Tag Archive: Controlled


Extech CTH10 Radio Controlled Wall Clock Hygro-Thermometer with Super Large 4.3-Inch (109mm) Digit Clock Display, Receives Time Code from NIST Radio Station WWVB (North American region), Large LCD displays Time, RH%, Temperature, Year, Month, Date, and Day

Filed Under: Radio
Aug.20, 2010

Extech CTH10 Radio Controlled Wall Clock Hygro-Thermometer with Super Large 4.3-Inch (109mm) Digit Clock Display, Receives Time Code from NIST Radio Station WWVB (North American region), Large LCD displays Time, RH%, Temperature, Year, Month, Date, and Day

  • Receives Time Code from NIST Radio Station WWVB (North American region)
  • Large LCD displays Time, RH%, Temperature, Year, Month, Date, and Day
  • Super large 4.3″ (109mm) digit clock display can be viewed from 150 feet (45mm)
  • Signal indicator displays signal strength in 3 levels to indicate successful synchronization
  • Automatically adjusts for daylight savings time (DST)

Extech CTH10 Radio Controlled Wall Clock Hygro-Thermometer with Super Large 4.3-Inch (109mm) Digit Clock Display, Receives Time Code from NIST Radio Station WWVB (North American region), Large LCD displays Time, RH%, Temperature, Year, Month, Date, and Day, Signal indicator displays signal strength in 3 levels to indicate successful synchronization, Automatically adjusts for daylight savings time (DST), Alarm Clock, Built-in stand for desktop or wall-mount, Complete with built-in stand and four AA batteries

List Price: $ 99.99

Price: $ 139.99

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Building The Fastest Radio Controlled Car

Filed Under: Radio
Mar.30, 2010

Many people think of remote controlled cars as toys for kids. However, there is a huge difference between remote control cars for kids and remote control cars for adults. The complexities of the cars have a very wide gap. Kids cars will run on just a few AA batteries. RC cars for adults feature full miniature engines. Lots of the popular motor kits run on fuel such as gasoline or nitro. Others run on large battery packs that are essentially beefed up versions of kids toys. These cars require just as much maintenance as a real car, since they have all of the same components (plus all of the radio transmitting gear!) to deal with.

When building a remote controlled car, you will have many different choices regarding the quality of the components that you use to make it. You can stick with some simple hobby store components, but those are not likely to make a car that will win any races. If you want to go all-out on a project, you can get top quality parts. You should be prepared to spend some money to get what it takes, but once you have it all together you will have a car that you can truly be proud of. If you want to assemble this type of amazing car, you will need to look for several things in particular when buying components. These will help you get the maximum performance for your money.

The fastest engine choice that you can find is a nitro engine. Nitromethane is an alternative to regular gasoline, and runs much better for RC cars. It is usually heavier, and therefore more cumbersome on the handling of the car. However, if you are going to be on a fairly straightforward and tame race course, it is a great choice and will provide a huge speed. The only down side is that nitro engines are known for wearing down faster, and breaking at a higher rate. If you use a nitro engine frequently, you can almost expect it to break after intense usage. It is a good idea to have an electric engine that you can swap it out with when the need arises.

The other parts of the car are equally important when you are aiming for absolute fastness. If you are you going all-out on a project, you should expect to spend quite a bit on components like wheels and axels. Usually you want to get wheels that are extremely firm and light. If you have the opportunity to go out to a hobby store and test out a few different components, you will be able to decide exactly what you want based on experiencing it first-hand. This is the best way to shop for anything, and the same goes for remote control cars. Since the parts are usually highly swappable, you can directly compare one with another by trying them in quick succession.

If you aren’t a very technically inclined person, the thought of picking all of these parts might not sound very fun. However, you might not have to go through this process. It is possible to buy kits that include all top of the line parts, and are quite easy to assemble. With these you won’t get the high level of customization that you would get out of building a regular home-made car. Being able to choose all of the parts separately is a great benefit, although 90% of the time you can replace individual parts if you decide that you want to go for something that is of a higher quality or a little bit faster than what you had before.

All of these things really add up. If you have one part of a car that doesn’t perform as well, the entire thing will be affected. Therefore you need to choose your parts carefully to have the best remote controlled car possible.

