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Constellation

Made the framed glass portion of the skylight. They're hinged so I can get a finger inside to flip the power on or off. They're made from clear plastic from some packaging, basswood, and brass wire.

6 years ago by Jerry Todd

Forum

powered winches for pusher tug.

I wanted to be able to attach a barge to the bow pusher posts of my Egrete Pusher tug. BUT did not want to simply use a couple of bits of elasticated rope, would not really look "right" or would be prone to failure. So after a bit of searching around I found a nice little geared motor set/kit In Maplins, think It was only A£9.99 or less, I know Is wasn't much. Anyway, It was possible to swap teh gears about a bit till I got the speed of the winch drum to a nice slow pace, so not to grab at the winch cables too quickly and cause problems. The motor assembly comes with Its own mounting plate, so nice and easy to mount Inside the winch house of the pusher tug, the cables ran through the actual cable pipes through the forward bulkhead. All I had to do was make sure that the actual "tow posts" on the barge were bonded deep In to the hull of the barge, to take the load, especially when turning. The motor operates on 3v so I just used a maplins twin AA battery pack, and wired up a couple of micro es on top of a normal servo. So by using one channel of the transmitter, I now had "in/out" control over the winch via one of the joysticks.

12 years ago by Gregg

Forum

Arduino Transmitter link up

Example pulseIn() code to read RC RX pin (tested-working) /* This is example code for an RC */ unsigned long ch1; /* run setup code once*/ void setup() { pinMode(4, INPUT); // Set our input pins as such pinMode(3, OUTPUT); Serial.begin(115200); } /* loop code*/ void loop() { ch1 = pulseIn(4, HIGH, 22500); // Read the pulse width of the channel - timeout after X milliseconds if no change to pin if (ch1 > 0) { if (ch1 > 1700) { //assigned to a 2 position digitalWrite (3, HIGH); // turn on if (ch1 < 1300) { digitalWrite (3, LOW); // turn off } } Serial.println(ch1); // print value read to serial monitor } } Note: Pin 13 on many Arduino boards is connected to the onboard LED - This is great as a fast way to test code. Be aware that as the Arduino boots it normally flashes the led on pin 13 - so if you connect your circuit to pin 13 it will also on/off on board startup

5 years ago by G6SWJ

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

Hi all, a friend is building a submarine and wants to turn it on remotely with a proximity and magnet, he needs to know where to wire it in... I thought it should be into the positive wire from the battery - am I right? Thanks in advance, Eric

6 years ago by EricMB

Forum

Help me please

So you already have an appropriate motor installed. All you then need is a radio (Tx and Rx), a servo, a speed controller and a radio- if you want to add able lights. Oh, and a battery. You will need a radio because 35mhz is an aircraft band. Boats can use 27mhz, 40mhz (both old technologies now) or 2.4ghz. I would strongly recommend 2.4ghz - it's cheap and has lots of advantages. You can get a set for less than £50 - I have seen them for less than £20! But get one with more than 2 channels if you want to do extra light ing. The hull is a displacement one - I suggest a standard 7.2v NiMh battery pack (though I don't know your motor voltage?). Do you have a charger?

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

Hello all. I hope you can help me before I lose all of my hair. I recently purchased a Turnigy 9x set which, according to all of the reviews I have seen, is good value for money. I am sure that they are all right but you need to be a genius to understand the instructions. Everything is in short hand. I am fairly new to the latest radios but I can read. This is not good. The internet has been invaluable and I have found a good instruction book for the Flysky 9x which appears to be the same. I have now got through the basics but I am having a problem achieving what I bought it for in the first place. My latest build, a Pilot boat, has been wired such that I need to use three channels to operate rc es. I would like to use channels 5, 6 and 7. I have found that I can set 5 to gear which gives me one , another can go to throttle something to give me two es, but the other choices go to trimmers only. After reading bloggs it seems that I can get a third working on, say, channel 7, but have to alter mix settings. I am completely lost now and wondered if anybody could instruct me as to how to get this third to operate on channel seven. Thank you.😊

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Anteo 2 Tug

Could someone advise me on a suitable brushed motor for the Anteo tug 800 mm length. Also how do you reverse motor,special esc or reversing ? Thanks Dick

6 years ago by Dick

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

Peter,here i put photos of simple servo ., constructed by Petr Hajek (ufon 13).I use the same for ing sound modules (siren + foghorn) Channel 2 in my model ps Lulonga. I do not know why you are not using channel 3 (throttle) to control the engine via ESC.... Regards Tom 😊

5 years ago by tomarack

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

I have now connected the batteries and entered into the Aux channel mode on the TX. I have set gear to channel 5 and throttle hold to channel 6. Two of my lighting circuits now work perfectly using the gear and the throttle cut on the Tx. I just need one more to enable the third circuit to light. there are still two or three two position es available to use but are not supported in the Aux channel menu. I am told that they can be used by altering the mix menu but I am afraid this goes beyond me at this time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Peter.😊

