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I have owned a Stage II Controller for about a year and when it's time to drive a Tjet or AFX, it is the controller of choice for me. I like using resistor controllers with Tjets... just seems easier for me to drive. Call me crazy but I notice a very significant difference with the car between the two types. So when Jerry of BRP called me to tell me about the "concept" for the new Stage III, all I could think of what "how do you improve on the stage II and keep it affordable at the same time and make is useful for inlines?" The basic concept went like this... BRP wanted to build a controller that could be "all-in-one". Great for everything from pancake motors through inlines. It has to be non-destructive to the national debt (inexpensive) and be customizable for every type of driving style and light without the huge, bulky transistor/heatsink which are so prevalant on many of today's controllers. How can a single controller be all things to all drivers? Face it, there are many times we want a resistor-based controller for some cars, (for me that would be tjets) and a transistor controller for other types of driving and track conditions. Basically we want it all... we want it to be inexpensive, we want it to be customizable and we want it to be light and it must work good and "oh by the way", it would be nice to see if we have track power and maybe an indicator if we hooked up wrong... Coast and brake would be nice options (and the ability to turn them off) as well as sensivity... did I miss anything? After getting a prototype STAGE III from Jerry Schmoyer, a few months ago, I realized that while being "all things to all drivers" was impossible, this was the controller that was closest for me to being perfect. I have seven aftermarket controllers including a BRP STAGE II and a top-of-the-line "popular brand" Transistor controller and now the BRP Stage III. Recently, the Stage III has become the controller of choice for me. It has interchangeable "resistor control boards" that allow you to change from one of over a half dozen different ranges of resistance. You are only limited by choice of style you want for conditions and car performance... There is also a unique board for the controller that will allow you to use the transistor set inside the handle... That's right, no huge bulky heatsinks on the wire... In fact the design allows the metal frame inside the handle to do the heatsinking for the transistor. Did I mention that there are 2 LED's to let you know if your car has proper connectivity or if you improperly connected your controller? Those are there as well. Originally I was skeptical of having the heat source in the handle and questioned Jerry about it but after running a several hours on a tyco track with a superstock all I could get for temps was around 117 degrees and I cannot say how much was "body heat" and how much was transistor. All in all, the temps were negligible to me. Jerry did some modifications to the transistor circuit and now the temps are about 10-13 degrees lower. Again, I pushed the envelope some and drove it with a STORM Modified chassis on a Tyco track and it performed well for me and was very customizable and tunable for conditions and car type. Again I was concerned about heat so I set it to coast at half throttle or so and let it run for 10 minutes and got only 114 degrees so I took it off of coast and ran the car for 7 hard minutes on my favorite lane to ensure few crashes...(controllers dont correct crashes.. maybe have to put that on the list for the Stage IV? lol) Still the temps were negligible to me. Very Impressive indeed. Since our club's highest powered class is Modifieds (ceramic motor and poly traction with 3.0 or higher arms), it has proven to be a controller for all my driving needs. I have tried a fully "neo" built Storm with a 2.6 ohm arm for a few laps with no issues but I was checking out the solid state circuitry and not temp testing. It performed well with no noticeable issues but I did not do a "5 minute heat simulation test" and just ran about 30-40 laps. On a side note, I did get the entire suite of boards from Jerry so that folks in my club can try out different boards to find which ones they would like and if their tastes change I believe the boards to be pretty inexpensive at less than 20 dollars and for that small stipend you get completely different control values and that all equated to better performance. While driving a S/S during one of our qualifying heats here at MASCAR, I did manage to "fry" the transistor because of a "case of idiot and swapped the black and red wire" but the ONLY thing I had to do to was to change to a resistor board and the controller was back up and running... I believe I ran a 30-60ohm board and finished the heat. While I prefer to use transistors for an inline car, I finished using the Stage III to test resiliency and yes, it performed well. It will not leave you stranded! What a fantastic idea. Jerry has since changed the controller design to prevent me from doing that again but you know nothing is impossible to destroy for a truly talented idiot and I did manage to prove that old adage. Findings from the trial period with the Stage III did answer a few questions for me:
