Novak Product Timeline 1978-1988

1978-1988

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1978 marked the year Novak Electronics began designing products for the R/C industry. The Bantam Midget servo was Novak's introductory product, and was designed primarily for aircraft use. As the electric R/C car market began emerging in the early 1980's, car enthusiasts began using Bantam Midget servos for their size and speed. In 1982 and 1984, the Bantam Midget was used to win 4 On-Road World titles. Although orange was Novak's official case color, the Bantam Midget was originally sold in 7 different colors.

"Bantam Midget"

Servo

• First Novak Product

• 4-Time World Champion

•Discontinued in 1982

Novak ventures into the aircraft receiver market with the 7-channel IC receiver.

"IC Receiver"

7-Channel Aircraft Receiver

• Novak's First Aircraft Receiver

•Discontinued

Novak breaks into the charger market with the NEC-1, a temperature-sensing charger similar in size to an electronic speed control (except ESCs wouldn't be introduced into the R/C market until a few years later). The Bantam Midget retires after 4 years, and Novak releases the NES-1A servo.

"NEC-1"

Temperature Charger

• Novak's First Charger

•Discontinued

"NES-1A"

Servo

•Discontinued

With the electric car market booming, Novak introduces the NER-2S 2-channel receiver--the first receiver designed specifically for car and boat applications. The NES-2H is added to the Novak servo line in order to fill the need for a higher power servo that can provide faster steering for the newer, heavier models that are being produced.

"NER-72 Dual Conversion"

Aircraft Receiver

•Discontinued

"NER-2S"

2 Channel AM Receiver

• Novak's First Receiver for Cars/Boats

• World Champion

•Discontinued in 1987

"NES-2H"

High-Powered Servo

•Discontinued

Novak establishes themselves as pioneers in the R/C speed control market with the design and introduction of their first electronic speed control, the NESC-1. By comparison to today's speed controls, the NESC-1 featured an on-resistance of 0.0025 ohms (4.3 times the Cyclone's on-resistance of 0.00058). Novak's speed control line is completed with the introduction of the NESC-2, NESC-4, and NESC-1X. Electronic speed controls make their first World Championship appearance at the 1985 Off-Road Worlds, with both Jay Halsey (2WD) and Gil Losi Jr. (4WD) using the NESC-1 to capture World Titles.

"NESC-1"

Speed Control

• Novak's First Speed Control

• 2-Time World Champion

•Discontinued in 1986

"NESC-2"

Speed Control

•Discontinued in 1988

"NESC-4"

Speed Control

•Discontinued in 1988

"NESC-1X"

Speed Control

•Discontinued in 1988

Improvements in transistor technology allowed Novak to improve speed control reliability. With the release of the NESC-T1, Novak was the first to use new-generation TEMPFET transistors to provide thermal overload protection. Tony Neisinger uses the NESC-T1 to win the 1986 1/12 Modified World Championships.

"NESC-T1"

Speed Control

• First ESC with Thermal Protection

• 2-Time World Champion

•Discontinued in 1990

Novak designs and releases their second-generation chargers--the Peak and Peak Plus. Both chargers feature state-of-the-art peak detection circuitry to provide customers with accurate battery pack charging. The popular NER-2S receiver retires, and Novak introduces a miniaturized version, the NER-2X receiver.

"Peak Plus"

"Peak" (not shown)

DC Charger

•Discontinued in 1991

"NER-2X"

2 Channel AM Receiver

• 2-Time World Champion

•Discontinued in 1994

Both the NESC-4 and NESC-T1X models were updated with the TEMPFET transistors, making the Novak ESC line (3 models total) complete. At the 1988 Worlds, Novak was the first to use a current limiter with a speed control. Masami Hirosaka won the 1/12th Modified World Championships with the NESC-T1 and external current limiter.

"NESC-T4"

Speed Control

•Discontinued in 1994

"NESC-T1X"

Speed Control

•Discontinued in 1990

"External Current Limiter"

• First current limiters used with ESCs

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