I’ve written before about the joy (no exaggeration) of finding a way to share some competitive tech time with friends and family. Radio controlled cars tick all the boxes for me. Not only are they full of electronics and mechanics, but they also keep me away from the inevitable screen time that comes with writing about videogames for a living.
Last weekend though, I found a new (and in some ways even more enjoyable) way to play with the Carisma GT14 cars my R/C club has chosen to race the last year or so. Rather than meeting in our usual venue to compete for the best lap times and finishing positions, we instead gathered at a friend’s farmhouse cleared off his large kitchen table to spend the evening tinkering with our cars.
Not only did this give us more time to really nail our car’s setup, it also meant we could pool our knowledge in an effort to solve the various niggles, faults and repairs that track side attention was unable to address.
Judging by the amount of beer and snacks consumed and the lateness of our departure back home, the evening was a success. By the end, between us we had salvaged a car for a newcomer, setup an LED Light System, Adjusted a Differential Slipper, replaced a Twitchy Servo and assembled a Brushless Carisma Mk2 car.
We’ll be racing again next week, but we’ve decided that these kitchen table sessions should be a regular feature in our R/C Club calendar. We are also going to start beginner session to help younger members get started with the hobby.
