Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Pleasure boats, Sports, Race, Power and Leisure Boats: => Topic started by: daverolph on May 24, 2008, 03:29:15 pm
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I am a bit embarassed posting this one.
We have made a few scale boats and next week will be the first time we sail Valhalla (Danny Boy from Mountfleet Models).
No No I am not embarrassed about that one !
My Son got a new speedboat for christmas (Maplins Job) , it looks the business :-
Twin prop
7.2 Nicad plus charger and remote.
Trouble is we just tried this for the first time and there is a problem.
After much messing about we realized that we can make it work by getting the transmitter within about 6 inches of the ariel - any further away and it won't work.
We have loads of transmitters kicking around but non that are the 40.68 Mhz !
Is it the transmitter or the receiver or can't we tell ?
TIA
Dave
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Please read http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6830.0
This is for the same thing. O0
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This problem is happening at home without any other RC in sight.
I have checked all ariel connections in TX & RX but all look OK.
Looks like I am going to have to fork our for a new TX & RX which will probably cost more than the boat was bought for.
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There could be a break in the receiver wire, try replacing it with an equal legnth of stranded core wire
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I tried that TBH
Now I have used one of his old remote control cars TX & RX and it works a treat.
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Sounds like you might have to analyse the problem and decide which part is faulty. Is there any way you can try someone else's transmitter with the same crystals?
The next test will decide on the result. Try changing the crystals to a different frequency pair to yours.
This way, you will know where the fault lies.
All the best
Ken
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I recently bought a "toy boat" off ebay... after a lot of faffing about with the same problem,
it turned out that the boat and transmitter were marked 27MHz, but the boat was actuality 40MHz when I opened it up!
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Hi Martin - would that have given it the same effect ? I would have thought you would get nothing at all if they were the wrong set
Anyway I am not sure there was much more I could do.
I don't know anyone with anything similar and we have all sorts of remote control stuff but nothing that was on the same frequency.
Now that I have pinched the RC bits from a broken remote control car it goes really well (once I learned that I wasn't to wire the right motor to the right controller !! I just didn't think !).
One slight problem with the new RC is that the range is pretty small - about 10 meters but the car was never that good anyway.
I wonder if I could get any more out of it ?
The aerial on the Transmitter is about 1 ft long (one of single pieces of coat hanger type wires !)
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Hello.
Why are you all going on about this boat? If you pay peanuts for a boat then don't expect it to have a range more then 10 ft. On a good day with the wind in it's favour.
Almost every week at our lake someone turns up with one of these type of boats. Funny we only ever see then once? If you want a cheap RC boat, then try a club 500. They run on "Normal 27/ 40MHz gear. Standard 540 motors and cheap 7.2 v cells. Hours of fun.
Whats more they can go all over the lake with no radio cut out.
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Bill, The original boat it cost £40 and while we normally spend around £100 just on RC for the bigger boats I would still not say this was peanuts.
I originally came here for advice on what was wrong with it.
After a few responses it looked liked I wasn't going to be able to resolve the problem and so after hours of messing about I managed to get it "working" by using an old RC kit from a Tyco TC car and yes this not ideal and the reason the range is so small.
I do thank you for the post however because you gave me something else to look at and I have never seen a club 500.
My luck just gets better, after getting the "speed boat" running I decided to move onto the Severn Trent Lifeboat also from Maplins and a boat that we have used once but was very good with a long range, now that has a ceased motor.
Looks like my idea of getting the kids a model boat to play with while I play with the big one is just not going to work I might have to share !
This is the boat we are taking away with us, we staying in our caravan right by the side of a quiet canal.
http://www.dave.rolph.com/model/model_index.htm
I looked at the Club 500 and it is interesting and even in the same place as me (Barnsley) but I see that it costs £38 and then you still have to buy the RC kit so I imagine this is would cost over £100 to get it into the water, I guess a lot of people would stick with using "peanuts" for a boat for the kids and so I am sure there will be more people like me in the future so please go easy on them.
Cheers
Dave
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Almost every week at our lake someone turns up with one of these type of boats. Funny we only ever see then once?
Maybe if you offered them a bit of gentle guidance & helpful advice you'd see them more than once :'(. New recruits to the hobby, of any age, must be good news for everyone
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Steady on Bill, Dave did say, "My Son got a new speedboat for Christmas (Maplins Job)...."
I have found Maplins ready to sort out and change things if they still look new or are in the box but as it's been 'modified', it's a bit late now.
Club 500 racing is a good starting class for racing and is great fun even in small groups and must be the cheapest form of model boat racing.
http://www.modelslipway.com/club500.htm
http://www.glue-it.com/boats/gallery/club500.html
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Hi All
Yes your all right. Sorry. ps I have just been on e bay and you can get a 27 mhz radio set up + servos for less then £40.00 and a VSC for £ 10.00. You all have a good day. O0
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Hi daverolph, I see in part of your posting that you have a RNLI lifeboat with seized motor. I have had this problem and it needs some oil down the motor shaft and wait a bit then carefully using pliers on the shaft work it loose and it should un seize. My one seemed solidly seized but is now quite free.
hope this helps, Roy
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A drop of diesel will un-cease anything
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Are you sure?
Not only is it seized it is totally black and rusty, it looks like it got wet.
I certainly don't mind having a bash
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What've you got to lose, diesel will un-cease rusty tractor bolts so will sort a motor out for sure. Can't guarantee the motor Will be OK electrically mind :(
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Thanks
Nothing to loose - it is already soaking away
Thanks again
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Rust isn't a problem with motors, a few motnths ago while in the rescue boat I fished out 2 of these rtr boats from the side of the water, caught in the wire mesh. one was a 'bat boat' and had a battery and 2 motors in it. The other had just a motor in. A bloke at the club took both home with him, soaked the motors in WD40 and they work, and the battery just needed a new connector and some cycling to get it into shape. He now uses the battery in his club 500. as for what Bill said, I totally agree with him, as i reckon if you go above 80 odd quid for a club 500 youve gone wrong somewhere.
