New to the sport.

[blake7]

My nephew and I came along today to watch the racing as we have an interest in taking it up as a hobby / sport. We were impressed by what we saw. It looks like a lot of fun.
We are keen to get involved and had some questions.
- Can you join and begin racing at anytime?
- Is there a local model shop where you can buy the car / rc equipment?
- Is there a recommended starter kit?
- How much does it cost to join?
I’m sure we will have more questions as we find out more.

Thanks in advance

[keiran]

Hi there!

Yes, you can join the club at any point during the season. It costs £12 to join the club and £13 to join the BRCA (British Radio Car Association) which gives you third party cover for the year. The race meetings themselves are £6 at the door to cover hall rental.

There is a local model shop in Inverurie but last time I was in they didn't really have much equipment geared towards our needs.

Starting up I'd recommend going for a cheapish chassis, maybe second hand if on a budget. Bruce, who is last years snr champ uses a TC3 & Pro 4, both out-dated cars you can pick up for about £50-70 on eBay. Motor-wise for a beginner a 27T stock (lower the T, the faster it generally is). I'm sure there are others that can recommend some good starter kits.

Any questions just fire away!

Keiran

[blake7]

Thanks Keiran.

I've learned my first tip - lower the T, the faster it generally is!

I'll take a look around the internet for a car and see what there is.

I saw there seemed to be 2 different styles of hand controllers, the traditional looking one and others more like a gun shape. Is there much difference or is it just a case of personal preference?

Regards,
Derek

[Gareth]

They can both be as simple or complicated as each other
Most of the juniors who have started in the last few years have had a fairly cheep RC car from toys-r-us or some ware like before they got the cars they use now that so what ever controller that came with that they just keep on using.
But if you have never driven an RC car before then there isn’t really anyway of deciding

[snail speed]

the stick radios is what i prefer to use but my dad has a wheel radio. they are both easy enough to use. i can use both with good(ish) results
with some of the wheel radios you can be left or right hander but sticks as far as im aware all are throtle/brake is on the left and steering is on the right. im aware of the flight one stick radio.

[jason]

Derek,

I'm glad you came to watch and enjoy it. You could probably tell that there were all levels of driver at the club from complete novices to a couple of part sponsored drivers, from young kids to guys that, frankly, are too old to be playing with toy cars!

Another thing to remember is that the club actually has a hire car. If you feel like having a go then just let us know in advance and we can arrange something. Remember, although it's fun to watch, it's a whole lot better having a go!

Make sure you come and speak to us as well. I know it's all go, go, go at a race meet and we might seem too busy, but make sure to come down and have a chat. Keiran's the one at the computer and I'm the one with the green and white car next to him.

Hope to see you again,
Jason
GRCC Secretary

[blake7]

Thanks Jason.

It looks like me, the nephew and the brother-in-law are keen to join up.

There does seems to be a hugh range of cars out there and trying to work out if they meet the regulations is a challenge.

I think we are keen to start of with a ready to race car so we can at least practice driving and not worrying about how to built a car!

I found the following as an example but have no idea if it meets the requirements.
http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.php?pa...14&lang=en

If the 3 of us turned up, would there be enough transponders to loan out until we are sure this is something we want to take up?

Many thanks,
Derek

[Dan]

That's what we used for the corporate event, Gareth and Jason both saw them I think

[jason]

(19-11-2008 11:22 AM)blake7 Wrote:  Thanks Jason.

It looks like me, the nephew and the brother-in-law are keen to join up.

There does seems to be a hugh range of cars out there and trying to work out if they meet the regulations is a challenge.

I think we are keen to start of with a ready to race car so we can at least practice driving and not worrying about how to built a car!

I found the following as an example but have no idea if it meets the requirements.
http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.php?pa...14&lang=en

If the 3 of us turned up, would there be enough transponders to loan out until we are sure this is something we want to take up?

Many thanks,
Derek

No worries Derek,

It's always great to have new people interested. You only need to take a glance at our racers to see that the bulk of our membership are families out to have a fun day. My only concern for you is that a quick check of the timesheets will reveal that, using the same equipment, the kids are ALWAYS faster than their parents and grandparents! There are NO exceptions!

Re transponders, we'll work something out. We are looking to get a few more as we speak though. I think you've got the right idea about just getting something and just racing it. I'm sorry I can't really comment too much on the car in the link. I have seen it but haven't had a good play with it. Re legality, there are a few things that aren't technically legal but it'll be absolutely fine.

I think for beginners, the most important thing is reliability and I can't stress enough the importance of spares availability. Perhaps check out a few websites that sell this car and see whether they have good supplies of spares as well. Tamiya have been popular for a long time with their ready to run kits so they might be worth checking out.

Just ask if you've got any more questions. It no trouble at all and a pleasure to help.

Jason
GRCC Secretary

[blake7]

Thanks again Jason.

I think we are about ready to go. The Xmas shopping list so far is;

- HPI car (take advice on which bits we need to change at the first race meet), in the meantime we should be good to go for now. Let me know if there are any show stoppers.

- Spare battery with quick charger for race day

- Spare crystals

- Lead weight for the nephews car based on your feedback!!! This should slow him down to give me and his dad a fighting chance :-)

I found the following regarding the chassis that are allowed. Is this the definitive list?
http://www.centralbooking.org/cbs/images...ersion.pdf

I’m sure I saw a Lamborghini racing at the last event but don’t see that in the above document.

All advice is much appreciated.

Regards,
Derek