Infra red battle systems

[John Fitzsimons]

Has anybody fitted infra red battle systems to Armortek tanks? Is it possible?

[Adrian Harris]

I can't imagine there is any reason why you couldn't - once you had worked out the supply voltage etc but I have to admit I don't really know what they do

Do they disable the RC on the tank, make them make different noises, belch smoke as if hit ?

Adrian

[yves mouton]

Hi John,

I have a battle system on my tiger 1,
it is the powerfull 88 gun ha ha ha ha ha
regards Yves

[Mick Regan]

The Tamiya one is the best by a long way. Technically, there is no reason why it couldn't be fitted. The quoted range is 30 metres, so that should be far enough. It's pretty comprehensive. For a full explaination. have a look at http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/ ... system.htm
Prices seem to be from £60 on Ebay to £80+ retail. How much of the other Tamiya electronics would be needed, I'm not sure.

Mick

[John Fitzsimons]

Somthing to look into. First need to find sombody to battle with. Yves, I hope you are not messing with live rounds.

[Steven Ford]

This topic has been covered a couple of times over the years but I have not heard of a successful installation so far on an Armortek model.

It sounds like an excellent idea but bear in mind that the scale range for the 88 would be up to half a kilometre!

A "full immersion" version with CCTV in the cupola and/or main gun and/or driver's port and cross hairs on the image, transmitted to a VR helmet would be superb.

I'm sure the kit exists but what about cost? It's a laser designator with receivers.

[John Fitzsimons]

I like that idea. We do invest a lot in these tanks.

[Andrea Daviero]

I've started searching a compatible system 2 years ago, 30 meters are too much out of scale, and the problem is also the precision. Here we are thinking in a new battle unit, a tamiya/heng long/el mod compatible but able to control all tank functions.
This means that a shot from the left will affect the left track, or the turret, or the engine, same for right shot. Same things on other angles. The board will be programmed to shot an IR code. It will be the code of the ammo used. For example an 88 round, and the tank that receives an hit will know if its armor will be destroyed, damaged or something else.
Some friends in italy developed the IBU (italian battle unit) that is almost universally compatible with the others, it adds the feature of berge panzers that repairs damaged or destroyed tanks. I'm talking with them to check the possibility to have our big scale battle system

[Jim Slothower]

Well this is something I had given a little thought to myself. I ordered Mike Standards fine Cupola as my thinking was the actual working periscopes would allow me to completely secret the infra red sensors inside.

This is a project for way down the road though, as I have only assembled the tracks and hope to just get the Tiger moving someday after I return from overseas. Maybe I can work this out with Bob Murray once I get my tank finished as he seems very in tune with these machines.

What say you Bob??

[Paul. Fowler-Smith]

This is something that NATO has developed extensively as its a cost effective system for training.
However I haven't seen anything small enough for our use!

[Jan_Donadoni]

Hello,
I see it pretty difficult to organize.
I have been playing "extreme" air soft for more than a decade. This involves the use of many IR instruments for night skirmish. We also use some "military issue/grade" items, so I have a pretty good idea of the whole thing
First issue realistic distance should be a problem : 500mt more or less
Second : IR is pretty disturbed by daylight and direct sun exposure.
Third : you'll need an IR LASER POINTER (much different from an an IR LASER ILLUMINATOR). This kind of items are lightyears far away from a cheap or simple IR emitter.
4th : to reach a distance of 500mt (at night) you need a military grade IR LASER POINTER, like an AN/PEQ system. A commercial grade one is pretty weak over 2-300mt at night. Here we have the next problems. US citizens are generally NOT allowed to buy or sell IR LASER POINTERS and in Europe such military items are nearly "suspect". Last but not least an AN/PEQ system is in the 2k uds area.
And it is for NIGHT USE. During the day also an AN/PEQ is too much disturbed.
So, during the day it could be needed to go further to a IR LASER DESIGNATOR. Price? Not to mention!
5th : a IR RECEIVER for such distance in daylight also is a really expensive item, pretty near to a 3rd gen night vision optic. Also in the 2-3k usd area
6th : the system would also have many problems in evaluating the distance of the shooter. That is a 75mm at short range is pretty different from a long range shot that will hardly penetrate a heavy tank armor.
7th : laser is straight, a cannon grenade flies a ballistic trajectory
8th (and maybe last) problem. At 3-500mt a IR LASER POINTER creates a spot of a few cm, or a couple of inches. Does anyone has a vague idea of how it is difficult to aim with such a precision (since the receiver, that needs to be masked, so it will be small) at a similar distance? You'll need good optics and to see through the tank's point of view. No hope at all to obtain a hit at a realistic scale distance while standing some meters apart from the tank.

If we reflect, playing at 30 mt in 1/16 scale is less than 500mt in real life.
Sorry to say, but no hope at all. Or maybe only by spending twice as much as for a whole tank with full options. Makes no sense.

[Marcel de Groene]

Hello Jan,

I slightly disagree with you. 500 meters or so would make it realistic, but practically when we get together with our tanks we're never that far apart. 50 meters is the most so if you want to play with battle systems the reach should be 50 meters or less, that's still half a soccer field which gives you plenty room to manoevre. So give it another thought

Regards,

Marcel

[Jan_Donadoni]

Hello Marcel,
no problem at all.
I am just a "simulation maniac". I started wargaming (boardgaming) more than 25 years ago, and alway concentrated on realism rather than playability. It's just a very personal matter. Many gamers prefer to have a joyful and fast playing game, others prefer a 80pages rulesbook that brings you up with tons of problems and options. Some tank games just have attack and defence values, while other ask you "Which kind of ammo do you load? distance? angle of impact?, where did you hit (10 options)?

playing at 50 meters allows us to really "play" and have fun all together.

I was talking about a real simulation, with all the tension it goes with.

[Marcel de Groene]

I hear you...