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Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, on the water at last

RE - I like the lake. Very calm. Thanks MB, it's a good lake when it's not too windy. There are some nasty 'no mans land' areas where you'd need a boat to get your model back, if it stopped with an'offshore' wind. Ran my HSL there at night once, surprising how hard it is to track a model at night, even with all the lights going. Lucky I had fitted and could hear roughly where it was till I got within about 30ft! JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

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Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build. mods and improvements.

Hi Doug, - rats nest indeed! 😂 Thanks for the nice comment BTW, I do actually have ID tags (masking tape on wires),- you can't see most of them as they are hidden behind the felt lining and under the deck and floor boards. I also use male and female JST plugs reversed when 2 connections are close together. Main power into systems comes from each battery, and splits into a number of JST connectors which supply each particular unit. It's hard to get so many wires neat and tidy in a limited space, as they don't always exit or enter the units in a convenient direction, and some don't bend all that well. Short of cutting all the wires off and substituting my own, I just do the best to fit them as they come. Looks messy but when you are trying to fit 2 ESCs, 2 ,(which have to be lifted out while wired, to get at batteries) a water pump, 2 1800 mAh LiPos, 2 remote switches, a battery monitor, 2 shaft oiler reservoirs and a UBEC and associated wiring (including light feed wiring to cabin top) into a space of around 200x200x100mm it's bound to get messy! A problem is finding nice quality flexible silicone wire (especially on JST plugs) which bends nicely round things. Most wire products you get on line are stiff poor quality stuff, and you don't know what type it will be till you get it. Main thing is that it all works and you can't see it with the top on😁😊 Re- the smoke,- I have 3 Heng Long smokers (one of which I've modded (see vid) and am experimenting with ways of making them compact, (been done on You Tube with a smaller fan than I used (in place of original pump) stuck directly to the side of the smoker tank. The smokers work really well, - just have to reduce the size (maybe a small motor in a tube with a propeller to replace the pump) Hard part is finding smoke which is 'waterproof' as it has to come out with the exhaust water. Usual baby oil smoke just disappears and doesn't travel well down tubes, (even without water) so the unit needs to be close to the exit with a non oily smoke. Perhaps an incense stick or cigarette in a tube?😀😊 JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build. Quest for the correct engine sound

True Martin, the whistle is from the turbo but the originals in the ST are non turbo. It would be great if someone would make a cheap sound unit, where you could record a sound and upload it to the unit and it would convert it to a usable proportional sound. The I have work like this and have an SD card in the system where an original sound is split into small WAV ? bytes and each one loops if stopped in a particular position, or steps up the folders in sinc with the TX (bit like going up the scale on a piano. Problem is to find a genius who can hack this system and find a way to copy a sound into the SD card we could all use. Only way at the moment is to use an installed sound, or find a smooth continuous 0-full power sound and make a WAV file and send it to the manufacturer (GT Power-China) and get them to convert it, and send you a download an hope it will install, -super complicated! Got to be an easy way!? The sound on this vid is (this is a bit like your cryptic stuff Martin) made by an inkjet printer carriage motor on 4v run through one of those adjustable voltage regs we discussed recently, and just sitting on the deck (as a sound board). I've been trying things like this for years, on and off, and you can get some quite good sounds from electric motors attached to resonator boxes, - even found the lid of a jam jar sounds like a hot bulb engine when clicked in and out over a small box (like the old clickers we had as kids), Thought of making one with a cam on a geared electric motor on an ESC. Always on the lookout for a cheaper alternative. JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build U

Hi MT, are actually for cars but have a choice of 58 sounds from V8s to diesels and are the only ones I've seen which seem to sound ok. You have to go through all the sounds and try them through the throttle range but there are a number which sound ok for boats. You can also plug them into your computer and make a few changes such as throttle sensitivity, turbo sound and volume etc. The sounds are proportional, from starting to full throttle and are all WAV sounds which seem to be split up into small 'samples' and as such, some are not quite linear but are useable. There are 2 different models, One is the 'GT Power' sound and lights model - version 2 (the better I think) which comes with all the pre wired and plugged LEDs needed for a car, (h/l, t/l, indicators etc) and comes as a module and separate speaker, (you can plug 2 speakers into this module for better sound). The other model is the 'GT Power' Car Engine Sound 'mini' which is just the sound module and speaker in one box. This works the same as the version 2 model but at present I'm having a problem with the Mini, which has the wrong model for USB adjustment installed, (sounds can be selected manually on the module but when you plug the module into the comp and open the module control panel, it's for the wrong model, - sound files are still viewable though) I'll have to contact GT Power for a fix (going by their on line help page, they seem quite ready to sort problems out and give solutions) Cost is around $56 NZ for the version 2, and around $ 51 for the 'Mini' version which is comparable to most other available, but with more features than some. Apparently, if you send the GT Power tech/help guy a complete WAV sound file (ie, start, idle, and steady slow acceleration to full and back they will make a sound file for your unit and email it back to you,(yet to try but would be brilliant if true) Units are sold on Ebay, Ali Express and Banggood (and many other model shops) and it's worth shopping around all of them, as there are big price differences. These are also sold as GOOL RC but are made by GT Power. ( http://www.gt-rc.com/en/msgBoard.jsp ) You will see the home page on there. I use a number of their products such as battery chargers, rev counters, battery checkers etc and all seem very reliable and work well. I don't think they sell direct, but they are sold everywhere. For Rooky Sailors benefit, the motors are Gool RC 540-45T 7.4V brushed car motors which have ball bearings and replaceable brushes (motor is rebuildable). Haven't tried them on the water yet, but the 45T (12000rpm) should be tourqy enough (different turn Nos are available) John B

5 years ago by jbkiwi