Tongde boards for LegoDEI IR battle

[DavidN]

I have these 3 boards from 3 different Tongde tanks that I had purchased. I decided to test them and to see if they are compatible with the LegoDEI IR unit for battling in our club's event. There are 3 kinds: TD-1.0, TD-2.0 and TDC-X.

I plugged these boards one by one into the Henglong tank with the LegoDEI IR receiver on top. I used another IR battle LegoDEI Henglong tank to fire at and to receive hits on these Tongde board’s IR emitters, receivers, and their other functions.

Here are my results:

TD-1.0
It fires well. It receives hits about 80% of the time. LED 3 and LED 4 don’t flash when it receives hits. It only shakes to register the hit. When it is destroyed, the engine‘s sound is still on. The lights don’t change so I can’t tell if the tank is destroyed or not. The tank restarts again in 5 seconds. LED 1, 6, 7, and 8 don’t work. CH2 elevates the gun and then goes back to original position when I release thr stick. All other plugs work.

TD-2.0
It fires well. It receives hits most of the time. LED 3, LED 4 and LED 6 flash when it receives hits. It also shakes violently when it gets hit. When it is destroyed, the engine turns off. LED 4 blinks when it stays death. I have to restart it manually. It doesn’t restart itself in 15 seconds like Henglong or 5 seconds like TD-1.0 or TDC-X. LED 1, 7, and 8 don’t work. CH2 elevates the gun and then goes back to original position when I release the stick. All other plugs work.

TDC-X
It fires well. It receives hits most of the time. LED 3 and LED 4 don’t flash when it receives hits. It only shakes to register the hit. When it is destroyed, the engine‘s sound is still on. The lights don’t change so I can’t tell if the tank is destroyed or not. The tank starts again in 5 seconds. LED 1, 6, 7, and 8 don’t work. CH2 elevates the gun and then goes back to original position when I release to stick. All other plugs work.

So to me, it seems that both TD-1.0 and TDC-X are the same. If anyone notice the different between these two boards, please share. And for the purpose of battling with clubs using the IR LegoDEI battle unit, TD-2.0 board is the one that I feel most compatible with the Henglong board. We can plug the light pin from the LEgoDEI receiver into LED 4 of the TD-2.0 board. It will flash when the tank is hit and when it gets knockout.

[SoCalBobS]

Excellent work, David. You really went into great detail. Very precise. My experience with the TD 2.0 is that it has not taken hits most of the time, more like 20%. That bears further research, because there is nothing more frustrating than shooting at a tank, knowing you are on target, and it doesn't register. Well there is one thing more frustrating, when he fires back and hits! But you've done more in this issue than anyone else. I think a battlefield test is warranted.

[Rubicon99]

I have these 3 boards from 3 different Tongde tanks that I had purchased. I decided to test them and to see if they are compatible with the LegoDEI IR unit for battling in our club's event. There are 3 kinds: TD-1.0, TD-2.0 and TDC-X.

I plugged these boards one by one into the Henglong tank with the LegoDEI IR receiver on top. I used another IR battle LegoDEI Henglong tank to fire at and to receive hits on these Tongde board’s IR emitters, receivers, and their other functions.

Here are my results:

TD-1.0
It fires well. It receives hits about 80% of the time. LED 3 and LED 4 don’t flash when it receives hits. It only shakes to register the hit. When it is destroyed, the engine‘s sound is still on. The lights don’t change so I can’t tell if the tank is destroyed or not. The tank restarts again in 5 seconds. LED 1, 6, 7, and 8 don’t work. CH2 elevates the gun and then goes back to original position when I release thr stick. All other plugs work.

TD-2.0
It fires well. It receives hits most of the time. LED 3, LED 4 and LED 6 flash when it receives hits. It also shakes violently when it gets hit. When it is destroyed, the engine turns off. LED 4 blinks when it stays death. I have to restart it manually. It doesn’t restart itself in 15 seconds like Henglong or 5 seconds like TD-1.0 or TDC-X. LED 1, 7, and 8 don’t work. CH2 elevates the gun and then goes back to original position when I release the stick. All other plugs work.

