Welcome to Astec Models

Site Updates

What's happening in Fast Electrics

Lake Finder

You can find and add lakes here

This is an attempt to bring our community closer together so PLEASE add in your ponds. Try to include the following information when adding a model boat pond:
Name and description of lake, Running times, Accessibility, Directions, Contact person(s), Club affiliation (if any), Club website.(if any), Types of power systems allowed.
Thanks to Paul Upton-Taylor for this info

Got a set up you would like to share - or info etc.. write a small article and we will publish - just e-mail it in

Upcoming Events

Got next year sorted yet? Let us have your events calendar and we will publish it.

2012-05-18 Allan

Moers 2012 Governing body: Nauticus e.V. Host: SMBC Moers Location: Germany, 47447 Moers (Schwafheim), Altdorferstr., follow shields marked SMBC Date: Friday, 18-05 till sunday, 20-05-2012 Classes: Eco-Expert, Eco-Standard, Mono I, Mono II, Hydro I, Hydro II, F3E, Mini Eco, Mini-Mono, Mini-Hydro, MS1, MS2, HS1, HS2, FSRE full details here

2012-05-19 Allan

2012-05-20 Mark Shipman

ELECTRA FAST ELECTRIC RACE SERIES ROUND 3 Beale Park See http://www.electrafying.com/ for more information

2012-05-20 Allan

2012-06-17 Exeter MBC Model boating day

Model Boating Day, Exeter MBC, (Fathers Day). Exeter & District MBC, Dragonfly Lake, Crealy, start 10.30am PET DOGS ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED AT THIS VENUE

News

19th April 2012

Our old hosting package is getting a bit dated and has been bought out by another supplier. The supplier does not intend to keep maintaining the old hosts. At the same time we wanted to offer increased security features that people now expect and could not do that on the old package. SO we have got a new hosting package. That is wher the complications start.... In order to access both hosts at the same time we needed different URL's to point at them. In order to do that we broke the link to the old hosting with astecmodels.com - and pointed that at the new hosting. once that was done we have backed up and restored all the program data, backed up and restored the databases, tested then repeated. Once satisfied we locked out the parts on astecmodels.co.uk, backed up and restored the databases to astecmodels.com and made that live. We are sorry if that leds to confusion! If you try and access astecmodels.co.uk now you should get transferred to the .com site. If not please let us know. We are sure all the data is fine and we still have access to the old data so we can check. Incidentally that means that the main site, the gallery and the store have all moved - please update your bookmarks. Our email addresses will change also to @astecmodels.com! Please update any stored email addresses that you have. They won't get lost right now - but once we turn off the old hosting and point astecmodels.co.uk to the new host they will. If you do find a problem - please let us know. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Allan

15th January 2012

Well we are now in to 2012 and it is time to start thinking about this years model boating events. The diary dates page has been updated so please go along there and submit your FE races, Shows, etc. They will not appear immediately as I have to check them first but please check in after a couple of days to make sure it is all OK.

17th October 2011

Hifei have released V4 programming software. This software extends the COM ports it can use t0 1-16m allows programming of swordfish and kingkong esc's, allows download of KingKong Data and can upload new firmware to the esc's. ESC's must be at the latest firmware level must have an ID of AHKB 1307 XXXX XXXX or later. If not it must be upgraded - the V4 software can do this!. You can find the software here V4.0 PC Hifei program software download

September 2011

Things are always a bit easier in september but that is not to say we are not busy just that we have a bit of time to do other things like service the boats before racing! We had a good days racing with SWAMBC last weekend but I had a bit of a nightmare with my M2 so rebuilding has started. M1 was good ;) . Also making some progress with the 1/8th Atlas van lines - check the forum for info. We also had time to bring in new parts. More tenshock mini eco's now with a small 4 pole motor, more due soon with spares and alternative motors. Also from Tenshock we now have more props with 3/16" dog drive joining the line up and some handed sets. We now have ceramic bearings, 4x9mm for motors, 4x8 and 4x7 for shaft sets with and without flanges. Well back to the rebuilds - more later.

August 18 2011

I did not realise how long ago the last update was, just goes to show how busy we have been!. More new products from existing suppliers plus new ESC's from MAytech that have forward and reverse capability ( among other things) for the scale modellers amongst us. Since last time we have been to Weymouth - last one this year and very sad but a chance to test boats for the Nats. The Exiga on 6s is ballistic! Then the nats in Bridlington - brilliant venue but a series of mashaps. One of our customers did buy a Gensis and slap 6s in it ( not recommended). That mad a very quick mono 1 look pedestrian. David Nieuwland produced a 32 lap record in M2 running his Exiga on 4s with a 2650 motor Etti products also took first 8 places in mini mono and Mono 1, and Chris Osman retains his UK Hydro 1 championship with his 3S Demon. Look out in the next few weeks as we have a restock of Leopard motors, Restock i=of Hifei 240HV and a nnew range of Ceramic bearings coming. Till then have fun racing!, first

Anyone with some more pictures please submit them for the Gallery page.
Allan

That time of year

Well its that time of year and SWAMBC have had their annual rules meeting. In the meeting they have voted to come into line with Naviga/national classes in some classes as well as retaining old favourites. F4 will no longer run oat all meetings but will now be M2/H2 over 6 minutes on the 3 large lakes.