Cons -Can get warm in transistor mode but not hot. -Will still let you crash under excessive trigger pull. -Cannot get beautiful women to notice you. -Will not get you promoted at work. Pros -Easy to change controller types by changing boards. -Easy to change controller resistor values by changing boards. -Can run Tjets, AFX and other "pancakes" with MANY controller options not available to most "resistor" controllers. -Can run stock and S/S inline cars of all manufacturer types (I did test Modifieds and even ran a full NEO Wizzard car for a few laps with it but I would not go higher than modifieds for racing and suspect that this controller will find a great home as a S/S and Stock inline controller and quite possibly Modifieds though it is not marketed for such abuse) -Very Light weight -High quality switches and adjustment knobs -VERY smooth trigger -Fuse protected -Professional looking controller and board system... It does not look like something a crazed maniac soldered together in their basement nor does it look like a 1950's torture device... Overall, I consider this to be a fantastic controller that met most of the things on my "controller wishlist". It performs very well and has features not easily found on other controllers on the market and I daresay for nearly half the cost of controllers that do offers some of it's features. It is VERY customizable for all racing styles and even allows the use of both resistor controlled or Transistor controlled driving styles. WELL DONE BRP! Thanks. I have to give the new Stage III controller an A++. All of Jerry’s controllers have always been great, and a great value, but this one is the grand slam! I mostly race Tjets both in stock form and Fray form, and the new controller is most excellent for these cars. But, the controller is also fantastic for inline magnet cars such as the Wizzard Storm (6-ohm arms, ceramic magnets) using the electronic control board. I drove in my 1st ever super-stock magnet race recently in the tough MASCAR series, and shocked everybody by grabbing the pole position for the round robin. I then backed it up by placing my self in the 2nd starting spot for the A-main race! Totally amazing, and owe it to the versatility of the controller. The gutter lane was brutal, with some 6-inch radius hairpins, but I was able to dial the car down to where it was very comfortable. I have also found the Tjets drive quiet well with the electronic control board, but I also like the 60-120 Ohm resistor control board. The plug and play feature for the boards is slick, and the trigger is smooth as glass. MASCAR Series Gone are the days of having a controller for each class. Now instead of changing to a different controller, you change the range of the controller to suit your needs. Very cool. Like the resistor feel? It has it with a resistor board. Like the transistor feel? It has it with the electronic board. Very cool concept that works extremely well. Hey Jerry, So far I'm lovin my stage III controller. The quality and the craftsmanship is outstanding. It runs well with t-jets as well as my magnet cars. The feel you get with the different ohm chips will smooth any car out. One controller for all my cars and classes we run is great. Thanks for a great product!! The first time I tried the new Stage III controller was a very competitive club race. The Stage III felt very comfortable in my hand right from the start. It was so smooth that once the race began I never thought about it. The car responded to it wonderfully. I ran with just a little bit of brake and it felt perfect all night long. Thanks Jerry, for creating an awesome controller! I can’t wait till the next race. I have been using a stable of Parmas although it is usually 2 or 3 only. One, a BRP 120 ohm by Jerry showed itself to be better than the Parmas which were okay. The quality and performance of the 120 ohm showed me that Jerry produced quality controllers. I recently found out about the Stage IIIR and it's unique ability to be changed. This unit is the best controller I have! It is comfortable to hold and has a soft and smooth trigger. Unlike when I change Parmas this unit stays like that as you simply change the boards to give you the range you need. In time I will be using it more as I just got it. But, I am excited and confident from what it has shown me. Update: I was testing a Tjet at Big Bend in front of John Grace. I got it down to a 4.1 to 4.2 second lap using the standard Parma and then switched to the Stage III and produced a 3.8-3.9 second lap time. Not absolutely sure why but it seemed to be that the controller response made it more drivable. Thanks Jerry. I used the Stage III at the recent HO National in Cambridgeshire, UK and it was love at first use. Changing over the boards gives a huge range of possibilities without having to use the EC setting. Like many I have found that EC controllers do not give the right feel with HO racing, so with that in mind the Stage III is the answer we have all been looking for. I did buy an EC board for my stage III, and for my Scalex racing it works a charm. The Stage III also has adjustable brakes and coast, which work superbly, but the adjustable sensitivity is the real star. Place a board in the controller top, and then click around the sensitivity knob to give 10% jumps between the lowest setting and the highest. Want to try 66ohms 'cos 60 seems just a hair to peaky? No problem, put the 60-120 board in and add one click of sensitivity around from far left. Another click give you 72 and so on. You really cannot go wrong. Just to make my unit extra-perfect I added the optional et-grip and down the line I will very likely be adding new boards. These are cheap and enable you to keep every other setting on your controller (tension, trigger shape etc) just as you need it. Buy one! EAHORC Series |
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