OK this might be a long round about way of asking a question but here it goes. I plan on eventually saving for a Tamiya full option w/IR either a Tiger 1 or a KT. I have a heng long tiger with a blown rx13 board (naturally), my question is, drum roll please, I want to get this thing running and I know its all about money, should I go Elmod and run the HL electronics, full elmod and try to configure it with a 2.4ghz transmitter, because that is what I want to buy when I get the Tamiya. Or be happy getting the low cost route and going with the rx18 kit with flash from rccommand and 3:1 gearbox, recoil, and dbc/dbu. Now I know this is a lot to take in, that is why my head is going to explode. Just looking for some feedback and opinions. To go elmod looking at 300+, the other route gearbox $50 rx18 kit $50 assembled dbc/dbu $140 recoil $10 so I'm looking at $250+. I love the sound of the elmod, oh yeah ad 110 to elmod for their sensor. And I know the new dbc/dbu can be bought to use 2.4ghz. Wondering if its worth it, to upgrade. Like I said just looking for opinions on what would you do. I know there is no clear answer but I am driving myself nuts. And to make matters worse Impact is having a new system come out. [:@] Thanks for any feedback

Wade

Oh now don't explode. Go Heng Long RX-18, get your little darlin going and then save up for the fantastic ElMods.

That is what I am doing with Tiger 304.

Don

No doubts here, go for the F.O. Tamiya Königstiger
Regards
Jose

Go El Mod. Phil (Blitz) just redid my M-46 Patton with El Mod and it's fantastic. Worked OK with hopped up HL stuff, but with El Mod, it's the ultimate tank.

Hey Wade, I know what your talking about. I thought choosing a route to get into the RC tank stuff was going to be easier. I've been debating and comparing costs between the Tamiya Tiger and King Tiger (this one becomes pretty pricey when adding the recommended metal tracks and replacement idler tensioners) along with modifying an HL Tiger. I think I like the late Tiger I better than the early one, but I have found it to be substantially more expensive to do this conversion on the Tamiya model, vs. the HL one. The late steel road wheels that are meant for use with the Tamiya model cost considerably more than the equivalent offered for the HL. I don't know if the HL aftermarket wheels will properly fit the Tamiya tank..

I was also comparing the DBC/DBU vs El Mod vs DMD units. If one wants El Mod it is going to cost a lot more to get it along with a Tamiya Tiger instead of putting it into an HL. The main reason I find the El Mod interesting is the ability to add my own custom sounds, for the tank engine and guns. The Tamiya engine sounds are basically good, but I think the sound heard when the tank runs at full speed could be improved (it just doesn't sound like a real engine to me). The Tamiya Tiger sounds best when it is running at a very slow speed, when the speed picks up it starts sounding more like a toy. Something about the audio loop the DMD unit uses for this I don't like.

Seems like either cheap model plus cheap sounds, cheap model with custom sounds, expensive model with mostly good but unmodifyable sounds, and lastly expensive model made even more expensive with custom sounds (the rich man's choice). So yeah, I hear ya about feeling like your head will explode. The easiest choice would be just not to get a tank at all lol.

Where ya' getting the dbu/dbc from?

I don't know about you guys but the new King Tiger sound is awesome, I don't get it when folks say something about the engine sound its sounds pretty mean to me!

And listen to the cannon blast sound that Bullyhys has learned to enhance and amplifiy the sound pretty cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nel9E...e=channel_page


The Blitz[sm=shades_smile.gif]

I'll tell you what I did. After having acquired many tanks for use in battling, keeping the parts common was important to me for 2 reasons. First it kept costs down. 2nd it made repairs quick because they all shared the same radios and electronics. Eventually I chose to upgrade 1 tank with El Mod but still run it through the HL board and radio. While most guys are running TK-RX14s and 18s all of my tanks are still powered by TK-RX13s and with plenty of spares.

Those tanks that are slated for installation with IR battle systems will get Darkith's, again to keep everything powered by HL.

