Tamiya tank - can it run in a straight line?

[terence]

Hi,

I have just built a Tamiya 1/35 radio control tank - King Tiger.

It uses 4 AAA batteries and its speed is fairly ok as compared to Kyosho's mini radio control tank.

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However, it cannot run in a straight line if there is not enough enenry in the batteries. The tank is driven by two independent 130 motors and their speed and power are not the same especially if the battery is low.

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I wonder if the Tamiya 1/16 tank uses a different technology to drive it? Would it suffer from the same straight line problem?

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Best Regard. Terence Ho

[mud4fun]

Hi Terence, I don't own a Tamiya tank but in my experience of other RC tanks when using two motors you'll simply use one RC channel for each motor. Most transmitters allow you to unscrew the steering joystick and rotate it 90 degrees to give you two throttle sticks. Best done with an old TX though. You can then adjust the throttle on each motor individually to keep the tank moving in a straight line (with some practise) and it also allows you to perform pivot turns, stall turns etc. You can pull one stick back and push the other forward to turn on a sixpence although that risks pulling off a track....

[Shodog]

The DMD unit in the 1/16 scale tanks is pretty slick. I just finished my pershing today and have already ran 2 3000 mah packs through it. It will run in a straight line until your battery is dead.

[jedzuki(2)]

Yeah, DMD has adjustment pot to balance motors. [^]