[bbkRob]

OK, a little clarification. bbk is a software and services company. We do not make hardware, we sell it under its original manufacturers name. Our relationship with Mylaps (I'm going to stop using the AMB name now, but remember Mylaps is just AMB with another name and with stuff from Champion Chip) is that of a reseller. I don't own them and they don't own me.

OK, today's reveal.

What you know so far is that we are talking about something that is twice the power and about half the size and weight of something else. What you have guessed is that it is a direct powered RC car (and boat) identification device. I can confitm that this is correct. Oops, gave something away then, direct powered! It might have contained a long term battery, like the Mylaps transponders used for active sports and rental karting. Well it is direct powered from your car electrics and it uses about half the power. So that's two of the three halves used up, just another one to go. I bet you are all hoping the remaining half is price. Well it might be and it might not be but I would suggest that if you are looking to buy a PT you hang on a bit and if you have a used one to sell you get cracking. In the past I have seen quite old (>4 years) sell on Ebay for more than the cost of a brand new one so you might get lucky if you are quick.

Lets go back to the power thing. With the advent of Lipo single cell racing the power in the car is quite a low voltage. That is a bit of a challenge for servos and radios. I can confirm that this new device, lets call it Harry, will work with voltage down to 2.8v (1c) and up to 16v (4c). And the cable is PTFE and so nitro and petrol (gasoline) resistant.

Harry also sends its operating voltage and temperature as part of the ID. Of course telemetry from the car to the driver/pit crew is not allowed (paraphrase from BRCA General Rule 10), but as a Race Director I'm sure you would be interested to know if an IC car's throttle servo was being controlled by a very low voltage. Yes, I know there are failsafes, but when it comes to safely a belt and braces are always helped by a piece of string. Operating temperature is up to 50c, so don't strap it to the engine or speedo!

So, another big one there, new data from the transponder! So what does that mean for the Decoder?

Rest assured that Harry will work with AMBrc and AMBrc3 Decoders. I'll talk more about Decoders tomorrow. I also need to talk about availability. I'll do that on Sunday, in time for you to write your letter to Santa.