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

Thanks Tom. I think I can choose between five items for each of channel 5 to 9. Two I believe, Gear and one of the others, are controlled by on/off es on the Tx. The others are routed via potentiometers. There is, apparently, a way of changing one of these choices to be operated by a third using `mix` settings but I have no idea as to how. I will try to get my LED`s working on the two es that are available through the Turnigy rc es I have wired to channels 5 and 6 on the receiver. I will post how I get on.😊

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

Hi, As I see, there is a problem. The basic question is - what you need to control, and the other - whether this type of RC kit will allow this. Especially .. this type is mainly designed for aircraft control. You need to choose compromises to control the ship model. This type does not allow simple ing of functions - only by means of another ing module, or by means of end es on the modified servo. in the base allows only proportional control of servos or ESC. There are RC sets, that have ing functions, such as Graupner - e.g. Graupner mc-20 12-Channel HoTT but these are far more expensive... The basic wiring is the 3rd throttle for engine control (ESC), channel 4 for control of the rudder. there is a possibility to use channels 1 and 2 for ing the added end es but it is not possible to them permanently (perhaps with the help of the added relay)-. channel 5 can be used - setting> AUX> GYR> PIT TRIM - (rotary potentiometer control.) similarly channel # 7. AUX settings> HOV THRO Channel No 8 - AUX Settings> HOV PIT Operate again using rotary potentiometers - see function descriptions. These channels again allow only proportional control. ing can be done (maybe) using channel # 6 settings >AUX>FLP> Gear ON/OFF (I did not try this) It is good to get familiar with the setting of the individual elements and check this on the display for the test (without the connection of the receiver !!) before you all plug in the model. I hope it helped you a little bit.. Tom

5 years ago by tomarack

Forum

Richardson/Southampton Smoke Generator

Hi Pete, 45 years, Wow! Well I'm glad you have some es. you can use on your project! It wouldn't have been a problem. I would have sent you some es! I'm glad you have some though! Yes, Harbor Models is a good place to look for model supplies! There's also Cornwall model boat in the UK. They have a good amount of supplies as well! I also know what you mean about your appointments! It always seams as if there not going to end! Nick, is good people and very helpful! Let me know how you make out! Ed

5 years ago by figtree7nts

Forum

Slightly confused newbie

Whilst I am not new to boat modelling, I am new to r/c and I’m confused about an issue I have. You can see the setup in the images. Everything works fine, and testing the boat on the pond; I was very pleased how she ran. The issue is this: if I set the trim (bottom right on transmitter image) to reverse, the rudder works normally. If I set it to Normal, it is reversed. If I set the throttle trim to normal, the throttle is reversed, and if I it reverse, the motor runs a full throttle, with the joystick in the neutral position! All the other trim controls are in the neutral position, as in the image. I have double checked all the wiring, and would really appreciate some help on what I am doing wrong.

6 years ago by J Barry

Blog

Electrics in the cabin

Progress on the main build is slowed at the moment so that I can complete the electrical installation. I have decided to route all of the wires inside of the original outer sleeve. I have removed the wires and replaced only the ones I need. I have stuck them to the inside walls as I do not like them hanging everywhere. Perhaps they look a little like insulated pipes, at least that is what I tell myself. I have terminated all of the wires into two 9 pin connectors. These will then connect directly into a small ABS enclosure where I have a flasher circuit and a pcb with all of the resistors for the LED`s. I have wired in this manner so that all I need to do to completely remove the cabin is to disconnect the two connectors.All of the remaining circuits can remain in the hull. A little more work is required in the hull to fit and wire the es to operate the equipment from other es on the transmitter.😊

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Richardson/Southampton Smoke Generator

Hi Pete, Doesn't it say on the instructions. How long of a run you will have with a fill up? You are right that's why. I put es on my smoker and fan! You don't want it smoking indoors! Pete, I have some very small es. I had purchased! If you'd like I can send you two! I'm not too far from you! And I wouldn't mind sending you. The es they are small. And would be just right for you model! If you like I can PM you mailing details! Regards, Ed

5 years ago by figtree7nts

Forum

Slightly confused newbie

Sorry JB but, Total waste of time and postage.😲 1. The Mtroniks ESC and your TX appear to be working as advertised. If you arbitrarily reverse the servo output at the TX then you must tell the ESC that, i.e. go through the Mtroniks setup process again. 2. if the whole thing works just fine with the servo reverse on the TX set to reverse - so what? Why mess about and waste money? There seems to be no particular standard for what is 'Normal' or 'Reverse' between manufacturers. I have noticed this phenomenon with several manufacturers. In particular between older 40MHz sets and 2.4Gig sets of recent Eastern manufacture. I just set the TX es so that everything works the way I want and 'Bob's yer Uncle, Fanny's yer Aunt'. I really don't care if it's 'Normal' or 'Reversed' - "If it works - DON'T FIX IT!!" Whatever, I would be MOST interested in Mtroniks response. I don't believe there is anything wrong with the ESC.😉 Please post their answer 👍 And yes, I have several Viper Marines in operation with no problems. Just follow the instructions as John posted above, and IF you change anything at the TX - TELL THE ESC!! Good luck, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Slightly confused newbie

John, I followed the video exactly, using ch.3 instead of the ch.2 recommended with the radio gear, but then I could not get response from the esc. Mine is a 25amp; would that make any difference? I then ed it back to ch.2 (having already reversed the motor leads) and ran the setup again. The throttle now runs in the right direction, but if I the trim to normal, the motor runs at full speed forward. ing it back to reverse, it functions normally. What am I doing wrong??

