Model Boat Mayhem
Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips => The "Black Arts!" ( Electrics & Electronics ) => Topic started by: Hotglove on June 23, 2018, 05:10:00 pm
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I am planning to fit 2 small searchlights to my Dumas 1930 Chris Craft. The boat has a 6 channel rx fitted. I have obtained the lights from Cap Maquette's range and very pleased with the quality.
They come with G.O.W bulbs, but I will be using leds, My boat has 2 3v running light leds supplied by 2 AA Alkaline batteries without a resistor. These lights are controlled by a servo switch and work fine (but not very bright)
A fellow club member who has an extensive knowledge of leds has suggested fitting a RC switch and using the BEC circuit to power 6v leds with a suitable resistor. he feels that this would give an led that is bright enough to be clearly visible in daylight.
Any thoughts, suggestions?
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Hi P/M sent to you.
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High intensity LEDs usually get the extra brightness from having optics that concentrate the light into a narrower beam than "standard" LEDs. That, and using more current.
Running lights on real boats that I have seen are rarely visible in daylight. At night, the deck lights are visible long before the running lights can be picked out. Other than knowing that they are on, why use a searchlight in daylight?
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Some of the boats on our lake have superb lighting setups with all manner of different colours and intensity, particularly with tugs. It really adds to the overall experience of watching them in action.
My Dumas 1930 Runabout looks great without lights, but two nicely made searchlights (the Cap Maquettes lights have a handle built in, so they look like vintage hand-swivelled types) will add to the overall look.
A bit like a model car with LED daytime running lights.
All good fun and we all like to set ourselves little problems to solve.