Getting started, what do I need?

LOL! oh dear.

http://www.overlander.co.ukhttp://www.overlander.co.uk seem to be able to tell you nearly everything you need to know about battery packs. go to electric flying packs section and search the pages. Just find a pack which uses the same kind of cells that you have, and it will tell you.

But for instance, the GP3300mAh pack on overlander says 35amps + contin.
It is atually 45amps contin, but thats when the pack has been made up decent. Eg with DECENT battery bars and soldered wire - not spot soldered/welded - thats poo and limits the amount of current coming out of the packs.

Mr Stu

Ok i have been wondering about drillmotors too, have found some cheap 18V drillmotors that are quite appealing (maybe spellt wrong, im swedish ) but then i wonder, do i have to buy a speedcontroller? If im not wrong then there is a speedcontroller on a handdrill right from the start? And one more thing, should i go for like a ~3000mAh NiCd battery pack to a R/C transmitter or something?

Just so you know, a 3Ah Ni-Cd battery is larger than most other battery packs for radio controlled cars. So they weigh more and are more expensive.

Concerning the speed controllers in the drills:
http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/discus/messages/25/1201.htmlhttp://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/disc...s/25/1201.html

Yes its to do with the sizes etc.
A 3Ah Ni-Cd Cell HAS to be a C size cell to get that much capacity into a NiCad cell.

Ni-Mh can be a Sub C cell size and still get 3Ah into it, but less discahrge current thou.

Again you have to mix and match the NiCd and Ni-Mh cells to your robots use. Some people can get away with 2200mAh Ni-Mh packs, some people can only JUST about cope with a 3Ah Nicd pack. Depends on many things.

Mr Stu

alpha runs a 3Ah 24v Botpack, and they still get very hot after use and i only have enough power for one fight (although can do two if im carefull). Where as G3 was running a pair of very old 7.2v 1.5ah Nicads (race packs) and he still had enough for two fights. It just shows you the difference between robots.

Yep there you go. Really is on what your robot is meant to do.

Mr Stu

OK i see. Im thinking of a ordinary pucher as it will be my first real robot (except for an ant) so im just glad to get it running :D ok NiMh sounds like a better choice then

pucher? u mean pusher? if so then use NiCads, NiMh wont supply the power for a decent pusher.

Alan... I think my robot proves you wrong :)
As long as you get decent cells (GP 3300mah being- I think- the best) then you can make pushers quite easily with ni-mh. But thats only the case if you use the right motors.

but in all fairness MM isnt as powerfull as alpha, and alpha has had a lot more fights then MM.