6 years ago by J Barry

Forum

Slightly confused newbie

hi ya J that looks like an Mtroniks speed controller in the pic - does this one have the button on that you press to set it up? because I know what you would need to do is set your trim in the neutral position for the throttle and then go through the procedure of ing on the transmitter and then the receiver and then pressing the button on the speed controller so it recognises where neutral is. I believe some of these Mtroniks are something like 100% rpm forward and something like 75% rpm in reverse. if this idea doesn't work you could always swap the wires over on the motor. (NOT ON THE BATTERY) 🤓 Chinee smokey come out of speed controller if you do dat 😲 John

6 years ago by JOHN

Forum

Mtronics W-tail marine mixer connections.

Hi in the old days before mixers i seem to remember micro es arranged one either side of the rudder helm When steering reached full helm one motor was ed out Cheers Ian

6 years ago by TOWN3810

Response

Engine Room Refit Completed!

Hi Michael, As requested here is a picture. Showing the smoker! Which is forward of the motor! As you can see there is a piece of wood. Which runs straight up. This I use to keep the smoke stack supported! It's just a piece of rubber hose. So, I had to put a piece of 1/4"x 1/8" dowel. To support the hose else it would flop down! All my es are on her port side! And for now the smoker . Will be out of place. Until I get some thinner gauge wire! To do a better wire run. And make it look neater! Cheers, Ed

6 years ago by figtree7nts

Response

Holy SMOKE !! Video, Tin Can Madness

Hi Joe, When you click on the Media File icon have you ever noticed the [Download] button in the top left corner of the media window!!?? 😲 Click on that and you are given the choice to Open or Download the file 😉 BTW: to answer your question above - No scale railway at all! I intend to use the loco smokers in RC conversions of 1/350 scale plastic navy ships, such as; HMSs Ark Royal, Colossus, King George Fifth, Prince of Wales, Exeter, and KMSs Bismarck and Graf Zeppelin. As well as RMS Titanic and my 1/128 HMS Belfast and Graf Spee. Two more perhaps for my Southampton tug. Have used them in the dim and distant past for my 1/72 scale RN destroyer. Built a little RC pulse decoder using CMOS chips followed by a transistor driver to a relay supplying the smoker coil. See pics of self etched decoder board. The other three outputs are for various lighting effects and destroyer 'Whoop whoop' siren. 30 years old now and still going 😊 The smokers work pretty well just using the capillary action of the thin glass feeder tubes. So no wick to come into contact with a a hot wire coil 😊 They were mounted on a bridge across the cap of a large spray can which I used as the oil tank. Exhaust used the chimney effect of a 10mm alu tube running up the funnel. I'm also still pondering how to turn the usual white steam/smoke black! Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Tin Can Madness

Hello, Could not resist starting an experiment with an all metal container. This is a small tomato sauce tin can out of the pantry. First time I tried soldering tin to brass and it is very easy, with flux, to do. Will run test on both smokers and publish photos. As noted, it is a good idea to add a fuse between the batteries and the powers as these heaters tend to draw 2 amps or more, be careful with wire gauge as well. Danger of fire.... Joe

6 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Nav. lights and smoker

The navigational lights and the smoker still need to be final wired with a power for each. The amp draw on the smoker is about 2.2 Amps as measured with my meter, so I intend to use a 2 1/2 Amp Fuse. Will probably just use manual rather than remote just to keep it simple, we will see..... Cheers, Joe Joe

6 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Reassembly

Continuing on, I finished mounting the light bar, all lights are functioning. For some reason my iPad does not like LEDs and they don't photograph when lit. Made an exhaust stack out of brass tube, mitered the top, soldered and painted. Hull dry now so I mounted the superstructure onto the hatch, reinstalled the tow bits, and batteries, RX, motor, etc. Getting close to sea trials, maybe this week schedule permitting. Cheers, Joe

