[woodcote]

Kev - what often happens at a club is everyone looks at the quick guys and buys whatever controller(s) they use. That's not a bad ploy, but might not be the ideal solution. However, what is even better about a club is that - if you ask nicely - you get to try other people's controllers before you buy - and you might even get an extended loan of one.

The first club racing I did was simultaneously at a BSCRA club (metal chassis, lexan bodies, big amp motors etc) and a weekend HO series with pretty much stock 'toy' cars.

At the BSCRA club I was loaned and then sold (for £25!) a SCD transistor controller - a perfect entry-level controller for that type of racing. It had two knobs (sensitivity and brake) and let me concentrate on improving my driving, rather than fiddling with the controller set up. The top guys had £500 controllers to go with their £2k+ annual racing budgets. I was never going to be A (or B) final material, but I had fun and learnt a lot.

At the HO club, the quickest guy turned up with 35 ohm and 55 ohm Ninco set controllers hanging round his neck - and he was untouchable. Others tried all sorts of fancy electronic controllers from the UK and USA but couldn't get near him. I looked at that and decided to get a 45 ohm Parma Eco, started getting some decent results with it (a few runner-up spots) and I still race stock HO cars with the same Parma eleven years later (If I was buying now, I'd go for a DS 45). For higher-performance HO cars I use a Truspeed MT1 PWM controller - which has the same two knobs (sensitivity and brake) as the SCD and works for me (simple to set up = I concentrate on my driving) and works well with the faster HO cars.

I also race 1/32 digital and have a Slot.it SCP2 for oXigen events. This has a lot of knobs. It also has a super-soft trigger, which I'm not too crazy about. With practice, I'm getting more used to it... but I have to say I don't enjoy spending so much time and brain power on fine-tuning the controller and wondering if I've got it right. I prefer to just concentrate on my driving and tweaking the car. It's another complex variable I could do without.

Nowadays (or before Covid) I occasionally race at 1/32 hard body clubs (East Worthing and Nascot Wood). I want to do more of this in the future. I've been using my Truspeed MT1 - but I'm wondering if it might also be a good opportunity to get more confident with the SCP2. Or maybe even take my Parma along?

Although not a Controller 101 - I hope this gives you an idea of the key things to think about with choosing a controller - something that suits  the cars you are driving, your driving style, your need for simplicity (or complexity) and - ultimately - just finding something you click with... Might be worth waiting for a big purchase until you get to the club. You'll get good advice related to the classes of cars you'll be racing - and get to hold various controllers and try them out. Although Sean and Nick at Pendles will be delighted to sell you a new controller, you might get a very good deal on a used one.