Since the dawn of the electronic age for paintball, the aftermarket has
really attacked the marker market, designing boards, chips and other
electronics that enhance the performance of a marker and give it more
flexibility. As things evolved, it became obvious that hoppers would have to
get upgrades to keep up. Enter the HALO V35 board, Gangstar, and now
Hyperdrive PB.

Janek Depczynski, the designer of the HyperDrive chip for the VL Vlocity and
Vlocity Jr. took a hard look at the code on the stock hopper’s chip, then
set forth to improve on it and make it easier for people to use. The result
is being used by pro teams like XSV as they power their way through the
leagues.

Since the HyperDrive chip is physically the same as the chip installed in a
Vlocity as it comes from the factory, installation is simply a matter of
taking your hopper apart to access the board, carefully pulling out the old
chip, and installing the new one.

By installing the HyperDrive Chip, you gain complete control of every aspect
of your hopper’s operation, and you can fine tune it to your tastes. You can
program the timing and power going to your hopper’s motor, tension on the
ball stack, an electronic rip drive to remove jams, how long before you
loader powers down before it automatically shuts off, plus QuickChange modes
for quick and easy setup to feed your marker without delving too deeply into
the programming. There’s also a setting for Hyperdrive Mode time, which
gives the loader an extra burst of speed and power when running in this
mode. This would be used mainly during the breakout portion of the game,
when the absolute need for fast and reliable feeding is needed most.

On field, operating a HyperDrive upgraded Vlocity is the same as a stock
one. HyperDrive PB, Janek D was kind enough to provide us with a upgraded
loader for this review. Janek from HyperDrive noted that this was a demo
loader, used at trade shows for the past year or so. As such, the gearbox
that drives the feed cone is excessively worn, which caused a ratcheting
sound during high load operation or during an anti-jam maneuver. In the
higher power settings, the Vlocity Jr. we tested was also noticeably louder
than a stock Vlocity.

The loader was subjected to a variety of different paint, including DraXxus
RecSport, GAP, and DraXxus Blaze, in a variety of different environmental
conditions. We tested the loader on a variety of markers as well, including
a Dangerous Power Threshold, Angel A1, and a Planet Eclipse Ego 8. In every
case the HyperDrive-equipped loader performed flawlessly, but the electronic
rip drive got a good workout while we were using the DraXxus Rec-Sport,
which we had intentionally abused so that it was misshapen and varied widely
in size. The chip’s code detected and cleared the jams with minimal
disruption.

Priced at $19.95, the VL-Approved Hyperdrive Chip is a must-have upgrade for
your Vlocity or Vlocity Jr. For more information, check out
www.hyperdrivepb.com