RC Hobbies Blog

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Choosing A Radio Controlled Plane

Filed Under: Radio
Mar.30, 2010

When you buy a radio controlled plane for the first time, you may have some difficulty choosing the plane that will introduce you to the remote controlled hobby. You will want something that will be fairly cheap to purchase, and will give you a chance to learn how to fly remote controlled planes before you move onto more advanced planes. If you buy the first plane that you see, you could end up having a very bad experience for your first time, and be completely turned away from the hobby. This is why it is very important to know that there are many different characteristics that you can look for. In this article I will go over most of them. So read on to find out about what you need to look for to have the best experience possible when you fly a radio controlled plane for the first time.

First you need to assess your own building skills. You can buy airplane kits that require you to build the entire thing from scraps of wood, or you can buy kits that just require you to snap a few parts together. If you want to make a huge, prolonged project out of your radio controlled plane, then you can buy one that requires full assembly. However, you should always be sure that your building skills are up for it. If you don’t want to spend the time required to do this, or if you don’t have the prowess to build it, then you can buy a plane that does not require any assembly at all. You just pull it out of the box, and you’re ready to go flying for the afternoon.

Next you will want to look for something that has stability for people without are flying for the first time. It may not seem like it, but to fly a radio controlled plane you need at least some skill. But, if you search for the right item you can find something that is more geared towards beginners. Slow flying speed is always a benefit, just as driving slow is a good way to learn how to control a car for the first time. You will want a light plane with larger wings that can catch the wind better. This will make takeoff easier. You will also want to look for planes that have flat bottoms, and wings mounted high on the body. If you get a plane that has all of these features, your maiden flight will be as smooth as possible.

Next you need to consider the model of the airplane you are going to buy. You can get model replicas of almost any type of plane, from the first Wright Brothers’ plane to modern military jets. If you are buying a model plane, you are probably already interested in planes to begin with. Think of what plane you are most intrigued by when you look through plane books, and see if you can find a kit that is modeled after that plane. This will give you a personal interest in the model that you are getting. When you fly it for the first time, it will be almost like being in the cockpit of the actual plane.

After you have decided on these issues when picking your plane, the rest is just up to personal preference. But if you pay close attention to these and pick your plane carefully, you will find that radio controlled flying is a great way to spend your time. It is a very rewarding hobby, and it can last you a lifetime if you choose planes that are compliant with your level of skill. After all, you don’t want to go out on your first flight and then crash your plane directly into the ground or a tree. So choose your first plane carefully, and you can avoid being immensely frustrated in the future.

RC Hobbies

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Choosing How To Run Your Radio Controlled Car

Filed Under: Radio
Mar.30, 2010

If you are building a radio controlled car, you will be faced with choices every step of the way. You will have to decide how to build the model, how to incorporate the radio transmitter, and how you want to paint it. You will also have to decide how you want to power your car. There are several different choices, and unfortunately there isn’t one that stands out as better than the rest. Each powering method has its own benefits and tradeoffs that may affect your decision. You will have to consider these benefits compared with what exactly you want to do with your car. Here are the three main ways that you can power a radio controlled car.

The first and most basic way to power a remote controlled car is to have a battery pack running the motors.  This is the kind of system that you will see in beginning cars. If implemented correctly, it can be fairly effective. Its main strong point is that it is very light. Cars using electric power can reach all new levels of lightness. However, like all of the options, there is a tradeoff: electric cars are the slowest of them all. So, you will have to decide whether you want a light car that handles well, or a speed demon that will tear up the competition. And that brings us to the next choice, which is definitely a bit speedier than the electric option.

Gas-powered cars are by far the most common when you are looking at hobby grade cars. The equipment required to handle all of the gas and combustion weighs quite a bit, and tends to make the car less agile. However, it makes up for this deficiency by being one the fastest choices. These types of motor kits are very easy to find. If you want one for your car, your best bet would be to look in some online specialty shops, or your local hobby shop. While it is not necessarily a positive aspect in my book, the fact that the cars are much louder when they run on gasoline seems to attract some people, who enjoy creating the noisy little machines.

