Heng Long 6.0 IR Battle System review
#27

Please note though I removed the airsoft features and stock battery box to make room for the much larger battery.
Last edited by Fsttanks; 11-15-2019 at 05:28 PM.
#28
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@Fsttanks I must have missed it, but where in LA do you run your tanks? I used to fly out of Apollo field in the Sepulveda basin for many years and ran sailboats in the nearby lake on the other side of the golf course.
#29

I run (battle) my tanks at the LA Tank Museum in El Monte Ca. on the first Sun of each month at the LA Tank Club meets and run (battle) them in San Diego with the SD Tank Club at their bi monthly themed battles. When not running at these clubs I have private 1/3 of an acre comprehensive test & evaluation / battle course set up at my home near Palms Spring Ca. I host small groups from time to time at my course for independent eyes to watch and participate in the testing.
Last edited by Fsttanks; 11-17-2019 at 09:17 AM.
#30

LA Tank meets at the American Military equipment museum in South El Monte in the Narrows Parks on the 1st Sunday of each month unless it rained and is too wet. The museum is outdoors and cannot be open when its muddy.
https://www.facebook.com/LA-TANK-1374316629449631/
619th Tank Battalion in San Diego tends to host Tank Battles most months except winter/spring then its bi monthly weather dependent. Usually on 3d or 4th weekend. We have a few reservists and have to dodge duty weekends.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SanDiegoRCTankBattles/
https://www.facebook.com/LA-TANK-1374316629449631/
619th Tank Battalion in San Diego tends to host Tank Battles most months except winter/spring then its bi monthly weather dependent. Usually on 3d or 4th weekend. We have a few reservists and have to dodge duty weekends.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SanDiegoRCTankBattles/
#31


An excellent review of the HL 6.0-6.1 MFU and battle system, a lot of useful information and ideas for us hobbyists to ponder and play with. Many thanks for taking the time to do the testing and post the results.
#33

A few new "bits" of information to share about the 6.0 battle system. As the testing group size grows (now over 4 Heng Long 6.0 tanks) and after a dozen or more club and pick up game IR battles a pattern has emerged. We are finding the system continues to works well will Tamiya IR/MFUs, but are having a few issues with those folks running the lower end Clark TK22 systems. About 25-30% of the TK22 users are not able to consistently score hits on the 6.0 system. This could be caused by a number of factors, but is most likely these Clark TK22s are not putting enough power to their IR bulbs. As we know the 6.0 IR receiver is not as sensitive as the Tamiya receiver and easily blinded by even moderate sunlight, it needs a fair amount of IR energy hitting it to register a hit.
This brings us to the next observation. The 6.0 system needs a solid hit of no less then .5 second. So the typical "snap" or "pop out" shot from cover then quick reverse back behind cover can lead to not enough time for the IR beam solidly hitting the 6.0 receiver and not register a hit. Also the 6.0 system has ~ .5 second delay before indication of a hit with lights and shakes(I have a video of this happening between my M51 and HL T34 on Instagram @fsttanks). This leads some to feeling like they are not hitting the 6.0 tanks and a level of frustration to set in on their part.
A few other minor observations:
In regards to turret turning and the ability to receive hits. Generally while the turret is turning the 6.0 system will not register hits. We have found that this is not always true and at ranges out to 15ft it will register a hit from a solid full "time length" IR beam shot.
The 6.0 IR system is very power sensitive and will start shutting the tank down completely as it runs down past ~20% power when hit. It will restart the tank, but in doing so will also reset the number of hits back to 6. Less experienced player may not realize this and continue to play making for an unbalanced game.
Hit indication lighting still seems to be a big issue. People are just so use to looking for the Tamiya style of hit indicators that even with the turret added red LED lights on three of the most used HL 6.0 tanks(as seen in the prior post photos), people swear that the HL tank is not being hit when in fact it is. This is something I hope Heng Long fixes by incorporating bright LED into a new IR receiver should they improve them at some point. (NOTE: not all the HL tanks have good visible hit shaking as this only works well on the light weight all plastic versions, heavier tanks on soft dirt do not shake well)
I have some "slow motion" test videos of the 6.0 Heng Long tanks up on Instagram @fsttanks if you would like to see them.
Your constructive input is welcome.
This brings us to the next observation. The 6.0 system needs a solid hit of no less then .5 second. So the typical "snap" or "pop out" shot from cover then quick reverse back behind cover can lead to not enough time for the IR beam solidly hitting the 6.0 receiver and not register a hit. Also the 6.0 system has ~ .5 second delay before indication of a hit with lights and shakes(I have a video of this happening between my M51 and HL T34 on Instagram @fsttanks). This leads some to feeling like they are not hitting the 6.0 tanks and a level of frustration to set in on their part.
A few other minor observations:
In regards to turret turning and the ability to receive hits. Generally while the turret is turning the 6.0 system will not register hits. We have found that this is not always true and at ranges out to 15ft it will register a hit from a solid full "time length" IR beam shot.
The 6.0 IR system is very power sensitive and will start shutting the tank down completely as it runs down past ~20% power when hit. It will restart the tank, but in doing so will also reset the number of hits back to 6. Less experienced player may not realize this and continue to play making for an unbalanced game.
Hit indication lighting still seems to be a big issue. People are just so use to looking for the Tamiya style of hit indicators that even with the turret added red LED lights on three of the most used HL 6.0 tanks(as seen in the prior post photos), people swear that the HL tank is not being hit when in fact it is. This is something I hope Heng Long fixes by incorporating bright LED into a new IR receiver should they improve them at some point. (NOTE: not all the HL tanks have good visible hit shaking as this only works well on the light weight all plastic versions, heavier tanks on soft dirt do not shake well)
I have some "slow motion" test videos of the 6.0 Heng Long tanks up on Instagram @fsttanks if you would like to see them.
Your constructive input is welcome.
Last edited by Fsttanks; 01-06-2020 at 10:15 AM.
#34

