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First Novak ESC

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 8:03 am
by Tadracket
Well, I sent Novak an email yesterday regarding an ESC I bought on ebay. This is the ESC and the email from Novak follows:

Image

That’s the original Electronic Speed Control right there sir.

Didn’t even have a name, just called it the Novak….. When Bob and the family started this all, they never though the Speed Control Segment was going to rocket off like it did, so the product never really got an official name. Ah the good old days…. J

It was the precursor to what the T4 became. Forward/Brake, uses the pots to set it up. For today’s motors I’d be careful, nothing hotter then a nice mild 15 turn.



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Bidding will start an $25,000 dollars :D
Just kidding. This one is going on my A&L chassis build up.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:40 am
by Eau Rouge
That's awesome. Nice find. I remember when those came out and I saw guys at the track with them. Made my cranky little ceramic resistor and wiper look really old and crappy in a heartbeat.

Beautiful condition, too.


So that was from when, like 1983 or so? Right about when I first started playing with these things...

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:52 am
by Tadracket
Eau Rouge wrote:
Beautiful condition, too.

Now I got to figure out how to mount it. I want to keep it looking good but also want to take it to the streets from time to time. No dirt for this build.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 10:10 am
by templeofspeed
That would be killer on an RC12i or Delta... 8) Maybe a little too early for an A&L car?

Nice piece of RC history there! Also nice of Novak to provide a friendly reply. :D

Best to not cut the G plug off. Find a matching receiver or use an adaptor lead.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXH449&P=7

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 10:19 am
by Eau Rouge
templeofspeed wrote:That would be killer on an RC12i or Delta... 8) Maybe a little too early for an A&L car?

I was thinking the same thing. That ESC is about 5 years too early for an A&L car. Would be awesome in an early RC10 or a 1/12th scale car from the early 80s... maybe an early Yok Dogfighter SE or Cox Scorpion.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 10:20 am
by Tadracket
This will be a slow build so I am keeping my eyes open for an old Novak rx and hopefully a servo as well. Time will tell.

I have an X1, would that be time correct for the A&L?
I have a gold pan that was partially assembled when I got it that is just waiting for electrics. It has never been run and is simply perfect except for a couple things the guys son lost that I have replaced, tie rods, a couple ball cups, that is about it. Other than that, it is perfect.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 6:06 pm
by scr8p
that's cool dude. :)

i think the a&l chassis is from around the 1988-89 range.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 7:32 pm
by shodog
That is truly a cool rare esc. if you ever want to get rid of it, let me know. I have newer stuff I would trade for it if you were looking for and ESC for a runner.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:47 pm
by badhoopty
it's hella cool that you actually got an answer to begin with, but then the dude goes and gives a little history and motor advice? hella cool.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 7:58 am
by Tadracket
badhoopty wrote:it's hella cool that you actually got an answer to begin with, but then the dude goes and gives a little history and motor advice? hella cool.
Yeah, kudos to Novak. What a great company. They seem like the type that you could pull up a chair at a race and just gab with. My hat's off to them and a wonderful product.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 8:00 am
by Tadracket
shodog wrote:That is truly a cool rare esc. if you ever want to get rid of it, let me know. I have newer stuff I would trade for it if you were looking for and ESC for a runner.
I'll keep you in mind shodog if I ever part with it. But I have a feeling, it will be the staple of my small but growing collection.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 5:32 pm
by superfly
Thats a wicked story you can tell about that ESC on your shelf queen. I never was into Novak stuff because it was always sooo expensive as a kid but now i have 3 of them and they are soooo much better than the futaba MC112b i had been running. Novak sounds like the best now and then :)

Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 11:06 am
by Tadracket
Well, I sent Charlie another email regarding the time line. He said they had one of the "Novaks" in the back in a box. He is going to take a picture of it and the webmasters are going to add it to the time line and give it the attention it deserves. He said it will be a while. They are revamping the site at the moment.

I am stoked. His ESC is used so I am going to take my own picture using inets tutorial and send it to him. How cool would that be if he actually used my photo?

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:01 am
by Tadracket
OK, got a question for you Novak wizards out there. My Novak has only three wires. My instinct is to run the black from the ESC to the - post on the motor and splice the battery in there somewhere. Then run the red to the + on the battery and the blue to the + on the motor. Check out some pics I took.

Image

Image

I cannot find any info on Novaks site. They have not posted anything on it yet. But I think I found a reference pic. Take a look at this and tell me if you think the Novak I have is the same Novak Asso used for the box art car.


Image

So, what do you think. Do I have the box art esc? I think it is but can't tell for sure. If it is, the wiring is still confusing to me. The black and blue are easy to see but is the red running to the battery plug then another red is running from the plug to the motor. I can't tell.


This car is almost done. It is the pride and joy of my (very) small collection. I guess the wiring matters not because the batteries will be connected but drained first. I plan on never running this car but do not want to damage anything.

Someone sell me a G plug style Novak ESC so I can finish this car and get some pics on the site.

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:43 am
by aconsola
It is common for forward only esc's to use only 3 wires to minimize resistance.
Black: bat-
Blue: motor -
red goes to both bat+ and motor+
Take a look at any of the forward only novak instruction sheets and it should show this option.
page2: http://www.teamnovak.com/download/instructions/pdfs/T1_T4_Instr.pdf

-Anthony