6 years ago by Joe727

Forum

Smoke generator

Have just made a prototype of a fan forced smoker which seems to be working well (despite breaking the heater coil by moving it while hot, - had it apart, broke wire, screw and washer repair, not quite as hot) I bought a couple of Heng Long smokers (for R/C tanks or cars) to play with, for $10 NZ each(or 5.3 Euros to you Northerners give or take a yen) from Bangood and just bought another from Ebay. There seem to be 2 different models, as one has a long coil with a lamp wick draped over it, which is sitting in the oil reservoir, the other has a small coil inside a piece of heat resistant woven tubing (as you might find insulating toaster/heater wiring etc) which acts as a wick and that also sits in cotton wool in the reservoir, (this seems to be the better of the two) Tip - don't fill the tank right up, only enough to soak the cotton, element should be just out of the oil. The wick loads the element. The better model seems to have a black top to the tank (also maybe either brown or black tank) and the other has a brown top and dirty brown tank. As with most of this stuff you won't know till you get it what it's going to be. What I did was remove the tank and cut off the pump tube just in front of the screw lugs (see black line in photo) then fitted the tank, and a 40x40x10 5v ESC fan (voltage controlled by a UBEC set to 5v on the jumpers) into a plastic electronics utility box from Jaycar (our local electronics and hobby store). I made up a double JST lead for the 2s 1800Mah Lipo and fired it up (using baby oil). it's pretty much silent and smokes well once it gets warmed up, ( starts smoking in about 5 seconds) You could control it (on/off volume) by either a remote on/off or perhaps a small cheap 10A brushed ESC. I would leave the fan running and control the element to avoid burning the element. The original pump tank inlet hole seems ok as is (approx 1.5mm) but you could enlarge it very slightly to get a better flow if you could find a better oil. At the electronics store they have proper smoke machine oil for $20 NZ per litre so I may have a look at that. The reason I went for the fan idea was that I found in std pump form, if I immersed a tube from the tank in water, it sucked water back into the tank. I was hoping it would pump smoke out of my HSL exhausts at water level alongside the cooling water but it would need a very light non return valve to do this. The fan seems to pump the smoke through 2mm ID silicone tube ok, so tubing of similar ID to the OD of the tank outlets should work well. These pumps in original form work pretty well for the price, and are cheap enough to keep a few for spare elements, the only thing is they are a bit noisy but in an 'engine sounding' way, (might add to the effect on a tug or work-boat though) What you have left after this mod is a very handy little geared motor with an eccentric output wheel which could be used for winches, radar and whirly bits of any description (see pic of motor leftover and original) To avoid burnout, these should be run on no more than a 2s (around 7.5v-(suggest 8v max with fan running) The other tank is going to work a lot better than this one but I'm not making a tug, just want a bit of exhaust smoke on start-up etc to go with the 2 sound units. Very cheap to make (around $25 NZ with pump, box, fan and UBEC all through Ebay, Aliexpress and Bangood (and local electronics store) if you wanted to run an ESC to control the smoke and you have no channels left to control it proportionally, you can always try using a second receiver bound to your TX, (if your TX will allow it,) power it and a brushed ESC (wired to the element) as normal and use the throttle channel to plug in your smoke control. This should work if you want more smoke as you accelerate or if you are using only 1 stick on a 2 stick TX you could use your 'elevator' stick pushed up (or a toggle if available) to start/stop the smoke (through the brushed ESC setup) . This setup weighs 100g (10g more than std) The quest for lots of smoke continues Will try to upload vid later and update progress.

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

de Mist Naval Tug

As I have made no progress on finding any drawings of the De Mist naval harbour tug ex Simonstown, and as kindly advised by Glyn as having been built by Dorbyl in Durban with VS propulsion, I am now ing my attention to the old steam tugs of the the late 50's and 60's...particularly the JR More (built 1961) that is currently decaying in the Durban Maritime Museum. Again I am on the hunt for drawings that must be more easily available judging by the number of models build of this vessel. She had twin props (rather than Voith Schneider or Schottel) which is something that I can handle! Any help or advice gratefully accepted.

6 years ago by Joburg-sailor

Blog

Cabin detail part 3 (instrument panels)

After the Christmas break its back to the cabin to finish some of the instrument detail. You may recall I detailed the cockpit with some ply constructions to represent the general layout; I also intend to detail the compass, throttle controls, steering wheel, panel lighting, and instrument panel. The instrument panel was copied and scaled from various drawing and pictures and I came up with a three-panel unit where panels 1 & 3 are identical as they are for the two-engine managements system the centre panel deals with electrical things. I intend to make the panel out of 1.5 mm aluminium cut to size on the guillotine I then attached this to a hardwood block with some strong double sided tape this will be more than strong enough to hold the piece for the drilling/light milling operation. I worked out the hole positions using an absolute datum (same as CNC work, if only I was still working) This does take some time using my rather old milling machine making sure any backlash is taken out during the 28 linear movements. I used various sizes of centre drills to produce the holes as they give not only accurate size but also perfectly round holes on thin material and the only ones that needed to be a particular size (6mm dial holes) the others are for es and LEDs which can all be a 3 mm location hole. Each hole was drilled and then chamfered to simulate a bezel on the dials. Finally, I milled a shallow groove (2mm x 0.3 deep) to simulate the separate panels. I have copied a number of different marine dials from the internet and using PowerPoint I aligned in a complete group and then printed and laminated them, this will be placed behind the aluminium plate using double-sided tape. Having fixed the dials in place I drilled through the holes where LEDSs will fit. The LEDs will be shortened and polished so they are flat to the face; these are then stuck in place. Next, I made all the es from brass bar with a fine brass pin glued across its face to simulate the lever. These were painted gloss black and the centre pin picked out in red, they were then glued into the 3 mm location hole. The black knobs/pull es were turned out of black Perspex and polished; they were then glued into the location holes. The whole instrument panel is then pinned on to the wooden framework which has been left in natural wood finish (ply) as it looks like the original boat was just a varnished ply finish.

