Upgrade to 6.0 or go with Clark?

[OKC_Jim]

Hey Guys,

I recently purchased my first two tanks, a HL 5.3 StuG, and a HL 6.0 Sherman.

For now I plan to leave the Sherman stock except I might upgrade the IR receiver the the LegoDEI one that seems to be popular.

I am wanting to upgrade the StuG to be able to IR battle with the Sherman.

I have two trains of thought on upgrading the StuG.

1. Upgrade it to HL 6.0 with a conversion kit as shown in one of the threads here on this forum.

2. Upgrade to a Clark TK40 MFU.

To me the difficulty of either upgrade looks about the same? The cost of the Clark upgrade looks to be higher? The Clark upgrade looks to offer more functionality? I have heard that Tamiya compatibility is the 'standard' but many here seem to run the HL 6.0 stuff?

I guess I am just looking for your thoughts about two different trains of thought?

Thanks,

Jim

[SoCalBobS]

Not familiar with the Clark board, but one thing to consider, the space inside the StuG is small. Also, being a fixed traverse assault gun, you may not need extra functionality. On the other hand, I've seen a Jadgpanther on our battlefield that had limited traverse. On the third hand 😉 , the IR emitters have a wide field of fire, so a 10 degree traverse isn't critical.

[OKC_Jim]

Not familiar with the Clark board, but one thing to consider, the space inside the StuG is small....

Bob, thanks for the things to consider. I think the Clark TK40 MFU is roughly the same size as the HL unit. As for the other considerations, yeah, I'm trying to decide if they are worth it. Haven't decided yet. To me the big advantage appears to be full Tamiya compatibility (able to vary the number of hits it takes to disable the tank and hits causing decreased tank performance until it is 'destroyed').

Anybody else have any other thoughts? Keep them coming.

Jim

[Rubicon99]

Bob, thanks for the things to consider. I think the Clark TK40 MFU is roughly the same size as the HL unit. As for the other considerations, yeah, I'm trying to decide if they are worth it. Haven't decided yet. To me the big advantage appears to be full Tamiya compatibility (able to vary the number of hits it takes to disable the tank and hits causing decreased tank performance until it is 'destroyed').

Anybody else have any other thoughts? Keep them coming.

Jim

The HL 6.1 is less complicated to use and install but the Clark 40 is fully Tamiya IR compatible. If IR battling is your end goal then the Clark 40 is a better option. That is until HL gets off their butts and makes a fully Tamiya compatible MFU. Now that would be a game changer.

[quitcherbitchen]

I did exactly what you did and bought an older Panzer III 5.3 and updated it with a Clark TK 40S. The 40S is the S Bus version. I couldn't justify the HL Cheap Toy transmitter costing $90 with receiver and still having a cheap toy transmitter. I use the Clark with my Horus FrSky 12s and it works great. Much more programming options with OpenTX and I want to IR battle as well so I bought the LEGO IR receiver. The only thing you will need extra is some sockets to fit the clark board for the IR receiver and the emitter. Engine noise options for Clark are much better in my opinion and you can boost the signal with a clark amplifier if you update the speaker. I am a complete noob to tanks but not RC. I would get the Clark board. I haven't regretted it.

[OKC_Jim]

If IR battling is your end goal then the Clark 40 is a better option.

Thank you for your thought, Rubicon. Honestly I'm not sure what my end goal is. Part of me wonders if I'd be satisfied with just 6.0 but the capabilities of the TK board seem really nice.

and updated it with a Clark TK 40S.

Thanks you for your thoughts also, quitcherbitchen. I'm still undecided. I noticed in my OP I misspoke. So far I only have the StuG. The Sherman has been ordered and is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. My current plan is to check out 6.0 in person and then decide. With that being said, I am leaning towards the TK.

You don't happen to have a list of what all your ordered for your upgrade? I know I'd need the board and transmitter but I'm worried I might forget to order some little bit that I might not even know I need like plugs, wires, volume control, etc? Where did you order from?

Thanks again, guys.