RC cars that run on nitro gasoline are quickly becoming the most popular and fastest growing segment of remote control cars. Nitro vehicles can come in many different forms. You can build the popular and durable trucks that will take jumps at high speeds and go on off road driving courses. Alternatively, if you are trying to reach very high speeds, you can build the type of racecar that is meant to speed along pavement, tracks or other prepared surfaces. As with gas, nitro requires the heavy motor equipment that some people find cumbersome. However, they are perfect if you want to swap out your electric motor during a race or other event.

If you build your car the right way and avoid attaching the engine in permanently, you can switch whenever you feel a different one would be more appropriate. The average remote control enthusiast will accumulate quite a few different engines over the years, and will become familiar with which ones are best to use in a given situation. So don’t worry too much about buying the wrong engine and being “stuck” with something that you didn’t want. Just consider the pros and cons of each one, and compare them with your goals with your remote control car project. Think about how much speed you want, compared to how much agility or how much turning speed. If you have a local hobby store that stocks all of the different types of engines, then go in and ask to test drive a few of them to get a feel for the type of engine. You will be glad that you put so much thought into it.

Radio Control Hobbies

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Radio Controlled Airplanes are Toys That Hobbyists Love to Play With

Filed Under: Radio
Mar.17, 2010

There are various models that you can look into buying. And many places where you will find these radio controlled planes. The traditional locations for remote airplanes are hobby shops and some toy shops. In both of these places you will find many types of planes that you can look through.

For those hobbyists that feel that the building phase of flying their planes is important there are kits that can be purchased. These kits will reduce the time that is needed to locate and start the construction of your radio controlled airplane. Of course besides finding kits, parts that need to be assembled you will find there are few other types of model airplanes that can be bought.

These types of radio controlled airplanes are known as Almost Ready to Fly designs and Ready to Fly designs. With these airplanes the time that is spent on assembling the airplanes is cut down. For instance you have 10 to 20 hours spent on building a from scratch radio controlled airplane.

The Almost Ready to Fly airplanes can be built in 4 or so hours. As you see there is a marked reduction in time that is spent on building these model airplanes.

When you shop for one of these radio controlled model airplanes the best place where you can find these planes is in hobby shops and toys shops. The price of these planes will vary and sometimes the type of airplane that you choose to buy will influence the price. This is not to say that you are creating the price hike but rather that you have chosen a popular model or one that is priced at high prices naturally.

The various radio controlled model airplanes will allow you to see the different types of power that are used for these airplanes. You have gas mixture model airplanes, jet airplanes, and others.

As you choose the radio controlled airplanes which catch your eye make sure that you are getting one that you will be able top control. This is a great way to experience the thrill of flying. With a radio controlled airplane you are the pilot.

The many different radio controlled airplanes are ones that you will enjoy looking through. from the whimsical to the futuristic there are many that you will have the opportunity of flying. The only barriers to this ease of flying are that of money and your patience.

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Remote And Radio Controlled Vehicles

Filed Under: Radio
Mar.17, 2010

Although predominantly considered a boy’s toy, remote controlled, or radio controlled toys are proving to be just as popular as ever, with sales rocketing, and the range widening ever more. The number of both radio and remote controlled vehicles is now bigger than ever, with both varieties of vehicle as popular as each other. The remote controlled vehicles tend to be much cheaper than the radio controlled ones, but because of this range in price, they are proving as popular as each other.


In case you aren’t sure quite what the difference is between remote controlled and radio controlled vehicles, the simplest way of identifying which is which is to see if there is a cable connecting the controller to the vehicle. If there is a wire which runs from the handset to the vehicle, then it will be a remote controlled vehicle, with signals being sent as electronic pulses down the cable. A radio controlled vehicle will have no connection or cable at all, and the signals are being transmitted from the handset to the vehicle using radio waves.


For this reason, if more than one child has a radio controlled vehicle, it can mean that the radio signals interfere with each other, and signals can become jammed, confused or duplicated across several vehicles. Remote controlled vehicle have no such risk of interference or compatibility issues.


