Newb IR Conversion
 

Ok, so I am just a newb to tanks but am a veteran RC builder.

My situation is a couple of buddies and I have purchased tanks and we went air soft. My buddy and his son have Taigen Tigers and I have a Henglong Pershing. After watching some videos we thought it would be cool to have IR battles. What is the most affordable but still reliable way to convert them to IR that would work together? Are there any write ups or videos? What parts are involved? Is it as simple as just buying a Tamiya IR emiter and receiver?

There are a couple of ways to do it. You can replace the radio and the electronics with Clark boards, you can use BARC4 boards to supplement your current set ups, go to the manufactures and purchase IR turrets to go along with the tanks, use the Mako2 boards also to convert to IR using your current radios. Many ways to do it depending on skill and finances.

Herman

Thats the thing that I am most confused by, there a few different routes to go and each route take x,y,z parts, but the other route takes a, b, c parts. Its overwhelming for someone new to rc tanks.

What I am wanting to find is the most affordable and simple way to covert the the two different brands of tanks over where we can battle with each other every now and again. We would like to do it with stock radio systems and as little money as possible. We aren't doing any big battles with lots of people, there aren't any tank clubs around here or anything, just want to go a step beyond taping ballons to the back of the tanks and shooting them off with airsoft.

can you just buy one of these systems and mount the IR Emitter on the barrel like this guy did?

http://mitosal.com/Electronics.html

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2105198

1. About the Mitosal infrared system, the quick answer is no. This setup is for the Tamiya rc tank kits.

2. And read this Tamiya content if interested: http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/radio...ank-kv-2-56030

3. Go here and read about this good, cost effective, infrared system designed to work with Hen Long or IMEX Taigen rc tanks and contact Dan for more info and their best advise:

http://battlearmorrc.weebly.com/infrared-battling.html

4. I found the mentioned Clark system fun, difficult to setup, but doable, uses very cool sound effects and also best purposed for a non-infrared tank. The Clark seems far to complex in regards to stick commands to intuitively operate an infrared battle tank during the stress of play battle, so I would pass on this system for your purposes.

The cheapest way is to buy IR turrets from Erik for the two Taigen tanks, but the pershing is a problem. They don't make that tank in IR so you have no factory set up to fall back on. Changing all three tanks to another complete system will cost more than buying a cheap Panzer III from Taigen or HL and converting the Taigens to IR. Probably your lowest cost way to go will be IR turrets for the two TG tanks, and the mako for the M26. The mako will play with any system out there, but keep in mind that all this only gets you the HL/TG style IR battling, with squirmy track movement and only about 30 feet of range (on the taigens, the M26 will do better on the mako). Anything more will cost more. As we musclecar guys say, "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?" and "The top speed of a musclecar is directly proportional to the depth of the owners wallet". You are now faced with a very similar situation.

Pcomm supplied a link to my site that asks some basic questions with respect to what is needed to be truly Tamiya compatible. Most established clubs use these protocol for IR tank Battling.

If you have no interest in being Tamiya compatible, then just understand the money spent going down a different road may place you at the end of a rabbit hole.

IF just basic backyard battling is all you are looking for then maybe a used Heng Long IR tank would be as cost effective, and you end up with another tank out of the deal. Or you can buy an RX18 and an old crystal radio and swap this out for what you have. The RX18 has the basic Heng Long IR system built in. I think Mato sell an IR conversion kit. If you went this route you could at least swap over to a BARC system if the need for Tamiya compatibility became important to you, and you haven't dead ended yourself with the purchase.

Many different paths to go down

Dan's AKA YHR 's BARC system will probably be the most cost effective simplest route for you to take and the BARC has some great features especially if you would like to have really good sound with the added Bennedinni system. Top shelf stuff that is very affordable.

Hi all... I am currently looking for IR conversion as well... one thing that everyone is talking about here is the control system, but missing is the actual hardware.

I have a euro Taigen Jagdpanther in IR with an IBU2 Pro. It was pretty straightforward to plug in (only small modification necessary). But I don't have any other IR tanks or targets so I have no idea if it even works right.

I have an Airsoft KV2, and I would like to convert it. I already have another IBU2 on the way.

