I think it's totally feasible to keep brushed DC motors idling to reduce spin-up with a simple motor controller, but I assume it would put a lot of wear on them.

It would, and absolutely kill your battery life and increase the complexity of the wiring setup, compared to a direct-to-battery brushed motor setup.

Remzak is correct about brushless motors being very efficient, probably by at least a factor of 5 (I think I remember hearing that brushed motors were about 5-15% efficient while brushless were 75-90%), depending on the setup. And except for the bearings they're practically immortal, as long as you use them as designed.

You can do some research by searching eBay for sold prices of various Nerf blasters.

+1 on the Kronos and Artemis. These are nice in that users don't need to lug around extra mags. Some big pockets or a simple belt pouch/bag should suffice (except for ball spammers who like to slamfire the Artemis...)

Anyone have recommendations for which glue to use for reattaching the Koosh heads?

Thanks.

EDIT: I found out the UHU POR expanded polystyrene foam works well, but I want something I can get from a local hardware store.

Get some IMRs from Lion Wholesale. They are AA sized and can be paired with dummy batteries for some good voltages. Furthermore, they are cheap and rechargeable!

Generally speaking, this is a bad idea. Don't use AA sized lithium batteries, especially if you are able to utilize LiPo packs that can handle higher current draws.

Are both of your ball valves still airtight?

Some of them are ideally used on Nerf blasters:

Sweet work

Thanks for posting those pics, Deadshooter. Glad to see how it went, since I couldn't make it this year.

I noticed the guy with the Zing Bow and wearing a fluorescent shirt: anyone know how he fared with that set up?

Dude, the first APOC I went to I didn't have a "competitive" homemade. But if you got something you can work with, then work it. My first time I had an Alpha Trooper for one of the capture type game. The guys were like really? Then they saw what I could do, and were like I want you next round. Granted it was like 4 years ago, but still.

If anything, superstock is more advantageous now than 4 years ago. Advanced flywheel blasters are a huge step up over what was available 4 years ago. From the NIC perspective, I'm not aware of anything which has advanced in a similar fashion over that same 4 year span.

QED: I think if equipped correctly, a superstock setup can work just fine at Apoc.

I am more of a super stock guy as I don't really do the homemade+stefans. I am actually a former XC runner also(tad out of shape though haha). I also do not mind bringing that many rounds as I have around 700 rounds just sitting around doing nothing. I also have 20x 18 round mags. I normally do HvZs so something like this would be a first for me. If you think I will still be ok I would happy to drive on down and check out this event.

That sounds ok, as long as you're careful about dart spamming!

I am going to assume this is not the type of event I can bring my modded Stryfe that shoots only stock darts? Even if I bring enough darts for the whole day?

If you're in VERY good shape, you can do just fine with a superstock blaster, like a well modded Stryfe. I've played with a cross country runner who rocked with a Nite Finder, but that's because he was constantly running and able to flank anyone at any time.

Also, you'll need A LOT of darts. I bring about 300 to my local superstock wars and it's very adequate, but we play on pavement most of the time, so the dart sweeps we do every other round result in near perfect dart recovery. If you use your Stryfe all day at Apoc, you're gonna either spend most of your time dart sweeping or have to bring several hundred and be ok with losing at least 1/3 of them.

I'm excited to end my hiatus and fight this Apocalypse! Also catch Zubats.

 

 

The collective term is a ranch of southerners.

Wrong. The correct term is "mob." The addition of the adjective "lynch" is optional, but recommended for clarity.

I plan to attend, at least for a little bit.

If the title applies to you, have you ever experienced freezing issues on load screens or error messages while watching replays of a particular play, such as a home run? I'm playing the 2014 version of the game, but I'm asking if anyone has this problem in any version, given how rare this console is.

Anyone have freezing issues in general on their Vita and if so, how did you fix it?

Thanks!

I just have 1 question, why did you ask this on nerg hayven? Sony or the maker of the game could help serverly, or you could look up the problem on google or youtube, but nerf hayven is probably not the place to start looking for answers.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that the off topic section was limited to NIC related questions only.

Forgive my assumption that playing with foam shooting toys and the PS Vita was mutually exclusive.

