Foell.org

Initial setup & binding

While the NB4 advertises latency times as low as 3ms, there’s no clear answers on how that’s achieved.

The servo response rate can be set up to 400Hz. From the main menu select the gear icon, go to RX Set and then Servos Frequency. Choose Custom and increase the frequency to 400Hz – but only if you have digital servos. Analog servos can overheat and will fail from this setting.

At 400Hz my SkyRC program box measured 387Hz. Either the advertised or measured rate would still put the response at 2.5 or 2.6 milliseconds (respectively).

Whether or not 2-way or one-way communication affects the response time is unclear. Without clear information, I went for a one-way setup… Hoping for the fastest feeling.

To set up one-way communication, touch the gear icon from the main menu and then select System and then Radio Frequency Setup. Change the RF Std. setting to AFHDS3 1 Way.

Any receivers bound in 2-way mode will need to be rebound with the one-way setting.

Binding to a receiver in one-way mode is not as clear because there’s no confirmation on the transmitter. Follow the instructions and it will work, there’s just no confirmation on the transmitter side.

Pro-tip: a quick press of the power button will bring you back one screen, the same way the < does on-screen. The touchscreen back can be finicky because it’s at the edge of the screen.

Button Assignment

The NB4 has plenty of buttons and it’s very flexible and easy to assign channels/functions to the various knobs and buttons.

Here are all of the assignable buttons as seen from the Assign menu:

The thing you may want to keep in mind is the round VR1 knobs on either side of the transmitter. You can see one in the upper left here:

The VR1 knobs are “absolute” meaning they have a definitive start (0%) and stop (100%) points. This is important if you use the NB4 to control multiple models.

For instance, if you assign steering dual rate (D/R) to a VR1 knob, the setting will be retained between models. This might not be desirable, so just be aware.

I mostly race, so my common assignments for VRC, RC10 and Slash are as follows.

I keep the steering related controls that I might want to adjust while racing on the switches closest to the steering wheel:

• TR1 Steering Trim
• TR2 Steering EXP

For the “paddles” by the wheel, I use them for the timer. I have a 5 minute timer set that I use during open practice to simulate a normal qualifier. This helps me make sure motor temperature is OK and helps me change gearing accordingly.

• SW2 Timer reset
• SW3 Timer start/stop

For the wheels on the top of the hand grip, I use those for dual rate:

• TR3 Steering D/R
• TR4 Brake D/R

Lastly, I use the left VR1 knob for throttle dual rate. It allows me to turn down the maximum speed on any model, in case my son or daughter want to drive. Just remember to turn it back up before you go racing!

Killer Feature

The best feature for me is being able to switch it from right handed to left in a matter of seconds.

If my left handed daughter wants to play VRC or drive my Slash, I just flip the wheel around and turn down the throttle.

I can switch it back in an instant for myself.

Here’s my NB4 and RC10 B6.2 at the track, ready to race. I 3D printed an adapter for a foam touring car wheel which you can buy here or print for yourself!

The post Flysky Noble NB4 – A great left handed transmitter appeared first on Meatball Racing.

Azure Account

If you don’t already, sign up for a free Azure account. They usually give you a $200 credit when you first sign up, which is great to get started with. After about a month of hosting a 2-hour game night once a week, my monthly costs were between $20-30. I thought I could make my $200 credit last for at least 6 months, but sadly the $200 credit only lasts for the first 30 days

But, this is still likely the easiest way to get a rock-solid gaming server set up that does not rely on your home connection.

Azure Setup

Sign into portal.azure.com. In the left navigation, click Resource groups. Then click Add.

Give your resource group a name. You’ll also need to select a region where your virtual machine (server) will live. You can see what types of virtual machines are available in what regions on this page.

I chose to use an NVidia based system for graphics performance in case I wanted to livestream our races. I thought having the server closer to the racers would be best (North Central US), but there’s another factor to consider: the VRC server is in Europe. So while I want low latency from drivers locations to the Azure server, I also want low latency from the Azure server the VRC server where the races are registered.

I picked East US and it seems to have been a wise choice. My ping times to the VRC server are consistently around 100ms.

Once your resource group is created, select Add to add a virtual machine (VM) to it.

Select Windows Server 2016 Datacenter – we’ll actually update that to the newer 2019 server in the next step. An alternative is to start with Windows 10 Pro, Version 1809 – I have not tried this setup, but I’ve seen it recommended and it may be a better base to start with.

Under the virtual machine Basics your resource group will be pre-selected. Give your VM name and select the same region as your resource group. You can change the image to Windows Server 2019 Datacenter here. Then click Select size to choose the type of VM.

On the VM size selection screen type NV into the search box to limit it to NVidia based servers. I like to change the cost to Hourly so it’s less scary The server I chose is NV6_Promo – the smallest/cheapest of the NVidia options.

Finding a virtual machine in a region was one of the most frustrating parts for me. I seemed to have activated my Azure account at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of the servers listed on the Products by region page were not actually selectable in the portal. After some back-and-forth with support, it turned out that they were running out of resources to allocate. Things eventually leveled out and I was able to select the NVidia server I wanted.