[Afrikakorps]

Hi guys, just joined the forum, but l have been in the hobby for quite a few years. HL have come a long way since the 27 MHz days, but I would recommend Clark Tk40. I have 18 + tanks with many different boards and the TK40 is good. Sounds are excellent, ir is adjustable for damage and tamiya compatible, and provided you have a hobby grade transmitter ( turnigy 9x or similar) you will find there are many other small improvements with the Clark.
Cheers Afrikakorps

[quitcherbitchen]

Thank you for your thought, Rubicon. Honestly I'm not sure what my end goal is. Part of me wonders if I'd be satisfied with just 6.0 but the capabilities of the TK board seem really nice.



Thanks you for your thoughts also, quitcherbitchen. I'm still undecided. I noticed in my OP I misspoke. So far I only have the StuG. The Sherman has been ordered and is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. My current plan is to check out 6.0 in person and then decide. With that being said, I am leaning towards the TK.

You don't happen to have a list of what all your ordered for your upgrade? I know I'd need the board and transmitter but I'm worried I might forget to order some little bit that I might not even know I need like plugs, wires, volume control, etc? Where did you order from?

Thanks again, guys.

I ordered mine from Stanlley at RCTANKLEGION. He has the custom barrel smoke unit that I wanted and he was very helpful in emails. There is a company in the US called DAK RC TANKS that sells the Clark boards. I chose Stanlley and the shipping was $25 and very fast. One week during Christmas no less from Singapore using TNT shipping. I ordered the sound control as I wanted to keep the family happy while I tinkered with it. Make sure you ask for the sound you need. I.E. I needed PANZER III in mine so Stanlley put that sound in. The TK 40s isn't programable with sound using the remote. Things you will need are a Micro JST connector male for the IR emitter LED to fit the cannon slot in the Clark board. You also need a Tamiya or equal 5 pin connector for the IR Receiver. I didn't buy the Tamiya connector but now wish I did. I am making one for much less money but it takes time for parts to arrive. I also used two manual on and off switches for my smoke units. I will have two inside. One engine and one barrel. You need to be able to shut those off when not in use so you don't burn the smoke unit resistors. I highly recommend getting the remote too. I can't find one any cheaper locally then what the RC tank Vendors sell for.

[OKC_Jim]

I ordered....

Thank you for the suggestions.

I placed an order tonight for the TK40S, transmitter, and various other items. I'll keep you guys updated on the conversion.

[OKC_Jim]

My Heng Long Stug IIIG with Clark TK40S board. Really glad I went with the Clark. Love all the options it has over the standard Heng Long. LegoDEI IR receiver with a PVC pipe mount. The mount is attached with a magnet. Receiver and mount can be removed or reattached in just a few seconds.

[RichJohnson]

I have a Clark installed in my M32 ARV Sherman. Mostly so that I can IR repair other tanks with Clark boards. I chose it because nearly everyone to this point used Tamiya or Clark except myself. I have used all IBU boards in my builds other than Tamiya however I do not like the new IBU2U boards so I don’t use the Ultimate version.

The repair function of the Clark is cool and allows my tank to repair a damaged but not knocked out tank. It will add more fun game play to our hobby. I’m having a custom board made that will also repair the Tamiya tanks so I will be able to repair both with IR. Can’t do anything for the HL as they don’t have that code.

DAK rc makes an IR apple base that is superior to the one sold by Clark direct or his foreign dealers. I just got one. DAK RC will also be at the San Diego battle this weekend and he brings supplies with him.

[DavidN]

Now that I have familiarized myself with the HL board, I would like to move up a bit and I want to own a tank with the Clark board inside. I know I can get most of my questions answered from Kenny at DAK RC. And he is on the retail side of my interest. I would like to know the input from members in the forum who have run the Clark boards. What is the S-Bus capable feature? What are the differences between TK20, 40, 60, 80? Are they very much different in price too? I intend to put one in my Toro Jagdtiger and I read somewhere that the TK40 was too weak for a heavy Toro jagdtiger. Does it matter if I decide to put it in a HL or and Toro/Taigen? Which is a better tank to install this Clark board? Can I bind it with my Spektrum transmitter or it has to be the FlySky as I saw most of Kenny's clients use the FlySky at the LA battle? Is DAK RC the only distributor in CA and Stanley RC Legion from Singapore? Thank you!