Do a search on NH; there is a lot of discussion on the different types.

Yes, it currently operates off the generosity of Langley, VACC, and other admin/mod staff. It takes money to pay for the domain name, server space, upkeep, and etc.

Ideally the number would be kept to a minimum, they would be hand-picked by staff for appropriateness/quality, and they would be unobtrusive. One at the top and side wouldn't interfere with browsing. I think it's been discussed after news posts, and usually the consensus is that it'd be for non-members/not-logged-in members.

If they start raking in cash, the extra would probably go back into the community somehow - contest prizes and etc. That's somewhat unlikely though.

The Hakko 936 is a great option. It's been discontinued, but I think you can get a new 936 soldering station and pencil iron off eBay for fairly cheap. You'll have to wait for them to be shipped from China, though.

It's a Hakko, so it's a good iron. However, it doesn't seem clear exactly how hot it can get and how many watts it is. I don't think you'll go wrong getting that Hakko pencil iron. However, you won't regret getting the FX888D. I spent years settling on a $20 P.O.S. Radio shack 30W pencil iron for years always wanting a Weller or Hakko. A few years ago I got the Hakko and regret waiting so long to get it. I realized that since I spent decades using a soldering iron for many applications, it was worth investing in a very good iron, one that would last for the rest of my building life.

Depends on how much you're willing to spend and what you want to do with it.

For typical flywheel mods, a 30W or 40W (watts) Radio Shack pencil style iron will suffice, but barely. It'll be good enough for splicing wires, attaching connectors and soldering wires to motors.

However, if you want to build your own battery packs, you'll want an iron with more power. I'd recommend at least 60W.

If you want to use the soldering iron for other tasks, such as sensitive electronics boards, you'll want something lower powered, such as 20W.

So what am I getting at? A more flexible soldering iron will have an adjustable temperature; it'll also cost more.

I personally use the Hakko FX888D, but you don't need to spend that much, although you'll need to spend close to that for a good iron. Another good brand is Weller, such as the WLC100, although I think 40W isn't enough power to safely build battery packs. As long as you won't be building battery packs, I think the WLC100 will be perfect for typical Nerf flywheel mods. You could get the WES51, but that's pretty much the cost of the Hakko.

There are cheaper options with adjustable temperature settings and goes up to 60W: The TrakPower TK-950. I believe it's a rebranded Hakko, but I'm not positive.

As for tips, whatever comes with most of the irons I recommened are good enough for anything you'll need to do with flywheel Nerf mods. I bought a smaller and broader (chisel) tip when I got my Hakko, but I've never used them yet and I've worked on things from Game Boys to battery packs to Graphing calculators to my Nerf Stryfe.

EDIT: Here's an option:http://www.hobbyking...Warehouse_.html

I'm betting it's a rebranded version of a name brand iron, such as Hakko. However, for such a cheap price, I'd be wary. But then again, for such a cheap price, it might be worth trying?

Good choice! I still have the habit of plugging in my Hakko and doing other things for a few minutes while I "wait" for it to heat up. But as you said, it heats up so darn fast, I'm just wasting electricity doing other stuff before I get to soldering.

A high quality 7-8 AA cell NiMH battery pack should give comparable results and be a lot safer.

I'm not too familiar with protected lithium chemistry cells. I get the feeling they're not ideal for our applications since they're not widely used; maybe someone else can explain why. Nickel chemistry based cells (NiMH or NiCd) are pretty safe, but heavier and bulkier. You could try Lithium Iron Phosphate cells (LiFePO4?) which are more forgiving than other types of lithium cells, but I don't know much about using them for Nerf. I think they're most widely in the SC battery size, which would not be ideal for use in a Demolisher.

It would only require modding to the extent you'd need a way to place the 7-8 AA cells within the Demolisher. Electronically, it should be a drop in mod, based on what you've said.

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking about getting rid of mine by giving them away, but not sure if they'll work in NY (or CT).

Are any of you New Yorkers coming to Apoc able to cash in water bottles for 5 cents? If so, how do you do it? I have a bunch of 500 ml water bottles that say 5 cents for NY deposit.

I think the JST connectors refer to the balancing wires, not the "main" wires.