Radio Control

Right then - the radio gear.  I've had this box lurking around for a few years, so decided it was about time I did something with it.  I need to modify it as at the moment it's only suitable for aircraft - you're not allowed to use it on the land/sea (I could be happily be driving around in the garden and accidentally crash someone's plane!)

Now I'll explain what all the bits do...

I think you already know what the transmitter does with all the knobs and switches, so I won't explain that to you.

The Receiver:-

This is what picks up the signals from the Transmitter - it receives them so they call in the Receiver.  I'll have to buy a different one of these as this one works at the frequency for aeroplanes.

The Servos:-

These are the bits that move when you wiggle the sticks on the Transmitter - you'll probably have heard them moving on your own Radio Controlled cars when you do the steering.  There's a little motor inside, and some gears, they move the white arms you can see in the picture.  There's two shown - the one at the top is the one that comes in the box shown further up, the second one is a mini one I've got lying around.  Generally, the bigger they are the stronger they are.  They'll be used for the steering and lifting ploughs and things on the back.

The Electronic Speed Controller (ESC):-

Two pictures, but they're the same thing.  This is what tells the motor to go, so it will control the speed the tractor goes along at.  It will also send the power to all the different bits of the tractor.  In the bottom picture you should be able to see all the connections; the two clear round connectors go to the motor; the white square plug connects to the battery; the small black plug on the right plugs into the receiver and sends power to the servos; and just behind that is a little on/off switch.

The Battery:-

This is a battery that I have lying around.  It has 7 'cells' in - each one of the cylinders you can see is a cell, and when they're put together they make up a battery.  This one is the wrong shape and size at the moment to fit in the tractor, so I'll have to chop it up and make it the right shape.

How the Radio Control works:

So, I'll explain to you how the radio control bit works.  You hold the transmitter and wiggle the sticks.  This transmits a radio signal to the receiver in the tractor.  The receiver has the servos and the Electronic Speed Controller plugged into it, so can control them.  If you've wiggled the steering stick it will tell the steering servo to move.  If you've wiggled the Forward - Reverse stick then it will tell the ESC to make the motor go round.

The Starting Model

Right this is the model I'm going to try and make radio controlled:

It's a Britains John Deere 6930.  It's one of their bigger models so I thought it would be easier to put all the radio equipment in (also, I know they do a radio controlled version already - but buying that would be cheating and I want to get it to do more!).  The tractor is 1:16 scale - this means that the real one is 16 times bigger.  If you lined 16 of these up they'd be the same length as the real one!

To give you an idea of how big this one is I've put it next to a 2litre drinks bottle:

The last 2 pictures show how the front suspension works - it's very simple as the front wheels are on a bar which hangs off the bottom of the front of the tractor, but I'll show that in more detail later.  You can also see the 'hitch' at the back - this is what all the attachments fix to.  The one already here is rubbish, and is something I'll have to completely make from scratch if I want to be able to operate it like the ones in the videos:

The Introduction......

Right - time to actually write something.....

It is possible to buy radio controlled tractors, but pretty much all the ones I could find seemed a bit cheap and nasty.  Not only that but I already had some leftover Radio Controlled bits and bobs (but I'll show you those later).

Here's some YouTube examples of what other people (with a lot of spare time!) have made:-

Model show 1

Model Show 2

There's lots more on there for you to have a look at.  I want to try and make one that's only 2wd (so just the rear wheels drive it along), has working steering, and can lift a plough at the back.  I might have a look to see what it's like to make it 4wd and put some lights on it, but we'll see.

The plan is for me to show the bits I buy, the bits I've got, the bits I make (and how I make them), and then a finished tractor that you can have a go on afterwards (Maybe - your mum will explain how protective I am of my toys and models!!!)

But first off, a picture of me stood next to a real one....