Action R/C Electronics
About the business
ACTion was started by Craig Talbot in 1994. Craig was an enthusiastic
modeller, primarily interested in boats and trucks, who wanted a particular
sound effect which he couldn’t find in any shop. Being a skilled electronics
engineer he set to and designed one. This proved to be very successful
and was soon in demand from other modellers, so Craig began to expand
his range of sound simulators. When he was made redundant from his job
he was persuaded to build ACTion into a full-time business. Sadly he passed
away in May 2007 but not before he saw his friend Dave Milbourn take over
the business.
Dave is perhaps best known for his design and drawing work on the recent Model Slipway kits, but he has been in and around the model trade for a long time – having designed the original Precedent Huntsman 31 in 1972 and most of the subsequent Precedent model aircraft kits e.g. Hi Boy, Bi Fly, T-180.
All of the ACTion units are made “in house”, which means that if the one you need isn’t already in stock then one will be made up for dispatch on the same day. Units in DIY kit-form are packed to order. Stock units can often be modified for a specific purpose (e.g. we have sold more than one P14 Destroyer Sound unit for use as a doorbell!) or we can offer advice on using them in specific installations. There is a fixed-charge repair service for ACTion units and this fee can be credited against the cost of a new unit if the old one proves to be unserviceable. We can’t, however, repair non-ACTion items or undertake special projects or one-offs.
Please note that ACTion is a ‘mail-order only’ business and, although we like to see our customers, you should always let us know in advance if you want to collect your goods. We attend several of the regular model shows at various venues during the year, so make a visit to see us and have a chat with us there. We usually take our whole range of products (except kits) but if we run out of stock then you can order with payment and we’ll send on your goods post-free after the show.
Dave and his wife Liz pride themselves on the quality and speed of their service – just like Craig, they like to get it right.
About the products
The ACTion range includes electronic speed controllers from 1A
to 20A; motor/steering mixers; multi-function controllers; in-line fuse-boards
and full power-distribution boards; several different sound effects units
e.g. foghorn, steam whistle, ASDIC, destroyer “whoop”; R/C switchers from
one to four functions; bulb-flashing devices and synthesized engine sounds
for smaller models which are coupled to the speed controller and whose
“revs” increase with engine speed. Many of these units are microprocessor-based
and most can be purchased either ready-built or in kit form. Other items
such as motors, servos, mini-receivers, speakers and smoke-generators
are also stocked for your convenience.
NEWS - August 2010
ACTion Summer Break
We will be closed for business Friday 3rd - Tuesday 14th September.
P100 Noisy Thing
Thanks to Guy Morgan we now have a genuine Gardner 3-cylinder
diesel sound, complete with start-up and shut-down routines. Perfect for
narrowboat models. We've also now added two more narrowboat engine sound-sets
courtesy of Steve Dean; these are the Lister HR2 and the legendary Bolinder
15HP "almost-single-cylinder", complete with that unique stuttering
start-up and shut-down. Steve is intent on wandering the country with
his twin fluffy mikes, looking to record any marine-oriented sounds for
us - what more could we ask? Thanks, mate!
P104 Sound Selector Switch
This is the promised 8-way switch for selecting the general sounds on
P100, using one additional proportional channel. It is a very small unit
which sits "piggy-back" over the pins in P100. Tim is currently
finalising the software and we hope to have the thing out in time for
the Birchwood/Warrington shows.
755 Motors back in stock
We have had these motors specially made for us and they are terrific little
powerhouses. Nominal voltage is 12v but they will operate from 6v to 18v.
No Load RPM @ 12v is around 6500 and current draw is just over 1A. This
makes them very suitable for mid-range workboats and particularly warships.
Price is £16.50 (incl VAT), and we have stock of MMB's very nicely-made
milled ali mounts for these @ a fiver each, complete with s/steel motor
fixing screws.
New speaker (no - not another expenses scandal.........)
We now have some 3 1/2" (90mm) square 10W speakers in stock. These
have waterproof mylar cones and are just as powerful as the 100mm ones
but will suit a more compact (aka squashed) installation. Price is £5.25.
E-Mails - Change of address
We suspect that a number of your E-Mails to our "dave@(action address)"
aren't getting through; this seems to affect customers in the US and Canada
more than anyone else. We have now set up a web-based account '@gmail.com';
the first part is 'action.RC.electronics' (don't forget the dots!). This
is now the default address if you hit the "Contact Us" button
below. Computers......doncha jus' love 'em, huh?
That Answering Machine again......
I'm sorry that I have to mention this, but we do work from home.
There are only the two of us here so when we are engaged in 'domestics'
(e.g. having lunch) then we will switch the answering machine on. Recently
two customers have considered their interests to be more important than
ours and have simply kept on ringing in the hope that someone will pick
up. Please don't do this; it's just plain rude. You are also
guaranteed to get a very frosty reception! Like the lady on the
machine says, please just leave your message after the tone.
How to use this website
On the left-hand side of this homepage you will see a blue rectangle,
headed Main Menu. If you move the cursor of your mouse over each sub-heading
it will change from an arrow into a pointing finger. If you then click
once with the left-hand mouse button then one of two things will happen,
depending upon which sub-heading you select:
Where the sub-heading is Main Menu, Home, Price List, Dates or Contact Us, then your web browser will take you straight to the relevant page of the website.
