Equipment
 

Well I believe that Novak has proven itself to be quite competitive over the last couple of years. They are well used and supportive for the most part. The issue that I see is that for a large company to compete for its share of the pie it has to remain open to change and consisitantly upgrading its equipment. With some of the electronics about to be released by CC/Neu, Tekin, and whoever else Novak needs to pony up and make some improvements to its line that is not worthy in order to compete and stay in the game. From the looks of things they are hoping to ride this out on old technology, but things are about to get pretty crazy with the release of the MMM and R8X. We are all thursty for power and speed and whoever comes up with the best system is going to kill at the cash register this year. Maybe Novak is just keeping secret on what theyre plans are?? With money being so tight this year I do believe that CC is going to do ok.

It's not a secret Novak is planning on a 5/6S controller too.

According to Steve Weiss, its the 5mm shaft and a software upgrade. Now you will have more setting like the gtb but no built in lipo cut off. I also asked about the 6s esc they are suppose to be making but he didn't give any info. Just basically said they are always working on new projects.

That's exactly what they told me, "user error, our controllers just don't break down like that" when I had mine setup per their instructions down to the T and running well within spec. Then I got the controller back, put it in a different vehicle, running different batteries, and the same thing happened. I called to get help, they said it was now out of warranty (by only two weeks mind you because I waited a month for mine to be fixed) and I would have to pay to have them fix what they didn't fix the first time under warranty.

Sorry, but they burnt me and I have no desire to go back. I have since run the same setups on other controllers with no issues what so ever.

So, some may disagree with my opinion, but I came by it fairly.

If people like novak, and want to buy novak, that is fine with me and I would never personally insult someone for their decision. People buy things everyday I wouldn't and life goes on. This is all friendly from my end and an expression of my opinion only. All views are solely mine and not necessarily those of the ownership yadda yadda yadda. :rules: :mdr:

Its an old sytem, that needs updating, but not just with some slightly better software. I think the reason Novak havent done much with it is because they rely on the sensors to make it smooth- which works perfectly, but its still useful to be able play with brake strength and punch control etc. The motors need improving more than anything- a step up from titans is fine for many, but when you see vids of what a mere feigao can do on 4s, you suddenly feel somewhat hard done by.

I think that Novak needs to step up to a larger diameter rotor (14mm would be doable with the current motor design IIRC) and more than a 2 pole magnet so that the motors can produce the torque that a feigao or other larger diameter rotored motors produce. At the very least, more poles and a larger rotor will probably help efficiency a little too.

It'd be nice if they completely re-did the motors and ESC though.

My Hobby Wing controller does wonderful on 4S and has all the option for racing. I still have to make a video of my TC3 Truggy going. All I can is the the HW makes the HV4.5 act like another animal. If you want a Hobby Wing, just buy a Venum 120A controller.

The venom 120 is a car esc? I remember seeing a venom 120or 125 air esc a while back, but I guess that you are not talking about that? Any chance for a link?

This? http://www.venom-group.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=VEN%2D1339

Yes, that's the one. Hobby Wing also made the Orion race controllers: http://www.teamorion.com/Products/Vo...ace+Controller

ORI65006 Vortex Racing Sensor ESC 120A
ORI65007 Vortex Racing Sensor ESC 60A

No way, how did they manage to sneak those out without me noticing? Q. Are they really good for 100/120amps do you reckon- Im assuming they are the same more or less as lutach's esc...

They are the same controller as I have. It is a solid controller that I can say is good for the 120A. In my TC3 I used 2S and 3S lipos with my N80 and it is fast. With 4S in my TC3 Truggy, it is ballistic. The program box is awesome to use and you can change parameters fast. They are also the same as the Speed Passion, but I know so far the Venom is much cheaper and if you get it from Towerhobbies, you can use the discount codes. I'm having fun with the only Hobby Wing in the USA :lol:. I can't bring them in because of Hobby Wing's relationship with Speed Passion. In one of my posts in another thread, you can see what I asked Hobby Wing to do, but still no answer. They told me I need to only buy 2000 units a year and I told him I can buy more then that as I can cover Brasil as well.

Did you have to do anything to run it on 4s? Disable the internal bec, or any other mods? Also, what motor do you run on 4s? Is the tc3 truggy the rcp designs conversion?

I disabled the BEC. I did run the BEC with 3S and it did fine. I use the HV4.5 and I use it in sensored mode. The TC3 is not the RCP conversion, I bought it a long time ago and the person did a nice job on the conversion. Here are pictures of it before the HW controller, but with the HV4.5 in it. http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/show...49&postcount=6, http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/show...50&postcount=7 and http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/show...51&postcount=8.

Nice looking rc lutach. Was it hand made? I am guessing that you would rate the HW esc better than the novak. I may have to get one, as my mm in the crt.5 with the hv6.5 is not doing so well. Lots of stuttering from a standstill.

Ooh, interesting conversion. The venom price isnt too bad, but then again, it is the same as the MMM, only 4s instead of 6s- MMM please. Sensored 6s would be awesome though, if only Novak would give us some decent beefy motors...