To help make things as easy as possible for the short course racers, Novak has released the Havok 3S Ballistic Spec Brushless System. The system comes with a sensored brushless motor for smoother control and Traxxas Plugs for quick and easy Slash installs.

Visit Novak’s site for all the details.

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A press release from Novak mentioned that they are partnering with the Trans-Am: U.S. Vintage R/C Racing Association and releasing some special Havoc Brushless systems.

The new Havoc 2S / SS Pro Brushless System 25.5T VTA for only $129! They also have a Pro Ballistic Brushless System 25.5T VTA.

I’m really glad to see companies supporting the Vintage Racing series. I think it’s really a good class, and enjoyed the race I attended a while back. It’s a good place to start, with some really cool looking vehicles!

Visit Novak’s site for all the details.

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Novak released some information on a few products at the Nuremberg show. First up is the Kinetic 1S Racing Brushless ESC. It’s optimized for 1-cell racing. It’s wired for use with a receiver battery pack, and has a low profile heat sink.

Next up is the Havoc 3S/Ballistic Brushless system with Traxxas Plug. It’s built for 2s and 3s LiPo Bashing in the Traxxas Slash and Slash 4×4, and I’m sure a few other similar Traxxas vehicles.

Last up from Novak is the Havoc Pro/HV4.5 Short Course Brushless Combo. Ready for all your 2S Bashing vehicles, ready to go for SC trucks like the Hyper 10 SC, Jammin SCRT and other SC vehicles.

Visit Novak’s site for details on all their new products.

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New from Novak is the Smart-Stop 2-Cell LiFe Battery Cut Off Module. The Smart-Stop connects between the receiver and speed control, it monitors the battery pack voltage, and prevents batteries from going below their critical safety voltage level. There is a blue LED as well as throttle interruption to let you know that your power is getting too low. If you are running Li-Fe packs, you might want to consider one of these to help protect your investment.

Visit Novak’s site for all the details.

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Novak has a new Low-Profile Heat Sink replacement. It can be installed onto the Sport Brushless ESC’s, and has the same screw hole placements. For those looking to go a little lower, these may be for you.

Visit Novak’s site for all the details.

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Have you been wanting to buy a new Novak Ballistic motor, but can’t seem to decide on what one is best for you? Well Novak is now wanting you to make the best motor for you with their new Build-A-Ballistic motor program! You can pick everything out that makes it your ideal motor from 5 different options. You can choose:
16 choices of hand-wound stators, 2 types of bearings, 3 different rotors, 5 different colors of sleeves, and 3 lengths of harnesses!
Each motor is then custom built to your specific needs! Pretty cool!

Visit Novak’s site for all the details.

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Novak has just released their new Kinetic Racing Brushed/Brushless ESC and it’s available as a system with one of their 10 Ballistic Brushless motors (from 3.T to 21.5T).

This new ESC offers a ton of options, easily programmed using Novak’s NovaLink PC Interface, including Dynamic Motor Timing and digital current control. The Ballistic Brushless motors boast an easy to adjust timing assembly along with interchangeable wound stator construction.

Visit Novak’s site for all the details.

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New from Team Novak is the Havoc 1S/SS Pro Brushless System in 10.5T, 13.5T, and 17.5T. This setup is very special because it’s built to run on a 1S Lipo! Their new Novak Smart Boost circuitry allows to run cheaper 1S packs which work well for Oval and 1:12 scale racing. The ESC and SS Pro motors have Thermal Overload protection, and are ROAR approved.

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Team Novak is introducing a 5-Amp Universal BEC. The BEC allows drivers to run high voltage main battery packs up to 28 volts, and regulates the output to 6 volts/ 5 amps to give consistent glitch free power to the receivers and servo’s. For you guys running the big power packs in the crawlers, buggies and dragsters, Team Novak has you covered.

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News from Team Novak is that they have five new brushless systems coming for the of-road and off-road spec class guys! The Havoc Pro-Ballistic Brushless System. The Havoc Pro ESC is compatible with all Novak brushless motors and any ROAR approved 540 sized sensored motor. The brushless systems run in range from 3.5T to 17.5T and start shipping in the end of August 2009.

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Looks like Team Novak is going after the spec classes with their new Ballistic Spec Brushless Motors. What’s cool is, you only need one motor to compete in all spec class races, you just need to install the necessary color-coded stator and you are ready to go! A removable sheilded sensor harness is built to ROAR/IFMAR specs.

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One of the most popular Crawler ESC’s from Team Novak makes a return! The GOAT Brushless/Brushed ESC can run two or three cell LiPO batteries and now has support for worm-drive vehicles like the Losi Comp Crawler and Kyosho Rock Force! Sounds like some pretty good updates to an already proven ESC!

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Team Novak has just released the first crawler-specific 13-turn brushless motor: the Crawler 13.5T Brushless Motor (#3414). Wow! I thought my GOAT was always plenty fast! It’s ideally compatible with Novak’s new Goat 3S Crawler Brushless/Brush ESC (#3214). Hit their webpage for more info!