6 years ago by mturpin013

Response

Power location / mount

Donnieboy, Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it. Yes, this is intended to be a fast build, so I should finish it soon, not like my SeaTurtle - over two years! Figtree, great idea, making it a mock Capstan. I will consider, see what parts are in my bins..... Joe

6 years ago by Joe727

Response

Power location / mount

I really like the way she's coming along! Why don't you make it look like a mock Capstan! The that is...….

6 years ago by figtree7nts

Response

Power location / mount

Great progress on the build.I like your idea on mounting the .Looking forward to the completion of the build.

6 years ago by Donnieboy

Blog

Power location / mount

Continue to mockup exterior a bit, still just rough paint, needs work prior to final colors and finish. Shown in the photos are a Holder made by Dubro, a hobby parts maker in the US. This holder uses a slide and allows for through the hull mounting. I use this because I want my to be activated without having to remove a hatch. Since my large hatch limited where I could fit the , I ended up having to mount it on the bow, not the most desirable position due to bow waves. So I built up a mounting from a plastic pipe fitting, a grommet and a screw cap, tried to make it look nautical. This will raise the top of the rod hole high to further weather proof it. See picture with rod only, I replaced the Dubro rod with a longer one that I made from steel rod I had, threaded it and it works. Will trim the length and attach a finger bulb on top. LAST PHOTO -- EVER FEEL LIKE SOMEONES WATCHING YOU. Cheers, Joe

6 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Electronics,wiring

My batteries arrived, could not find locally so ordered through Walmart online. Two - 6volt 4.5AH, wired in parallel to give me 6v @ 9AH. Used inline fuse, prior to , then on to the esc, a Dynamite Tazar 15 T marine type. On/off will operate from outside so hatch will not have to be removed. Had some real nightmares trying to program this esc! Setup lights would not come on, went through all procedures, slept on it tried ecpvery website, tried again today, nothing. I was about to look into a new purchase, THEN LIKE MAGIC.... I mistakenly ed it to my zBrooklyn Tug mod on th TX which uses the same esc, and it startled me with the motor running and rudder moving. Everything worked great. So I just copied all of the settings into this build on the TX. HAPPY NOW Photo shows the mass of wires that allows me to shift the batteries for final ballasting, they will be tucked away neatly as build is finalized. Regards, Joe

6 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Deck, servo mount

Put together a pilot house based on some tugs I've seen. Just freelanced it as I went. I build a lot with styrene so I am used to just cutting and building. I use liquid styrene cement that fuses the materials together. See photo, will trim it out as I mount it, need to add some detail at roof and some Navigational lighting. Put on on 3mm plywood deck, same as hull bottom. The deck is also curved (proper term is SHEAR) and I started to build up some wood edge at the opening. Will sand everything well, then start sealing and priming all surfaces. Made a bracket for the rudder servo mount and an adjacent platform for the ESC and RX. Ordered two 6v 5ah SLA batteries. I will wire in parallel to stay with 6v and get 10ah. I like to stay with 6 volts as I want the motor to run slow like a tug should. Will wire in an in-line fuse. Haven't decided where I will put , up high somewhere to avoid water. I will show the wiring once I get to it. This build is going fast because it's a simple design, just what I was looking for. I work on it late afternoons and into the evening while I watch basketball games. About 4 hrs a day. Looking forward to building the hatch and getting some primer started tomorrow. Regards, Joe 👍

6 years ago by Joe727

Blog

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

After completing the cowl, turned to the rear structure covering the gas turbine and other engine spaces. This can readily be made from styrene sheet. The sides and top were cut out, reinforced with “L” shaped angle and fitted together with CA glue. No particular challenges, other than determining where the various section transitions occur. Luckily had two different sets of plans to compare, so the nuances could be established. It was not until the rear structure was fitted into the cowl, the assembly fitted to the removable deck and placed on the hull, realized just how important this milestone was. Once everything is firmly located the accuracy of build becomes readily apparent. Any inaccuracies show up as an obvious misalignment. Was able to check the alignments and squareness using eye, rules, squares and a spirit level and was pleased with the outcome. A subtle sanding of about .020” off the base of one side of the superstructure and everything became square, parallel and correctly aligned. Quite a relief! Have always stressed the importance of accuracy throughout a build. This supported that recommendation. Once the superstructure was completed realized my plan to lift the deck off to gain access to the electrical control es was impractical. Have thus cut a small access hole in the rear deck to facilitate access. Still undecided how to best disguise the hole, but at least access is now relatively easy. From now on, until the test program can be continued on the water, will add detail to the model. Doubt there will be much to describe is that of interest, or that has not been covered by others. Will continue this blog once there is anything significant to report. In the meantime, best wishes for Christmas and 2019,

6 years ago by Rowen

Blog

fuses

Schnellboot Radio control setup 3 Mtroniks M400 marine Motors (running at 12V, at maximum efficiency it will run at around 20,000 Rpm and pull around 4 amps. Start-up current depending on prop size (30mm on 4mm prop shaft) would be around 10amps (6-12 volts) 3 Mtroniks Viper marine 15 ESCs connected using Mtroniks W-tail mixer with 10-amp fuses used between ESC and battery’s Batteries are 1 Carson 2100 MAH High performance NiMH battery pack 2 Vanquish 22oo MAH NiMH battery pack All Batteries are 7.2 V I have tested the set -up all the ESC are synchronised, and all seems well on the bench but when I try it in test tank all the fuses blow, and I check all connections and there are not short circuits on the connections or es can anyone help

