Sweet bike, check out the vid...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Google Cr-48
When I arrived home on Friday there was a pleasant surprise waiting on my door step. Upon opening the box I found my new Google Cr-48. A big surprise for me because as of Tuesday when I received the email that I was eligible for one, I thought it would be a long shot for me to receive one!
So there are a few un-boxing and first impression reviews already on the web so I won't bore you with those details. I could not wait to fire this thing up and start kicking the tires to see for myself how living solely in the cloud would be.
Setup:
So once I installed the battery and opened the lid the Cr-48 started right up and prompt me to setup my network connection, as easy as one, two, three. Then the login screen for my Google account info was next, the Cr-48 has a webcam built in and it opened to take my account picture (wasn't ready for that at all).
The system then downloads the latest updated for Chrome, once complete you are in the cloud!
First impressions:
After the setup was complete and I was online it was seamless working with Chrome; sort of like talking to an old friend. I was able to pick out a few things that seemed strange and cool to me and many others as well.
1. The touch pad - looks like an apple touch pad and works similar but the right-click option take a little getting use to as well as left-clicking and dragging.
- Right-click is using two fingers to tap on the touch pad and it doesn't always work when you want it to. This feature works best as you are working and not thinking about it which comes in pretty quick once you are flowing.
- Left-click works two way, 1. pressing the touch pad or 2. one tap on the touch pad. Left-click and dragging takes some getting use to as you need both fingers to accomplish this task.
I found myself again familiar with the touch pad once I stated to flow with my work and not thinking about what to do. I also plugged in a USB wireless mouse which the system recognized but no on screen prompt as with most conventional systems. The wireless mouse setup will work best for most.
2. At the top of the keyboard the traditional F1-F12 keys are gone and replaced with the cloud browser controls; I like this feature and seems right for this cloud computer.
3. Shutting the the Cr-48 is also a strange and cool feature. When you press and hold the power the screen shrinks and signs out to the login screen, press and hold again and the system shuts down. By closing the lid of the Cr-48 the system goes to sleep and once you open it again it wakes up immediately continuing where you left off.
So far I am impressed and like the new Chrome OS but it does take some getting use to being in the browser 100% of the time. I found myself looking to close the browser when I was finished working but no need to.
I believe that most people will like this system as many of us use the web 100% of the time when we are on a computer for personal use. I know all of my non-browser application use is done at work and after work I favor working with Google docs and Office live so this system works for me.
This is my first report of many to come as I get more engrossed with Chrome OS and the App store. I already sent Google a feedback list of six item I think will help improve some ares of this system.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Daytona Prototype Racing...
Well we are back after a long vacation!
SRD Racing will be in attendance at this weekends Sideways DP Metro Regional race in Edison, NJ. The race is part of the NJ Metro Slot Car Racing Series for 2010 (http://www.njmetroslotcars.com)
The racing is going to be tight, rubbing is racing; we have prepped the Sideways Racing #91 car for this race and testing this week was good. The car truly is a racer!
This will SRD's first race with this club and we can't wait...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
SRD Wins in RETRO East!
Long Island, NY - At the home track
Mark Craven team driver for SRD Motorsport is making waves in the RETO East slot car series. Mark is currently leading the points, for the championship. Below see the race action and report from our home track last November as reported by Noose:
It was off to "Lawng Island" for the Retro East Winter Series for GT Coupes and Jail Door Grand Prix cars at Slots-A-Lot Raceway. Owners Ken Piccola and Rob Valenti were there bright and early with breakfast munchies and hot coffee for what would turn out to be a great field for a fun day, if not "deafening" day of retro racing.
Tech got underway at 10 a.m. as planned and ah hum..someone was actually going to see if they could break the record for failing tech! LOL More "No Tech For You" issues than usual but not many of the guys here run retro on regular basis so we helped to educate them.
We had a field of 25 for the GT Coupe Race to be run on the Hillclimb. Practice showed that getting your dialed in was going to require choosing the right set of tires and weight to get the fasted speed possible of the very tricky donut.
Concours for GTC was won by John "VW" Streisguth with his unique Ferrari 330P4. Randy Kohr took 2nd lace (left) and Arthur Hagendorf took 3rd (right).
Qualifying got underway and it wasn't long before one of the Skunkworks guys went quick when Randy Kohr cut a 5.104. It held up until ol Mr, Rocket, Bill Gerhart got up and took TQ with a 5.047! The rest of the A Main sit-outs would be taken by Matt Bruce, Jay Kisling, Mark "Kid" Craven, and Derek Velez.
