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    Forum
    Paddle Steamer Waverley
    Evidently the order was placed in July for Waverley's new boilers and after an extensive design phase, both boilers are being built by Cochrans in Annan. Also, three new electric
    generator
    s have been built, tested and ready for despatch. Looks very much as if we will see Waverley back in operation during the summer of 2020. Nerys
    4 years ago by Nerys
    Blog
    Electrics 2
    Some of the circuits I built on veroboard board using circuit drawings I found on the net. Steam sound
    generator
    is MRW, whistle, single and quad switch are from action. Voltage regulars I built, drive switching circuitry for pump, smoke
    generator
    , d/f and Morse lamp. I built also the cycle timers for d/f,Morse lamp and boiler fire lights. So I donโ€™t get too mixed up with all the bits. The engine sound, smoke
    generator
    , boiler fire lights and water pump come on when prop runs forward or reverse, the d/f and Morse have each got a cycle timer of different times and run only when prop runs forward. Then the only things I need to switch are the lights on quad switch and single switch for the sound. Motor, rudder, anchor and quad switch are on joysticks so still have a spare channel at the moment. I would like to make my on quad switch and sound
    generator
    s but canโ€™t find circuit drawing anywhere.
    4 years ago by Elsrickle
    Forum
    LATEST SMOKER, E-CIG ELEMENT
    Re - (it's actually quite addictive)" very funny. Don't worry about power cuts Martin, I have truckloads of LiPos, (you're thinking what if they go flat in a power cut ?) well, there's always the car to plug the LiPo charger into, (or to pinch 12v from)๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜‚, not to mention a 900w
    generator
    if all else fails! (used that quite often in long power cuts so I can have lights and TV going, - run a cord from gen in my garden shed๐Ÿ˜€, handy item! Failing even that, I'll just burn a tree in the back yard, - lovely smoke (best Windsor Davies voice)๐Ÿ˜‚ JB
    4 years ago by jbkiwi
    Response
    Re: Model boat's push tug
    Thanks Marky๐Ÿ‘ I have a digital subscription and have received the December issue but not the Special ๐Ÿค” Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž BTW: In the December issue there's an excellent article about a smoke
    generator
    , and 'puffing' mechanism, for simulating gun fire from the main battery of the battleship HMS Iron Duke. An impressive 48" model. Worth a read๐Ÿ‘
    4 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Re: Exhaust Smoker
    Hi JB, I was thinking of a simple artificial sound
    generator
    as that isnโ€™t too difficult to put together. I think it would just be a bit more software in the revised controller Iโ€™m putting together. However, Iโ€™ve just been browsing my favourite on-line store and found this. There also seem to be plenty of sound files available on the www to download. Would undoubtedly sound better, but unfortunately it will have to go on my ever increasing โ€˜to doโ€™ list๐Ÿ˜‰ Graham93
    4 years ago by Graham93
    Blog
    Exhaust Smoker
    Following several weeks experimenting, and lots of discussion with jbkiwi, the exhaust smoker is now installed in the Crash Tender. The heart of the device is an e-cig tank and coil. This was adapted with an acrylic end piece to allow connection of power and air. The 2ml capacity of the e-cig is a bit limiting so an expansion tank made from acrylic tube was added to give a fluid capacity of around 10ml. The smoker fluid is 75% vegetable glycerine. The coil in the e-cig is designed to work from a single cell LiPo battery. A power converter drops the voltage from the boat's 2S battery down to 3.5V with a claimed efficiency of 98%. This voltage is adjustable which allows control of the amount of smoke produced. Forced air is provided by a small diaphragm pump salvaged from a defunct blood pressure monitor. This pushes air through the e-cig. The resulting smoke is fed into the cooling water line between the ESC and the exhaust ports. As the smoker is most effective simulating the engine 'ticking over' a water pump is used to create some water flow when the main propulsion motor isn't running. This adds more realism to the effect. An electronic controller based on PIC microchips connects to the throttle channel and pulses the air pump at a rate determined by the throttle setting. It also runs the water pump at a slow speed, and controls the power to the smoke
    generator
    coil. If the throttle is held at maximum for a couple of seconds, the smoker pumps and coil are switched off to save on battery consumption. With the throttle at idle, a quick blip forward on the throttle will start the smoker again. Power consumption is around 0.7A on a 2S LiPo. The two pumps are mounted below the footwell floor and the smoke
    generator
    is fixed to the bulkhead at the rear of the engine room. My thanks go to jbkiwi for his encouragement and suggestions during the development of this feature. Graham93
    4 years ago by Graham93
    Blog
    Deck Fittings
    Have decided rather than the follow the instruction to build each section. I am going to build most of the deck fittings before going further in the build. Some of the instruction are a bit vague and the drawing is not to scale, it will be easier to place items if already assembled. Have also made the small steps for access to superstructure from the deck as the drawing does not show any. Made with some old railing wire and plastic card chequered plate. Saw them on an old photo of the Sir Lancelot which was of the same class. Have fitted smoke
    generator
    in funnel and also fitted 2mm studs on base of funnel for better fixing to superstructure. The funnel is made from plastic drain pipe same diameter as the styrene pieces. The loudspeaker box will be fitted in the stern below the wooden slats where the ships boat sits this one is for the steam sound
    generator
    . As I didnโ€™t like the printed sheets for fish pond and hatches have made them from strips of walnut and lime wood the same with the trawl boards. Fishpond will also be used as battery cover and front hatch will be the removable cover for the power on/off switch, the superstructure hatch is the cover over the steam whistle loudspeaker which will be fitted in the superstructure.