Mini mono and Moni hydro have also been introduced and will replace F4 on the small lakes. Full details can be found here SWAMBC Rules 2012
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Lipo's and Motors

We will start with Lipo's. This year at the UK Nats the cell voltage was measured before and after a race to ensure that they were not above limits before a race or under after. Some racers were using a hot box to pre-heat cells to 40C. New lighter (higher capacity) cells are on the block but they are nowhere near as robust as the old ones - abuse these and they will be destroyed!. This all made me think about where we are going! Current International racing rules encourage you to choose ligh high capacity cells and run the risk of destroying them. You might say that voltage checks would discourage this but Lipo's will recover to minimum voltage given long enough so parking the boat in the reeds as far from rescue as possible may be the response. Is that fair? Something needs to be done!

My local racing uses a formula (FM4) with any hull choice and no cell weight limit but with 4s 5000mah max cells capacity so extra weight is rewarded by more punch but a weight penalty - except there is also a minimum weight of 2kg for the boat AND we race for 7 minutes. It is still fast. This does not exactly help with National racing but does help limit costs for club racing!. There are noises once more about introducing a watt limiter, a pre-set bit of kit that will only allow the use of just so much power, is that the way to go? We will see.

On to motors, and you will have noticed the explosion of choice but China has introduced quotas on the Neodymimium used to make the magnets. This was designed to save precious non replaceable resources and I guess it will do that but it has had other effects, Leopard have suspended production of the 2445 series motors (winner of UK Nats mini mono)and the costs of other ranges will rise. It is not just leopard as I have seen the price rise warnings on other motor manufacturer sites - so brace yourselves. We will know more when the new pricing is available.

.... thats it for now but if you have any comments or subject you want a word on then do let us know!
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It's those Cells again

Well I guess as predicted in my last note cell capacity has gone up and cells of 40C and 5-10C charge rates are now commonly being offered to car racers and these are cased.All sounds very good! I have some 30C 6000mah but they are just outside the legal limit for FE racing. I think we will see 7000mah next year but remeber NIMH cells?

When NiMh cells were introduced they were very solid and a real long term challenge to NiCd cells just a couple of years later we had huge capacity increases but then there was a sudden drop of in quality with cells only lasting a few charges. In fact I had one set that never made it to a race as the capacity dropped off just through 3 cycles on the charger - best not go there.

With Lipo cells we have been challenged constantly with poor quality cells and with over egged claims for C ratings. If you take apart a cell you can clearly see the differenc between high C low C cells in that the Aluminium connector strip on low quality over egged cells is thin and obviously not up to the same standards as the high qulity ones.

Three years ago I stocked Vislero cells - many of the ones that have been looked after are still around today but they are "old technology" and heavy for the capacity. Having said that they have provided 2-3 years of competition and testing. Now I am not known for looking after my cells but I will have to start as I have lost some cells this year that have not done too many cycles. As I said I have probably not stored them correctly and I also charged them at 2C regularly - and they have not liked it much.

Having said all that the latest trend is a bit worrying as there are now reports that cells are dropping off after a very few cycles. Deja Vu? where will it all end? Maybe we are better using more cells and lower current, longer race times and/or using motors that are not so thirsty. I think we have been round this loop before!! We will see.
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New technologies?

It has been a while since we wrote anything about what is happening out there.

Lets start with Lipo's. Lipo cells have come a long way over the last few years with discharge rates moving rapidly from 20C and now up to 80C constant, whilst the weight has overall dropped. It is still a fair assumption that light cells will not be as robust and will have a higher internal resistance - but that is not the case across the board. Suffice it to say that in our opinion you mostly get what you pay for.

LIFE cells are becoming more popular and available in a wider range but there is nothing startlingly new for FE racers.

Motors! In general motors seem to be improving, there is a huge choice and that leads to competition. You pay your moneyy and take your chance! Yet again we think on the whole you get what you pay for. Feigao have changed their motor build and they now obviously have some sort of magnetic core in the coils. The larger Feigao's that we have seen in pieces have the noticeable change that the Magnets are now wrapped in a Kevlar bandage. The Etti 4 pole motors have seen a range increase and most noticeably the introduction of 36mm dia motors that have more torque than their little brothers. There are "new" variants popping up also A new 4 pole motor manufacturere is starting production and there are variants on the outrunner with a solid case available. Which is best? Who knows but as we said above - in general you get waht you pay for.

So new cells capacity is the biggest thing with 5800 and 6000mah cells being available within Naviga legal weight bounds. This means more load on motors, more stress on ESC's and higher speeds. All these lead to equipment failure. My Demon Hydro runs regular peaks of 100 amps ( that is recorede and visible on playback - instantaneous could be significantly higher) on 2S so is it time to turn to 3S within the same weight? Same motor speed - lower turn motor, lower current but Higher voltage so actually lower stress on everything. we think so BUT finding 20C cells in 3S with the right weight is getting more difficult. Maybe we need a rule change - 8 minute races, higher cell weigh ( say 350 grams) or something similar. We would love to hear you thougts.

If you have any comments on this piece please feel feree to share your thoughts - nip over to the board and do it while you are still thinking about it!

Happy boating
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