A wrench has been thrown into the plans though. My next tanks will be the Mato Toys M4A1(76)W with completely different radios and electronics. So those tanks will have to be evaluated to see whether it pays to obtain spares to maintain their electronics or switch them over to HL components if they fail.

If you're still set on going the Tamiya route, consider this! Get one of Tamiya's static Tiger kits and put El Mod in them for the best of both. Of course that's mostly negated now with Asiatam's release of the metal Tiger I lower hull with working torsion bar suspension.

For economics, sticking with HL and Darkith's battle system is the way to go. It's got more features then Tamiya's Full Option system too.

http://darkith.dyndns.org/~darkith/html/dbc.shtml

IS that base stock Matorro sound? What was done to enhance it?

I agree with this assesment and I have basically done the same thing. Properly cooled HL boards, 3:1 gear reduction and a DBC installed are as good as it gets for control and I would match them against anything. Where they fail miserably is the sound. Somebody needs to make a plug in system that would have digital sounds with about 4 watts of power. IF this was available for about $100, then added to the stuff I mentioned above, you would have a killer system. Nice thing is you could add the componets one piece at a time to fit your budget. Too bad the Elmod blaster needs all the other El Mod componets and could not just be used with Heng Long electronics,

Myself I am perfectly happy with HL boards/DBC and RC gear. One DBC-2 and a Tamiya system using my Spektrum + the 6 HL channels give me enough options. I personally like the fact that the HL RC TX's are easy to modify and have specific circuits for cannon fire and MG fire. I am not flying a plane so the range I have experineced with the HL stuff is fine for tanking.

As i hear it, it sounds like El-mod, i got the same sound in my Tiger with El-mod, if it was me i would go with complete El-mod, you don´t just get the sound but also the feeling of driving a 50 ton tank, it don´t just stop when you release the stick, it keeps movin´ loosing speed slowly like a real tank, if you want to stop it, you move the stick halfway back, its the chain brake and fully back is the emergency brake...when it has fully stopped, you release the stick and moves it back, the tank shifts gear into rewerse and starts movin...

hope you understand mt rusty english....

I know the DBC does that as well, not quite as pronounced as the El MOD, but at a Level that is controllable.

I think going El-mod is a no brainer. There iare somany options with that setup in aint funny. plus you can use the 2.4 radio system and only need one radio for either tank. Just need seperate recievers. i would use 2 seperate recievers that are 2.4 though. that way you dont have to crack the tanks open everytime you want too use one or the other. Bilitz and the boys are comming out with some amazing things with the El-mod. i'm know i'm saving my pennies for one.

Agreed the EL -Mod is the best over all system out there incluidng Tamiya. It ends up as expensive, or close to. Architecture is not as good however. This is not a plug and play system.

Thank you so much guy's for the replies I appreciate it, I think my problem is that I want it all and NOW lol. I am still kind of leaning towards the full elmod, and buying the Futaba 7c. Although I do not have experience with these radios I will need someone to hold my hand through the transition. If anyone else feels like adding to this, please do so. I also have never been involved in the IR aspect but hopefully will be in the future, so I will probably just keep the tiger elmod, you have to pay to play. I guess what the problem is, is wondering spend the money to upgrade the HL or just use that money on a Tamiya full option. And I know that decision is ultimately up to me, but your opinions mean a lot to me . I will keep researching in the meantime looking at all my options, in this economy play money doesnt come easy and I dont want to feel like I've wasted it, so once again thank you very much, and keep the comments coming.

MY two cents.
If you like to build real nice models and want most of the stuff to do that in one box at your door go with tamiya. Some of the kits even come with a transmitter. The 7 channel you are thinking about may not work well for the tamiya due to some settings especially if it is all digital (i am sure someone will confirm or correct me on this statement) and you will have to purchase the battle unit (apple) separately.

The good-tamiya
High detail and real close to correct in all features.
lots of after market goodies.
reasonably durable.
been on the market for a few years so problems have been identified and most issues upgraded.
all in one plug and play system is easy to get up and running.
lots of parts for the model builder to fiddle with.
awesome and pretty accurate sounds.
immediate battle compatibility with most tanks, in fact tamiya is the standard (not necessarily the best ,but the standard).