The general reason why boys tend to like these toys more than girls is simply due to the fact they, by their very nature, tend to be cars, lorries and trucks, which are not usually as appealing to girls. However, there are some radio controlled and remote controlled toys for girls these days, usually ranging from pink limousines to pink off roaders. Essentially of course the mechanics of the vehicle is the same, but the cosmetic design will appeal more to girls than boys.


These toys have a real appeal to children, who enjoy the sense of control of another moving object, and that they can control and reach items and places beyond their normal reach. They also enjoy the challenge of being able to steer and manoeuvre the vehicles, which can often move quite quickly, and the more expensive ones can manage cross country very well, able to roll easily over rough ground, shallow steps, gaps and even small logs.


Of course, it mustn’t be underestimated that it takes a good deal of spatial awareness to be able to effectively control on of these vehicles. It is easy to forget that when a vehicle is moving away from you, left and right are easy to identify, but when the vehicle is moving towards you they are reversed, and of course if the vehicle is moving in any other direction, it is necessary to perceive the movement from the point of view of the vehicle and decide what the relative direction should be. This can lead to a few crashes in the early days, although vehicles are usually built to withstand a few knocks.

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Radio controlled Devices And Gadgets – Latest Popular Hobby

Filed Under: Radio
Mar.09, 2010

If you are intrigued by electronic gadgets and are keen on more than just using them, then you will probably be enthusiastic about radio-controlled hobby. If its designing and assembling of electronic devices that draws you, then you should perhaps choose RC models, whereas if it’s the wireless transmission that fascinates you and you want to make communication contacts with people all over the world, then ham would be a better bet for you.

Very often these overlap and almost all ham operators know how to work radio-controlled gadgets and vice versa. This is because they are drawn to anything concerning radio waves. The Internet is the best source of information for all radio-controlled hobbies. All the material and knowledge you may need on this hobby is available on the net. But unlike amateur radio that is a topic widely searched for on the net, information on RC models and more importantly their enthusiast groups is just a little more tricky than you would think. Usually if you try searching for remote controlled toys on a search engine, you’re most likely to get results on hobby grade or toy grade models.

But this doesn’t mean there is absolutely no information on the subject on the internet. More often than not, it is just a matter of the correct keyword. Another way is to hook up to online forums and communities, which is a great way of connecting to people who have similar interests. You can find a number of groups on yahoo, AOL, google and MSN for this purpose. Apart from these, there are also online communities as well as friend network sites and blogs. The best thing to do would be to find people who are close to where you live and also who share activities related to your hobby. But it is advisable that you do not reveal personal information and details unless you are certain that it is safe.

The advantage of searching online is that space and distance are not restrictions. You might even meet experienced hobbyists who can offer you help and assistance when it comes to making a decision about your hobby. The added advantage is that they can even teach you a thing or two. Information online is abundant and you must be able to systematically track down what it is that you want to find out. You could start by searching on the history of your hobby and move on to more current and relevant issues of contemporary nature concerned with it.

You must be clear on how much time you want to spend on your interest. Time is a necessity when it comes to pursuing radio-controlled hobbies in a serious manner. You will need enough time at hand if you want to pursue the amateur radio hobby. The same holds good for RC hobbies dealing with toys and other gadgets.

It goes without mention that financial investment is of vital importance. Infact it is the crossing where you go from an aspiring radio hobbyist to a real radio hobbyist. Amateur radio sets usually come in ready to use form. The more expensive a model, the better its quality and range is. Similarly, the latest and most updated RC models will need a substantial investment.

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Radio Controlled Devices – Their History Revealed

Filed Under: Radio
Feb.15, 2010

Radio controlled devices have gained popularity as hobby items apart from being used for various other purposes. Building, modifying and driving radio controlled vehicles is a favorite pastime of radio control enthusiasts. The sport involves displaying the skills of the person in handling the device, efficiently.

Remote or radio controlled devices are controlled from a remote distance. Jagdish Chandra Bose was perhaps the first to demonstrate remote controlled activity when he set alight gun powder to strike a gong using electromagnetic radiation, from a distance. Tesla was the first to show the use of a transmitter and receiver to remotely control a ship. He showed how mechanical gadgets could be controlled using the wireless principle in the year 1898. He also began the construction of a wireless tower that remained incomplete due to lack of finance. Tesla can be said to have created the basis for the design of radio controlled devices which are in use today. The American inventor Armstrong said, “The world will long have to wait for a mind equal to Tesla’s, a mind of such creative possibilities and such wealth of imagination.”

