Tekin RS + hotwire.

Recently I decided that I ought to start preparing myself for the
move to LiPo in 12th scale, as and when I can afford the parts. the
first thing I decided to get was a new speed control as I can use it
with the rest of my current set up. I wanted one with 1S LiPo cut off
and also was updatable as the rate of speed control development is
astonishing at the moment. After looking at many posts on forums,
talking to drivers and browsing web sites I decided to buy the Tekin RS speed control along with the HotWire computer interface. Fusion Hobbies
had both the RS and HotWire in stock at a really good price. I have
used them previously and their service has been really good in the past
so I had no hesitation in ordering from them. That and the fact you get
a free packet of Starmix Sweets with every order! I had the choice
between buying the RS or RS Pro version of the speed control but as I’m
likely to only be using it with a 10.5 brushless motor I decided to buy
the RS version saving me £40 in the process. This is good down to a 5
turn brushless so I’m not likely to going anywhere near it’s limits. A
couple of days later both RS and HotWire were on the desk in front of
me along with an empty Starmix packet! Both the Tekin RS and HotWire
come very in very well presented packaging as you can see in the
pictures below.The
Tekin RS and RS Pro both come in the same packaging. Besides looking at
the speed control itself you can tell which is inside by looking on the
end of the box.On
opening the RS box I found that the speed control was extremely well
stuck to the cardboard packaging, taking some effort to remove. This
certainly stops it from being bashed about and damaged in transit
though. Inside the box is the speed control itself, instructions,
stickers, 12g wire, power capacitor, insulation for the capacitor,
servo tape and tie wraps. No sensor cable is supplied. The 12g wire is
also much too thick for use in a 12th scale so I put it to one side for
use in my son’s touring car. It is perfectly suited to these or for off
road. The manual takes a bit of reading, it is so packed full of
information. Everything in there is very useful though so it is worth
taking a bit of time out and going through it all properly before doing
anything else.I
opened up the HotWire box next. This was also stuck to the cardboard in
the same way. Inside the box you get the HotWire box, USB cable, mini
sized CD with the software and installation instructions and a sheet
with basic instructions. I wasn’t sure whether the mini sized CD would
work on the slot loading drive on my laptop, mainly because I hadn’t
tried one before, but there were no problems.Full
instructions on how to install the HotWire software and drivers are in
a file called TekinHotWireInstall.pdf on the CD. These are much more
comprehensive than the paper ones, so make sure you have a .pdf file
reader on your computer (almost everyone does) and follow these to the
letter. There should be no problems if you do. Note that the software
also requires .NET 2.0, MDAC 2.8 and the latest version of Windows
Installer on your computer, but the install program takes care of these
for you.Depending on whether you want the very latest version of the HotWire software and RS firmware you can download it from the Tekin web site and install this instead.I
installed the software and plugged the HotWire into the computer. The
drivers installed automatically and everything was ready to go! When
plugging everything together remember to plug the speed control into
the HotWire before connecting everything to the computer, it won’t work
otherwise. I found that my RS had version 180 of the speed control
firmware installed. I immediately upgraded this to the version 200 that
had been supplied to me by the ever helpful Tekin Team Manager, Randy
Pike.Before installing the RS into the car, I weighed it without
any motor or power wires attached. It came in at 23.8g, which is
comparable with the other lighter brushless speed controllers on the
market.Time to install the speed control now.If you want
a neat and well working installation it is essential to plan where the
speed control is going to be positioned in the car and where all the
wires will go. I wanted to position the RS so that the power capacitor
fitted next to the roll mast behind the steering servo. To make it fit
properly there and still have the RS itself where I wanted it, the
capacitor had to be positioned as in the picture below.I
put a small piece of servo tape on the edge of the circuit board where
the capacitor lies against it just to cushion the two and to hold the
capacitor in place while soldering. Make sure you get the capacitor the
correct way round as is shown in the instruction manual.Then I
soldered the motor and power wires to the RS as positioned below. The
soldering instructions in the Tekin RS manual are very good, and should
be followed. I have used CRC 16g wire, it is good quality and extremely
flexible. The positioning of the wire looks strange in the photos below
but it will all make sense when it is installed in the car. The solder
posts on the RS make this job pretty easy.I
am still using NiMh cells with Corally tubes soldered onto them at the
moment, so after cutting the power wires to the correct length I have
soldered male Corally connectors onto them at a 90 degree angle as
shown below. This keeps the wires low and out of the way of the shock.I
have also heatshrinked the motor wires part of the way along their
length to keep them together. They will go above the T bar so they
need to be kept neat. Too much heatshink would stop the wire flexing
with the pod though, so be careful with this.After this it is time to servo tape the RS into the car, cut the motor wires to length and solder them.Here is the RS installed in the car.See
where the power capacitor has gone. It is in the gap between the servo
and the T bar next to the roll mast. There is just enough room to do
this and fix the RS as close to the centre of the car as possible to
help the side to side balance of the car.The
direction of the wires should be more obvious now too. The motor wires
are directed over the T bar. The power wires have been soldered in the
direction of the position of the tubes. All of the wires have been
soldered to keep them as low as possible too.The motor wires have been run along the top of the motor keeping a large enough gap not to snag the damper plate.I
run the wires to the motor between the damper plate and the cross
brace. It is possible to run them below the cross brace but I feel that
the wires have a more natural movement positioned between the two.I
have also used a CRC super soft sensor cable. I have also run this
above the T bar. It is soft enough to not affect the T bar or the
movement of the pod in any way.Here is my routing of the sensor cable to the motor.The switch cable is just the right length to run across the car so this is what I have done.Here
are a couple of pictures of the overall wiring layout of the car. Neat
and functional without anything snagging or tweaking the pod, and
nothing to catch on the body shell.Also
remember that to use the HotWire you will be unplugging the RS from the
receiver, so make sure there is enough room to do this easily.That’s the RS installed in my Hot Bodies 12X. The next thing is to set it up and run it.I
plugged in a set of cells and went through the transmitter set up
procedure. All happened the way it is explained in the manual, except
that I had to have throttle set to reverse to get it to work! I use a
KO Universe 2.4G system and I’m guessing that KO’s reverse is everyone
else’s normal!I’m quite impressed with the RS and HotWire so
far. It has a quality feel, is easy to program and it’s size makes it
easy to fit. The real proof is in running and tuning it though. That
will all be done in part 2.

Found this on rc race chat, thought it might help a few of us.

Cheers MArk
RS pro Worth to go with some extra cash cos It has Double the amount of Fets inside against Normal Version which will keep the speedo a lot cooler...
New FW soon for more and better power delivery...
Also they may add lower than current lowest 0.5 Turbo Delay ...

So is there a new Tekin coming out if so when need to get a super dooper new speedo.

Is it called the FW?

FW=firmware
but the difference between v199 to v200 is really huge like you have a new speedo LoL