    4 years ago by Elsrickle
    Media
    Another Exhaust Smoker
    Inspired by jbkiwi's experiments on a smoker, and interested in developing one for my Crash Tender I have built an experimental rig based on using an e-cig for the smoke
    generator
    and an air pump. The air pump is driven by an electronic lash-up which pulses the pump at a rate depending on the throttle setting. The video shows two tests, first with the water off, then with it on.
    4 years ago by Graham93
    Forum
    Construction of a smoker
    Click on (see all discussions) in the topic forum then go to page 16 and look for smoke
    generator
    . I hope this is the one. Or type in the search field (smoke
    generator
    ) Martin555.
    5 years ago by Martin555
    Directory
    (Working Vessel) Eppleton Hall
    Still in the process of building a 32nd scale model of the paddle tug "Eppleton Hall" from scratch, for the most part. (Motor: 540 MFA 919D) (ESC: VIPER Marine 25) (10/10). All electronics have now been installed including 2 motors, 2 ESC's, a small smoke
    generator
    , a sound module and speaker, a rudder servo, a distribution panel, all running off a 12V gel cell.
    6 years ago by Ishmael
    Forum
    T.I.D. tug
    She is a great model but could do with a smoke
    generator
    too
    5 years ago by Bryan-the-pirate
    Forum
    Sternwheel paddle boat 1 hp
    Brilliant Rooky๐Ÿ‘ Question! Is it direct drive from the wheel? If so how does the speed controller work? Heating in the wheel for faster? Servo controlled sharp stick? ๐Ÿ˜ฎ Freezing for slower?๐Ÿ˜ Or vice versa? Or does he charge the battery via a
    generator
    ? BTW: where is his life jacket ? SOLAS regs don'tcha know Warrant! Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Magnetic motors
    Morning Doug Yeah if they have enough grunt to turn a
    generator
    you could mimic big ship practice, diesel electric or in our case magnetic electric. Anybody good with numbers to see if it will work As to variable or controllable pitch props, take a look at this You Tube Clip, great model engineering. Ian
    5 years ago by ikseno99
    Forum
    Magnetic motors
    Hi Guys, This type of motor would be good if you could control the speed. There will be no need for a main battery for the model, you could also drive a motor
    generator
    to keep the receiver battery charged. https://youtu.be/wsWpkkCh_lI Maybe one day! Martin.
    5 years ago by Martin555
    Forum
    Battery backup
    The web is full of low-battery detection circuits - including those with latchable switching to stop the circuit turning back off when the main battery recovers voltage as it is rested. See the link below.https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&q=low-battery+detection+circuits&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 An alternative approach might be to detect, not the dropping of a voltage to some specific level, but the actual failure of the R/C signal at the servo due to low voltage. You can do this with a 555 easily enough and less than half a dozen components - this is often used to drive a sound
    generator
    to find a missing aircraft (just turn off the radio), or some other failsafe action. For instance http://www.circuitstoday.com/missing-pulse-detector-circuit-using-ne555 A latchable missing pulse detector coupled to a switch to add a single C NiMH battery to the main power (and an LED warning) would let you get the absolute maximum out of a battery and then boost the voltage sufficiently for a short home run. That is, if you want to run your batteries down to their limits and you are running on such a low voltage that the BEC is the first thing to go. You could also take pulses off the prop-shaft if you didn't mind the circuit switching in whenever the boat stopped.... ๐Ÿ˜Š Usually, a boat running slowly would be the best indication to come in and change batteries....
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    Direction finder aerials /water pumps
    Have got some small geared motors spare and can work through my 6 volt reducer in use with the smoke
    generator
    . Switched in conjunction with my esc so it runs when the prop runs. Also the same switches to run pump for engine cooling.
    5 years ago by Elsrickle
    Forum
    Direction finder aerials /water pumps
    Gents, Generally- Antennas for the relatively inexpensive commercial NAV/Weather radars generally rotate. The box often seen directly under the antenna contains the gearbox for this. Sometimes the whole thing is hidden in a fibre glass radome anyway ๐Ÿ˜‰ The more elaborate multi-function, fixed antenna (panels etc) radars are the domain of the military. But radar wasn't really the question anyway.๐Ÿ™„ Antennas for Radio Direction Finding (RDF) can be rotating loops / crossed loops (bit old hat now though) or fixed multi-element antennas whereby the receiver and display electronics sense the progress of the wavefront across the elements and show it (+/- 5ยฐ or so) on the screen. Usual RDF sets for trawlers and other commercial vessels operate in the VHF band, in particular for detection of VHF IMM Band distress calls. Can't be more specific without knowing what you are trying to depict Elsrickle. Attached is a link to a typical modern VHF/UHF SAR RDF unit, also showing the type of multi-element antenna used. If your model is of an older type vessel it may well have still had a crossed loop antenna. More input = more output!! APPEAL TO ALL SHIP MODELLERS:- At this juncture may I respectfully request that when asking for advice please provide all possible/available information on the model concerned! Type, Name, era (when built if known) of the original, equipment fit of the model and intentions of the modeller.๐Ÿ‘ Regarding 'water spurting' (๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜Œ) This is the outlet of the engine /
    generator
    cooling water circuits. As far as I have seen ALL ships have them. You may not notice this on modern stealth warships - cos they 'pee' underwater ๐Ÿ™„ Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Being Sociable.
    Hi Gary, My apologies for not seeing your post earlier, I don't log on very regularly, preferring to spend as much of my spare time in the work shop. I am interested in marine steam as well and currently I am building a model of Formidable, LT 100 from John Pottinger plans enlarged to 1:24th scale. I have built a double acting, twin cylinder oscillator, steam is to be supplied using a steam
    generator
    otherwise known as a mono-tube boiler. Control being done using a Taranis 9xd programmable radio, quite untested at this stage. I have added a couple of photo's. Cheers, Stephen.
    5 years ago by stevedownunder


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