icecreamslick

My Feedback: (9)

A customer at Radio Shack told me that a normal LED will not work as a replacement for the Tamiya emitter because an LED only produces light (duh, I should have known of that). I suggested a TV remote control bulb and he said that would do it. So, I bought a $10.00 universal remote while I was there, which has a tiny emitter bulb that will fit down the narrow barrel that I am using for my Panzer III upgrade project.

With a little luck, the smaller bulb will provide a strong/broad enough signal, even when compared to the stock bulb, which is obviously much bigger. Hopefully, the only reason Tamiya uses the larger one is because they get a discount.

My only question is, do I need to connect the red power wire on the Tamiya lead to a particular side of the emitter bulb, or does it matter? [] The board inside the remote has a positive sign to the right of the bulb location, but I don't know if that denotes the positive side of the bulb. Any guesses?

Jason

darkith

I'm assuming this is for IR battling??? (and not just a flash unit).

Ummmm...the "bulb" in that remote *is* an LED...it's an infrared LED, like the stock Tamiya infrared LED.
It may or may not work well. The peak spectral frequency may or may not be a match (940nm IIRC) for the Tamiya system. The intensity and current handling may or may not be a match.
IIRC, Radio Shack has an infrared LED available that's almost a straight forward match for the Tamiya one, but it's the same size (5mm).

To get the polarity right, look closely at the internal parts through the side of the LED. You should see a large piece of metal shaped like a wedge, and a small thin piece. Match them up in both LEDs and you're good. (the big wedge normally connects to ground, the small one to positive).

D.

icecreamslick

My Feedback: (9)

[sm=tired.gif] How did I know this was not going to be as easy as I had planned for it to be? I'm 99% positive that they will not be compatible because that is not the kind of luck that I possess. Here is the kind of luck I have an abundance of: one of the metal prongs from the new bulb just broke off in my hand. [sm=pirate.gif]

Thanks, D. [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

ksoc

From the SEAD website Tech Page

icecreamslick

My Feedback: (9)

Thanks, ksoc. Unfortunately, that one is 5mm also. I guess I will have to go back to mounting the emitter bulb in the mantlet, rather than the barrel. [&o]

heavyaslead

Jason

I have used various remote controller style LED's and they all work to a degree. Indeed as darkith said photodiodes are tuned to a particular band for optimal emission, but overall the band frequencies are in the ball-park.

Main difference you may see with other bulbs is distance, some are better, some are worse. Technically the smaller 3mm bulb can have a smaller spread and not take as much current and are more designed for across the room transmission rather than across the yard.

The main difference is optics. For maximal distance get a bulb with the smallest degree spread, 17 degree spread is the smallest readily avalaible I have been able to find.

pcomm1

Question?

It seems very difficult to aim and score hits in practice with the emitter in the barrel without closing on the target to within a couple of feet? LOL

What am I doing wrong, if others are scoring hits? The barrel interior is painted black and the emitter is about 9mm back from the muzzle tip.

Is the Panther G muzzle brake ruining the beam? Anyway, I am back to using the Tamiya clip on device, which works great, but of course looks so so.

heavyaslead

pcomm1

I would like to see a pic of your barrel set-up. It should work similarly to 100 feet.

I have not experienced someone with reduced range because it was in the barrel as opposed to a clip-on.[sm=confused.gif]

Panther F

I have used Radio Shack's #276-143 with no problem at all.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2062565&cp

But the replacement part from Tamiya is only $11.00 and after going through all the soldering and wrapping I don't bother with them anymore.

HTH

Dugster

I am setting my Panther up as we speak, but haven't had a chance to test yet. I should be able to get a good test this weekend at the DAK battle day.

First thing I would look at is the diameter of the end of the muzzle brake. Next would be moving the emitter up to only 4 or 6mm. Put in just far enough so it doesn't spray out the sides of the muzzle brake (it is bad form to hit your team mates like that ).

Panther F

I don't have my Panther kit with me at the time, but is the end of the barrel the same ID as the emitter holder? It could be 'laying' in there and not aligned correctly.

JAT