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R/C eXpo 2004
Trinity
Industry marketing powerhouse Trinity had a very small display area into which they packed quite a wallop of products unveiled to the public for the very first time today. Ernie Provetti himself was on the floor and gave me the grand tour.
Under the TRC brand, the Rockzilla, Super Dirtzilla and Roadzilla monster tires were new and slated to be sold in mounted sets on new "Bling" wheels in both standard diameter, standard offset and larger diameter, wide offset forms. Included in the premounts are some of TRC's upcoming series of molded foam inserts, available in three stiffness ratings for standard MT, new TRC "big diameter" MT, and 1/8th scale buggy sizes.
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Next in the TRC lineup is a new black touring car wheel available with mounted foams or without (donuts available separately). The mesh design looks fairly ordinary at first glance, but a new blend of plastic is used which is stronger than some others for better survivability in encounters with track walls, pipes, and other vehicles.
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A set of Trinity-matched KAN cells for Mini-T & Micro RS4 applications was on display, showing average numbers of 1010mah, 1.09V and 364sec runtime, 3A charge, 10A discharge, 0.90V cutoff. These have actually been discontinued (though many shops, online and off, still have fresh stock to sell off), and superior GP 1200 cells will be brought in to replace them. The GP cells are also the standard micro size ( KANs are a tad longer), making them easier to fit into stock battery bays.
Also the Mini-T side, Trinity is absolutely answering my dreams & pleas with a replica, unlicensed Nissan Dakar-style "Monster Factory" body with aerodynamic rear shell, as well as a "Voltenwagon Red Bullet" Touareg Evolution replica design. They were also showing off their upcoming line of Micro Monster modifieds which will come in 2 or 3 different winds and feature adjustable timing, SMC's and cans that are double the thickness of what has traditionally been used for motors of this size, resulting in greater efficiency and horsepower.
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The exclusive Sanyo 3600mah packs (can't get Sanyo cells for R/C's through anyone but Trinity now) were on display, along with a new NiMH discharge tray coming out in about a month.
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I finally got to see a "T-Spec" car in person. The design & construction of this vehicle was actually fairly impressive for something that should carry a retail price of $199 and actually sell on the street for $149 or less, including spec motor, battery and foam tires, and featuring a motor heat sink, threaded plastic-body oil shocks and set screw-captured suspension pins. Having gone through the trials & tribulations of creating and running a spec class before, myself, I was anxious to hear Mr. Provetti's thoughts on how T-Spec could grow and succeed against the odds. Hardcore racers often invade spec racing programs and stress the limits of their rules until being competitive requires deep pockets and significant inside knowledge. Trinity had an onroad spec class before called Street Spec, and this experienced an explosive growth spurt at its inception, followed by a nearly equally steep decline into oblivion. The major trouble with Street Spec, according to Mr. Provetti, was the vehicle platform. The cars were 2WD and racers grew unhappy with the inherent performance limitations.
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T-Spec vehicles are true competition-level, shaft-driven 4WD race cars with significant tunability. Spec foam tires are used and will be available in a range of compounds for further driver options. The tires will be easy to spec, with easy-to-identify, molded-in marks. Only one type of battery is allowed in the class, and this will theoretically to spec be fairly as it is a sealed pack. Only one make & model of motor will be allowed as well. Chassis modifications will not be allowed and presumably a wide range of hop-up options will not be made available for the vehicle, thus keeping down the cost of competitive racing.
Regardless of these safeguards against cheating and elitism, there remains the problem of racers who will buy cases of spec motors & batteries and test/dyno them all to pick out the top 10% performers (differences caused by manufacturing variations). Trinity is working with ROAR to form a prize-paying national championship series which will feature factory-prepared, handout cars. Trinity reps would physically travel to race locations with a fleet of identically-maintained vehicles and support equipment. It's a heavy-handed approach to keeping the playing field level, but as I can attest from experience, this is just about what it takes. Hopefully on a local level, track organizers will see the merits of identical-vehicle racing and begin to adopt T-Spec as a standard as well.
NOMADIO
Alright, this is the big one. This is the killer new product of the show. It's called the Sensor Digital Radio System, and it's been developed by Philidelphia-based defense contractor NOMADIO. Yes, you read that right, these guys sell to the US armed forces. They've ported some technology over to the "civilian" unmanned vehicle market and could eventually change the way R/C works.
Cutting to the chase, this is a fully digital, PC-programmable, personalized, 2.4Ghz radio system with two-way telemetry. No more crystals, no more frequency conflicts. Real-time (updated 50 times per second) speed, battery level & temperature feedback with a digital readout on your transmitter. A base setup of 3 channels, software expandable to 32, with programmable channel mixing. Built-in failsafe system. Built-in nitro vehicle warmup settings. Programmable audio and vibration feedback in the transmitter. Twenty model memory. Bundled rechargable battery & charger pack. This thing is too much. Check out www.nomadio.net for more info. Price is expected to be competitive with "Futaba's top-end system."