With 25 entrants we would have 4 mains.
First up was the D-Main. One of the impressive sights at S-A-L was watching 7 year old Nick Wichburn in his pit apron jet around the track looking like a pro! When Nick develops his skills to stay on more his is going to be a force to reckon with! George Capello got off to the lead and held it for 4 heats until Nick Cerulli grabbed it in the 5th heat. Wolfy Kovack would overtake George too for 2nd place and held onto it for a podium spot.
A Main Time!
I knew watching this line up that it was going to be a very good race. The lead changed a few times in the race between Randy Kohr, Bill Gerhart, Derk Velez, Jay Kisling and Mark "Kid" Craven. Mark held off Derek for the win with Randy Kohr taking 3rd.
A Main Results
Mark "Kid" Craven – 262 Laps – Best Time 5.274
Derek Velez – 261 – 5.216
Randy Kohr – 260 – 5.223
Bill Gerhart – 258 – 5.261
Kenny Piccola – 254 – 5.278
Matt Bruce – 250 – 5.262
Chris Radisch – 250 – 5.331
Jay Kisling – 243 – 5.317
Derek, Mark, Randy
Mark's Car – Red Fox Chappy, Piccola Chassis, 113.3 grams, TSR, 9/28, Thunder Rubber Rears, Difalco controller
Mark Craven team driver for SRD Motorsport is making waves in the RETO East slot car series. Mark is currently leading the points, for the championship. Below see the race action and report from our home track last November as reported by Noose:
It was off to "Lawng Island" for the Retro East Winter Series for GT Coupes and Jail Door Grand Prix cars at Slots-A-Lot Raceway. Owners Ken Piccola and Rob Valenti were there bright and early with breakfast munchies and hot coffee for what would turn out to be a great field for a fun day, if not "deafening" day of retro racing.
Tech got underway at 10 a.m. as planned and ah hum..someone was actually going to see if they could break the record for failing tech! LOL More "No Tech For You" issues than usual but not many of the guys here run retro on regular basis so we helped to educate them.
We had a field of 25 for the GT Coupe Race to be run on the Hillclimb. Practice showed that getting your dialed in was going to require choosing the right set of tires and weight to get the fasted speed possible of the very tricky donut.
Concours for GTC was won by John "VW" Streisguth with his unique Ferrari 330P4. Randy Kohr took 2nd lace (left) and Arthur Hagendorf took 3rd (right).
Qualifying got underway and it wasn't long before one of the Skunkworks guys went quick when Randy Kohr cut a 5.104. It held up until ol Mr, Rocket, Bill Gerhart got up and took TQ with a 5.047! The rest of the A Main sit-outs would be taken by Matt Bruce, Jay Kisling, Mark "Kid" Craven, and Derek Velez.
With 25 entrants we would have 4 mains.
First up was the D-Main. One of the impressive sights at S-A-L was watching 7 year old Nick Wichburn in his pit apron jet around the track looking like a pro! When Nick develops his skills to stay on more his is going to be a force to reckon with! George Capello got off to the lead and held it for 4 heats until Nick Cerulli grabbed it in the 5th heat. Wolfy Kovack would overtake George too for 2nd place and held onto it for a podium spot.
A Main Time!
I knew watching this line up that it was going to be a very good race. The lead changed a few times in the race between Randy Kohr, Bill Gerhart, Derk Velez, Jay Kisling and Mark "Kid" Craven. Mark held off Derek for the win with Randy Kohr taking 3rd.
A Main Results
Mark "Kid" Craven – 262 Laps – Best Time 5.274
Derek Velez – 261 – 5.216
Randy Kohr – 260 – 5.223
Bill Gerhart – 258 – 5.261
Kenny Piccola – 254 – 5.278
Matt Bruce – 250 – 5.262
Chris Radisch – 250 – 5.331
Jay Kisling – 243 – 5.317
Derek, Mark, Randy
Mark's Car – Red Fox Chappy, Piccola Chassis, 113.3 grams, TSR, 9/28, Thunder Rubber Rears, Difalco controller
Thursday, January 21, 2010
EDM Racing 2010!
Long Island, NY - SRD Motorsports
What's up all, it's been crazy and no update added :(
Well I have been busy with all the different racing we do at SRD Motorsports and with trying to get 2010 off to a good start my hands are full. So this post is about a great unique racing series I will be focused on this year in upstate NY called EDM.
