Forum

Twin Motor Perkassa

I attach some pics of my 34" Perkassa. It uses two large water cooled brushed motors (650?). Two Mtronic 25amp ESCs with one red wire disconnected. You can see the ESCs on off switches over the former in the next to last pic. Presently has a Planet Tx/rx and I use 9.6v or 8.4v NiMhs of 3 to 5 amps. Not fused (naughty). The battery sits between the prop shafts towards the stern in a tray. I control the motors on the left and right sticks with the rudder on the right horiz stick. The left stick has a so I set the speed with that and use the right sticks to keep straight and steer. As an ex flyer this is an easy set up for me. Run time is about 10/15 mins but that's long enough for me and the other models on the lake!

7 years ago by Dave M

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

Starting a bit backwards here as have posted more recently with some ideas. if you are going to have a twin brushless system using 1 REC, you probably should have twin 2200Mah 2s lipos, a power lead (I use a JST plug set) taken from the input leads of ONE ESC (not the batt leads) (I break into them and solder the JST leads on ) run those to a UBEC and then to your REC switch then to your receiver. if your ESCs have a built in BEC, withdraw the red power wires from the BEC receiver plugs and tape them back as you now don't need the power from these. if your TX is 2 stick 4/6ch etc and is capable of being changed to 2 throttle sticks (provision for strip - copy if necessary - on opposite gimbal - ie using set up as mode 1&2 throttle) you can use the existing throttle and elevator stick to give full independent control with either rudder or aileron Ch for rudder. The Chinese ESCs I use have a power switch as well as BECs which is handy. I would keep the brushed system separate from the brushless altogether with its own battery (or try power from the other batt as described above) otherwise you may be trying to mix 3 phase and single phase at some point. if you are using 2.4 you could use another paired 3ch receiver (does work, as mentioned in my later post) to only run the brushless throttle from a rotary sw on your TX (if you have that )

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

Windows, stoopid question.

Hi Guys, many thanks for the responses👍 So, in chronological order:- Mike: I did chamfer but probably not enough 🤔 Yes I know about the lead in side of the die 😉 and I know the one step forward half step back technique 👍 I bought this tap n die set recently, made by Toolcraft so not cheap rubbish, maybe expensive rubbish?🤔 3mm is the smallest in this set and the holder (with action🤔) is big an' clunky and weighs 340gm so not the easiest tool to keep level. Maybe good for a 1/2" Whitworth but not so super for a 3mm which is the smallest in this set. My 'Fine thread' set only goes to 2.5mm 🤔 As you can see from the pics the die is solid and there is only one locating screw so I can't open the die slightly as you say, and I remember from my car restoration days. Cutting oil I also have, mostly used on my two lathes, both Proxxon, one for the BIG stuff and one for the twiddly bits, pics 4 & 5. Have just used the littl'n to drill a 4mm brass bolt screwed into a 35mm prop so I can reduce the thread to 3mm for the shaft, pic 6. IF only I can get a decent thread onto the shaft 😲 I'll put the shaft back into the littl'n and turn a taper on the end as you advise. My Milling machine is only a teeny weeny one with no possibility of mounting the die on it, pic 7. it's very useful for pre-drilling precision holes in in spray rails an' such to take the 0.5mm pins for fixing. Just used it to pre-drill the new keel for the cutter. I have tail stocks for both lathes but no possibility to mount a die holder. Will investigate that pronto cos I'm gonna be faced with this snag again soon; 2 new shafts for my Graf Spee and 4 for my HMS Belfast. Might also look for a different die set😲 In the meantime I'll try improving the chamfer👍 Martin; as you can see from above I do have lathes, and a good selection of silver steel rod, so many thanks for your kind offer but now you've pointed the way I'll have a go at making my own punch. That piercing saw set looks good so I'll spring a few € for that 👍 You never know I might be able to use some shortened blades in my ancient Minicraft jig saw, for which you can no longer get spares 🤔 Your MB III looks great, and I can see why you were taken for that German musician - Doppelgange! Thanks for all the advice Gents 👍👍 G'night. Doug 😎 PS Just put me name down at Frau Schmutterputz's, but I'd more likely be found in the roses or perhaps petunias singing- "I'm a lonely little petunia in the onion patch ...." 🤓😲