Kit - £38
Radio - £5 2ch from Howes Models
ESC- £16 from time tunnel
RX - £5 from time tunnel
Servo - £6.50 from Mainly Models
Batteries -£6 apiece for 1400's
Total so far - £76.50. This is off the top of my head, and i could guarantee you I could get it down a long way if I shopped around.
And you know what, some of these simply rubbish rtr boats detract from the experience of rc boating with all of their problems such the radio cut outs, lack of speed, awful turning, lack of range etc. Like Bill says, we never see them again (the owners) because the boats are simply awful on the water. If you want a cheap boat, a club 500 is the way to go. They are relatively fast, turn well, last a long time, have almost unlimited range, are easy to build, easy to control, and so far in the 2 years i've been at the club, and doing the rescue boat, only one has ever been rescued due to someone crashing it into the side.
Also, on http://www.astecmodels.co.uk/products.php?posted=1&selection=hulls, there is some really cheap hulls.
As for discouraging people, we just tell them to keep right into the side, and leave them to it. After a short trip in the rescue boat, I bring them their models back and we explain to the the faults of their boats. we have even in the past given the owners (always small children) ago with a club 500. I know that a few weeks ago one of these people's parents afterwards decided that they were going to buy their child a club 500, so we gave them the website to go to. we never discourage these people in boating, only the rtr boats.
Sorry if this seems a bit aggressive, but my dentist has just put me in excruciating pain and has subsequently paralysed my face, so I need to vent my anger >>:-(
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RE: Club 500.
Alternatively a £1 ON/OFF switch from Maplins (instead of an ESC).
Jackie
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Thats a good idea as you could have an inexpensive micro servo operating that switch.
Its nice to have proportional control though.
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Andy N Thanks so much for that detailed response.
I feel a little embarrassed now.
The last two models we spent way over that for the RC.
We have been buying Futaba Attack 2 with two servo's, TX & RX for between £40 and £50 am I right in thinking I can get the same from your details for £16.50 ?
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Thanks Andy for your support.
I'm not trying to upset anyone. Just stop them from wasting there time and money. Every week we see them don't we Andy. It's such a pity, as it has been pointed out we need more model boaters. Young & Old gits like me are all welcome If there boats are in working condition, and don't break the club rules.
Just for the record I don't have any invested interset in Club 500 boats. I have however seen many of them running and the look on peoples face's says it all. ;D ;D ;D O0 FUN FUN FUN!
I started my boating with a plastic boat just over 2 years ago, and now I run a 54" 26cc OMRA boat. Thats how hooked I became.
Bill.
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PS. Dave if you find a local MBC I think you will find alot of 27mhz sets going for a song. Every year at our AGM there is norm 4/5 set for sale. O0
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Thanks Bill
You didn't upset me and I accept what you said, it was the bit about peanuts I didn't agree with.
If I knew a year ago what I know now I would have gone for Club 500 but the problem is by the time you give the advice its kind of too late for most people and I appreciate that's not your fault just let us down easy ;)
We really should get ourselves to a club, with 3 fully built Mountfleet models we should be proud to show them off but this week will be the first time we put one in the water (apart from the bath) so let's be sure we won't be embarrassed !
Thanks to everyone that has replied to my posts recently we love this place !
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Sorry to anyone who was confused by the £5 quote for a radio, they have put it up to £8.99 on varification of price.
Just stop them from wasting there time and money. Every week we see them
This is so true. as Bill will varify, I was given one free by someone who never looked after it anyway, after SCREECHING (no really, we were worried about noise complaints) around for about an hour at much less than 5mph, I got so fed up I put it upside-down on the floor, stamped on it to make a hole, took batteries out of Tx/boat, stuffed Tx and broken bits into shattered hull, then pushed it out. It sat about 8 foot out from us for a moment, then got a bit low at the back, went vertical, then sank. It was the most fun anyone has ever had with an RTR boat O0
You could always cut out the club 500, get the aforementioned kit, and a cheap 540 (£4 from Barry at Mainly Models) straight shaft and prop (£4.99 from anywhere that does Ripmax kit) and convert the RTR boat to proper RC gear. this would cost at max £50.
Good luck with your boating endeavors
Andy
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I see a man after my own heart.....
Loony
Point Taken happy boating.
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Always willing to help O0
As for a boating club, http://www.mpba.org.uk/affiliates/affiliated_clubs.htm
Also if you live in the Hertfordshire area, we welcome newbies with outstreched arms (sort of, we do welcome new people, but hugging them would scare them away even more), our details are on there :)
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Dave you can rip out those two small motors and install one good 540 motor and esc one servo for rudder and get a wedge rudder with water cooling to cool your motor,the boat will run quite well on this setup even on the stock nicads.You can pick all these things up cheap on ebay,heres a good source for rudders etc.My son also has one of thse maplins twin screw boats with vector controll,went well till it stopped working all together.Im going to fit one motor and rudder etc and install a better radio system also off ebay.you can get am sets on ebay with servos etc for a tenner nowadays.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Head-of-the-River-RC-specialist_Speed-Boats-accessories_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ7471326QQftidZ2QQpZ2QQtZkm (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Head-of-the-River-RC-specialist_Speed-Boats-accessories_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ7471326QQftidZ2QQpZ2QQtZkm)