from a LiPo's normal 3.7v). We had to upgrade to a new charger (Thunderpower 610C) which we bought for $60 US used. The TP 610C has computer upgradeable (downloaded for free) firmware to accomodate changing battery chemistry. Balancing chargers are recommended, but you could easily use an external balancer as well.

We bought some 8400's from HobbyKing http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dproduct=14072 for our Tigers. These are slightly longer and fatter than a stock NiMH 6cell 7.2v stick battery. The 8400s fit just fine in our Tamiya Tigers and King Tigers. We had to change the plug out to a Deans (we do this on all my batteries) The 8400s cost about $55.00 (US). the 4200s cost about $25.00(US). At $25.00, they cost about what a comparable NiMH 4500 battery costs.

Okay...so then they're about the same physical size, but lighter. And they require their own chargers. And, there's no self-discharge. Hmm...I'll have to look into this.