Tamiya will waranty some items or replace parts that were missing in the kit.
rubber tires on road wheels as appropraite and usually on return wheels

the bad-tamiya.
high initial cost.
Way to fast for even near scale speed.
oem parts are a bit expensive.
turret and elevation drives are piss poor IMHO.

The good-Heng Long or Matorro

Low initial price (you can buy 4-5 for the cost of one tamiya (with some caveats).
always comes with an inexpensive transmitter.
most units are pretty durable with minor exceptions.
gobs of after market stuff to doll them up and improve reliability/performance.
most units are a bit fast but can be cheaply modified for improved speed and traction.
mostly fully assembled when purchased with a few glue on pieces.
reasonably inexpensive after market battle units available.
It has been shown on this site that a battle ready tank can be put together for around $315.
very powerful elevation and turret drives
.
The Bad-Heng Long or Matorro
Dead on arrival electronics is common although electronics have improved quite a bit with introduction of RX-18 escs.
forget the warrenty issue, many suppliers will not stand behind these tanks with some exceptions, including RC COMMAND, Blitz at RCTANKWARS and for the most part MATO toys. If i missed other good vendors it is because i have no personal experience with them.
sounds are generally is pretty lame IMHO, and pretty much sound the same in all Heng Longs (cannot comment on MAtorro).
suspension components can be pretty fragile depending on how aggressively you drive.
The installed battle elements are not compatible with Tamiya.
The airsoft guns are so-so, some good, some feeble. The gun barrels for the airsoft is way out of scale.
Fidelity of scale in general is liberal, to be kind.
lots of detail lacking on older units and geometry is sometime sacraficed to fit in motors/gearboxes.
metal gearboxes quite often have to be run in to quite them down
The ones that have recoil work backwards and most units do not have recoil (tamiya's is not great but it moves in the correct directions)
plastic road wheel tires.
after market electronics may take a bit more fiddling to perform as desired.

I think many of us love our Heng Longs and Matorros because they provide a great point of departure either as an inexpensive toy for us or the kids or as a suitable foundation to do some upscale modeling.

My 2 cents became a dime. sorry about that.

Blitz that KT sounds awesome. how is the quality of the Matorro KT, not necessarily the electronics but the chassis, the reason I ask this is if I plan to go IR adding the DBC/DBU to the KT with those sounds, I think would be killer And not wanting to open a can of worms with a manufacturers battle, it looks like a decent cost alternative to me spending a s**tload on a Tamiya KT, wondering if it would hold up. Swathdiver, I really like your views, running an elmod unit with the HL board is always an option for the Tiger, and as YHR said, I also like having a separate main gun an mg firing circuit. Might decide on that route. And use the futaba 7c when I decide on IR battling. Panther G you said Blitz was coming out with some new things for elmod, care to elaborate on that Oh yeah almost forgot Blitz, I've read that the new elmod system is easier to install more plug an play then the older versions?

Wade

Quality of plastic on the KT is strong, Matorro uses the same ABS type plastic as Heng long! I have been running metal tracks since I have had it, ( about a year now ) and no problems with the road wheels! I have some StrumTigers coming in and I will be doing a review on those soon,, so if someone is thinking about getting one I will have a few for sale and of course they will be fully fuctional and inspected by me!

The Blitz

Ok I think I've come to my senses[sm=drowning.gif] HL Tiger, I will go elmod/hl and use existing hardware, and transmitter. When funds permit upgrade to prop 4 channel and use a spektrum dx6. To upgrade to prop, cable and booster chip needed, am I correct on that? And as far as a IR tank, I am thinking the matorro king tiger with dbc/dbu, and down the road might convert that to elmod also. To compete in the battles are the 2.4ghz allowed or is it strictly fm freq? After Blitz posted that video of the KT, I am pretty much sold on that[:@]dam you lol. And then of course when the shermans come out, I'll need allied tanks. Thanks again, to all of you this has definitely helped me a lot and hopefully answered questions that others might have.

Wade