Going to buy a Durango but need some advice first please

[colt_seavers]

Hi,

I am new to the forum, and interested in the DEX 410. I have been away from R/C for a long time - I had a Hotshot and a Tamiya Porsche 959 as a kid!

Anyway, it has moved on a lot from then with Lipo and brushless etc. I would like to get into racing and have been doing some research on which car to go for. I was originally thinking of the Durga, and then gave the DB01R a little thought. However, the Durga appears to require quite a few hop ups and the DB01R doesn't seem like great value once you've added the cost of the wheels and body shell.

I know I am going in at the top with this car, but I also take pleasure in owning good quality stuff.

I have decided to go for the following equipment. Please could you advise if you think they're good choices:-

ESC Tekin RS Pro
Motor Tekin Redline 6.5
Transmitter Spektrum DX 2.0
Receiver Spektrum 3500
Servo Not sure, maybe Ace?
Battery Not sure, maybe Trakpower Dark Series
Charger Not sure

Any thoughts on the servo, battery, and charger? I was thinking about the Bantam chargers. Do I need to look for anything specific when it comes to the charger regarding charging saddle packs?

What tools will I require? Do I need to buy wires separately for batteries and ESCs etc?

Finally, is it silly to be going for this car in the first place? Should I just buy a Durga with basic 'combo pack' to get started?

Sorry for all the questions, but I appreciate your help. Thanks!

[jimmy]

The durga is a good car to start racing but if you want to compete then it does need a couple of things and the costs will go up a bit - though you don't need all the stuff people will tell you to buy, I never did and the car was great. I think the DB01R isn't worth the money and you're better off with the basic car with some option bits (steel diff's - 501X dampers - slipper) and building it properly with properly shimmed suspension.

The Durango with the setup you're talking about will be great - but it's on the opposite scale in terms of cash. Will you benefit from the added performance over a mildly hopped up Durga right away? probably not to be honest - but its an awesome thing to look at and hold even before you get racing with it.
You picked up on probably the two favorite cars of mine with the DB01 and DEX410.

The stuff you mention is all good and you shouldn't really have any problems there. I did run an ACE servo in my DEX but have since swapped it out for a low profile KO for no other reason than I thought it looked cool. I've also started running the Trakpower Dark packs recently.

The Tekin comes with wire - you won't need any extra and I 'think' the dark series packs come with wires and connectors (from memory) also. The DEX is a bit of work to wire up but time spent doing a neat job is well worth it.

[colt_seavers]

Thanks for the reply.

My thinking was that although the Durango is about £200 more than the Durga (after hop-ups the Durga would be around £250), in the whole scheme of things that is not a huge difference as the total will be either approx £900 with the Durga or £1100 with the Durango, assuming I use the same electrics for both cars.

[one]

If you are cashed up, the DEX is a great car to return to the hobby with. It is really durable so you wont break that much compared to other cars when you have your L-plates back on.

It would be good to consider if you really want to race, whether you have been to a few events to have a look what the scene is like, and if you want to get into it. If you don't want to race then the DEX may be overkill, although a thing of beauty to own :drool:

Having a nice set of tools can make working on the car pleasure. Not essential, but my DEX didn't come with anything. The biggest help I found is a is a ball hex driver for use installing and adjusting the motor.

I am running Futaba brushless servo in my DEX, it works great. As Jimmy has mentioned, if you pick up a low-profile servo you may need to find a solution for the wires fouling the steering post.

You are going to have fun getting back into the hobby. It's worth buying a new car for the love of the build experience.

[colt_seavers]

I am definitely leaning towards the DEX - I think I always was really.

Starting to settle on the gear I am going to use too, although I think I might go for the KO Propo radio system now instead of the Spektrum. It comes with a micro receiver in the set.

What should I look for in a charger for saddle pack Lipos?

[one]

Personally I look for a charger that's small, with a built in balencer. I have been pretty happy with a cheap one I bought a while back, it does a great job and the Lipos are strong each run, with good life after using with this charger for a year. I think the make is GT, I will have a look later.

You might want to look for one that can out-put 10 amps or more, as the new lipos seem to have a better charge rate.

[AmiSMB]

A charger that I would recommend that can do everything and you would not have to buy another charger for many years to come is the Hyperion 0615 which can do upto 6s and 15A per port as it is a 180W + 180W charger and balances LiPo cells. As I do other RC classes it comes in handy for everything and has two independant ports and you can charge different types of batteries on either of them at the same time.

[colt_seavers]

Where are the Hyperion chargers available from? I haven't heard of them before. I'll have a look around the internet.

Most of the chargers seem to run off DC power so I assume this is a car battery? Can you get some kind of converter so they run off mains electricity. I would find that useful too.

[CODMAN]

Colt, I also use Hyperion chargers and they are good stuff!:thumbsup: And if you have no intention on ever using bigger packs or running 1/8 electric, they have a model that can charge up to 6 amps and has an integrated AC/DC converter (can plug into a wall unit). Although It's 110V AC 60 HZ, and I don't know what current is like in the UK...:confused: Might be worth a look though...

Where are the Hyperion chargers available from? I haven't heard of them before. I'll have a look around the internet.