EDM describes the style of body being used in the class. The series is a 1/5th spec series using the KM Baja, stock 23cc motor, tarmac tires and the EDM body and bumpers. I am getting a download on all the rules and the track next week when I will make a visit up top.
As the season draws closer and the prep work starts my plan is to detail my racing experience for the whole season!
Check out the EDM racing action from the 2009 Hostile Baja fest:
Friday, January 8, 2010
New SILENCED v2 Dominator®
Long Island, NY - SRD Motorsports
Dave's Discount Motors announced today a new SILENCED v2 Dominator pipe. This pipe is the same as the Dominator v2 except the tip is now silenced. The inner silencer is now removable, and the silencer tip can be rotated which allows you to choose what direction your exhaust exits.
Pricing for this pipe is the same as the non-silenced version so expect to $169.
Redcat Rampage TT
Below is a blog I wrote a year ago when I first got my Redcat Rampage TT. After reading today I decided to add it to my page, hope you enjoy it!
REDCAT RAMPAGE
First Impressions!
Model: Rampage TT
Class: 1/5th Scale
Type: ARTR – (comes with receiver battery, charger, throttle/brake servo, steering servo; you need to add transmitter/receiver)
Anyway the Redcat Rampage comes in two flavors MT or TT. I am a truck guy and most of the rampage community have purchased the MT but I am also a big race fan and I like handling so I chose the TT; plus I like to be different.
Starting: The weather has been crappy here in the NE this winter (well since I got the TT 3 weeks ago) so I took the downtime to mod some things from all the bench testing I was doing. I will list mods later; so 2/1/09 the temp reach 40 degs with a light wind and it’s like a spring day around here everybody is out. I packed up theTT with the boys and headed down to the beach for the break-in. For fuel I am using Amsoil and Sonoco 91 octane. As mentioned above she fired on the second pull of the starter cord and idled strong. I heat cycled the CY for the first half tank then hit the ground for some half throttle fun!
Aluminum gear plate
Steel drive gears 35x25x25x25
HPI axle boots
Custom axle spaces
Drilled brake disc and milled flat
New fuel lines
Custom fuel line supports
Hitec steering servo
Hitec throttle servo
New stainless steel hardware
Thursday, January 7, 2010
1/5th Scale Drag Racing; Sweet!
Long Island, NY - SRD Motorspots
If your into R/C and speed then it is time to check out rcburnout.com, New York's hot spot for speed...
Monday, January 4, 2010
KM Clutch Holder Replacement!
Long Island, NY - SRD Garage
Welcome to Scale Racing Development Motorsports and my first parts review for the KM T1000.
SRD Motorsports was created last year as my team for all model car racing series. So far we have been successful with our 1/24th scale Slot Car group racking up wins!
This blog is as titled, I was able to pickup a King Motor hop up the other day and I wanted to spot-light it. The stock clutch holder that comes on the HPI Baja and KM T1000 is plastic and a known weak spot.
The clutch holder from KM is machined aluminum and anodized in the tucks orange color. The part look to be manufactured well with no rough spots or fouled hole openings. In the pics below are a shot of the new part and a comparison of the stock and new part:
When replacing the clutch holder get ready to work, as I have found to do any work on this truck you need to remove a lot of parts to get at what you’re doing. Steps to replacement;
1. Remove the right rear wheel, I use it as a stand to hold up the rear of the truck
2. Remove the plastic upper right side body mount (body clips to remove)
3. Remove the plastic right side lower protector (body clips to remove)
4. Remove the right rear body post (two machined screws bottom access 3mm head)
5. Remove the rear orange engine mount plate (two machined screws side access 3mm head)
6. Remove the plastic pinion/spur gear cover (two body clips top & bottom)
7. Remove c-clip holding spur gear on shaft, and then remove spur gear
8. Remove spur gear plate (four machined screws 3mm head)
9. Remove the two screws at the top of the brake support (this will drop the plastic holding the shaft bearing)
10. Remove the three screws on the clutch holder (4mm head; hold on the purple spacers as you will need them for reassembly)
11. To remove the pinion gear I used channellocks with pads on the teeth to hold the pinion gear and used a 3mm driver to remove the screw holding it.
12. Remove the front and rear stock bearing in the clutch holder as you will need them for reassembly
Now for reassembly back track through the process above using the stock parts I mentioned. Now don't forget to use thread lock on all your metal to metal parts or they might come loose later. I use Permatex medium and it works pretty good.
