Heng
Long Snow Leopard (M26 Pershing)
Non-S&S to S&S (Smoke and Sound) conversion guide
By wackywheelz
Non-S&S to S&S (Smoke and Sound) conversion guide
By wackywheelz
Benefits of
switching from non-S&S to full S&S:
~ 10-speed proportional control, as opposed to the jerky 2-speed (fast-faster) of the non-S&S - more control of your speed, crawl along at snails pace, able to increase speed gradually.
~ S&S Sound module has engine startup, shutdown/stall-out, and proportional engine-sound which increases as the tank gets faster. Turret turning, machinegun and main gun sounds.
~ S&S Smoker unit burns a clear scentless oil which emits a realistic smoke from the exhausts, looks good and adds to the overall effect (tanks were smokey!)
~ The RX14 circuit board is better designed than earlier boards, much less prone to premature failure, plugs for easy connections.
~ Machine gun LED flashes when MG button is fired (G).
~ 10-speed proportional control, as opposed to the jerky 2-speed (fast-faster) of the non-S&S - more control of your speed, crawl along at snails pace, able to increase speed gradually.
~ S&S Sound module has engine startup, shutdown/stall-out, and proportional engine-sound which increases as the tank gets faster. Turret turning, machinegun and main gun sounds.
~ S&S Smoker unit burns a clear scentless oil which emits a realistic smoke from the exhausts, looks good and adds to the overall effect (tanks were smokey!)
~ The RX14 circuit board is better designed than earlier boards, much less prone to premature failure, plugs for easy connections.
~ Machine gun LED flashes when MG button is fired (G).
TIP: ALL IMAGES CAN BE
CLICKED TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE
Today we are going to turn a non-s&s HL Snow Leopard (Pershing) into an easily controllable tank with more features!
The victim:
The HL Smoke and Sound upgrade kit:
Unwrap your new HL S&S upgrade kit, and you should have the same as seen above (pic two shows antenna screwed into the transmitter unit, neither pic shows the smoker oil bottle).
1. Smoker unit 2. Controller transmitter unit (tx) 3. Board-to-board data cable 4. Speaker unit 5. Crystal for transmitter
6. Crystal for tank 7. Smoker to Exhaust pipes 8. Signal Receiver circuit board (little) 9. Main function circuit board (big)
Dissassembling the tank (Pershing):
Start by removing the aerial, tank commander and anything breakable that attaches to the tank such as the turret machine gun.
Then flip the tank over, remove the battery from the battery compartment then remove the 8 screws as outlined in this pic:
Once you have undone the 8 screws (put them in a safe place), carefully place the tank upright (on its tracks) and pull the front of the tank upwards - it is held in the rear, you will see how I mean.
Just pull up then get the right angle to make it pull apart.
Once inside you will see the following:
The easiest way to proceed to the next step is to snip each of the un-needed wires (other than the 8-pin which goes to the turret, which simply unplugs) -- BUT IF YOU HAVE A LATE REVISION IT CAN BE UNPLUGGED -- if not, snip them 1cm from the circuit board, so you can identify them if you wish to use the non-S&S board for another project. The white wire coming from the switch is unused for S&S. See pic below (click either pic for larger) for a better idea of what I mean, and where each wire leads to. Once you are finished it will look like the second pic (also has descriptions)
Strip 3-5mm from the ends of the remaining wires and twist the ends, this is to solder to the new S&S board where and when necessary (descriptions on larger pic).
Now we have a blank canvas, ready to proceed to the next step.
Installing the S&S kit extras into an empty tank:
First step is to install the smoker unit - in the case of the Pershing it goes between the gearboxes at the rear of the tank.
You will see 2 holes in the bottom of the hull, and the smoker will only fit in one way (with the smoke output pipes facing the rear).
Once the smoker is in place, carefully turn the tank over and insert the 2 screws into the holes at the rear of the tank (see pic), do them up.
Then cut the supplied exhaust pipes to fit from the smoker's outlet's to the tank's exhaust pipes, as seen in the second picture. Do not add oil !
Next comes the speaker unit, which mounts in the front of the Pershing. There are 3 mounting points, again there is only one way it can "fit".
Once the speaker is in place, flip the tank over and insert the 3 screws, tighten them.
Once all that is done, we're ready to install the circuit boards!
Installing the S&S circuit boards:
Plug the board to board data cable into the smaller receiver circuit board like so (there is only one way it will go), then fold the data cable out the side and place it over the mounting points shown in the pic.
Carefully lower the receiver board to the mounts, then secure it using two of the supplied small screws (black).
Next comes the volume knob, which screws into the lower hull, again with two of the supplied smaller screws.
Next comes the main board. This mounts right next to the receiver board, as usual there is only one way it can fit.
Plug the data cable into DP3, then plug in the speaker to DP1, smoker to DP2 and if you're using it, the MG LED into the 2-pin plug near the smoker (see larger image for better idea)
Carefully fold out all the cables from underneath, so they don't get pinched. Then lower the raised switch on the circuit board into the hole in battery box, making sure everything aligns on the way down.
Then secure the main board using 2 screws (either the supplies ones or the original ones from the non-S&S board).
Here is a bit of a crossroads - some later tanks have plugs for everything, whereas mid-to-old revisions have just wires for the motors (no plugs). The RX14 board can handle both.
For later revision tanks, its simply a matter of plugging in all the cables into the correct areas, but the older ones need to have the motor wires soldered to the main board.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEWER REVISIONS (as in you have plugs coming from your motors)
INSTRUCTIONS FOR OLDER REVISIONS (No plugs coming from your motors, must be soldered)
Antenna wire attaching point on the receiver board is shown below
Installing the matched frequency crystals:
Flip the tank upside down, and firmly insert the frequency crystal (the thinner one of the two) that came with the kit into the slot marked X'TAL which is inside the battery box (it can go either way).
Insert the other one into the hand transmitter as shown in the second picture, make sure it lines up and goes all the way in like in the 3rd picture.
Carefully check over all your wiring and soldering points to make sure you don't have any stray wires, metal fibres/wires or solder blobs.
Once all this is done, make sure the switch is in the OFF position, and plug the battery into the tank. Turn it ON - welcome to the world of S&S!!
Now do up the 8 screws!!