After selecting the VM size, set and record your VM username and password. Make sure to allow remote desktop (RDP) inbound ports. Then click Next : Disks.

For the OS disk type select Standard HDD – it is cheaper and won’t greatly affect the performance.

Further down that page, click Create and attach a new disk.

You’ll be prompted to create a new disk, click Change size to change the disk type and size.

Select Standard HDD for the Storage type. Wait! Didn’t I select a disk before? Why am I doing this again?! The previous selection was for the OS disk. It is temporary storage and nothing gets saved on it when you shut your VM down. You possibly could go without an “external” disk, but you’d have to install and configure VRC (and everything else) every time after you start up your VM.

You don’t need anything big here, just enough for VRC and its libraries. A full installation of VRC with a couple of extras is 20GB, so you could easily select 64GB or even 32GB here. Disks can be made bigger (but not smaller) later on.

Once your disk type and size is selected, click Next : Networking.

We’ll keep the defaults on the Networking tab, so just click Next : Management. On the Management tab click Enable auto shutdown – this will save your hide if you forget to shut your VM off. Speaking of which, get the Azure app on your phone in case you want to double-check to make sure you actually remembered to shut it down.

After the Management tab you can click Review + create. On the final page it will tell you how much it costs to run this server hourly. To agree, click Create.

Remove Network Security Group

This is sort of a controversial thing to do. Removing the Network Security Group (NSG) is like connecting your windows computer directly to your cable modem. It’s out there on the internet, available for anyone to hack. I haven’t had much luck getting VRC to play nice with the NSG, because you’ll have to set VRC network rules in Windows Defender Firewall on your VM and mirror those changes in the NSG.

My gaming server is only up for a couple hours at time, and with a different IP address every time. Plus there’s really nothing installed on there that is of value, so it’s a risk I’m willing to take.

Here’s how to remove the NSG. Navigate to your resource group and then click on the NSG for the group.

First you must disassociate the NSG with the Network Interface. Click Network Interfaces and then for your interface select the more menu icon then Disassociate.

Once it’s been disassociated, you can delete the NSG by going to the Overview screen and clicking Delete.

Start the Virtual Machine

Navigate to your virtual machine under your resource group. Now that your server is created and configured, you can start your VM if it’s not started already. Then copy the Public IP address so we can connect.

Connect via Remote Desktop

Connect to your virtual machine using the Remote Desktop Connection app from your home computer. Paste in the Public IP address you copied earlier. Before clicking connect, click Show options.

With the options shown you’ll be able to enter your VM administrator username.

Then click Connect. You’ll get an identity verification warning pop-up, but it’s safe to click Yes to continue.

Install VRC

Once you’re logged into your virtual machine via RDP, you can install VRC.

VRC will fail at installing the required .NET components, but you can install them through Server Manager which (annoyingly) will probably be automatically started when you log in through Remote Desktop. Click Add roles and features.

Click Next in the wizard until you’re on the Features screen. There you can expand the .NET Framework 3.5 Features section and check .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0). Then click Install.

Firewall Rules

VRC installs a couple of outbound firewall rules – you might even see this message during installation. But we need to add a couple of inbound firewall rules to Windows Defender Firewall.

Click the Start Menu and type defender. Then click on Windows Defender Firewall.

Once the Windows Defender Firewall control panel is open, click on Advanced settings.

Highlight Inbound Rules in the left pane, then click New Rule… in the right pane.

In the New Inbound Rule Wizard select Port for the rule type and click Next.

For the protocol and ports, select UDP and enter the port range of 26379-26381, then click Next.

Action should be set to Allow the connection, then click Next.

All profiles should be checked, click Next.

And then give it a useful name, like VRC. Then click Finish.

As mentioned earlier, if you’re using a Network Security Group (NSG) as part of your Azure resource group, then you’ll need to create the same inbound network rules there too.

Start VRC

Now you can start VRC, but we’re not out of the woods yet. VRC will likely complain about Internet Options:

Clicking Web Info will bring you to a VRC FAQ page that explains how to remedy it. It will also open Internet Explorer, which is where you need to make the change – by clicking the gear icon, then Internet Options.

At this point, you should be ready to host a multiplayer race that anyone around the world can join.

I’ve hosted up to eight VRC racers live at once with this setup and noticed zero performance issues. I’m confident this platform would manage the maximum of 10 racers without a problem

Extras

There’s a couple more things you probably want to do:

• Download Chrome or Firefox so you don’t contemplate suicide when you need to download something else on your VM.
• Disable the Server Manager from automatically starting
• Install the NVidia drivers
• Install a virtual audio device if you want to hear the remote sounds locally.

Test!

The last thing you want to do is leave the testing up to your hardcore racing friends. Set up some races ahead of time and test it yourself, even if you’re the only one to join.

Better yet, leave some races open (without passwords) on a busy night and let passers-by join in. They can’t get bent out of shape if there are any issues, they can just move along.

