Photovore Base Selection

The original Photovore vehicle (yellow roll cage) is no longer available from Radio Shack. A close substitute is the Red Fox manufactured by Echopro. It has a different plastic shell but the same chassis and motor unit. Another suitable vehicle is the Power Trakk, also by Echopro. Both of these are available (in the Northeast, at least) from ToyWorks, an outlet store associated with KayBee Toys. If you are unable to find either locally, Johuco usually has a small stock of them for resale.

If you are adventurous you can mount the Photovore boards on a variety of other vehicles as well. You might try a toy tank, a twin propellor boat, or a big blimp. The things you should look for to ensure compatibility are:

• Twin motors
  The left and right wheels should each have their own motor. This is sometimes referred to as tank drive or skid steering. Try holding one wheel fixed, turn the other by hand, and listen for the sound of a gear train meshing. If the vehicle can spin in place there is a good chance it has this drive configuration (although there are exceptions). Unfortunately, most radio-controlled vehicles have rear wheel drive and front wheel steering (like a car) which will not work with the boards.

• 3 volt operation
  The board applies 3 volts to each motor through the relays. If your candidate vehicle takes only two batteries there is a good chance it will work. If it takes 4 batteries it might still be okay if you find a center tap on the battery pack (i.e. half-bridge drivers). If it has more batteries it is most likely unsuitable.

Good luck!

Gallery

Red Fox	Trakker	OMNIvore
Kay Bee / Toy Works 084012	Kay Bee / Toy Works 449298	Radio Shack 60-2282
"Echopro Red Fox"	"Echopro Power Trakk"	"Red Fox Racer"
4 x AA	4 x AA (internal)	4 x AA
works on light carpet, 8.8" long	smooth floors only, 6.5" long	works on light carpet, 8.8" long
No longer made	Available	No longer made

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Last updated 1/5/12