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Welcome to yet another incredible, inedible, Cub Report.

Product news of the week? The new Novak 1,300+ Sintered Rotors . Essentially, these new rotors have been put through a special process to give the magnet more strength. They sell for under $40. But ya know, brushless racing shouldn’t require a “hop-up” magnet, it’s brushless for hecks sake. Some idiots years ago started “stock” classes for brushless, which require racers gear the crap out of uber low kv motors just to get any speed out of them, which then requires rotor upgrades. Sad, very sad. Brushless motors can easily outpower any chassis, it’s just one of the beauties of that beast. Brushless racing should be about run whatever BL motor you want, not about hopping up too slow of a BL motor, buying the biggest pinion you can find, and making adapters so you can mount a smaller spur than was ever designed for your chassis.

I’ve got a challenge for track designers. Yes, every single Joe Blow that hits your track b%tches about everything. Yes, turnouts are spotty to poor, and you aren’t making millions of dollars running a track. But, I’m so sick and tired of one line tracks. Yes, it’s extremely hard to make an rc track with multiple lines, hell, nearly impossible, that’s why I’m issuing a challenge, not making a request. It can be done, I’ve seen it on rare occasions. So track builders, in your next track layout, try to make a corner with two fast lines in it, put in an option section, and put in a jump section with two distinctly different rhythms if you enter from the tight or wide side. One line tracks are boring, they suck, they breed hackers, and are just plain bad for racing.

The Li-po battery shootout is getting closer, and the buzz is growing bigger each day. The BigSquid staff is being rounded up, as are lots of chargers, power supplies, and soldering irons. This shootout is going to take a lot of work and time. I haven’t gotten the last count, but we’ve probably gotten close to a dozen packs now. We’ll have everyone from editor types, to factory shoes, to local bashers helping out. For the more technical data, we’ll have an actual engineer on hand. We are committed to two things for the shootout- fairness and accuracy. Hopefully it’ll make for some great reading for you guys afterwords.

Also of note from the shootout is a new found respect for one of the vendors that submitted packs. A particular company is stoked about the shootout, win or lose. If they win they will be stoked, if they lose, they are looking forward to improving their product to be better than the winners. Awesome attitude, one I truly respect.

By the way, most every vendor that has submitted packs has sent us more than just one. Most companies have sent in both their low end Li-po, and their high end Li-po for the shootout. So not only will you get to see a comparison of performance from company to company, but also between price points within one brand.

That’s it for this week, support your LHS’s and local tracks, even if they are all one lined.

Your Cub Reporter

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Over in the RC Reviews section we just posted a write up on the Team Novak HV Pro Brushless system. This whole system is pretty dang awesome. If you are thinking about doing a conversion, go check out Novak’s kits!
Click Here to jump right to the review.
Thanks for helping out Bill! I think we really gave that buggy some new life!

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New from Team Novak is the Havoc 3S/Ballistic 8.5 Brushless System. For you guys that just are not happy with the 2S stuff and always want to jump to 3s LiPO, this guy will handle it for you! The ESC allows for adjusting things like Throttle Curve, Brake Frequence and LiPo Cutoff limits. It boasts a small footprint making it idea for vehicles like the Traxxas Slash, HPI E-Firestorm, or Associated SC10. Look for the Ballistic to start shipping mid May.

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New from Team Novak is the combo of the Rooster Crawler ESC and their Forty-Five Brushed Motor. For you brushed fans out there, this is a pretty killer combo.
If you are into the rc rock crawling scene, but thinking about going brushless, make sure to read our REVIEW of the Team Novak GOAT Brushless System.

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Last weekend, a few of us were out looking for a dry parking lot to bash in when we came across this semi-frozen lake. We knew that someone had to get out there, just most of us were chicken. Luckily Bill (Firesprink281) was brave enough to get out there with his Traxxas Slash. He was running a Novak Brushless that he ’sort of’ water proffed. We were all glad there was no need to form a rescue crew, though for a few seconds there we thought we might. In classic form, Pro Driver Tim Mohr says ‘If you don’t have any problems, were all gonna be out there’ and pretty much right on cue, Bill gets stuck to the crowds ‘uh-oh!’.. good times.

There is also a YouTube version here: Traxxas Slash On Ice Video

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New from Team Novak is the Ballistic Brushless RC Motor series. It has a new easy-to-adjust timing assembly that actually alters the RPM range! It also has interchangeable wound stator construction and removable shielded sensor harness. They come in 3.5T to 8.5T for all styles of RC action, on-road to basher! Head over to the Team Novak site for all the details.

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New from Team Novak is the Havoc 3S Brushless/Brushed ESC. It’s based on the popular Havoc Spec Brushless Systems but now with the ability to run 2s or 3s LiPo for us speed nuts! It’s got built in auto detect software that will recognize the 2 or 3 cells. The ideal vehicles for this new system are the Traxxas Slash, HPI E-Firestorm, and Kyosho LAZER.

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