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 at June/July 2009
VAT - "They've" finally got us................. Price Increases
Those who know us personally and of our previous professional incarnation will, no doubt, find it amusing to hear that we've now had to sign up on the other side of the counter (so to speak). This means that we will have to charge UK VAT on all goods sold to customers in the UK and EU. That in turn means that we'll have to increase our prices to allow for this, but we have tried to restrict these increases to as little as possible. Some items will even remain at the old price. After 30 June we will have to charge the new prices, irrespective of which price list you may have to hand. Customers outside the EU will be able to buy goods VAT-free; please give us a call to obtain prices and shipping charges.
We are also having to increase our postal charges, due both to the VAT implications and the recent sharp increases in charges by the Royal Mail. Not the best of times to have to increase prices, I know, but some of the current ones haven't changed since 2002.............
MMB 900 Motors - these fabulous motors are suitable for most large models from tugs up to big Perkasa-type planing hulls. Anyone who has seen Dave Jones' Perkie on just one of these motors, using 20 cells and a P98 ESC, will know just how powerful they are. Having said that, on 6v they are just as suitable for a 36"- 42" single-screw tug e.g. Mark Windless's Canning, or use 12v to power a big Kort prop. Current drain is very low and the price is far better than the equivalent Graupner or Robbe motors. Drawing etc appears under Miscellaneous1 section of the Product Details pages. Price is £30 incl VAT; P&P is extra,
Receiver Supply Voltage - IMPORTANT!!
Until quite recently the vast majority of RC receiver circuits were run from either 4 x rechargeable cells (4.8v nominal) or 4 x Alkaline "dry" batteries (6v). The introduction of 2.4GHz radios has produced some receivers which can accept up to 9.6v direct supply. While this may be acceptable for the receiver such a voltage will fatally damage any PIC-based ACTion unit which is connected via a servo-type lead to that receiver. The reason is that the PIC chips used cannot operate above a certain voltage; this is typically 6.5v, whereas a fully-charged 5-cell pack can give as much as 7.5v initially. If in doubt please contact us for advice. If you are using a P92 or P19 to supply the power to your receiver then you have no need for concern.
P19 BEC and P92 Power D/B - 6v versions
We can supply these with a 6v x 1A regulated output instead of the usual 5v. This will add a bit of extra sparkle to the servos while still being low enough to allow you to operate any PIC-based ACTion units safely from the receiver outputs. Prices are the same as the 5v versions, but you do require a main battery of at least 8v.
Clearance bargains
The workshop has become a tad cluttered since Dave decided to update those all-singing-and-dancing demo boxes you see at the shows, so there are some ex-demonstration units available at reduced prices. All are fully-working and guaranteed as new units. It's "first come, first served" on these, and the usual P&P charges apply:
P21 Siren simulator 1 @ £14;
P34 1Watt Audio Mixer/Amp 1 @ £10;
P15 Diesel Sound simulator (NB Requires use of Condor ESC) 2 @ £15;
P56 Steam Sound Simulator (NB Requires use of Condor ESC) £20;
P57 Twin Horn 1 @ £14;
P78 Condor 2A Speed Controller 1 @ £17;
P52 micro 1A Speed Controller (with M7 motor) 1 @ £15;
P39A Sealed Lead Acid Battery Field Charger [12v DC input; output for 6v SLA batteries] 5 @ £5
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 the program 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.
As of 7 December 2008 there is a completely revised and extended range of wiring diagrams. 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.
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). 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.
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!