Strange sound problem.

[David Wiltshire]

I wonder if anyone can help me when starting the tank I have what I think is now the machine gun continuously firing and the main gun continually fires too. This stops after a minute but I have no sound afterwards.

Just a note, last night I disconnected all wires to remove the turret and the upper body section because the I could see the smoke fluid pouring out at the base of the tank.
So I removed the smoke unit and wound some PTFE tape around the worn thread of the polypropylene stopper put the unit back together and everything worked perfectly.
I numbered all wired and connections and they all went back perfectly and the tank was working perfectly today. I noticed this afternoon the top machine gun LED wasn't working so with the power off I checked with a separate power source and it seemed to light up. So I checked for continuity right up to the small unit at the front of the tank all seemed OK but when I turned it back on the above problem occurred.
I have checked all wires and connections carefully and can't see anything earthing but something must have obviously shorted.

[Mark Heaps]

Have you tried re-setting the sound-card ?

[Adrian Harris]

I would start by disconnecting the control channel for the sound system from the receiver.

If the sounds stop, it's probably a problem with the radio or the sound card set up, if they carry on it's more likely to be a power issue.

The machine gun sound could conceivably be the clicks the Benedini board makes when starting up. When the recoil powers up, it retracts the barrel, and if this is stiff the servo can drag the power supply down enough to reset some of the systems.

I would try disconnecting everything you disconnected before, ensure that the sound system then works OK, and start reconnecting things one at a time to see if you can locate what it is which is causing the problem.

Adrian.

[David Wiltshire]

Thanks, could someone explain how to re-set the sound card please as I think this should be my first attempt to solve the problem as I have gone carefully through all connections twice. I am charging the battery at the moment and the radio control unit to ensure they are both OK.
I guess if that doesn't work then I should try disconnecting everything then reconnecting to see if one particular thing is causing the problem.

A bit frustrating after being so pleased with myself for sorting out the smoke module leak but I guess electronics is not my strong subject.

[Adrian Harris]

Which sound card do you have - Benedini TBS5, TBS Mini or something else ?

How do you control it on the transmitter ?

Adrian.

[Edward Earp, Jr.]

HELLO ADRIAN ! I WANT TO HOOK UP THE LIGHT ON MY KING TIGER. I AM HAVING TROUBLE MATING THE PROPER WIRES TO THE EXISTING WIRING THAT CAME ON THE LIGHT. WHAT SIZE WIRE SHOULD I USE ? HELP WITH THIS WILL CERTAINLY BE APPRECIATED. ALSO CAN YOU RECOMMEND A SOURCE FOR 1/6 PETROL CANS, BARRELS AND SUCH ? THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP !! ED

[mark lawson]

Jerry cans and fuel barrels are from Dragon and have long been out of production the place to find them as always is evilbay.

[David Wiltshire]

Which sound card do you have - Benedini TBS5, TBS Mini or something else ?

How do you control it on the transmitter ?

Adrian.

I'm guessing it is the standard sound card from Armortek as it's fitted to a Panzer 4 Ausf H (I'm new to these tanks so still on the learning curve) all of the sounds are created from the hand held radio control unit via a toggle switch on the top left hand side.

I'm guessing if I disconnect all plugs and wires within the turret no damage can occur with such things disconnected? I will try to run the tank today to ensure it is just a sound problem as I'm sure nothing else has been effected.

A quick update, I removed the turret and top of the tank to get a better view. With everything disconnected I am getting a constant machine gun sound and I swear I heard/saw something happen just out of the corner of my eye when I turned the tank on to the ServoRelay XL module.
It looks like the smoke module is not working either since this happened.
On another note how do you insert photos on to a post?

[Adrian Harris]

There have been several versions of the Armortek sound system but it's most likely that you have one based on the Benedini TBS5.

The instructions can be downloaded here:

http://www.benedini.de/Home_E/Products_E/TBS5E_4b.pdf

But the (paraphrased) relevant part for you is as below:

Remove the lid of the Amplifier Module and locate the TBS5 board. This is the one plugged into the thin section of the amplifier board.

Switch on transmitter and model. The Sound Module will flash three times.

Push the programming button on the TBS5 sound board. The LED on the TBS5 will flash three times.

It should then play a short clip of each of the sounds in turn, ending with a continuous flashing of the LED.

Turn everything off and back on again and it should be all set-up.


To add pictures, there is an "Upload attachment" tab underneath where you type in the message. Use the "Browse" button to find the pictures, then click on "Add the file" to upload it to the Forum. Once it is uploaded, you should have a "Place inline" option, which will add the picture to the message. Be careful when selecting this as it can sometimes change where the insertion point will be, so the picture ends up at the beginning of the message.

Running with the turret disconnected shouldn't have any effect on the basic operation of the tank.

Adrian.

[David Wiltshire]

Thank you very much for your help.
I think I may have inadvertently shorted the ServoRelayXL unit because the flash on start up I mentioned was in fact coming from that unit whereas if I remember correctly it was on all of the time before I investigated the fault in the LED on the top turret. Plus there is no response from the top left lever that dialled through the various functions which is I guess why the smoke has stopped working too.
So should I attempt to carry out the procedure you have mentioned knowing that I may have barffed the unit hopefully in the enclosed picture.

[Adrian Harris]

I don't think it can do any harm to reset the sound card, and it may prove that it can still play all the sounds correctly.

I would try and get the wiring back to the Armortek standard if possible, as it will be much easier for us, and Armortek, to assist with any problems.

Adrian.

[David Wiltshire]

OK I tried the above method but the red LED on the module is permanently on, pressed the small button but no response at all. There is definitely a machine gun sound when turned on that eventually stops after about 30 seconds.
As I have mentioned the status light on the ServoRelayXL flashes momentarily but does not stay on as I think it used to and one of the wires I may have accidentally shorted leads straight to that module.

[Adrian Harris]

Disconnect the three pin servo plug and the brown lead which are on the very left hand edge of your picture and see if the sound system behaves normally.

The three pin plug is for the machine gun LEDs and the main gun recoil. The brown lead is for my smoker fan control unit. Neither of these are needed for the sound system to operate, they are there to react to sounds as they are played.

Adrian.

[Adrian Harris]

From that second picture, it doesn't look like the TBS5 is seated properly in the sockets, which might not help things.

It may have Velcro underneath, so you may need to lift the free end to be able to slide forward to seat it on to connectors properly.

Adrian.

[David Wiltshire]

Ok I have tried that and it makes no difference the red LED on the sound module continues to be constantly on and the machine gun type sound persists.

Looks like I may be in a bit of bother