[Rubicon99]

Now that I have familiarized myself with the HL board, I would like to move up a bit and I want to own a tank with the Clark board inside. I know I can get most of my questions answered from Kenny at DAK RC. And he is on the retail side of my interest. I would like to know the input from members in the forum who have run the Clark boards. What is the S-Bus capable feature? What are the differences between TK20, 40, 60, 80? Are they very much different in price too? I intend to put one in my Toro Jagdtiger and I read somewhere that the TK40 was too weak for a heavy Toro jagdtiger. Does it matter if I decide to put it in a HL or and Toro/Taigen? Which is a better tank to install this Clark board? Can I bind it with my Spektrum transmitter or it has to be the FlySky as I saw most of Kenny's clients use the FlySky at the LA battle? Is DAK RC the only distributor in CA and Stanley RC Legion from Singapore? Thank you!

Clarks can be spotty and troublesome. They do have a learning curve so be ready for some frustrations at first. With that in mind the higher dollar versions are much better then the lower dollar version.

Your best bet is to buy from DAK because he is more local to you and can respond to your needs better. He often attends both the LA and San Diego battles where you can speak with him first hand as well.

You can use your Spektrum with Clark boards.

[RichJohnson]

The spectrum will work with Clark boards if you use conventional channel boards. If you want to go sbus then you need a special sbus type radio. DAK RC sells them. Eric is an expert on the sbus Clark systems.
I brought a brand new conventional channel T72 tk40 to the LA battle to sell at a discount because it wont do what I want to operate my AAA Marksman tank. I need some special functions I thought it did but I was mistaken.
I wish you had brought up with us that you are interested in a Clark board. Eric could have showed you the sbus and I could have showed you how the conventional one works in my m32.
if you are not on a tight budget, I would suggest you go with conventional TK80 boards as they are the only ones that have stock movements like a HL without weird mixing and you can use the spectrum radio.
if you plan to start converting your tanks one by one to Clark, I would get the sbus system radio and sbus boards and you can function map what switch does which function without stick mixing, this is what Eric does. Then you could assign every tank to the same radio and set them up all the same.

[OKC_Jim]

Now that I have familiarized myself with the HL board, I would like to move up a bit and I want to own a tank with the Clark board inside. I know I can get most of my questions answered from Kenny at DAK RC. And he is on the retail side of my interest. I would like to know the input from members in the forum who have run the Clark boards.

Definitely ask Kenny, he is an expert. With that being said, I currently have 4 operational tanks, 2 HL and 2 with Clark. Both of mine are TK40S. I think the TK40 is the upgrade of the 20. Not sure the 20 is available anymore. The S on the end denotes that they are the S-Bus model. With these you only plug one connection between the receiver and the MFU board instead of 1 for each channel. My understanding is that to use them you have to have an S-Bus capable radio. I am not sure what Spectrum radios are S-Bus capable. Another benefit, if I am remembering correctly is that with the non-S-Bus to access certain functions you have to do weird stick and switch manipulations. I think....double check all of that with Kenny before buying.

What are the differences between TK20, 40, 60, 80? Are they very much different in price too? I intend to put one in my Toro Jagdtiger and I read somewhere that the TK40 was too weak for a heavy Toro jagdtiger. Does it matter if I decide to put it in a HL or and Toro/Taigen? Which is a better tank to install this Clark board? Can I bind it with my Spektrum transmitter or it has to be the FlySky as I saw most of Kenny's clients use the FlySky at the LA battle?

Definitely check out Kenny's shop. Each page spells out the differences between all of those models and has their prices.

https://dakrctank.com/

Is DAK RC the only distributor in CA and Stanley RC Legion from Singapore? Thank you!

I think Kenny is the distributor for North America. I also don't think Stanley carries them anymore and I think he pulled all of his Clark videos. That is s shame as they were really helpful.