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Newbie radio control question

Hi All, don't sweat about mode 1 or 2, you can easily reprogramme any stick or switch or pot to do whatever you want on any RX channel you want!👍 If you want the throttle stick on the right hand side just swap the sticks over! There are instructions in the manual and demos on U-tube. I have one, a re-branded German version which they call 'Reely HT-6', and spent an entertaining evening chucking out all the fixed wing and heli presets. Attached is the excellent 68 page English User / Programming manual I got with it. it has no Chin-english gobbledygook in it 😉 I reprogrammed mine for various boats and a Sub no problems. A Good Buy, Cheers Doug 😎 PS I program my sets always for right stick rudder and throttle, leaves the left hand free for any 'special effects', or the Bierkrug 😉 - I sail here on a lake in a Biergarten 😁

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

gorilla glue

Not done much since the last update ,wife had to go into hospital so boat on back burner whilst on chicken soup duty .gorilla glue and strap have done the trick hull and ribs are back together although inside looks as its been attacked by a strange alien growth ,shall now boldly go in with dremil and scalpel and clear the growth ."keep me a kipper I'll be back for breakfast"(red dwarf)

7 years ago by marky

Blog

semi disaster

Came home today to what looked like a disaster but after a few well chosen words it wasn't as bad as first thought for some reason known only to the glue one side of the hull timbers had come off the ribs, the same glue was used on all the planks working from the keel up, alternating sides ,anyway a liberal application of gorilla glue at the effected area and some straps seem to have done the trick will leave the straps on for 24 hours and hope for the best.👍

7 years ago by marky

Response

Controls

Yes Manufacturers seem to ignore the model boat fraternity. I use Taranis Tx as I can program it to do exactly what I want which is a boon with multiple servos to control. I do all the mixing on the Tx and output to the my chosen Rx channels from 1 Tx stick. I suspect you will have to make your own s. The vertical sticks probably have all the bits but the horizontal will not. Have you considered using one of the knob controls?

7 years ago by Dave M

Response

Controls

The biggest pain in sailing her is the Dx6 transmitter, or any transmitter of that sort. I only wanted self-centering on the rudder, everything else I wanted ed so it would stay where I put it, but the only channel with a was the throttle. I took off the self-centering springs where I didn't want them, but there's no easy way to them, and they move if you breathe on them. Spektrum doesn't know for boat, or care for boaters, especially sail boaters. They sent me a contest entry questionnaire and the very first question was; "Do you use your radio for Helicopters, planes, or cars?" None of the above wasn't an option.

7 years ago by Jerry Todd

Forum

Sailing a straight line

Hi Trillium I used to cross the Mersey on the ferries and they all had a tendency to crab their way across the river. Depending on the state of the tide they did use to leave the landing stage as you describe. Looking at your hull I agree with jarvo's observations. The rudders are inboard of both propellers so will not be balanced as would be the case if they were in line. The hull shape is basically a box with minimal free flow over the rudders. Once the hull starts to wander off centre it will require quite some rudder effect to correct the drift. Where your rudders are placed near the centre line, their effect is shielded by the hull and will not be as effective as rudders further from the centre. The randomness of the drift rather supports this as it is some random effect (wind, current or motor mismatch etc) that starts the deviation. I can't see the angle of the propshaft so it is difficult to comment on what effect that might also cause. I have sailed several twin propped models and all were best kept straight by use of independent props, with the rudder(s) used to counteract wind drift. I believe your chosen method is the best approach, but you will have to keep adjusting the revs on the props to maintain a straight line. I normally have one motor on a control stick and can then just worry about the other motor and rudder, in my case both on the right hand vert and horiz sticks. Hope this helps you understand the possible cause of the effect. There is another member on this site who has a whole fleet of Mersey ferries and he may be able to give further guidance. Dave

8 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Sail boat

Do you want ( or need) to control the 2 sails differently? if not you can use a "Y" lead and control 2 servos from 1 channel. Personally I would use the throttle channel to control sails. You can buy a setup for the planet so you could have 2 channels allowing 1 for each sail. I suspect the 2 servo idea was developed for computer transmitter use and was intended to have 2 channel mixing with a trim function on each channel.

8 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

Sail boat

1st Hansajolle question. Boat is set up with servo for main and one for the fore sail? Am using a Planet T5 so which channels should I use. Also do I need to have or sprung TX controls for a sailing boat? Could I run both servos off a y lead to start with to make learning how to sail easier????? Am hoping to join Black Park Club in new year so if there are any members on this forum I'll be picking your brains soon%uD83E%uDD13

8 years ago by jeremy

Forum

Too many questions

Steve Glad to have helped. The motor is not that current hungry and at lower volts should not struggle too much with the reduction unit. The actual speed will depend on the throttle settings but if you use 12v the output should be just right for your purpose. The ESC suggested sounds perfect. The actual amps used will depend on the load placed on the motor so can really only be indicated with static info. You can buy cheap power meters that will give an accurate on water indication and holding the model as you apply full speed will give a good indication of the current being drawn. The real benefit is that you can ensure that you are not exceeding the watt rating on your motor or speed controller, both of which will overheat and damage if the amount is excessive. In case you have not fitted one a big fuse on the battery feed is a good idea to protect your model from any electrical faults. Fuse needs to be just above the stall current rating so 25 amps seems about right. You may need to adjust this higher if the fuse keeps blowing and there is no obvious fault. Depending on the time you wish to spend collecting logs will determine the battery size. I would suggest 12AHr as a good starting point, as you have lots of room and need the ballast a Golf/Wheelchair type battery may be a good choice but some may be costly and 2 12 AHr in parallel would work just as well. I use stuffing boxes at the motor end of the shaft with a turned brass fitting that is threaded onto a sleeve over the shaft. I can then adjust if water is seeping but your solution should work well. The control sticks on transmitters can easily be modified to have the spring return removed. You may need a small brass shim to ride on the internal serrated plastic adjacent to the internal part of the stick. I suspect this may not be present on the horizontal fitting so you may need to Improvise or turn the whole stick unit thro 90deg. if you are happy with a free floating stick this may nt be a problem. Very Impressed with the nozzle. The pic loaded OK. Be good to see some more pics of the boat. You can load up to four pics per post or why not start a build blog. Your model and its proposed usage is certain to attract some interest. Good building Dave

9 years ago by Dave M

Forum

electrics

Hi I am assuming you can control any servo attache to your receiver and that the system is correctly bound - receiver to transmitter. I suggest you first of all identify which transmitter sticks control which channel on your receiver. Use a servo in each receiver channel position and record on a piece of paper which stick works each channel. You then need to decide which stick(s) you want to use for the motor and rudder. Usually the horizontal movement is used for the rudder and vertical for the motor - up for faster. It really is personal preference as to which stick or sticks you use. Some prefer to use the left and right sticks other may choose to have both functions on the one stick. Now it is possible that one of your sticks does not have a self centre spring and relies on a to hold any position. if you have such a stick and it works vertically I suggest you use this for the motor control ESC. It is Important when first switching on that the Transmitter goes on first followed by the receiver using the reverse process when switching off. Make sure all your sticks are in the central position including the trims then switch on. I suggest you use two servos initially in the channels you have chosen to use so you can see that the system is working correctly. if your receiver power is via the ESC you will have to attach this to another channel and Ignore it whilst you check the servos. Switch off and replace one servo with the ESC and follow any instructions that came with the ESC to set up correctly. You should now have a correctly set up system. 😀

