New boat

[john lamon]

This was my Christmas present to myself, a R/C Traxxas Spartan, I've never had a R/C boat before, it was kind of an impulse purcase, I can't wait to try it out, here is a few video's I found of it, enjoy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLT8qLaD8W8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSWtnDo1yvA&feature=related

I of course got a blue one to match the Checkmate, it's 36" long

 

[Fun Times]

Nice, That looks pretty cool.

lol, Better be careful, The boat in the first video looks like it has a little bit of chine walking going on there at the top end.

Did you happen to see the video of the R/C boat I posted here that was running in the snow a while back?

 

[john lamon]

Yes I did see that video you posted, that was what got me looking at R/C boat video's, lol. now I own one, you cost me a lot of money lol

I just hope it's as fun as it looks in the video's, the boat is actually the cheap part, it's the good batteries to make it go fast that break the bank.

Thanks for posting up that video

 

[Chris]

That's really net John.

What are they worth?

That would be some fun to have at the cottage.

-Chris

 

[john lamon]

That's really net John.

What are they worth?

That would be some fun to have at the cottage.

-Chris

Thanks Chris, I paid $489.00 CAN for mine, after I bought it I found out that the guy's in the US are getting them for around $350.00 at hobby shops but I've seen them on CL for around $1000 because they are back ordered, the boat was originally called a Titan when it was released last June but they had to change the name because the name Titan was already taken by a R/C company, so all the boats, manuals box's, everything had to be changed.

They just started shipping them on Dec.16 so people that want one are willing to pay a lot, I think a lot of people that ordered them back in June are just trying to sell them now to make a quick buck.

They are supposed to be the fastest ready to race R/C boat that you can buy, and at 36" a good size to, it should be a fun toy to have around the cottage, I can't wait to try it.

More good news is that my interior for the Checkmate should be shipped this week

Here is another video of the Spartan that a guy posted yesterday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksEZeKanCug&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

 

[Chris]

Thanks John.

What do you get with it? Everything you need to run it?

Or do you need to buy a remote control system etc.?

You mentioned batteries, is that what it runs on?

-Chris

 

[john lamon]

The boat is ready to use right out of the box but a charger is not included, and it requires 4 AA's for the controller.

It does run on two batteries, it comes with two 7 cell 3000 mah NiMH batteries, it is supposed to do low 30's with the stock batteries. I am going to buy a set of 7 cell 5000 mah NiMH so I can get a longer run time, should see mid 30's with those.

There are many options for chargers depending on what you want, a single for around $60. I went with a dual quick charger so I can charge both at the same time in an hour, around $100.

It is supposed to run low 50's on 3s LiPos (Lithium-ion polymer) batteries, but then of course you need a different charger to charge them, I'm going to stick with the NiMH for now, I will be running it on a lake with boat traffic and docks and I think 35 mph will be fast enough for now until I get used to it, If i want to go 70 that's what the Checkmate is for

keep in mind all this is just stuff I've read about over the last few weeks and as far as I know is accurate but could be wrong, I just went out and bought the boat and then found out I had to learn all this about 50 different kinds of batteries and chargers, lol, the mate sounds easier to run

Here is the link for the details of the boat.

http://www.traxxas.com/products/models/marine/5708spartan-details

 

[Fun Times]

Yes I did see that video you posted, that was what got me looking at R/C boat video's, lol. now I own one, you cost me a lot of money lol

I just hope it's as fun as it looks in the video's, the boat is actually the cheap part, it's the good batteries to make it go fast that break the bank.

Thanks for posting up that video

lol, Your
I hope you have fun with it, I'm pretty sure you will, They are always a big hit and draw in a fun crowd at the local lakes.

Yours looks like it would be a lot of fun because it seems so quick on acceleration and sounds good while running in those videos, Enjoy.

 

[204 Escape]

Wouldn't pull up the videos. Said it was "private".

 

[john lamon]

Wouldn't pull up the videos. Said it was "private".

That's probably because this boat turned out to be a major lemon, they were all starting on fire, in June when I still was waiting for mine to show up all these problems were known so before it came in to the hobby shop I cancelled my order, ended up losing my $100.00 deposit but I figured that was better than paying the balance only to watch it burn up

I have heard that they have changed them and corrected the problems but I don't know, kind of lost interest in it, I have enough expensive hobbies, this is keeping us busy when we aren't boating now, got myself a quad and just gave the kids one for xmas too.

 

[nathan]

nice quads John. I have had an R/C boat and I lost interests after a while. I perfered the bigger boat. good luck with the quads