Getting started with Tamiya's 3-gear Tractor Trucks

I am adding this to my showroom since I have had a few requests now from newcomers to the R/C Truck hobby about how to go about getting into Tamiya Tractor Truck R/C models... maybe this will help a few people out.


For example, I had an e-mail from Kris in Poland, who asked 'I am interested in the Tamiya RC Mercedes MB 1838LS 1/14 Truck (item #56305). However, I am a beginner and I do not have an experience in RC models. Could you advise me what is recommended ESC to this model?', and I replied 'Wow, starting right from the start... Well you have certainly come to the right place!! We are a friendly lot on TC ( Tamiya Club ) and we can help you to do almost anything with these trucks, we [collectively] are really quite knowledgable about them now.


When I say 'we', I mean that there are many TC members who have these trucks with RC fitted to them. Just some of The 'Usual Suspects' 8-) with these trucks in their showrooms are me ('Live Steam Mad'), Stefan ('stefan'), Ant ('ant88'), 'KnightHauler', 'RDTrucking Inc', and all manner of other TC members. You will have a difficult time finding anyone who speaks Polish though maybe ? 8-). I am a typical Englishman (meaning that I find other languages to be very hard to learn) so I am afraid that I am limited to English only, but I am very willing to help you out as best I can.


If you are just starting out, then I suggest that you buy this MB 1838LS kit and have a go at building it, it's really easy to build, there's just a lot of it! The only things that you will have problems with are the gearbox adjustment (if you want to be able to change gear), and paint work when it comes to painting the body and the side panels. Have a look in my showroom, I give descriptions for help on all of these things since I know a lot of these issues now after I learned most of them the hard way. In fact, I helped my USA TC pal Shawn to set up his own MB 1850L truck with full R/C control gear and make it all work for him and he is now very happy.
Modifying these trucks to give them AUXILLIARY LIGHTS and REVERSING LIGHTS is my only 'speciality' at the moment. Take a look at ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=34566&id=5475


and ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=35486&id=5475


...I am not too good at modifying these trucks further into custom 'creations', TC members Ant and Stefan have much more experience at doing this than I do.


I am good with just getting the 'stock' kit truck to work nicely!


First of all, being from the EU like I am (UK) then you will need a radio set which is on SURFACE frequency, NOT aero frequency! 27 MHz is not very good since those radio sets are all AM and suffer from 'signal reflections' from large metal surfaces like your cooker or refridgerator when you are running your truck indoors near these things. Signal reflections (echos) cause 'multi-path' distortions to the signal and make the truck go very 'JITTERY' indoors and if you are not careful your truck will go nuts and be smashed into a wall!! So forget 'AM' (Amplitude Modulation) radio sets, they are NOT good enough for our purposes.


Also 27 MHz is plagued by interference from CB (Citizen's Band) radios.


40 MHz is a nice interference free radio band, so I would recommend it, and it is the only other Surface frequency band, so it is quite legal and proper to use. Do NOT get anything on 35 MHz since this is the EU aero frequency band!


Therefore the better radio sets are on 40 MHz FM (Frequency Modulation). FM does not suffer anywhere near as badly as AM from signal reflections, so your truck will NOT suffer from the 'Jitters' indoors but the servos may still
'twitch' just occasionally.


To be able to change gear on the truck, you will need a 4-channel radio set as a minimum. It MUST have STICKS, NOT a 'steering wheel'. You will also almost certainly need a 'gear shift gate'.


The very best comfort and control (for me personally) has come from me buying the Futaba Field Force 6XS (FF6). This radio set can be obtained on 40 MHz (which is what we want for our trucks). This radio set does FM.


There are a whole pile of reasons why this radio set is FAR SUPERIOR to the other radio sets that are available, in my humble opinion. I can tell you about them later if you want, but just a few are 1) it has a computer built in for MUCH better
adjustment and memories for settings 2) Ant makes a wonderful set of 'gear shift gate' and 'steering gate' for this radio set for a nice price, and 3) it has an AUDIBLE low battery alarm which allows you to notice when the Transmitter (TX) battery pack goes dead and stops accidents. Shawn my friend had a Futaba Skysport 4YF on his truck before he ever knew me, and he wrecked the front of his truck in an accident because his TX only
had an LED low battery warning and in the sunlight outdoors he didn't see it go RED and he lost control of the truck and crashed it! With the FF6
radio set the audible warning stops this from happening.