6 years ago by teejay

Response

Internal wiring & bottom skins

Hi Rob, the Police Launch is coming along nicely. I see that you have long leads from the battery to the ESC. The general rule is that these leads should be kept as short as possible to minimize voltage spikes caused by the fast ing currents and the inductance of the leads. Brushless ESC's have large capacitors, often visible at the end to absorb the transients. You may well get away with it but the life of the ESC could be reduced. Hope your Xmas goes well, Alan

6 years ago by ukengineman

Forum

Transmitter-Rain Cover

Hi all l bought what was called at the time a Trans mit must be nearly 25 years ago made by a mob called MM developments lovely piece of kit kept my pandies warm and dry and still acomodates the newer type of transmitter with screens and a christmas tree of es and twiddly knobs.

6 years ago by jimdogge

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

Hi, what sub are you building as i'm making magnetic power on/off if there space in the WTC. cheers Tim

6 years ago by timgarrod

Media

Searcher (Nimbus2)

"Searcher" was a Graham Goodchild design offered as a free plan in "Model Boats" in December 1981. Here is my version , many years in the building and finally nearing completion. Access to the hull on the original design was via a hatch above the cockpit - I had no faith in my ability to make it water tight so went for removable grp. hatches. The model is activated by a reed just in front of the rear hatch, which saves me the hassle of doing/undoing all the nuts (this had not been fitted when I took the first picture). The rear hatch gives me easier access to the drive coupling. The name "Nimbus2" is in honour of one of Dan Dare's spaceships in the Eagle comic. The third picture shows the ship in its final state with added 'enhancements' and working lights.

6 years ago by rpbidgood

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

ing off and on via the ESC does NOT disconnect the battery from the ESC just stops the ESC passing current. Power is still being used. The only way to end all current flow is to disconnect the batter by either opening the pos or neg lead from the battery. Mounting the magnet on the end of a screw and having that fit into a threaded hole should deal with the problem of keeping it in place while running.

6 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

Absolutely Steve 👍 Alternative is to make a holder for the magnet to prevent it getting knocked off by weeds etc. Also agree that any Failsafe' circuits must have an independent power supply. Place to put the , or latching relay, is definitely in place of the little slide usually supplied on the ESC. Just checked on some of my ESCs, Graupner and mTroniks, the red lead to the is NOT connected to the red lead supplying the RX and servos via the built in BEC. Guess the just triggers an FET inside the ESC. So the normal 500mA limit of reed es will be enough. if a latching relay is used make sure the pull-in current is less than 500mA. Have fun All, cheers, Doug 😎 Eric; which sub is your mate building? I have a Type 1A U-Boat dynamic diver, speed and planes only, and a kit for an Akula 2 which will be a static diver, with tank etc.

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

If the intention is to on with the magnet then remove it then you will need the reed already mentioned plus a latching relay. In use you would apply the magnet which will the relay which in turn will the ESC. A second application of the magnet will unlatch the relay. Possible choice of relay. Relay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5v-12v-24V-Coil-Bistable-Latching-Relay-DPDT-2A-30VDC-High-Quality/113232919274?hash=item1a5d353aea:m:mH8OjtWO_5VZ843iolIqa6A:rk:3:pf:0 He would need to consider carefully that he still has power to the safety backup which will blow ballast a certain time after loss of signal. Steve

6 years ago by steve-d

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Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

I do not know how much knowledge of electronics your friend has but I need to point out that a hall effect sensor is not like a relay. While they do act like a ( sort of) they need to be powered and have a hall effect voltage to . This would mean in the use intended there would be a current drain on the sensor and if the power supply ( battery?) voltage fell to far it would not function. The effect you want could be replaced by a reed relay cheap and simple to use. However reed relays can only pass low currents so would need to be cascaded with a higher rated relay before ing the main battery supply on and off. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Pcs-2-5X14mm-3-Pin-4W-Glass-Reed-Relay-Magnetic-es-N-O-N-C-SPDT/372165424048?hash=item56a6c9b3b0:g:vgAAAOSwJtdaL2~p:rk:53:pf:0 these reed relays have both normally open and normally closed contacts and at a couple of quid for 10 worth buying so he can experiment.