Join Date: Feb 2015
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You could measure the resistor in the Clark IR circuit and make sure its up to par. I had 3 Clarks and all 3 had improper resistor values.
I replaced the resistors and I had good IR range again. I was seeing less than 25 feet at times. I just thought Id throw that out there...
Enjoy,
Shad
I replaced the resistors and I had good IR range again. I was seeing less than 25 feet at times. I just thought Id throw that out there...
Enjoy,
Shad
#35

Join Date: Mar 2019
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D**N!!!! I just stopped by your Instagram @fsttanks. Those are some outrageous slow motion videos and still photos you posted! To bad you don’t post the videos here on this site.
#37

If folks on RCU you want to have a snap shot of what’s coming on YouTube visit my
Instagram @fattanks
#38



Got some Pavers just like fasttracks - @fsttracks, but will probably use them to repair porch earthquake damage rather than run my rc tanks over them like the “out of the box little fasttrack kid”, or maybe not! LOL.
#39

Blah Blah Blah Blah standards John thread crapping.
Last edited by Fsttanks; 01-08-2020 at 09:28 PM.
#40
#41

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I will use fsttanks response. Blah Blah Blah Blah Johns thread crapping again. Dude give it a break and be a grown up. Fsttanks offered you an olive branch and you slapped it away. There is no reason for you to be posting your crap on this thread. Your making yourself look like a bully and bad guy.
#42

I will use fsttanks response. Blah Blah Blah Blah Johns thread crapping again. Dude give it a break and be a grown up. Fsttanks offered you an olive branch and you slapped it away. There is no reason for you to be posting your crap on this thread. Your making yourself look like a bully and bad guy.
#43

Uparmor, is that all u got? Maybe go home before your feelings get hurt newbie. LOL. Guessing another of Rich Johnson’s RC San Diego RC Tank Club people, all six of them. LOL. And you do not make peace with bald faced liars, never works, Rich and Fssttrack committed a sin they cannot take back. Not my friends, for sure. Perhaps not much difference between a bad guy and a righteous guy, depends. Though, I would say “the crap” is all from fssttrack and he just doesn’t appreciate my opinions.
My offer still stands moving forward to be civil with each other and not comment on each other’s posts or threads. I have asked the several folks that have PMd me not to respond to the current situation and to let you have time to make your decision. All you need say is you agree to being civil. Heck just PM if you feel it should be agreed in private.
This situation is not doing the forum content any good.
#44

John I do appreciate your opinions when they are conservative and related to the thread topic. So often they are read by myself and many other as backhanded comments which leads to them being taken on face value and the response is tailored to equal the tone of your comments.
My offer still stands moving forward to be civil with each other and not comment on each other’s posts or threads. I have asked the several folks that have PMd me not to respond to the current situation and to let you have time to make your decision. All you need say is you agree to being civil. Heck just PM if you feel it should be agreed in private.
This situation is not doing the forum content any good.
My offer still stands moving forward to be civil with each other and not comment on each other’s posts or threads. I have asked the several folks that have PMd me not to respond to the current situation and to let you have time to make your decision. All you need say is you agree to being civil. Heck just PM if you feel it should be agreed in private.
This situation is not doing the forum content any good.
Last edited by Pcomm1.v2; 01-08-2020 at 10:51 PM.
#45

Well, Rich Johnson sucked me into this brawl and the bald faced liar thing you two instigated is not forgivable in the real world. I will leave your rcu hobby posts alone and keep my opinions of your rc tank efforts to myself. So, it is not “hate” to take on liars, that is simply the right thing to. Goodnight.
#46

fssttrack, I appreciate what you are trying to do to improve HL rc ir tanks performance. Your development work is similar to what Daryl Turner did for the under engineered Tamiya rc ir tank kits over the past 15 years or so.
Photographing or videoing your models in situations that a real tank would not operate in is less interesting, though the video of the rc tank making a right angle turn in the trench was pretty neat.
Photographing or videoing your models in situations that a real tank would not operate in is less interesting, though the video of the rc tank making a right angle turn in the trench was pretty neat.
#47

Thanks for your time and effort on this Fst. I've glanced through it and it's very interesting. I may have missed it somewhere but do the stock HL 6.0 apples have the cardinal angle defense such as the Tamiya?
#48

On a side note. To aid in helping with maximizing IR light energy by ensuring less “IR washout” in direct sunlight, Motion RC has developed a free downloadable 3D print file for a “sunshade” designed specifically with the HL 6.0 “Apple” in mind. It’s posted in the Tank forum.
Instagram @fsttanks
#49


Great thread with some insightful views and real world testing going on here. Thanks for taking the time and effort to post what you guys are achieving as it is certainly helping the hobby along.
#50

They do not. They are 360 deg hit capable depending on the IR light energy they are hit with.
On a side note. To aid in helping with maximizing IR light energy by ensuring less “IR washout” in direct sunlight, Motion RC has developed a free downloadable 3D print file for a “sunshade” designed specifically with the HL 6.0 “Apple” in mind. It’s posted in the Tank forum.
Instagram @fsttanks
On a side note. To aid in helping with maximizing IR light energy by ensuring less “IR washout” in direct sunlight, Motion RC has developed a free downloadable 3D print file for a “sunshade” designed specifically with the HL 6.0 “Apple” in mind. It’s posted in the Tank forum.
Instagram @fsttanks