My Beaut Aussie Cent

[Liam Mahoney]

Hi Stephen
Thank you for that very informative explanation, very, very interesting and shows just how much potential the system has.
I had read that the Beier was a good system but didn’t realise the versatility.

Thanks Liam

[Stephen White]

A bit more on how Beier allows the sounds to be configured. I should mention that Beier provide an excellent 100 page manual (in German and English).

This is the Driving Sounds Configuration diagram:

In the engine sounds configuration menu, you can select how many gears to represent in each direction. Although Cent has five forward and two reverse gears, I had enough good sounds for four forward and one reverse, enough to give the impression of gear changes. The more sound files Beier has to work with the more the overall sound is likely to choppy and disjointed. This is where the sound simulator is so powerful.

If the sound slots were fully populated with sound files, you could get a sequence something like this:

Idle sound - moving off sound - first gear sound, accelerating - change gear 1st to 2nd - 2nd gear accelerating etc to running in 4th gear and then when decelerating, the gear change sounds for changing down, with double-declutching - vehicle stopping - idle sound.

There is provision for a file for speeding up and slowing down in each gear but that really duplicates what the driving sounds configuration does in speeding up the sound track playback.

[Richard Goodwin]

Another cracking write up Stephen. Make no mistake, its a complex package to understand but trial and error is a must here but the benefits far outweigh the effort needed. It's certainly not plug and play but certainly, from my perspective, its ideal for the Chieftain and clearly, the Cent. If people are interested, the manual is available online; its what I used to assess its abilities in comparison to the competition before my Chief was delivered.

[Stephen White]

Thanks Richard, yes, this would be very suitable for Chieftain, indeed any tank. To illustrate what OpenTX and Beier can do together, here's another episode of "Making a lot of things happen at the same time with one switch"

This combination of OpenTX on the transmitter and the Beier sound card in the model makes it possible to programme sequences of actions or functions and make them happen at precise times in relation to each other. It's also possible to execute it all with a single switch selection. The best example is what happens on firing the main armament. On the Cent:

- the firing sound plays
- the barrel recoils
- the barrel elevates and depresses
- the barrel smoker smokes and the fans pump smoke up the barrel
- the barrel laser lases briefly

All that is set up to happen when Switch C (a three position toggle switch) is moved from centre to down. The sound, recoil and jump happen once, the smoke and laser last as long as the switch is down.

This is all that lot in one picture:

To describe what's happening under the bonnet, I'll take each bit in turn, while remembering that a lot happens simultaneously in practice.

When Switch C is moved to down, Channel 9 on the transmitter goes to +100%. The receiver sends this information to the Beier (actually to Proportional Channel 7 on the EXM-2 expansion module).

Note that there's no relationship between channel numbers on the radio and the Proportional Channel numbers on the Beier - it just so happened that Prop 7 was convenient for wiring. Note also that on the EXM-2, there is both an input and output terminal for most Prop channels. This allows the signal to "pass through", picking up a function or sequence on the way.

This is where the magic happens.

Beier offers "multifunction sequences" which allow up to three functions to be triggered at the same time. In this case, when Prop 7 receives the message from Switch C, it swings into action and activates a Multifunction which:

- plays the main armament firing sound (Additional Sound 4)
- plays Servo Sequence 2 (see below)
- sends Servo 3 to Position 1 (see below)

Clever stuff. The main armament sound is actually a file with the commander giving a fire order, the loader loading a round and the gun firing. You then hear the sound of the empty case hitting the case basket and the sound of the round hitting (missing?) the target. This sound file is played without delay. The actual gun firing happens about 0.7 secs into the sound.

Beier can programme a servo to move to a number of positions at precise intervals. When Multifunction 1 becomes live, Servo Sequence 2 is called up. This activates the recoil servo:

Here's the Servo sequence for the recoil servo:

To describe what's happening, the servo starts at the fully run-out position (Position 1.010ms). After a delay of 0.8 secs to allow the fire order to play and the gun to be loaded, the servo moves the gun to Position 2 (2.000ms) at the fastest speed (0.1 secs). (This is the fastest Beier allows but the servo itself can't manage anything like that. Beier is simply saying move as quickly as you can). The run remain at full recoil for 0.1 sec and then returns to battery, at a slower rate, taking 2.0 secs). The beauty of this system is that you can play with both the timing and speed to tune the recoil both to match the sounds and to look right. The positions of the barrel can also be fine-tuned to eliminate any overrun.

