Australian feathweights

[knightrous]

Geoff youve been shifted and James youll be next.

[s8nsmum]

Does anyone know if there is a UK supplyer for the IBC? I know i can get them from Australia and America but i was hoping to find a british source to save myself a few £. If there isnt does anyone else want one, we might be able to get a discount (and save on postage etc) if we put in a big order.

Joe Townsend

Joe, I may well be intrested in one if you can find a supplier / discount. But think about buying from the US because of the favourable £/$ rate at the moment.
Geoff.

that is what i was planning if there is no UK supplier, I got $1.77 to the pound a couple of weeks ago when I ordered from robotcombat.com. Is anyone else interested? more info can be found at http://www.robotcombat.com/marketplace_robowars.htmlhttp://www.robotcombat.com/marketplace_robowars.html

Joe Townsend

[knightrous]

Technobots were going to sell them, but Technobots wanted a lower bulk price and unfortunately Robowars cannot supply them any cheaper as they are practically selling them for the cost to build them. They were originally made to help us aussies with no speed controllers so we had something to use that was safe.

The best place to get them probably would be RobotCombat, but if anyone is looking at becoming a supplier in the UK, contact Brett from Robowars.org, hes the man to talk to.

[m2xt]

Yes, Technobots was going to retail these but terms could not be agreed but they do look a nice controller although priced quite high for the feather market.

Paul

I am going to have a go at making one with one of my computer/electronics friends. We are planning on taking out the functions we dont want (like the mixer) to make it even simpler, smaller and cheaper. If we are successful i will write a how to guide and see if i can get it on featherweights.org or something.

Joe Townsend

One feature in the IBC that I felt not absolutely necessary was the wide operating voltage range that required the use of some expensive circuitry.

Paul

We are going to be running it off 25.2V NiCads so we can cut down the max operating voltage (hopefully saving some money). I assumed that the reason it will run off 4v is so if you have a massive motor on a disc or something when you first turn it on (essentially stalled) and the battery voltage drops the processor chip doesnt die. But my electronics knowlege is pretty limited so i am probably wrong.

Joe Townsend

The IBC has such a wide range of voltage because its not just designed for featherweights, it can be used in lightweights and possibly some small middle weights. IT can also cater for those who wish to run the motors on higher voltage ie: ww motors on 36v

The main reason why the IBC is so dear is because it has MOSFET reverse instead of the cheap less reliable way of using relays like in the Electronise. Also, the failsafing in the IBC is very good, maybe too good, I was rather dissapointed when i saw that my mate had payed out AUD$250 for a 30amp electronise to see it have no real failsafing :sad:

Anyway, Ive got two IBCs and I love them, but I guess its each to his own. Also Joseph, most speed controllers that have mixing have it done in the microprocessor programming, not via circuitry