You will need to remove the throttle ratchet from these 4-or more channels radio sets (VERY EASY to do and DOES NOT void the warranty) and also move the spring return from the Left Stick left/right axis, into the Left Stick up/down axis, to give you a spring return throttle (and a 'limp' gear shift axis so that your truck STAYS IN GEAR).


This FF6 radio set's transmitter (TX) can ALSO be switched to do PCM, which uses numerical coding of the radio transmissions and thus can completely reject ANY interference.


I use a Futaba FP-R146iP PCM 1024 receiver (RX) in my truck, which gives me PERFECT RECEPTION indoors (and outdoors) with ZERO 'glitches', EVER.
This receiver does NOT come with the FF6 radio set though. It can be got on 40 MHz EU Surface Frequency from e.g. Hong Kong (rcmushroom.com sells them) for a very cheap price. Actually I got mine from Singapore Hobbies!!


So I STRONGLY recommend that you buy one of these RADIO SETS;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=33419&id=5475


...this is my own transmitter for my 3-gear 1838LS truck. You can see Ant's steering and gear shift gates on it. It will come with 4 x Futaba S-148 SERVOS and a Futaba FP-R138 DF receiver, but you can change the receiver later if you want to. It comes with NiCd battery packs for the TX and RX, and a charger for them both. We do NOT use the RX battery pack BTW (By The Way).


Also BTW this radio set is VERY versatile, I have a second one of them for my cars ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=37617&sid=5475


...see the throttle and steering gates on it by Ant...
And I have a 3rd for my Tank ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=42283&sid=5475


...see the 2 'Tank' gates on it by Ant.


There is no 'Recommended' ESC (Electronic Speed Control) for this 1838LS truck. It comes with no ESC, either. Personally I would STRONGLY recommend the Futaba MC330 CR ESC. I have one in my Ford Ranger XLT (a very heavy 1/10th
scale VINTAGE TAMIYA truck with a metal chassis) and it has MUCH BETTER BRAKES than the other ESC's that I have used. It is a Forwards AND reverse ESC, with 6.0V BEC built in, for the receiver power.


It is of the 'DOUBLE-TAP' type, by which I mean that when you pull back on the throttle stick, you get brakes, and then the truck stops, and then you let the stick back to neutral position, and then pull back once again to reverse. BE WARNED that the
'reverse delay' type ESC's are USELESS to us with our trucks'.


Kris said '>I saw in the Internet Futaba MC230CR and MC330CR. Is is worth to buy one of them?', and I replied 'YES. The Futaba MC330 CR is my current favourite in my vintage Tamiya scale cars.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=26153&sid=5475


...this is mine.


In my 1838LS truck (lorry as we call them in the UK) I am using the Tamiya MULTI FUNCTION UNIT (MFU) ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=25942&sid=5475


...this has IT'S OWN ESC built in.


For a CHEAP source for these trucks and the MFU, see here ;-

http://www.stellamodels.net/catalog/product_info.php?currency=GBP&cPath=76_78&products_id=1241


...although I see that just now they are temporarily sold out, since it has just gone Christmas (Xmas).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/56511-Tamiya-1-14-Truck-Multi-Function-Unit-King-Hauler_W0QQitemZ6027128776QQcategoryZ44028QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem


...convert from GBP UK Pounds to Euros, by using this ;-

www.xe.com/ucc


I got my Leopard 2 A6 Tank from the above seller,
HongKong_Cowboy. Despite the suspicious sounding name (to an Englishman, since
'cowboy' to and Englishman means 'dodgy' or 'con man' (has a dual meaning to the American meaning!) I got excellent service from this seller and a perfect box ;-

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=39860&sid=5475


In general you will not pay Customs Duty or Tax on these things from Hong Kong (HK). Postage (shipping) is fast but expensive due to the heavy weight of these kits, but the savings can be very much worth it, especially on the MFU since it is a light weight box!'.


Kris also said '>Also I want use RC Futaba 4YF-FM Skysport', and I replied 'It's just about OK but it has some problems. One is the LED low battery indicator which is useless outdoors in sunlight and you may loose control and crash the truck as a
result. The FF6 has an audible alarm and LCD readout of the exact battery voltage.


I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you instead by the Futaba Field Force 6XS (T6XS).


Also you will need a TX with MECHANICAL ANALOGUE RATCHET TRIMS if you want to use the MFU later. Digital trims will be useless for this and are NOT SUITABLE'.


Kris said '>Do I buy one on 40 or 72? [MHz]', and I replied '72 MHz is the USA aero frequency and is ILLEGAL for use across the EU. 40 MHz is the LEGAL SURFACE USE frequency for the whole of the EU'. Hope that helps 8-).