Trouble Connecting in VRC

When I first set my server up I had intermittent problems where I could sometimes join the multiplayer session and sometimes not.

Here’s what I was doing:

1. Start a browser on my local computer, visit the Azure portal and start my gaming server virtual machine
2. Log in to the gaming server via RDP from my local computer
3. Put the RDP into fullscreen
4. Start VRC and create a “host only” multiplayer session
5. Minimize the RDP session so I can run VRC locally
6. Start VRC on my local computer
7. Try to join the multiplayer session on the server

I had an “aha” moment when I remembered when I switch from VRC (fullscreen) to another program on my local system and switch back, it’s like the game pauses while I’m away. When I switch back to VRC it takes a good 10-15 seconds before it comes back to life.

If you’ve ever had windows update or some other nonsense dialog come up while you’re racing, you fully understand the madness that is involved.

The solution (without having to use two computers) was a setting in RDP to set Apply Windows key combinations to On this computer.

Otherwise I would press Alt+Tab when on the remote system and it would toggle between the VRC Server session and the desktop. By keeping that combination local, I can Alt+Tab to switch between RDP (fullscreen) and my local VRC game (fullscreen). Neither game session gets minimized so nothing hangs up or pauses.

Whew, that was a lot Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments!

The post VRC Live Server Setup appeared first on Meatball Racing.

Yet Another Class

Part of me understands their complaint – adding another race on race day means it will add more time to the racing schedule. Which means more time waiting between their races, and the possibility of getting home later in the day.

But let’s break down the argument. Does it really mean more time? If more 2wd buggy drivers show up, it means adding an E-Main and another qualifying heat, so if there are more drivers it means more time no matter what. It doesn’t matter if they’re driving rally cars, formula one, tamiya mini, euro trucks, short course trucks, etc. More drivers is more time.

Why not welcome new classes? There are so many aspects to the hobby, but the common thread is racing. Track owners across the country don’t care if they’re announcing on the tone for the E-Main of 2wd Buggy or the A-Main of Euro Trucks. They want as many (paying) racers at the track as possible. I for one, would love to watch a 2wd Spec Stampede race like in that JConcepts video.

Track owners and race directors recognize this and most have a policy that if at least 3-5 guys show up with the same type of vehicle, they’ll run it as a class of its own. The belly-aching by the other drivers simply needs to stop. It does not help grow the hobby, it just makes us look like elitist jerks. It comes off sounding like: If you’re not good enough to afford or compete with the type of car I have, you should just stay home.

Racing on the Cheap

“Yet Another Class” usually means someone is testing the waters to try something different and see if it sticks. More often than not, it is something affordable. Tamiya Euro Trucks are a hit because they’re just over $100 and they look awesome. My favorite class of racing is currently Spec Slash. It’s right next to Euro Trucks as one of the cheaper ways to race. I also have a 2wd buggy, which is always popular at any track, but that platform is expensive. The idea of a 2wd Spec Stampede monster truck class sound like a great way to get kids (young and old) into some fun monster truck racing.

Heads-Up Mixed-Class Racing

Another option that is rarely exercised, but should be, is mixed-class racing. It’s literally running two or more types of classes in the same race. It’s already happening at your track during open practice and it makes everyone a better driver if they’re actively looking out for slower/faster traffic. Many drivers pay zero attention to anything that isn’t traveling at their speed. To combat it, more tracks should host heads-up races like this:

When running multiple classes in the same heat, there are two schools of thought. You can run cars of similar speed together, or run cars of different speed together – each has pros and cons.

Running cars of similar speeds together is easy. Maybe it’s VTA & Euro Truck or Stadium Truck and Open Short Course. The race director likely knows generally what the lap times are for a specific class. Hopefully the two classes lacking a full field of drivers wind up being a good match.

The other option would be to run classes with different speeds together. This happens in several real world races, but most famously at LeMans. Why do I like the speed differential? It allows for the faster cars, usually piloted by better drivers, to pass quickly. If slower drivers are predictable in their racing line, the faster cars can use just about any line to overtake. Is it going to slow everyone’s lap times? Sure, but not significantly and the racing will be even more exciting.

Talk to your track

As a rule of thumb, always check with the track owner and/or the race director. At bigger events like trophy races they’ll be clear on what classes are getting trophies and it probably doesn’t include your new class. The guys running a new class aren’t there for trophies anyway. They’re there to race against their friends and build some interest around what could be a fun racing series.

Don’t listen to the naysayers. If you want to run a class of Tamiya Dancing Riders, get some people interested and head to the track. You could even ask your local hobby shop to give the racing info to others buying that model. Even if no has joined you (yet), bring your car to the track. If there’s a Sportsman class, which is usually a smorgasbord of classes, run it in that. Or when you’re racing in a different class, run your new model during open practice time or before/after the race. Sometimes just seeing something new go ’round is all it takes to get others interested. I did this with my F1 car in 2016 and it has been a regular class in my area since.

The post Just what we need… another class appeared first on Meatball Racing.