antenna idea, bummer it doesn't work...

john · #1 10-25-2002, 09:05 PM

Here's my ZZ Porsche. It's 27MHz, and I get from 4-8 ft range depending on cosmic forces. I had a thought that if I coiled a copper wire, it would in effect be a really long antenna in a short space. I even thought that I could disguise it as side pipes. Well, it made the range drop from 4-8 ft to 0-6 depending upon which side of the car was facing me.

It turns out that an antenna works by sending charged electons up and down the length of the antenna. Since my bare copper touched, the antenna was effectively about 1" long. I wonder if it would work with insulated wire...

Anyway, Don't bother with this one, it doesn't work. I ust ran a straight wire out the top like it was but a hair longer. I get 8.5 feet now. joy.

I also tried an old RS controller from an old big RC car, and it wont run either ZZ I guess it's freq is tuned differently.

But, here's my Porsche, I'm working on the body too. I need to get a new battery to power the LEDs. I'll do that tomorrow or so.

verbalkint · #2 10-26-2002, 03:21 AM

Couple things, that was a nice idea, man, love to see such inginuity!!!

Secondly, bummer about the other forum and what happened.

Linuxx01 · #3 10-26-2002, 11:19 AM

hey sup sucks that they banned you for free speech
I thought we lived in america OOps i guess we don't

any way i have not see a porche upclose but did you add agrill to it ?? or is it painted if so where can i buy good paing and what shouold i use freehand or the spray thing for model cars

john · #4 10-26-2002, 12:04 PM

Heh, well, not worried about the other place. It's over and done with.

But as for the grill, here's a tip that anyone with a ZZ can and should do to make their cars look better:

Get a black magic marker. I used a Prismacolor marker, but a sharpie would probably work just fine (test in a small inconspicuous part first). Once you have the right marker, draw in the lines in the body so that the grooves fill with ink. Then, before the ink has a chance to set in, wipe it clean with a paper towel. The effect, is as you see here. It's really, really hard to wipe the ink out of the grooves, but it wipes off pretty easily from the rest of the body. You are left with black lines in the grooves, and it looks much more realistic.

I recommend working in small areas at a time so that the ink does not set and stain the paint. For esample, I did one door, then the other. Then the hood. Then the left tail light, then the right tail light, the the left head light, then the right head light, then the grill. It's slow and tedious, but it's really easy and it pays off.

I suppose you could also use a crayon. The Dungeons and Dragons people use crayons to fill in the numbers on their dice. They wipe the surface, and it works! And, they get 64 colors to choose from!

slugbugg · #5 10-26-2002, 01:23 PM

I think you should try the antenna idea once more with insulated wire it sounds like a good idea.

john · #6 11-07-2002, 10:17 AM

I hate to bump up old threads, but I wanted to chimeback in to say that I did try the insulated wire idea. I also make 2 side pipes, and twisted them together (for testing). If it had worked I would have soldered them. So, anyway, to the point, it doesn't work. Range just plain sucks. But I took a picture anyway, and thought I'd share it even though it doesn't work. You'll see the paper clip straightened out in the pic, I used that to wrap the solid core wire around to make the tight coil.