6 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

My other hobby

Hi. Mi private pilots license also does not include night flying. But interesting is to consider when they define what is included. When having a certain number of instructed night flights you are entitled to fly in the vicinity of an airport. Vicinity of an airport German definition is that you have to be able to see the traffic in the pattern of an airport. When I did my flight from San Jose, CA to Phoenix SkyHarbour, I was able to see the traffic being about 1.5 hours from the airport. The night definition is that the night begins 30 minutes after sunset. So was entitled to do this night approaches as you can see the traffic in the pattern, on a large airport like Sky Harbour, and in the Southwest of the USA from very far. But when doing these landing operations at a large international airport, shortly before touch-down you are flying into a black hole. Due to this on my first landing in Sky Harbour, I made an awful 3-point-landing making the plane jump 2 or 3 times. Fortunately, I was aware of how to react properly when this happens. The second special experience is when you are taxiing on the runway to get to its exit and report "runway vacated" in a small plane like a Cessna Cutlass the lights lose their structure. So I went to search for the yellow line on the left side of the runway until it curved into the exit. But this yellow line and the blue runway lights are hugely distant from each other so I had to focus my efforts to stay to the right of the blue lights but still being able to see the yellow line. Once I crossed the lines that mark that you are leaving the runway I could report back to the tower "runway vacated". My second-night landing was when I did try to fly to an airport next to the "Grand Canyon". As the report of the airport said expect gain or lose 40 knots of speed on final I decided not to land and flew back To Phoenix. What a wonderful experience. The landscape was already impressive on my flight to the Grand Canyon, but it was topped when I flew by night. First I was in contact with one center in charge while being above a certain altitude. Then this center passes you to one in charge below that altitude. Makes you feel like a professional pilot. Finally, this center did pass me to the tower of Sky Harbor. I was approaching from the north. Then, what controllers of large airports like they make you cross the airport midfield what ensures you stay away from the other traffic of the airport. You cannot imagine what a sight it is when you approach a large city like Phoenix by night. After he gave me its clear to land I was remembering my awful night landing earlier. When I did have the feeling that I was about to touch-down I did control the airplane so that all you felt on touch-down was the vibration of the wheels turning. A Geman friend of mine that was on the plane with me was so impressed that he said he would fly again with me at any time. One other fact I want to share is the importance to really dominate the phraseology of radio communication and what Americans call to know the system. On my first approach by night to Phoenix, I did confuse the last VOR with the ILS beacon. So when ing to what I thought to be the last VOR the needle got full to the right and stayed there. So I did a report I was not able to tune in the VOR and so tower did give me instructions for the further approach. When you fly in from the west you fly over a mountain full of antennas and the red lights on top of it. I felt very good being routed by the tower. Those of you familiar with night-flight and how to find the location of the airport know the rule of the black spot within the lights of the city is where the airport is. Well, Sky Harbor has the terminal building between its 2 runways and so Sky Harbor does not look like a black spot. So when the tower asked me if I had field in sight I did respond negative a couple of times until he reported that I was on the 45 for the runway. Then I finally saw the airport. Here is something that is the consequence of good radio training. My instructor always said to report negative until you are really enabled to say affirm. So Tower knows when you are really able to report affirm. Do not be shy, it is your and others life! The second time on that approach was when tower gave me the instruction: 3-60 to the right until further advice! My teacher played the role of the tower and one of the things he said to teach us the right behavior was to stay silent and fly as instructed until tower contacts you again. I do confess I had never done 3-60s neither by night nor during the day! So I put the plane into a standard curve, kept it there, watched my altitude and speed. Being so familiar with this instruction from the tower I felt "at home" and this being relaxed was very useful!

6 years ago by Hellmut1956

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(Tug Boat) Titan

Built this in the 80s. Carved from a block of foam and fiberglassed (hull and deck). Wheelhouse was ply, everything scratch built to own design. Had 540 motor with a set of car points for on /off. had lights that could be ed on by deck . Radio was Futaba 'brown box' on 27mhz. (Motor: 540) (ESC: none) (5/10)

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

All hooked up, nowt happens...

That sounds good Martin.👍 So all you need to do now is be a bit quick on the trigger at the weekend. Shove it forward as soon as you hear the first beep, then the ESC OFF. Then power everything down (RX then TX) and when you on again all should be hunky-dory. The Lone Ranger rides again 😉 Cheers, Doug

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Mornin' JB, Guess I'll have to remain 'agnostic' on this issue for now - I'm still to be convinced. This might explain a phenomenon I've noticed during testing of the Taycol Supermarine I've just renovated for Colin. More on that later in the 'Supermarine resurrection' blog. I'll do some experiments using my digital scope and see if I can trap and measure these elusive spikes for various wire lengths😉 Can't comment on the guy from Castle, don't know them, except to say that I found his comments a bit vague and without explanation. There are also contradictory posts on that link; some say before the ESC some after. Can't really see the point of putting the caps in front of the ESC, ing spikes SHOULD only appear on the output side I'll look at that on the scope, and after all a fuse to protect against fouled prop and jammed motor is standard fit between battery and ESC, or should be! So some wiring extension for that is essential. Also I would expect the battery to flatten any spikes that do appear at the ESC supply side. As you say the internals of several 'manufacturers' ESCs are often the same. Nothing new, branding and badge engineering has been going on for decades for all sorts of things and no RC kit manufacturer / distributor produces his own components. Important factors are; quality of his own assembly and where does he buy his components - originals or cheap copies? 28 ESCs! Wow 😲 and I thought I had a lot! As reported I have so far had good results with the Quicrun series, both brushed and brushless. Next one to test is their Dual Brushed version. Prior to going brushless I used a lot of Graupner ESCs - made in Korea., never managed to blow one of them either, not even the little micro and pico jobs. Thanks for raising this issue - I like a good debate and we can all learn something from it I hope👍 Plus; piquing my curiosity is always dangerous 😁 Greetings to Down Under from 'Up Over', cheers, 😎Doug PS Further thought just struck me (Ouch😡); if this is really a dramatic problem why have I never seen any warnings about it in any ESC instructions? Yes, I'm THAT guy who actually reads the instructions!!