So that's sound and recoil. I also described simulating platform rock and gun jump in a previous post. That's done in OpenTX, using a couple of Logical Switches and a Special Function, which cause the barrel to elevate slightly whenever the recoil servo operates. This shows the power of combining OpenTX and Beier.

Finally, back at the radio, this whole thing was kicked off by the transmitter telling the smoker stuff to fire. (Channel 9 goes to +100%, read at the Beier as Proportional Channel 7 going active. When the Multifuncion is activated, the third function sends Servo 3 to a set position. Servo three is actually the relay which controls the barrel smoker, fans and barrel laser.

The relay controlling the barrel smoker, fans, barrel laser is set up to be latching, ie it moves to shut (=ON) as long as there is a signal. In practice, this means that the smoke and laser will continue until Switch C is returned to central. It's very useful to be able to control the duration of the smoke and laser in different wind conditions. In stronger winds, the smoke dissipates quicker, so a longer pulse is needed.

And all that above took about two months to work out and lasts about two seconds when played. Such is progress.

[Richard Goodwin]

Its worth all that effort in the end though isn't it and armed with that knowledge, other combinations should be so much easier and quicker constructing.

[Robert Tanzer]

Thank you for all this great information about Benedin TBS and what you can do.

Robert T

[Stephen White]

For any Brits who haven’t seen the sun in a while, it’s shining in Australia. Paul Scott’s ARN 169064 in the Victorian sunshine today. Happy Christmas all.

[Stephen White]

Servo stalling. Has anyone any solutions to reducing the buzzing sound when a servo stalls? I'm experiencing it with my recoil servo. I've adjusted the end points and the recoil isn't binding but when the servo returns to the run-out position, it emits a loud buzz, symptomatic of servo stall. A very slight touch on the barrel and the noise stops. I've run out of solutions. I'm using an MKS HV777A+ servo, powered by a dedicated CC BEC Pro BEC set at an output of 6.0V, which is well within the servo power input limit of 8.4V. Thanks.

[Adrian Harris]

Did you try my suggestion of adding a slight movement in the opposite direction, to take the pressure off ?

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Yes, thanks, and it worked..... for a while but now the stalling has returned to plague me. I'll keep trying new values - thanks again. S

[Adrian Harris]

How about fitting something like this ...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4YdoIpbxES0



(Sorry)

[Stephen White]

Is that a description of the whole model or just the ....ing servo? Could do with one of those.

[Adrian Harris]

Well, I was going to describe it as an automatic barrel toucher, but then that's a whole different hobby.

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

The Centurion Mk 5/1 was powered by a Rolls Royce Meteor Mk 4B or 4/B1 12 cylinder, V-type, overhead valve, liquid cooled petrol engine, developing on a good day 650 bhp at 2550 rpm. This is an engine from ARN169064 during its tour in Vietnam in 1969/70.

and some Meteor reference photos from Bovington:

The tank was also equipped with a four cylinder, Morris USHNM Mk 2 or 2/1 auxiliary generator engine, developing 20 bhp at 2,500 rpm.

And this is where it all goes:

Frank Breitenbach is the master of CAD design and is also the most generous of friends. The little help I've been able to give him doesn't merit the parcel which arrived from Germany:

I can't hope to replicate the detail Frank has achieved in his Centurion but I can flatter by imitation. First order over 600 fasteners in 1.2, 1.6 and 2mm sizes from a well known German supplier, whose trade mark is this:

Then move components in the rear deck area on the model to make space:

and start assembly. I've overlooked all the work Frank did to adjust his CAD model to the layout of a standard Armortek motion pack (he uses a bespoke chain drive system). It's a real treat to build such a finely detailed model, although working out where all the tiny parts go can be a challenge.

Thank you Frank.....

[Phil Woollard]

Great post! There should be just enough room to fit those engines in but it will be tight with the Armortek electric drive. Keep it coming please.