Okay - so i've flown this thing a LOT, and as a result got a lot better than i was when i first got it.

One tip is to ALWAYS be working the sticks when flying a multi-copter.

Practice, practice. Forget about YAW/Rudder, just concentrate on the other stuff. I went from having a very bouncy hover to a point where i could fly it 16" in front of my face in about 6-8" of vertical airspace and not worry too much. Took about 2 weeks of flying it everyday.

Unfortunately though, I crashed it too much and now it automatically un-binds mid-flight. Gotta fix that. Hoping its just a loose battery connection :'(

What price range are you looking at? The answers will differ widely based on this.

cya
R

Under 30k, hope I can find something worthwile.

If you are an absolute beginner and have no intentions to race anytime soon, I recommend Traxxas line of electrics. Not many brands have the range that Traxxas has for electrics. No buggies though, you can get SC trucks, drift cars, rally etc.

Electrics are not raced currently in India. Nitro is where the racing action is.

Hey, Thank you for your reply. I don't ever intend to race, only play around every other weekend. Where can I buy a Traxxas car from? I live in Kolkata.

I finally got to try my Hubsan X4 H107c. Really nice build quality. The video footage from camera, looks good.

Flying needs some practice, but once you get it, it is absolute fun.

The rotor blades need to be taken care off, as they spin really fast that my 5 year old son got a minor scratch which bled. So I keep my kid away, while I fly the quad copter, at a safe distance.

Hi RC experts,

I want to buy a RC boat. I have a fairly large water body in our complex(a pond, if you will), and I want to have some fun out there. Budget is very little. 5k at max. If I really get into this hobby, will buy something better in future. I need good range so that I can control it from the balcony of our flat.

Please advice.

Neel

SO this thread has been lying dormant for a while so i thought ill revive it. A bunch of us get together in Mumbai and have started RC crawling. Its insane fun, does not require an open ground to go fast and is hugely satisfying to negotiate our cars on rocks and difficult terrain. Any one interested is welcome to join. Here are a few pics and vids.

Hey balenopower, those are some really cool rides, lovely pics. and well shot videos , even I've ventured into the RC offroad world with a recent purchase of mine, to start with I'm playing around with a '1:24 ECX Barrage single cab pickup', will come up with pics. and videos in the coming days. These little offroad machines are so satisfying, what I can't do with my real 1:1 offroader (a Pajero) I get to do with this RC one

Pls. keep the pics. and videos coming to keep this unique thread alive!!

Cheers!

Posting the pictures of my toys.

HPI Baja 5B (Petrol), Traxxas XO1



Traxxas Slash 4X4

Hey thanks man. Post some pics of the barrage, I love the capability it offers in that scale.

Awesome. I have created a thread specifically for RC 4X4 crawlers. You are welcome to post and share your rig there.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-o...x4-thread.html (Team-BHP RC Rock Crawlers 4x4 Thread)

Hey balenopower, you're welcome mate! I've just uploaded my pics. on the new thread that 'extreme_torque' has created here at https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-o...ml#post4582576 (Team-BHP RC Rock Crawlers 4x4 Thread)

My Himoto 1:10 electric 4WD RC car was out of commission for a couple of years. Needed a battery replacement.
Now done!

2017 LaTrax (Traxxas) Teton 1:18 4WD Monster Truck (Traxxas Model#76054-5).

Nothing much to do sitting around when you're just "From Home", rather than "Work From Home".
Therefore, RC post.

This is my first hobby grade RC. It's the second generation of the model named "Teton", with something called Traxxs iD (which is some sort of automatic battery identification so the chargers can discriminate between NiMH & LiPO batteries & have a unique connector.).
I've used toy grade RC cars before, mainly as a child but have been blissfully unaware that there exists this whole hierarchy within remote controlled "toys".
My introduction was purely accidental when a few years ago, a video came up via YouTube recommendations - and I was hooked.
If I remember correctly, I think it was a video of a lovely 1:10 scale Land Rover Defender with the Camel Trophy livery, from one of the major RC manufacturers easily crawling over obstacles that any of my former RCs never could.

Deciding to venture into this previously unexplored realm of adventure I was quickly brought down to reality when I realised that as-is with all things fun, your reach is only limited by the depth of your pockets.
Thus humbled, I looked around for something fun but still enjoyable.

There is a bunch of very well known European & American RC manufacturers, who make RCs for all levels of expertise & budgets. Accompanying these are companies based in Hong Kong & China who have their own competitive products with their own upgrade-able parts.

All these RC companies and a bunch of after-market setups have an extravagant after-sales support in the form of stock & replacement parts that one can choose to explore.

One of these manufacturers, Traxxas, has an entry-level branch called LaTrax, which provides a nice entry point into this realm.

