paulnewman
Active Member
- Messages
- 104
- Location
- London, United Kingdom
My dad was clearing out his attic and told me he had found an old radio-controlled car which, if I didn't want, he would throw away.
I had a quick look and under the dust & grime it looked as if it had hardly been used so I chucked it in the boot of the car and took it home.
Turns out it is a Tandy (Radio Shack in the USA) Black Phantom, 4x4 twin motor from the 1990's running on a combination of 4 x AA batteries for the steering & motherboard with a 7.2v stick for the motors.
I do not think that my dad appreciated the need to remove the AA batteries the last and probably the only time he used it as taking off the battery cover revealed 4 objects that resembled green furry sticks. Needless to say that I spent a good hour with a combination of contact cleaner, brushes & small screwdriver before the contacts & switch looked as if they would allow current to flow to the motherboard and steering servo! Installing fresh batteries and crossing fingers whilst flicking the on/off switch saw it burst into life. I gave it a quick bench-test to confirm that it would move and turn as the manufacturer expected............
According to the manual I need to be very careful when I use it as it is a proper beast..
"WARNING: This racer can reach much higher speeds than most radio-controlled
cars. Be careful when you use the racer. A high-impact crash could
hurt yourself or others.
NOTES: Actual speed of racer is approximately 8 to 12 miles per hour. The
estimated scale speed is 100 to 140 miles per hour."
8 - 12 mph is going to be too fast for me to handle
so I would need to do some drastic modifications to reduce the top speed and allow me to enjoy using it without fear!
This was probably quite advanced when new so it is amazing how far electric RC's have come in a relatively short space of time. I don't think that I will use this as I expect that there aren't many about so it will be purely decorative and I quite like it's retro look (the stickers are awesome).
I had a quick look and under the dust & grime it looked as if it had hardly been used so I chucked it in the boot of the car and took it home.
Turns out it is a Tandy (Radio Shack in the USA) Black Phantom, 4x4 twin motor from the 1990's running on a combination of 4 x AA batteries for the steering & motherboard with a 7.2v stick for the motors.
I do not think that my dad appreciated the need to remove the AA batteries the last and probably the only time he used it as taking off the battery cover revealed 4 objects that resembled green furry sticks. Needless to say that I spent a good hour with a combination of contact cleaner, brushes & small screwdriver before the contacts & switch looked as if they would allow current to flow to the motherboard and steering servo! Installing fresh batteries and crossing fingers whilst flicking the on/off switch saw it burst into life. I gave it a quick bench-test to confirm that it would move and turn as the manufacturer expected............
According to the manual I need to be very careful when I use it as it is a proper beast..
"WARNING: This racer can reach much higher speeds than most radio-controlled
cars. Be careful when you use the racer. A high-impact crash could
hurt yourself or others.
NOTES: Actual speed of racer is approximately 8 to 12 miles per hour. The
estimated scale speed is 100 to 140 miles per hour."
8 - 12 mph is going to be too fast for me to handle
so I would need to do some drastic modifications to reduce the top speed and allow me to enjoy using it without fear!This was probably quite advanced when new so it is amazing how far electric RC's have come in a relatively short space of time. I don't think that I will use this as I expect that there aren't many about so it will be purely decorative and I quite like it's retro look (the stickers are awesome).
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