The installed part;
Time will tell how well the KM part holds up and looking at it, it might just last!
P.s. Be sure to install the gear cover clip pictured below, if you put it in backwards it will rub against the spur gear; I wonder how I knew that!
Later!
Can KM beat HPI in racing?
Winterville NC,
On Sunday January 3, 2010 RCU forum poster morespeed went racing to answer the question above. Morespeed attended a local race in North Carolina and entered into two classes, 1/10th scale short course and 1/5th scale gas off road.
After just receiving his KM T1000 a few weeks ago, he pulled it form the box broke-in the motor and went racing bone stock, except for replacing the shock oil; a true R/C'er. Heres what he had to say:
"Well, took my Baja truck to a local track in the next town over and entered it in the race, I raced the slash & Baja truck race.
I was the only clone Baja out there too. I’ve raced one time before with my slash out there and this time was my first time ever driving a Baja truck because I just got it, out come was really bad.
I went unprepared and made no adjustments to it ran it right out of the box. did change the shock oil that’s all. My KM body is almost broke in half, steering servo was locking up on me, the rear shocks blew out, and the front body post mounts are broke maybe cause it was like 35 degrees out.
like I said, I never even adjusted nothing on it or had it in dirt yet; I think I ran like right at 1 tank full of gas before this. in the yard.
sorry km guys, I’ll have my stuff right next time,but I do have pictures of it. "
Me: No need to apologize as it was a win for the KM camp; first place! After the race heres what he said about the competition;
"oh I forgot, it was a 5B & 5T CLASS all at one time together. all the HPI'S were modified too. mine was stock. KM CLONE ruled the track today. out of the box stock, sorry HPI maybe next time.........
I can't say nothing bad about those guys, because they never said one bad thing about my truck, they all came over and looked at it and said they really liked it a lot."
Me: So they say let the picture speak for themselves; great result morespeed keep racing strong. Morespeed also documented some of his issues and upcoming fixes form the day;
"Few things to improve:
1st, Get some shock strap limiters. a must do.
2nd, Replace the axle boots with, I forgot what they are called but it's the heavy duty thick ones from some company the guys at the track are saying.
3rd, Fix the dang steering servo problem. almost cost me the race, Rhino may be my next one from what I’ve heard.
4th, Replace seals with really good ones or upgrade shocks. When mine leaked out I looked like a jack rabbit running around the track; almost cost me the race also too.
5th, I’ll let you know when that comes....lol "
Sweet!
How to kill your engine?
If you have been in R/C for a while like I have then you know why it it important to kill your engine!
In today's R/C world there are more and more large scale cars being sold and not all of then are running on race tracks. Most R/C cars can be found running down your local street, in public parks and beaches with tons on onlookers who could get hurt.
Well Killer RC has the large scale crowd covered with a great lineup of kill switches for your large scale engine:
"Welcome to Killer RC, the home of killer parts for your RCs. Keep control of your gas RC with the Killer Bee kill switch kits. Increase the life of your suspension with Killer Kables. Shave weight off of your RC and improve servo performance with our LiFe battery packs."
Checkout Killer RC on the link below:
In today's R/C world there are more and more large scale cars being sold and not all of then are running on race tracks. Most R/C cars can be found running down your local street, in public parks and beaches with tons on onlookers who could get hurt.
Well Killer RC has the large scale crowd covered with a great lineup of kill switches for your large scale engine:
"Welcome to Killer RC, the home of killer parts for your RCs. Keep control of your gas RC with the Killer Bee kill switch kits. Increase the life of your suspension with Killer Kables. Shave weight off of your RC and improve servo performance with our LiFe battery packs."
Checkout Killer RC on the link below:
RC Racing TV is back!
Not sure how many people know about RC Racing TV which is a UK TV show put on by Motors TV. I have been watching since it's first episode and I love the show.
Well they are back with a new season which provides a report form the HPI UK 24HR enduro:
"This Month we have the return of one of our most popular features – “Nick has a go!” This time he’s trying his hand at 1/10th off road at the Proline dirt arena, will it be a triumph or disaster? We also have race action from the event with the 4wd A final. We get to see the winners of last series home video competition and there is a report from the Large Scale Track Euros from the Brooklands circuit."
This news link is being provided by RedRc:
RC Racing – Series 4 Episode 2
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