Meatball Racing

Radio Control Blog

1:1 Scale Electric Car

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When I was getting back into R/C for the 2nd time, circa 2003, I made a conscious choice between getting an HPI Super Nitro Rally and the HPI RS4 (electric) Rally. The music of 18,000 RPMs sounded like a ton of fun, but in the back of my head, it just wasn’t worth it. Smelling like nitro fuel, tuning the engine for the weather, proper maintenance and storage were just a few reasons. Plus all my previous experience was electric.

At the end of 2020 I donated my Subaru WRX to Newgate School. It was feeling its age and had several gremlins that I didn’t want to deal with: a fuel filler neck that wouldn’t refuel at full speed, an undiagnosed misfire on cylinder #1, and a slipping clutch. Like my decision to bypass nitro, the time was right to give up the rumbly EJ motor sound for the whir of a 200HP electric motor.

Introducing the official Meatball Racing vehicle: Chevy Bolt

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Flysky Noble NB4 – A great left handed transmitter

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Disclaimer: I am not left handed, but this is a great transmitter whether you’re left or right handed…

During quarantine I played VRC at least once a week to get my racing fix since all of the tracks were closed. My daughter would often ask if she could try racing as she watched me play. But converting my Spektrum DX3R to left handed operation meant taking it apart to move all the components to the left.

I’d been eyeing a Flysky Noble NB4 because it’s a pro-level low latency transmitter, and it’s killer feature is that it can instantly switch from right to left-handed operation.

Since I wasn’t getting to the track anytime soon, I sold my DX3R and ordered a Noble NB4 with some extra receivers. This write-up will go through some of the features and how I set it up because there are a few things you’ll want to consider.

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VRC Live Server Setup

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There are several great resources out there for setting up a gaming server on Microsoft Azure. This one is specifically for VirtualRC the R/C racing simulator.

If you want to host a race and participate in the race itself, you’ll need two VRC accounts (and possibly paid subscriptions): one for you and one for the race host. You can host a race with a free VRC account, but you’ll be limited to the free tracks and cars – that’s OK too – you’ll surely get a lot of people joining your server if you’re hosting races on the free-to-play tracks.

But if you want the most flexibility and variety, you’ll need to have the full all-inclusive subscription on your VRC account(s).

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Just what we need… another class

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Most of the chatter about this video is positive, but the first and last comments in this screenshot are what I want to talk about:

I get mad when I hear things like “just what we need – another class” or that something is too juvenile for them to have fun. No matter how you cut it, RC racing at its core is toy cars. Yes they’re expensive, configurable, luxury toy cars. But they’re still toy cars as much as a $400 magnesium yo-yo is still a skill toy.

Let’s look at the reality and see if can’t all get along or at least agree to disagree without starting a flame-war 🔥

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Solar Charging Setup

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There’s a place I like to race at in St. Peter, MN called Shamrock RC Raceway. It’s an interesting setup because it’s a turf track set up outdoors in a hockey rink that would otherwise go unused in the summer. Rather than bring an insane extension cord to power my charger from the park restroom, I wanted to come up with a more portable (and green) charging solution.

So I put together this simple solar charging setup:

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