Thus, came home my lovely 2017 Traxxas LaTrax Teton 1:18 4WD Monster Truck.
However, living in an apartment it only found occasional use, mainly when I brought it along to one of our friends' or family member's suburban homes that usually have some sort of wooded/outdoor area.

Last year, my son began taking an interest & we started playing around with it in our building playground area.
He's growing up & finds handling the controls much easier than he used to.

Some pictures below:




1200mAH 6-cell 7.2V NiMH battery [Traxxas Part #2925X]:

The stock battery that came along is woefully bad. It would only last for about 15 minutes with the ESC (Electronic Speed Control) in Training Mode (this limits the speed sensitivity) and about 10 minutes in full power Sport & Race (no reverse) Modes.

A video of a quick run outside:

The Teton is meant for zooming over dirt paths. It's not a crawler, so it doesn't have any sort of Low Range or locking differentials but I wanted to see how it did over rocks.

Even for an entry level hobby grade RC it's a very detailed little thing. The fancy suspension and the attention to detail intrigue & fascinate me. Also, these RCs come with 2.4GHz multi-channel remote controls (transmitters ) that can control steering, movement, lights, differentials, etc.:



The battery has recently been upgraded to a 2200mAH 2-cell 7.4V LiPO battery [Traxxas Part #2820X]:

This has breathed new life into the little Teton and it flies all over the place (even in Training Mode). I can't strap it down but it fits in snugly without hitting the driveshaft.
FYI, the (stock waterproof brushed) ESC [Traxxas Part #3045R] has to be compatible with LiPO, and you need different chargers for NiMH & LiPO batteries.
The truck came with a wall charger for the NiMH battery (with the Traxxas iD connector) [Traxxas Part #2921R] but now I'm using the Traxxas EZ-Peak Plus 4Amp NiMH/LiPO charger [Traxxas Part #2970].

The stock motor is a 370 brushed motor [Traxxas Part #7575X] but it can handle the LiPO very well.
Once you begin modifying & if you decide to up the battery game, then you might need to switch to a brushless motor / ESC combination.

Steering servo gears fix.

The stock steering servo [Traxxas Part #2065] that comes with the little Teton is waterproof but it has plastic internal gears.
These are prone to break & considering the environment that this vehicle is meant for, Traxxas should have offered a metal gear servo as part of the package.
They have introduced a newer servo with metal gears [Traxxas Part #2065X] that can be swapped-in but they also have spare metal gears for the same servo.

This metal gear set [Traxxas Part #2064X] is an exact fit into the stock servo. Since I like fiddling around I decided to explore that option.
FYI, you can also choose to get a replacement plastic gear set [Traxxas Part #2064], if you so choose. Or a servo from a different manufacturer.

This is what a servo with broken gears (looks &) sounds like:

Has to be fixed or this thing isn't going anywhere.

You just need a couple of tiny Phillips head screw drivers, namely a size #000 (1.5mm) and a size #00 (2mm), also a needle nose (long-nose) pliers.
It's an easy job. I tend to take a lot of pictures when I'm working on something to make it easier when I put everything back.

Here's the little servo that needs to come out:


The replacement gears comes with decent instructions and more lithium grease than you'll need:


Disconnect the battery (pull the motor connectors off, if you want to but not required), loosen the marked screws so the receiver can be uncovered:


These screws will release the servo mount:


You don't need to remove the receiver cover fully, just hang it on to the side.
Unplug CH1 (steering servo). CH2 controls the motor, so leave it in.
Pull the servo wire out through the sticky insulation strip:


Note: One thing I forgot to mark on the pictures is that the plastic "arm" connected to the servo needs to be removed (screw), or you can remove the red ball & socket joint with your pliers (you have to use some force here). Then remove servo from the chassis and remove the mount.
Unscrew 4 x tiny long screws (no need to remove them entirely):


Check the plastic pieces that are part of the stripped gears.
Save the tiny o-ring washer and the gasket.
FYI, In case you lose them, you do get replacements [Traxxas Part #2063]:


The gears can be pulled out. If you pull the pin out as well, you can just stick it back in there. Clean the insides by blowing with compressed air & wiping it down. Other than the stripped gear parts, it shouldn't be mucky in there to begin with:


Plastic & metal gears compared. The one tiny plastic plug that comes with the replacement set goes into a slot under the biggest metal gear:


Put in the nice shiny metal gears in the reverse order (refer instructions for help). The gears will lock in-to each other - should be nice and snug:


Replace the o-ring washer onto the bottom part of the metal gear. Use lithium grease to lubricate the gears - you don't need a whole lot of it.
Note: I had to reassemble the gears a couple of times, simply because I wasn't fitting them in properly.
Reassemble everything in the reverse order (don't forget the rectangular gasket):


Yay!

Here's what it looks like after the servo gears were fixed (I still need to tweak the alignment).
Note: you can do this by playing around with the position of the servo arm & then setting the trim via the adjustment on your remote controller / transmitter: