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    Forum
    Arduino Transmitter link up
    Am looking into a new project. I would like to use an arduino board to switch lights on and off to start with. Using the stick on the tx in one direction for on and opposite direction for off by jabing it a set number of times for each set of lights is this possible Or can the arduino be used to programme an ic to do this job. Is this possible for a beginner with arduino or is it too complicated. All advice and ideas welcome. Am trying to avoid
    relay
    s and make my own circuits instead of using action quad switches.
    4 years ago by Elsrickle
    Response
    Re: Futaba F-14 Conversion Problem!
    Me too Pete ๐Ÿ‘ I also have an ancient (25-30 years?) Graupner MC-10 still going strong, to which I have added 8 extra controls, two of which can switch 4
    relay
    operated functions. Enough to be going on with๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    4 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Electrics
    Various photos here of the electrics. Have fitted some electrical trunking down each side it helps keep the cables tidy. Have also fitted a 20amp 6volt auto
    relay
    which is operated by hidden switch on deck which controls all power to electrics. Small 2 amp fuse fitted to safeguard the ancillary equipment. For ease in binding have installed a switch in binding plug link then you donโ€™t have to mess about plugging in and out the bind plug, it will be fitted opposite the fuse holder at top of battery compartment. On the top opening where superstructure fits have a 9 pin socket for electrics in superstructure as well as loose plug for d/f motor supply.( would have liked to fit pc board connectors but not sure what to get so went this route instead.)
    4 years ago by Elsrickle
    Response
    Re: EXHAUST SMOKE AND WATER TEST 3.
    Great idea Graham๐Ÿ‘ Maybe you could use Blackberry flavour e-smoking oil? Then you'd have cracked another problem as well, one that's been giving we alchemists headaches for years! BLACK SMOKE ๐ŸŒช๏ธ Pulsing: typical application for a 555 oscillator driving a power transistor /
    relay
    ? Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Re: Gato Ballast Tank Test
    Two more ways to control the valve. If the valve is the same voltage as the pump, then a bridge rectifier as shown in the diagram on the left will keep the polarity of the supply to the valve constant. As an alternative, especially if you had a valve of different voltage, then a
    relay
    wired as shown in the diagram on the right will also work.
    5 years ago by Graham93
    Forum
    Extra channels
    That's what I was thinking Peter.๐Ÿ‘ BUT! It means sacrificing one Ch of each RX to do the switching, via a
    relay
    or MOSFET cct. RX 1 input must latch the cct, other wise it would drop out again as soon as the power switched, and RX 2 would de-latch it. Timing might be critical to stop it 'hunting'. So you'd only end up with six channels for boat functions anyway.๐Ÿค” I still don't understand why JB needs two RXs in his boat either. What can be so peculiar in a Sound module or it's wiring to necessitate that? And how does a second RX cure it?? Will have to dig further into that๐Ÿ™„ Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Hidden switches.
    This sounds very interesting havenโ€™t worked with that system. Am just switching with
    relay
    s from action. Any links where I can learn more about this type of set up.
    5 years ago by Elsrickle
    Forum
    Fishtailing
    DG, that's 2006, 13yrs ago when most people were still on FM. Most of that stuff probably doesn't apply these days with 2.4. We used to have a narrow 'hot spot' with FM around that time on our local 'unofficial' flying field (now a huge mall) and we put it down to perhaps being between 2 cell phone towers or an underground power cable. We even asked surveyors who were using satellite positioning equipment in the area but their frequency was so high and of low power so was ruled out. With 2.4 you don't get that sort of problem (maybe if you flew in front of a TV station transmitting dish or similar) but the whole idea of 2.4 was to alleviate all of the old problems. If you have a very cheap 2.4 set with a low scan rate you may get the odd problem close to a power source, (or standing next to someone with a powerful Futaba or similar) but on the whole, very few problems, (just check how far away they can fly Quads etc using Cloverleaf antennae and
    relay
    s etc using 2.4) John B
    5 years ago by jbkiwi
    Forum
    Direction Finder
    Intending to have it running when prop is going forward only with ic switch and a
    relay
    5 years ago by Elsrickle
    Forum
    Reversing Field-Wound motors
    Field-Wound motors - of which Taycols are the commonest example for model boating - used to be used extensively as hobby electric motors until the Japanese started producing decent permanent magnet motors in the 1960/70s. They are not easy to reverse, however, requiring a polarity switch of the field coils, OR armature coil, but NOT both. This means that vintage modellers cannot easily use a polarity-reversing radio control ESC to control such a motor. A common technique to address this problem uses a diode rectifier to maintain the initial polarity on one set of coils while letting the others be driven in reverse. This is a simple to apply solution, but it has a few drawbacks - it lowers the voltage available for forward running, for instance. An ideal method of reversing would be to switch the coil connections as specified by the original designer. Such switching could be done physically by an extra servo, but that brings its own ergonomic difficulties. A better method would be to detect the polarity change and switch the coils using a
    relay
    . The circuit below is designed to do this, with few components (though more, of course, than the rectifier!) The PWM signal is smoothed, then fed into an op-amp acting as a comparator. Hysteresis around the switching point is achieved with a resistance feedback. This seems to cope with the problem of generated back-emf interfering with the polarity detection quite effectively. The output switches a 5-20A
    relay
    (depending on the motor being used) via a mosfet. The
    relay
    is, of course, set so that it is on for reverse, so that the only circuit drain during forward running is the op-amp, which is a matter of uAs. This approach appears to be novel - I can't find anyone else doing it - so I am cautious about recommending it for widespread use. I have tested it on several ESCs and motors, and put it through simulators on a circuit forum that I follow. The circuit seems to work reliably with these component values, but I would appreciate it if someone else would trial it with their system. There are so many different ESCs out there that it would be hard to test them all! There are some PIC-driven polarity-detector units on the market place for other purposes - reversing steam engines or water-jets, for instance. I have tried one, and found that motor interference made the logic circuits very unstable. Using a standard op-amp avoids that problem.
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    Reversing Field-Wound motors
    That would be very useful! It's not a lot of components - and you don't need to drive a
    relay
    . Just an LED would show the operation, though to ensure that you don't get
    relay
    chatter you really need a complete circuit and a big, noisy motor to test... Here is a pic of one of my test boards - power from the battery on the left, while the (input and output from the ESC) are on the right... Correction - for 'input and output from the ESC' read 'connections to the cross-over coils'. ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ˜Œ!
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    Reversing Field-Wound motors
    Seems reasonable Dodgy๐Ÿ‘ Got loads of Op Amps in the stash and some suitable FETs and 15A
    relay
    s coming today. So I'll be 'avin a bash shortly. Doug
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Battery backup
    Funny you should mention that Martin ๐Ÿ˜‰ I built one many years ago.๐Ÿ˜Š It used a 5V two pole change over
    relay
    to switch to a second battery. It must be still kicking about somewhere. I had it in my destroyer. Originally I set it up to work like an overdrive. I had two 6V SLAs in the ship. Cruised around on one battery and used the
    relay
    to switch the second in series for 'ALL AHEAD EMERGENCY'. RC controlled of course ๐Ÿ˜‰ Was quite spectacular and made some 'speedboat' drivers look silly if they started driving in circles around me while I was cruising ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿคฃ Hotspur was halfway across the lake before they realised I'd gone. Had to go easy on the rudder when flat out though, the heeling was heart stopping๐Ÿ˜ฎ Nowadays I might try it with power MOSFETs (like in modern ESCs) instead of the
    relay
    .
    relay
    is simpler to build though. Simple enough to rig the comparator circuit up to either
    relay
    or power FETs. You just need a small single transistor preamp in between to boost the few mA from the chip output to enough to drive the
    relay
    or FET switch. For emergency 'Get Home' use the second battery could just be a small capacity version, if there isn't enough space or weight margin for a second full spec drive battery. I think I would prefer a high brightness all-round LED flasher to raising a flag. Plus an alarm horn perhaps. Although a flag would be a nice gimmick. Cream on top so to speak. 'spose it could be rigged up to small winch and a closed loop of cord with a pulley at the mast top. Once the basic circuit stands what you use it to drive is only limited by imagination, resources and space and load margins. So get your thinking caps on lads and lasses!! You don't want to flatten the emergency battery too quick though! Gotta go now, Dinner with the GF ๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿ˜‹ CU later, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Battery backup
    Just kiddin' Rob ๐Ÿ˜ Although, a vague idea how to raise the flag is trying to hide behind my last few grey cells๐Ÿค“ Got an old home made winch driver kicking about to use for some trials. Just ordered a batch of ICs,
    relay
    s, and selection of MOSFETs to play with! So if you see puffs of black smoke and hear loud swearing, in German and English, coming out of the SSE you'll know who it is ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜‰ Four way (All Round) flasher unit prototype is done and tested. If I have time I'll put up some vid and scope pics of the tests. Built it while experimenting with improving the brightness of Haig's (Reilly4) strobe unit for his patrol boat. Next up is the comparator / switch trigger. Tricky bit is setting a stable reference threshold voltage - retires to Man Cave scratching head! Have an idea so have ordered a few chips to test it. Damn, have I still got the right Zeners in my stash!?๐Ÿ˜ฎ The actual switching board is the 'easy' bit! I've been wondering about the current you guys are thinking of switching! Any thoughts on that? The higher you go the more expensive the power switching elements get. ๐Ÿค” So maybe a smaller, lower voltage 'Get me home' battery is the answer, especially if space and weight margin is limited. I've ordered some 'stuff' to cope with around 10 to 15A max, more than enough for most scale boats / ships I think. The speed merchants would have to dig deeper in their pockets! Any and all inputs on this welcome Gents (and Ladies Nerys๐Ÿ˜‰) Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Battery backup
    Nice idea Martin, Doug's the lectrickery wizard so if anyone can come up with something practical...he can. I would suggest that the circuit operate a solid state switch or
    relay
    so that any type of battery or voltage can be switched and a high brightness LED be used to indicate a successful changeover. Rob.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    Re: WTC/Sub Driver.
    Hi Martin, "A magnet on/off switch will prevent this problem." Yeees, but only if you have a
    relay
    or a high power, low resistance MOSFET switch behind it! Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Fairmile c class maiden voyage
    Sounds like you need to have a dedicated TX for the boat. I had a similar problem as I fly planes also. I bought a Hobby King HK6s mode 1 which is a basic 6CH but is easy to convert to twin throttles for boats (I have 2,- 1 for smaller planes and 1 for boats + a 6x, 9x and 2 9XRs). Makes life a whole lot simpler not having to use
    relay
    s and switches for motors. The other TX is the Fly Sky 9X (Turnigy 9X, IMax 9X) which has more switches and functions (plus easy to find extra RXs outside HK,- 3ch, 4ch, 6ch,which suit) or if you want overkill, a TGY 9XR pro and JR module, which has everything you will NEVER need on a boat . Maybe you could use a program to pulse lights, (I have it lowering the flaps on my Cub in 2 stages in small steps /pulses and slow stepless up for eg,) or perhaps have the center motor only coming in over 1/2 throttle through a separate RX,- options are endless. I think the HK 6s is the best if you just need a 6CH or the 9X for more features. You can use the rotary switch (6s) through a Sky RC remote switch (eg) to turn on lights etc plus the toggle sw for another function. Just depends on the $$ really Not sure if you are using Lipos, brushed or brushless setup but either way sounds like 2x 3s 3000mah 20c lipos should work, especially if your motors are brushed 12v , also maybe try reducing the prop pitch or diam to take a bit of load off the battery/s. Depends obviously on a number of things such as space, motor type (no of poles, KV, size etc), boat weight, battery type and capacity/discharge rate etc. Lipos are by far the best option for powering models.
    5 years ago by jbkiwi
    Forum
    LED Lighting tip
    Hi Martin, There's a saying over here amongst ship model builders, which translated means "Ship modellers will collect and save anything that won't start to stink after a few days!"๐Ÿ˜‰ I do the same as you with old video recorders, PCs, dead garden solar lamps etc etc. Great sources for motors, LEDs, power supplies, fans, connectors, ribbon cables, cogs n pulleys ..... I also browse around the flea markets here; great sources for odd bits n pieces. Have found boxes of assorted cog wheels and pulleys, once even a whole tray of miniature 5V
    relay
    s. Which I used for a home made controllable switchboard in my destroyer. See pics! Carry on recycling๐Ÿ‘ Cheers, Doug
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Re: Z-39 German WW2 Destroyer
    Well I'm damned! That's exactly how my HMS Hotspur started out when I was 15! 52 years ago, Tempus Fugit ๐Ÿค” Based on the old 1/600 Airfix kit! Back then no digital micros, PCs, Internet or 3D techโ˜น๏ธ I used calipers, a crude plastic micrometer, Dad's steel rule (half mm and 1/64th scales) and a slide rule. Drew the plans at 1/72 on an 'endless' printer roll Dad brought from the RAF Cosford Tech Training School, where he was chief syllabus writer for the Radar Tech courses. Much much later (32 years ago) I made my own decoder board with
    relay
    s to switch the lighting, smoke and horn circuits. All operated from one channel at the TX. Servo mounted micro switches provide for two further functions. Looking forward to your sketches / photos very much๐Ÿ‘ For my turrets I used one servo reduction gear and a pulley system to increase the 'firing arc' to ~270ยฐ. The whole shebang is mounted underneath the aft deck section so all comes out together for servicing. Think I'd better continue this in 'Retro Build Blog'!๐Ÿ˜ฎ Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich


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