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Hi Rowen, You don't need capacitors at all, and certainly not in series with the wiring. Whereas I can heartily endorse all that jbkiwi says about the possibilities of modern TXs, I've only scratched the surface of what my Spectrum and Turnigy sets can do, I can see no justification for the extra capacitors on ESC leads. The length of the wires inside a typical model can not have a significant effect on the total resistance. Given a typical resistance of 1m of copper wire with ca 1mm² cross sectional area of 0.02Ω (less for larger gauges) it ain't gonna make a happorth of difference whether you have 4" (10cm) or 40". Maybe a little more warmth but the capacitor can't change that. I also can't see where the spikes he mentions should come from. Also bear in mind that the ESC does not apply pure DC to the motor but a pulse train with a pulse repetition rate of around 8 to 10kHz. That's why the motors whistle and scream. Adding capacitors to this could distort the pulses or reduce their peak value. If the ESC is so bad that it produces big spikes when the pulses are ed on or off (which I doubt theses days) then junk it and buy a decent one. On no account fit a capacitor in series with the wiring, unless it is a special Coaxial Capacitor, which are very big and relatively expensive. See pic. I've only seen them on large electric motors on board ships where the much higher currents and longer cable runs involved than in models may play a role. A very small value capacitor, in the picofarad range might help to short out any potential high frequency RF interference but I've never experienced the need to fit them. in this respect it could be more important that the length of the cable is not close to the wavelengths typically used by RC sets (12.5cm at 2.4GHz) so that it does not act like an antenna. Cheers, Doug 😎 jbkiwi have looked at the link you posted but I'm not convinced considering the small lengths we use in our boats. Yes there will be some overshoot spikes in the pulse train but so severe as to damage anything is in my opinion highly unlikely, given a decent quality ESC in the first place. Something else on that link just occurred to me. There is a pic of what looks like electrolytic (polarised) capacitors between the wires. This is fine for aircraft ESCs which only run forwards, and thus produce positive going pulses. in our boats with reverse the pulse will over to negative going. Which after a while could have an explosive effect on the electrolytics. it blows the cans off and produces an interesting snowstorm effect. Good party trick😁 but maybe not so super inside a model boat😡 IF you do fit them to a reversible ESC be sure to use tantalum capacitors which aren't so fussy.

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Don't know what happened to my last post but I'll try again. This link, https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1148637-wire-lengths-between-ESC-motor-ESC-battery may be a useful read and explain what I am on about (rough idea in pic). I don't think too many people are aware of some of the problems which can be caused by altering Batt to ESC wiring. I don't think its too much of a problem at lower voltages but see what you think. Not sure if you have a throttle curve facility on your new TX but if it has, using that you can create a gentle start, ramping up steadily, no matter how fast you push the stick up. You can ram the stick up but it will only follow the curve you set. eg pic showing random curve (you can make this any shape you want to control any function) there are usually a number of curves you can set and save for throttle, rudder - anything you want to control automatically. Not sure about your TX but my 9xr even has a feature whereby you can slow the servo action down (I use that on my Piper Super Cub flaps which come down slowly in 2 stages (2 pos ) and go up faster. Your new TX probably has a lot of these features and once you find how to use them it will open up a whole new world of fun. Another example of what you can do with these computer radios is, on one of my models I am using 'flapperons' to slow it for landing and as the ailerons come down the elevator is mixed to move up to compensate to stop the plane nosing down. it's pretty much endless what you can do. I'm still exploring after 8 yrs of computer radio use. I remember a guy somewhere talking about the flashing lights on his plane and saying it wasn't the lights on a flasher unit it was the TX telling them to flash.

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Hi Rowen, Re Relays. The so called 'back emf' (reverse voltage) is caused when you off the relay. The magnetic field collapses and the energy is releases as a voltage spike with opposite polarity to the 'pull in' voltage. Since you are using an electronic this spike could damage the output transistor of the .😡 The diode is connected across the relay coil as a blocking diode, i.e. back to front wrt the operating voltage, and absorbs the spike. Each and any relay coil needs one! This is a manifestation of the induction effect which makes E-motors and generators work 😉 Capacitors: Parallel!! An idea with the Y lead👍 You'll lose the 'tank' steering assistance function though.😲 Happy experimenting, cheers, Doug 😎 PS I use the same alarms, also good for testing batteries on the bench, and ESCs from the same Quicrun range (in my Sea Scout for example), reliable and simple to set up. Even simpler if you buy the little programming card for them. Only a few bucks and well worth it. I've been wondering if it's the response of your ESCs which causes your 'modulation' problem! Remind me; which ESCs are you using? PPS have a look here for an explanation of the suppression (flyback) diode and how to connect it 😊 https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Flyback_diode

6 years ago by RNinMunich