TDC-X
It fires well. It receives hits most of the time. LED 3 and LED 4 don’t flash when it receives hits. It only shakes to register the hit. When it is destroyed, the engine‘s sound is still on. The lights don’t change so I can’t tell if the tank is destroyed or not. The tank starts again in 5 seconds. LED 1, 6, 7, and 8 don’t work. CH2 elevates the gun and then goes back to original position when I release to stick. All other plugs work.

So to me, it seems that both TD-1.0 and TDC-X are the same. If anyone notice the different between these two boards, please share. And for the purpose of battling with clubs using the IR LegoDEI battle unit, TD-2.0 board is the one that I feel most compatible with the Henglong board. We can plug the light pin from the LEgoDEI receiver into LED 4 of the TD-2.0 board. It will flash when the tank is hit and when it gets knockout.

The compatibility problem with HL, Tamiya and others has been brought to TDs attention and is supposed 🤞🤞to be addressed in the near future. Hopefully that will be in the new upcoming 3.0 MFU set to be released with the M105 Paladin.

I like what you did it's a lot of work testing and then presenting your findings. Couple of more questions though. Did you test them against Tamiya, Clark and Taigen/Torro systems? In battles against these other systems the TDs do not register hits reliably (less then then 20%) and when they do often simply shut down completely or are unable to fire their IR until the tank has been restarted. It's a head scratcher??? Were you able to "sink up" the IR firing with the main cannon vs the MG? That too has been an issue with the TD IR system it tends to only fire with the MG not the main cannon.

Lastly did you test shooting at them with stock HL bulbs, aftermarket HP bulbs, stock TD bulbs or all types? What was the ranges you fires at them from? Often the TDs will take hit close up, but not from far away (25ft+ depends on bulb type) even with Lego IR receivers.

Using a system that kinda works against HL and really does not work against Tamiya and Clark in battles begs the question of unfairness and an even playing field for everyone. Kinda that same unfaithfulness when trying to shoot someone with the stock HL IR receivers and it not registering hits unless you are inside of 5 feet. But they can hit you from across a field.

[RichJohnson]

I found while testing my second m60 against an unknown TD board that it would not fire IR on the main cannon fire, it would only fire IR with the machine gun button.
It hit tamiya and henglong every time but when those tanks would shoot it, the TD would take one hit and lock up and refuse to accept any other hits.

[DavidN]

Good point on testing with the other systems. I will try that. More works need to be done. Heheh!

My testing field was in my backyard. The testing distance was at 15 feet. I have two tanks setting up to fire at the TD tank with the LegoDEI installed. Shots from the 1st tank registered hits most of the time. Shots from the 2nd tank registered around 70%. I figured maybe there was dust build up on my IrR bulb or my IR bulb setup in my 2nd tank was off.

It also seems that at the very beginning, the TD did not register the hits. At some point, it did. Next, it only registered the next hit 6 seconds after the 1st hit. As it started to "warm up" , It took hits more frequently. Kinda confusing.

Anyway, the main point of this initial testing was to see the differences in all 3 boards. Further testing will be done soon at the greater distance and with difference systems (Tamiya and Clark).

[DavidN]

One of our members in SoCal Tank Club knows Mr. Lin at Tongde. They talked yesterday. Mr. Lin will make his 3.0 board with the corrections from our findings. He will also willing to make a conversion kit if necessary. So let see how things will turn out in the near future.

[Rubicon99]

One of our members in SoCal Tank Club knows Mr. Lin at Tongde. They talked yesterday. Mr. Lin will make his 3.0 board with the corrections from our findings. He will also willing to make a conversion kit if necessary. So let see how things will turn out in the near future.

It's good to read that TD is hearing from more sources for the same changes👍👍. So far they have been really open to listening to the customers input and making changes for the better. HL could learn a thing or two from TD openness to listening.

I for one would love to not have to change out the MFU every time I buy a TD tank so it can be used for IR battling and installing a servo recoil barrel. TDs driving dynamic and sound is actually pretty good its been a shame to have to change them out.

[Mr_T]

Hello, i just have an used TD-2.0 and looking for instructions/installation manual. Could someone please help

[SoCalBobS]

Motion RC has a pdf you can download.

[Mr_T]

Motion RC has a pdf you can download.

Thank you for your reply. I found the manual