Most of the chargers seem to run off DC power so I assume this is a car battery? Can you get some kind of converter so they run off mains electricity. I would find that useful too.

[HarlowS]

Cant really fault any of your choices, its all top bits of Kit :thumbsup: Depending on what your budget is the BC6 charger is a fantatsic little charger, quite small and uses 240v or 12v, charges, balances, nimh/lipo/lead acid (12v). Will do all you need.

CML do what looks like an exact copy of it but cheaper too, maybe a worth a look on there website. If you like the look then drop Microtech a bell as they will be able to sort that for you.

[hide]

The Hyperion 0606i AC/DC is a great charger. It will charge and balance your cells at the same time. Robotbirds sell them very cheap: http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=9_268&products_id=1976

[AmiSMB]

Robotbirds and Fastlads also have the 0615 and the reason I suggest this charger over the 0606i is that newer Lipo cells can be charged safely at more than 1C so as to be able to run on a club night where there maybe few runs and only have one lipo pack for the car then you need to be able to charge at 2C to 5C depending on what the manufacturer has rated the cells at. So a 5200mah pack charging at 1C which is 5.2A would need over 1 hour to charge from flat and balance so for 2C you need a charger that can do 10.4A so you can charge in just over 30mins. As I say but a decent charger and you can future proof yourself. The 0615 can do 5000mah packs at up to 3C and the 0720 single output charger can do 5000mah packs at up to 4C so you could charge a pack which supports this rate in around 12mins.

[mark christopher]

Cant really fault any of your choices, its all top bits of Kit :thumbsup: Depending on what your budget is the BC6 charger is a fantatsic little charger, quite small and uses 240v or 12v, charges, balances, nimh/lipo/lead acid (12v). Will do all you need.

CML do what looks like an exact copy of it but cheaper too, maybe a worth a look on there website. If you like the look then drop Microtech a bell as they will be able to sort that for you.

second this charger

[hide]

Robotbirds and Fastlads also have the 0615 and the reason I suggest this charger over the 0606i is that newer Lipo cells can be charged safely at more than 1C so as to be able to run on a club night where there maybe few runs and only have one lipo pack for the car then you need to be able to charge at 2C to 5C depending on what the manufacturer has rated the cells at. So a 5200mah pack charging at 1C which is 5.2A would need over 1 hour to charge from flat and balance so for 2C you need a charger that can do 10.4A so you can charge in just over 30mins. As I say but a decent charger and you can future proof yourself. The 0615 can do 5000mah packs at up to 3C and the 0720 single output charger can do 5000mah packs at up to 4C so you could charge a pack which supports this rate in around 12mins.

Good point, I only race 1/18 at the moment so the 0606i does me nicely for 2-3C for my 1600 Hyperions.

But by all means go for the 0615 with bigger packs, charging at faster rates certainly helps.

[Marvin]

I'm with AmiSMB, get the absolute best charger you can afford, and you won't need another for many years. The 5A charger should be trickling away and dying with the large number of LiPo cells now 5C charge rated.

For instance try:
-The Fusion RC range, in particular the Paladin L120 Pro (http://www.logicrc.com/?ItemId=O-FS-L120P&s=c:0,c:40,c:40-20) and the Emperor (http://www.logicrc.com/?ItemId=O-FS-L702BP&s=c:0,c:40,c:40-20).
-The Hyperion range, as already mentioned. Look at the 720i (http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=9_268&products_id=3491), and the 0615 (http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=9_268&products_id=4209).

[colt_seavers]

Thanks for all the replies.

I am trying to find out what you use for a power supply though for these 12V DC chargers. Do you use a car battery? Directly from the terminals or via the cigarette lighter? Is there a way of using mains electricity by using some sort of converter?

[mark christopher]

bc6 has a built in psu (power supply unit) your better off with a leisure battery, car battiers will soon die, you can buy good psu's http://www.logicrc.com/?ItemId=O-FS-PS20T&s=c:0,c:40,c:40-50

http://www.flighttech.co.uk/eshop-product-categorie/1643734/BANTAM-E-STATION-BC6-DUAL-POWER-CHARGER

[AmiSMB]

Thanks for all the replies.

I am trying to find out what you use for a power supply though for these 12V DC chargers. Do you use a car battery? Directly from the terminals or via the cigarette lighter? Is there a way of using mains electricity by using some sort of converter?

I use a Ripmax ProPeak 240v to 20A 13.8V Dual output power supply (http://www.ripmax.com/item.asp?itemid=O-IP2002&Category=010). When I run outdoors I plug this onto a Honda 700W 240v generator as I hate it when 12v leisure batteries die.

[colt_seavers]

OK, thanks for all the replies. I have nearly finished deciding what to go for, now I just need to build up to pulling the trigger on all this stuff!

A few little questions left. What else do I need to buy apart from the things I've mentioned? Does it come with wheels and tyres? If not, what wheels/tyres fit?

[DaSloth]

it comes with wheels, but no tyres. Tyres is up to you, depending on what you want to race on. If its astroturf then Schumacher mini spikes, probably green this time of the year.

It does come with a body shell so you'll need some paint.