[OKC_Jim]

Clarks can be spotty and troublesome.

Case in point, my very first one had to go back to Kenny. He's a good guy and I didn't have any issues with swapping it out.

[OKC_Jim]

I would suggest you go with conventional TK80 boards as they are the only ones that have stock movements like a HL without weird mixing and you can use the spectrum radio.

Hey Rich, still pretty new to all of this and kind of rusty at the same time. So the regular TK80 (non-SBUS) doesn't require the weird 'stick ninja' type stuff?


Thanks,

Jim

[DavidN]

Thank you for your post. We were having so much fun battling that day so I did not want to get involved too much. Eric was there with me in guiding me over the function on my FlySky Tx. We also talked about this before Xmas. But I told him I that I wasn't ready and I wanted to finish some of the HL projects before getting onto Clark board.

Now that you explained further, I will probably lean toward the TK80 since you mentioned that it is less confusing, good with my Spektrum and strong power for my JagdTiger. I will invest maybe about 1-2 of this set up. I don't want to put $ into a Sbus radio and convert my already IR LegoDEI HLs to Clark. I am fine with them. I just want to own 1-2 Clark running tanks.

Last month, I also spent an afternoon setting up a Tamiya electronic into a tank with Jeff and got it running. I enjoyed it. I also had fun running the Elefant with the Tamiya electronic inside last Saturday (My first serious battle with a Tamiya system). I received a King Tiger for X-mas so I will start putting it together and get it into battle soon.

So you and R99 was right. It was fun fighting with a hobby grade Tx controlling a Tamiya than holding a little toy-like thin plastic Tx controlling a HL without the true barrel recoil function :-) I will still battle with my HL just for mixing up the fun.

[RichJohnson]

Jeff gave me some advice years ago, find what works for you and stick with it in all your tanks.
I tried many boards and ibu2 worked best for me and all tanks but two Tamiya got converted to ibu2 until that was discontinued.
I am only using the Clark in my M32 so I can repair everyone else’s tanks using Clark. I don’t like Clark myself, but I have set up several Clark tanks and know them ok.

David, I would recommend slowly changing all of your HL tanks over to Clark if you find you like them.

the easiest way to use Clark is to get an sbus and assign all the functions on buttons or switches away from the sticks so they operate clean and easy.

without Sbus, tk80 is the only board Clark makes that does not involve the half up left or right and half down left or right ninja stick moves. This is why I do not like Clark boards, the 80 requires an 8 channel radio as well.

ibu2 was the best board on the market until they discontinued the 2 and moved to the 2 Ultimate which has a built in level of inertia momentum that cannot be turned off. It ruined the board for tank battling. I went round and round with the Mfr but he would not update the code so I no longer use his product. Most of the hobby has come to agree with me as well on the ultimate.

I have changed to using DKTank boards now and like them so far. Similar sd card programming to the ibu2 and more functions and controllability. They work for me.

I still have that new T72 TK40 with apple base and Ir bulb harness if your interested.

but, Eric is very good with the sbus Clarks and they work well for him, so I would suggest before you go buying anything further go talk with him, and if you decide to do what he dose, he is there to help hold your hand and get you going with that type of setup.

[DavidN]

Thank you for the detailed post. I will take your advice and discuss my Clark upgrading with Eric. If the future of my tanks leans toward the Sbus system, then I will have to follow Sclui56 and get that Frsky :-( , lol . For now I will stay on my course toward that TK80 first for my Jadgtiger. I have the Spektrum DX9 Tx. So it could handle the 8 channel that required.

You also advised me to slowly change "all" my HLs over to Clark. Don't worry, I only have 13 HLs with the LegoDEI installed. I still have about 20-25 BB HLs left that could be converted :-).

In regard to your T72 TK40, it is quite "suck" that the only tank I don't have in my collection is the T72. You know that my main interest is WWII :-)

Thanks again ! You guys are so so helpful! Just within 6 months entering this RC hobby, you guys gave me so much knowledge. The joy of seeing the tank running and battling after hours of working on it (and advice from the members) was so rewarding .