Re: correct terminology ?

[Joe Sommer <anvilus9-at-adelphia.net>]

Tim,

I really enjoyed your answers.

At 07:36 PM 10/9/2004 +0000, you wrote:
>Throwing a track is correct.
>... Replacing 1/6th scale has got to be a tish easier.

It usually takes longer to pull the Tank Recovery
Vehicle (my kid's little red wagon) to the dead
Hetzer for use as a work stand than it does to
actually dismount or replace track.

>4)  What is the official term for skid steering when one track is locked 
>and the other track is moving ?
>... Only old, old armor locks a track and powers the opposite side.  Doing 
>so creates mega-friction wearing out the track, tearing up the roadway / 
>ground, and wastes power.

Our tanks look like old armor and also operate
like that.  Our tanks have joystick mixing to steer
but only control motors forward, off or reverse.
Further, our electrical relays do not allow
free-wheeling of a track when that motor is OFF.
They lock that track when the motor is OFF.
Neutral turns are joystick right and joystick left,
but the corners of joystick travel produce locked
track turns as shown below.

(The following joystick steering table is best viewed
in a fixed pitch font.)

Joystick UL     Joystick UP       Joystick UR
Left OFF        Left FWD          Left FWD
Right FWD       Right FWD         Right OFF

Joystick L      Joystick CENT     Joystick R
Left REV        Left OFF          Left FWD
Right FWD       Right OFF         Right REV

Joystick LL     Joystick DOWN     Joystick LR
Left REV        Left REV          Left OFF
Right OFF       Right REV         Right REV

Do full-size tanks ever allow one track to free-wheel
in neutral while powering the other track to provide
a sweeping turn, or would this simply be the same
as locking the free track?

Tri-Pact tanks lock tracks when OFF because they
use two SPDT relays per motor that short the motor
and cause inductive braking.  The dread T-34 allows
track to free-wheel when OFF because it uses four
SPST relays per motor in H-bridges that do not short
the motor.

Steve, Frank, Will, John, Paul -
Your thoughts on this problem with locked track
steering?

>... Replaced by the M-43 as I recall.  Cool steering on those - single 
>pistol grip.  Move it forward or back to shift gears.  Push it left or 
>right to steer.

This sounds just like our joystick steering.
What did pistol grip steering do in the far
corners of travel in terms of relative speed
between tracks?

>Did a lot of testing on the XM1.  Serial numbers 001 & 002 were junky, but 
>man would they haul - 70mph.

1/8 scale = 7.8 mph
1/6 scale = 11.7 mph

Wow

>I wish they'd give the old test track to NASCAR .  It's just sitting there 
>unused.

The infield would make a great battlefield for RC paint
ball tanks.

Build a tank.
Get your friends to build a couple.
Insult the Maryland Attack Group (MAG).
They will come.
So will I.

Best wishes and thanks again,
Joe


**********************************************
Joe Sommer
2378 Nantucket Circle, State College, PA 16803
814.234.4773     anvilus9-at-adelphia.net
http://www.anvilus.com