11 years ago by Dave M

Forum

RC In a Victory Industries Crash Tender

I have a Robbe "Dusseldorf" Fireboat, for my sins, bougth it a couple of weeks ago, secondhand and am in the process of undergoing a refit/rebuild. its had a fair life, but its been in storage somewhere and a few thing have been misplaced, broken off or generally "tired" so to speak. but its a challenge for my first attempt in radio controlled boats, please see my boat blog, to see how its progressing, but thats enough said about mine. ive finally managed to get my head round the programming side of my futaba 2.4 system, it was an aero/helI set so had to remove the on the throttle stick and replace with a spring and lever, to give the centre off position. but easy enough to do and spares readily available to fit and do. best of luck and hope santa brings you all you want.

15 years ago by Gregg

Forum

2.4ghz radio gear

HI Gregory I have this set. I agree the instructions are not easy to follow but they are helpful once you understand the terms used. My set has a on the left up down stick and I find this best. As you say you can set the throttle and concentrate on the steering. As delivered the throttle control gave no control at the centre position and forward up reverse down. if your set doesn't then someone has altered the settings. You have not said if this was a new or used set, but if it was new it could be faulty and I would take it back to the supplier. However you can test the functions quite simply on the bench. Connect up all four servos to the receiver, add a battery supply, switch on the tranny then the receiver. Once the lights show green you can move each stick in turn and see what the servos do. Hopefully they all work off one stick. if not you may have a mixing function setup but hopefully restoring factory defaults has removed this setting. The servo controlled by the throttle stick is the one you need to adjust. With the set switched on press the mode switch. The system will show the trim settings for each channel in turn, you can adjust the trim for any channel by pressing the trim adjustment up or down to centre your servo - the display will stay on your chosen stick whilst you adjust. To make other adjustments press both mode and select together. This identifies the model (1 to 6) for which you will adjust settings. You select the model with the up/down switch to the right of the display. Then press the mode switch, this will scroll through all the settings. You change the stick number(1-4) using select then use the up/down switch to alter the setting on the screen. As you alter the setting the servo will respond so you can see what you have set. When finished press mode and select together and your settings are saved. By setting each of your models up this way saves ages. Just remember to select the correct model number before you switch on the receiver. My only criticism of the set is the three letters available to identify the model. Otherwise a brilliant set. Hope this helps Dave

15 years ago by Dave M

Forum

2.4ghz radio gear

the problem I have is the original "factory setup" of the transmitter is the left stick is "throttle", but on a , whereby at the bottom is zero and at the top of the sticks travel its on full throttle, as "going in one direction only", as required for aero/helI applications only. now Ive got my paws on the system, I need "forward/reverse" from said same throttle stick, so have removed the , fitted new spring and lever to now make the joystick same as right hand one, with centre neutral. but presume the stick need programing to know that centre is "off" up is "forward full bottom is reverse "full". this is not explained in the setup instructions, only how to set for heli/aero engines, no info supplied for modyfying the throttle to do anything else. there has to be something silly here, but its just finding it in the programming modes, its just not easily visible. Same goes for swapping servo operation to reverse, the programming program flashes over the small view screen so quickly its difficult to know when you are on correct screen or you've set correct servo untill you then switch everything on and try it "live" so to speak.

15 years ago by Gregg

Forum

2.4ghz radio gear

Ive ordered the lever and spring to enable the stick to self centre, but that does not automatically tell the transmitter that it can now provide forward and reverse from its centre position. Can anyone explain how I now program the throttle setting to permit "forward/reverse", thats the main thing. as I could even live with the on throttle, well it saves having to keep your finger pressed against the lever does it not. leaving all your atention to steering and obviously playing with all the other toys, like the fire monitors and light systems.

15 years ago by Gregg