Erik tells me Imex doesn't have any KV1 or KV2 turrets or upper halves in IR. But he said I could buy the parts and convert myself.

So what are the parts exactly? Can someone illuminate what the hardware is that is needed for IR conversion, apart from a board like the Clark, IBU, etc?


I am also considering maybe getting a cheap heng long sherman or pershing and converting that. I guess Heng Long's don't come in IR anymore? I've been watching ebay for a couple weeks and it looks like they only sell airsoft now?

Heng Long is getting out of IR, but I didn't know they were already that far.

You need an emitter and a battle unit (receiver/apple/mushroom) to convert to IR. Also a flash unit. Most guys do barrel recoil but it's not strictly necessary to be IR ready. I'm about to put an impact unit in my Tiger One but it was an IR tank to start with, so I have a head start. One nice thing about the IBU is that the Impact and Tamiya (TBU) plug right in. You'll have to mount the base for the battle unit, and install the emitter (usually in the mantlet, maybe where the airsoft warning LED is now) and also the flash unit in the barrel. I've heard of guys using the old airsoft unit and hollowing it out to pass the wires through and still keeping elevation intact, but you may be able to do something with one of the existing IR units. Someone more familiar with the KVs should know what fits best.

I think that's everything, but I'm sure my fellow forum members will speak up if I missed something. :)

The first thing you'll need to decide is if you'll be happy with the stock Heng Long/Taigen system, or if you want to go Tamiya compatible. Most of the great suggestions so far have all been geared towards the latter. I have two Taigen tigers that are stock IR and they might be enough for what you want "the most affordable and simple way to covert the the two different brands of tanks over where we can battle with each other every now and again". If you have any thoughts at all about club level battles this system won't work, but it is incredibly cheaper. If you go Tamiya compatible, even the cheapest system out there will cost you $100 to $200 per tank. Anybody know exact numbers? $80 for an impact battle unit (a few bucks more for the Tamiya TBU) and maybe the mako with the stock TX would be the cheapest? I think the Mako is about $50? IR tiger turrets are $65 each and they'll be able to battle immediately. The M26 is more of a problem, but I think you can get an IR PIII for under $150? Of course the better quality Imex will be more, but Erik has a PIII in S&D right now for $199. That would be $280 to $330 to get all three of you battling (and you'd still have an airsoft Pershing). I don't think you can go Tamiya compatible on three tanks for anywhere close to that, but I could be wrong. Help me out with the numbers here, fellas. It sounds like budget is an issue here and I definitely know that feeling. :(

I put a Mako2 unit in my Taigen Jagdpanther and am using the Taigen 2.4 tx and rx and it works just fine. It was already an IR tank, but it is now Tamyia compliant and it will work on the HL tanks also. I used the Taigen apple, but a Tamyia battle unit will work with it also. The Tamyia TBU just plugs right in and comes with an IR LED and cable too. Cost at the AAF Museum was around $60.00 and came with the LED light ring to show hits. I'm still playing around with it to see what I can make it do.

Herman

Don't know if you found a solution yet, but if you get the IR turrets this is what the Tigers will act like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks8Z9PjlB0A&feature=youtu.be

I haven't made any decisions yet, my buddy with the tiger said he has gotten bored with it so I may not do it at all if he gets rid of his. I still love the whole tank thing!

And a huge thanks to ya man! I have watched many of your videos and they have helped me out a lot. Not many people left in this hobby that go above and beyond like you do to help people. Just want you to know it is appreciated!

That's why I don't buy IR. It's only fun if you have someone to play with. With airsoft I can have loads of fun just shooting at stuff in the back yard!

Still, I do plan on buying a tamiya. Just so I can take it Danville.

You can easily add IR to a BB tank but its the BB to IR that is a bit more challenging. Clark or similar lets you choose the BB or IR setting. Add the IR emitter and its ready whenever you change the settings. An easy flash solution is just run a temp led to the muzzel if thats what you want for IR.

Simple.

Better is get an old BB unit and gut it. Put the HL high intensity unit into it and all you gotta do is remove the turret. The remove the two screw holding the airsoft unit in. Swap it with your gutted one including the flash unit.

http://rctanksaustralia.com/images/u...upgrade_21.jpg