For Products and Diagrams, however, a second “fly-out” menu will appear. You should then move you cursor over the name of page you are interested in, and left-click once.
The Products are divided into pages of similar units (e.g. speed controllers), and there are two pages of Miscellaneous item at the end. Except for the very last page, further product information is available if you move the cursor over the picture of each unit/product, when it will turn into a pointing finger. If you then left-click your mouse once it will open a PDF file which contains the full instructions, wiring diagrams, a photo sequence of building the kit version etc. These are large files and may take a while to download, depending on the speed of your Internet connection. You won’t be able to download and save these files but you can print them out or “bookmark” their URLs for future reference.
The Wiring Diagrams are divided between complete installations for all current Model Slipway kits, and other diagrams which have been done either for general use or have been specifically requested by ACTion customers. Finally there are some articles which have been compiled to explain various aspects of RC Model Boat electronics, and are (of course) biased towards our products. If you're installing the radio and other functions in your latest model there is almost certainly something in amongst them to inform and inspire you.
We thought long and hard about this but we concluded that many
customers wish to confirm that they are buying the correct unit for the
job they have in mind before they make a purchase. It’s easiest then to
give us a call and, if the unit is suitable, the transaction can be completed
over the phone. It’s also far more secure than posting your card details
over the Internet, which still worries many people – us included. Having
said that, we're not aware of any security problems with our customers'
credit card transactions since we took over ACTion.
You can also order by E-Mail, but it’s best then to forward your card
details split between two or more E-Mails. Please note that we will
now require the 3-digit security number (from the Signature strip on the
back of the card) as well as the card account number, cardholder's name
and address and card expiry date. We accept Mastercard, VISA, Maestro
(UK only), Switch – in fact, just about all of the recognized credit and
debit cards. We can also accept Pay Pal, although we reserve the right
to supply only accredited Pay Pal purchasers (as considered necessary).
International Bank Transfers are acceptable but we would
strongly urge you to check with your bank on how much they are going to
charge you to do this. We had a customer who was charged almost 25% of
the value of the transfer as fees - and then we were also charged
by our own bank for converting A$ into Sterling! Finally there’s the good
old-fashioned “snail-mail” post. Cheques should always be made out in
£GB Pounds Sterling; we regret that we can’t accept cheques in any other
currency. Please make Cheques/Postal Orders out to “ACTION R/C Electronics
Ltd”
Finally, we are a mail-order business so goods are sent out strictly on a payment-with-order basis. We will only debit your card when the goods are sent out, although it’s very rare that we are unable to despatch goods on the same day. We don’t offer credit so please don’t ask us to send goods with an invoice for subsequent payment – it’s embarrassing for all concerned to have to refuse.
Out-of-hours phone calls
We don't have a separate business phone line so if you ring outside
our normal business hours then you will be interfering with our
homelife, and you might get a pretty terse reply......... Sorry - but
we can't afford our own 24/7 call centre!
Carriage charges
These are shown at the end of the published Price List, and should
be added to the value of the order before sending it off. For customers
outside the EU, we generally weigh the items and will quote you an actual
cost price. We use Royal Mail First Class post as our “default” carrier
although we will do our best to comply with requests to use alternative
carriers. Such costs will always be charged to the customer. We don’t
aim to make a profit from our carriage charges.
International customers should note that our terms are DDU i.e. they are
responsible for paying any import duties and taxes due in the country
of destination. Acceptance of these terms is implicit in placing an
order.
Fiscal matters
We are now registered for UK Value Added Tax. This means that
the price list is VAT-inclusive and applies to all customers within the
UK and the EU. Customers outside the EU are able to purchase goods VAT-free;
please give us a call to obtain a firm price, including shipping.
Warranty (aka The small print……….)
ACTion R/C Electronics guarantee all products to be free from
manufacturing defects for 12 months from date of purchase. This does not
cover suitability for specific applications; components worn or damaged
by use, tampering or incorrect connection; alteration to original components;
damage to batteries or other equipment through use; misuse, or shipping
damage. Where goods are found to be faulty, the customer shall return
them to ACTion R/C Electronics in their original condition and with their
original instructions, packaging etc.
Where a fixed repair charge is applicable, ACTion R/C Electronics shall undertake repairs to the extent that they are judged economically viable. Where such is not the case then the customer will be offered the option of crediting the repair charge towards the cost of a new unit or having the faulty unit returned and the charge refunded (less the cost of return carriage). Our liability is limited to repairing or replacing goods to their original specification and will not exceed the cost of the goods. By using the product the user accepts all liability. We reserve the right to modify this guarantee without notice.
In any instance where you are unhappy with either our goods or our service then please contact us informally before taking any further action.
Recycling
We try to do our bit for the environment and we are conscious
of the EU regulations about the safe disposal of electronic equipment,
so we would ask that you return any unserviceable ACTion unit to us if
you are unable to dispose of it properly. As regards the packaging of
our goods, we frequently make use of materials which have been used by
our own suppliers to send goods to us, so if your box looks as if it’s
been made up from another one then it probably has!