Mick's Churchill (57)

[michael hilton]

Good morning everyone, I do my bit Adrian....the fuel tank is a little ''stand off '' job that does not test the brain box.....adding the brackets next. The jack boxes will be tweaked, I like to keep it simple.....just trying to put my own stamp on the old girl....Mick

[michael hilton]

Good morning, what a lovely day to be saying ''what a lovely day'' will remind myself to switch off the heating, I'm not made of money The fuel tank is more or less completed and I have reworked the Jack Blocks. That's all for today, have a nice one lads....and the girls....Mick

[michael hilton]

Good morning lads, moved the old girl off the dining room table into safe mode....I am a combination of old and new....oh and the weather is awful, roll on Spring...Mick

[michael hilton]

Good afternoon everyone, and yes I am still alive and kicking
Okay so here is the problem, how did you guess....
I have friends and old work colleagues coming to visit me Wednesday this week. I would have liked to show them my Churchill up and running when they arrive. So with that in mind, I charged the batteries on the old girl and switched on my Tx. The motion module shows 25.5 v. and the Rx bound to the transmitter. All good to go.
The Churchill is on a motorcycle jack ready to demonstrate. The system sprang into life....motors ran, turret turned, gun elevated, sounds (on a three way switch) operated in sequence. Then without warning I lost my 'sounds'. I removed the turret and upper hull plates. I checked all of the connections, no obvious problem...then I lost power to my Rx....
So guys, at the moment the Tx is fully charged, motion module switches on and showing 25.5. No power into the Rx.....I really do not want to strip the motion system down further.
When I had power to the system and the Rx worked..... (although sounds lost)..... when switching on, I did not hear the 'beep' on powering up...Any advice as always is gratefully received. Mick

[Adrian Harris]

The sound card is powered from the receiver, so if there is no power to the receiver then no sounds.

Do you have brushed drive motor setup as before or the new brushless system ?

Adrian

[michael hilton]

Hello Adrian, and thank you for your reply, I have the earlier brushed drive motor setup.
The whole issue was so unusual, one minute 'sounds' then no sounds, then no power to the receiver....I fitted a new receiver having 'shorted' the original Rx when I caught the aerials across the batteries...I would just add, I have run the Churchill in my garage over the Winter without problems.... Mick

[michael hilton]

Hello again Adrian, update, I now have power to my receiver, I used the bind button on the receiver. I have checked the wiring, all connected okay.
I can see a red power light 'on' in the Audio Module.
No sounds or 'beeps' 'clicks' can be heard when I switch on the power. Yesterday, I had the engine sound running and I was selecting the M/G sound when the audio shut down. I had just successfully activated the main gun option...Mick

[michael hilton]

Good evening everyone, this is the situation with my 'sound' problem. Having spent much time trying to resolve this issue.
I have not heard any 'beep' when switching on the power supply.
The tracks run, the turret turns, the elevation works. I just don't have any 'sounds' on my three way switch. The Audio Module is kaput....the speakers are silent.
There is power into the Audio Module. My receiver is alive and communicating with my transmitter. The batteries are fully charged. I have racked my brain such as it is. Pressing the programming button does not help.....I have so little time left guys....give it your best shot...Mick

PS, for those of a sensitive nature...look away now....

[michael hilton]

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, continuing with my Audio Unit problem. I was mulling over this issue and realised that standing next to my Churchill was the Elefant tank.
The Elefant has the same Red Box modules and radio control setup as the Churchill. So, this morning, in a cold windy garage, both doors wide open for extra light, I transferred the Audio Modules between Elefant and Churchill. Bingo, the Churchill sound system sprang into life. Engine, guns all banging away.
So, unless anyone has other ideas, as a factory sealed unit I will return the ''apparently'' faulty Churchill Audio Module.

I retired from the WMAS NHS Trust twenty seven years ago, so the visit from work friends yesterday was a joy. Good conversation, memories and an excellent meal at the nearby Golf Club. Just thought I would pop that in....Mick

[Adrian Harris]

One last thing to try before you return it.

Select sound 1 (engine start) and play it.

Select sound 12, then repeatedly "play" it and see if the engine sounds appear.

Sounds 11 and 12 on the Benedini are volume down and volume up respectively, so it is possible to turn the volume down on the board so that it appears to be dead.

Adrian.

[michael hilton]

Hello Adrian, and thank you for your reply. I have come back in from the garage having now tried your method. No joy so far, the recoil does work on 'three' switch movements, I guess the mechanical side is controlled on a separate system. If I understand correctly number 11 and 12 turn the volume down or up. I have repeatedly tried this method.

Tuesday, If I recall correctly...I activated the main gun flash, sound, and recoil...I then tried the M\G flash and sound, it was while I moved from main gun to M/G that the Audio Module fell silent, the engine sound until then, was running. I tried a rebind, a reprogramme button press, and finally a wiring check, I reset the volume knob to quarter turn. I know from experience that it only takes one small mistake on my part to screw things up. So I will continue to give it my best shot over the weekend....Is there a way to ''reset the sound card''. I will not open the Audio Module.... Mick

[Adrian Harris]

I had a friend bring his Churchill as the sound didn't work. We tracked that to that to the lead between the sound card and the amplifier.

We tried it with one of my leads and it worked perfectly, so I made up a new lead for him with the correct JST plug for the amplifier. But that did require opening the Audio Module to diagnose and repair, so you may want to get Armortek to check it. Or knock a bit off the price

Adrian.

[michael hilton]

Good evening Adrian, and thank you for the advice. I guess you spotted the For Sale post This is not a knee jerk reaction. I have for some time struggled with Cataracts and Arthritis. Finally on Tuesday I was placed on the Cornea Team list for eye surgery at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. My arthritic knees will be next.
Both models are now sold. I will keep the Panther.
All being well I will return to building Armortek Kits as and when my health allows. This is not the end. I will follow the many glorious builds and Forum posts. ...Mick

[michael hilton]

Good morning chaps, just having a 'think' on what looks to be a fine day, I am usually up and about early so began to question the following.....

Regarding the power supply in and out of the newish Red Boxes.....which RC lead carries power to the receiver, to get it going ?
Also, why on the latest systems are two of the ' red power leads' into the receiver, cut or disconnected ?

The reason behind the question, firstly, my Churchill has sound, is up and running having swapped the Audio Modules between Churchill and Elefant. My Elefant is dormant. secondly, I want to awaken the Elefant from it's slumber....without using a big stick....Mick

PS, perhaps I should add...in the Elefant, having installed the Audio Module from the Churchill...there is no power to my receiver, consequently I am unable to 'bind' receiver and transmitter.

[Adrian Harris]

Both Module A and Module B on the Red Box motion packs provide a 5 volt supply on the red wire of their receiver leads, but experience has shown that when these two supplies meet in the receiver, Module A tends to sulk and exhibit odd and fairly random behaviour.

So the red wires in the leads from Module B are cut, so that only Module A provides power to the receiver.

Adrian.