Remote controlled devices are also known commonly as RC devices- RC meaning radio controlled. Dr. William and Walter Good, two twin brothers created and flew the first radio controlled airplane in 1937. Dr. William was a radio specialist whereas his brother Walter built aero models. They combined both their skills to create a radio controlled airplane. The principle of radio control has also been used in the World War II. From the 1960s, transistors were available, and this revolutionized the circuits to make them compact and light.

Sometime during the mid or late 1960s, the British company Mardave, began producing the first commercially feasible remote controlled cars. The first gas powered or nitro cars were sold in the early 1970s in Leicester, where the company was based. Radio controlled devices need a control transmitter, a throttle trigger and wheels for turning, while the receiver is located in the body of the toy. These models run on either electricity or fuel. Electrical speed control is used in electrical models, whereas radio control mechanisms are used in fuel control systems to regulate the fuel input.

Toy grade devices are usually assembled models available at retail shops and are much cheaper than hobby grade models. The toy grade models use electric power and run on batteries. Hobby grade radio controlled devices are more serviceable and durable, but are very expensive. They run on fuel like gasoline or nitro and unlike toy models which are ready made, these require assembling of the various components.

RC devices come in the form of cars, airplanes, boats and helicopters. Remote controlled cars are used for racing and this is a very popular sport among car enthusiasts. Small cars and toys are used for indoor games. Radio control technology is combined with robotics to create various devices used in international robotics contests held in Japan.

There are numerous uses for radio control technology and vehicles are only one aspect of it. Radio controlled hobbies can be enjoyed in many ways and combined with robotics, they open up wider possibilities for the hobbyists.

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What to Consider When Buying a Radio Controlled Boat

Filed Under: Radio
Feb.09, 2010

Radio controlled boats are a fun and rewarding hobby, that could be ether relaxing or exhilarating depending on your needs. Best of all it doesn’t have to be very expensive. RC boats come in a wide variety of forms and types ranging from small and steady cruisers to lightning fact racers. You can either buy one already built or you can buy it in the kit form and assemble it yourself.

Buying a ready build radio controlled boat is by far the easiest option. But building your own boat can be much more satisfying. This decision is dependant on your reasons for taking up radio controlled boats as a hobby in the first place. It is easy to find all of your RC boat parts either on the internet or at your local RC hobby store. You may be worried about the amount of work involved or think that it will be to hard to get a good result, but in the end you will be glad that you put in the effort, after all this is a hobby and what’s the point in finishing it in 5 minutes? Anyway these RC boats come pretty comprehensive instructions that make it real simple to achieve a great result in next to no time.

The next decision you need to make is what type or radio controlled boat would you like.

Radio controlled boats are built in electric, nitro, and gas variants. Electric RC boats, Nitro RC boats and Gas 

Electric are more popular because they are cheep and easier to run strait out of the box. Electric radio controlled boats come in a number of sizes, from the very small and slow pool toy RC boats to the very fast medium sized RC boat. The main problem with the electric boats is that as the batteries loose power the boat become slower.   

Nitro boats utilize Nitro-Methane fuel which is very powerful and makes for a fast boat, but the main problems with Nitro powered radio controlled boats are that the are a little more complicated to run as you will need to use a special starter kit to get them going and the fuel is about 4 times the price of a gas boat.

Gas radio controlled boats run on regular car gas with oil combined in the fuel. Also known as 2 stoke fuel. These engines are larger than the other types and therefore need a larger hulled boat to accommodate the engine. With the larger hull comes some advantages such as a more stable and easier to handle craft and mixed with the cheaper fuel, makes the gas RC boat (in my opinion) the best of the three types of radio controlled boat.

Then there is the radio controlled sail boat.

The radio controlled sail boat is the ultimate RC boat if you are looking for relaxation or stress relief. The radio control is there to control the sails and the rudder and naturally the wind acts as the engine.

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