Hello to all,
I am new to this area of R/C, just gas planes til now. I was wondering if there are and sub $100 R/C tanks that will work in the snow? If so, what brand and scale?

I have read here that the 1/16th scale HL's tend to be less than reliable, is that right out of the box, or do they continue to break down even if it works correctly when first purchased?

I am use to NiCads with my planes, so the idea of constantly replacing AA batteries is a real turn off. Is is possible to convert the standard AA batteries over to a NiCad pack? If so, how is that done? I have very little knowledge when it comes to electronics.

Thanks in advance
sthutch

Rechargable Nickel Metal Hydroxide batteries are available in AA size and would solve your battery issue.
HL 1/16 scale tanks uses a standard 7.2v 1700ma NiCad rechargable RC hobby battery for the tank and only use AA for the transmitter.

I dont know of any of the sub $100 tanks that are weather proofed in any way. Any snow that melts and gets inside is probably going to cause problems.

I am currently undergoing testing of one of the newer HL 1/16 scale Tigers and will keep this board updated of its status.

None of the mass produced RC tanks are truly water proof without modifications. However if you don't plow into a bank of snow your tank should be fine.
I have run the vstank/marui stuff on on a frozen lake with snow. As long as you take common sense and don't allow snow to rise above your tracks you
should be fine.

I have purchased or traded for no less than nine tanks over the last two months (I went a little bit overboard [:-]) and I would warn you not to get your hopes up too high, at first. You really do seem to get what you pay for with RC vehicles; cheap tanks are cheap fun and may need some TLC in order to get them just right. For example, out of my nine tanks (1:5 Stuart, 1:16 HL Tiger 1 and Pershing, 1:16 Tamiya Sherman and Pershing, 1:24 Leopard 2 and M1A2 Abrams), only the Tamiya tanks work flawlessly (1:16 T-34 and 1:16 Abrams have not arrived, yet).

Some of the guys who bought the HL tanks over the last few weeks have reported good quality, so you might get lucky with one of them. I would strongly suggest that you stay away from the smoke and sound versions as many of the problems seem to revolve around those models, but again, some seem to be in good working order.

For the same scale, but a different company than Hen Long (with a better reputation), I would suggest this tank:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-16-R-C-T34-85-...QQcmdZViewItem

It is the Russian T-34 and it can even be upgraded to the Tamiya battle system if you are so inclined (expensive []). The seller is Mato Toys, out of Canada, and I personally have bought several items from them with great service. [sm=thumbup.gif] They also sell various parts, if you break something, as well as parts that are not listed on the site. You can just send them an e-mail with a list of the items you need and they can send you a Paypal invoice....very simple.

As far as snow-proofing your tank, I don't know.......I live in Texas. However, I bet that you can use beads of silicone inside the tank to keep most of the moisture out. There is a good deal of room inside of the lower hull and the tanks are very simple once you get a look inside (other than the electronics boards. Those things are a mystery to me).

Good Luck!

Jason