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[Ghost in the shell]

Welcome to the hobby to those who are just getting into it

The quick and simple way to get a rado control model is to go to a place like toys r us, and purchase one of their cheap READY TO RUN type models.  these come in all shapes and sizes, generally look fast.

Choosing your model.
As Ready to run models go, there are several identical types, some are made in china and control comes from two motors, one turns off to steer, both run for forwards and usually these dont have reverse.  Other models, such as the Nikko speed cruiser have a more normal layout with 1 rudder and 1 propeller.

Having made your purchase, you will probably want to get on the water as soon as possible, however WAIT!

[pobolycwm]

for what!!!!!!!!!

[Ghost in the shell]

Yes Wait i said,

So, you have got home and openned the box,

you now have a few things infront of you, thse are:

The Transmitter,
the Charger
The boat
and a battery pack

[Ghost in the shell]

firstly, The Transmitter:

this is the bit that controls the boat and will require its own batteries, which with most Ready to run models doesnt come with batteries.
the batteries go in the back, usually under a slide off pannel, slide it off and it will reveal some plates and some springs.  The Springs go against the NEGATIVE side of the battery and push the battery against the plate at the POSITIVE end. 

The transmitter will usually take AA size batteries, (1.5v Duracells. the size bigger than goes in your TV remote control - often seen in personal CD players)

The long metal rod, thats the antenna, it needs to be FULLY extended for it to work at its best ability, the two sticks on the front of it, one moves sideways, one moves up and down, these are the control sticks.

[Ghost in the shell]

second:
your new toy may have a battery pack for the boat and a charger, the charger will have an information pack on it, telling you what it can be used on, and what it charges.

The one pictured, made by Ripmax says AC CHHARGER, for Ni-CD batteries suitable for 7.2-8.4V and says its input voltage is 230v, the mains voltage in its stated country.  (be careful when buying imports off e-bay)

The plug has one round and one square arm on it, this type of plug made by Tamiya one of the most common connector on the market, known simply as "the Tamiya Connector" and can only connect to the battery one way, this means that it cant be reverse connected to the battery, which is a good thing!

[Ghost in the shell]

3.
The Battery.

With your model you will get a battery that is matched to your charger, in my case, its a 7.2v 6-cell Nickel - cadmium battery, i wont go into the exact chemistry in there, just that one part of the battery is nickel, the other being cadmium.  Before you run your model, you need to charge your battery by plugging it in to your charger.

Ensure wall socket is turned off before plugging anything into it

Pug your charger into the wall and connect the battery to it as pictured, then turn the charger on, ensuring that the battery is in a safe place, such as on a table, when you turn the charger on at the wall, if it has a light on it, this light will come on, telling you that the battery is charging.

Towards the end of its charge, typically after 12 hours or so with a slow charger your battery pack will be warm, do not worry, this is normal and no cause for concern.

[Ghost in the shell]

4
during the charging of your battery, it would be worth reading the isntruction manual of your new model which will give you details of your model, such as how far it will go away from the transmitter, also depending on the type of transmitter, it may be a wide band transmitter which is typical of the cheaper models.

A wide band transmitter generally uses all of the waveband, and so is best operated a distance from other modellers who have more expensive models, THEY WILL SWAMP YOU if this happens your model will stop.  narrow band Transmitters have a little crystal in the radio, this generally means that your radio is of a higher quality and can sail alongside other modellers, as long as they are not on the same frequency.

[Ghost in the shell]

5.
Having charged your battery you are ready to go to the pond.

study the pond well as to what is likely to give you problems.  are there reeds around the edges, is there anywildlife on the pond, are there any fishermen, and also what other modellers are there?

Having assessed your lake and found it to be ok, you can now go ahead and put your boat in the water.

1st
open your model up as stated in your instruction book and put the battery in its cradle and connect it up BUT DO NOT TURN THE MODEL ON.

2nd turn on your transmitter and extend the antenna fully

3rd turn the model on and close the model up and put your model in the water making sure to keep fingers away from the propellers, they may be plastic but they spin fast and can hurt if your fingers come into contact with the spinning blades.

4 sail your model.

This proceedure is set this way so that you dont accidentally do yourself or your model damage because of an unplaned start up, 1Transmitter on, 2 boat on, 3 boat off, 4 transmitter off

[Ghost in the shell]

6
Your Transmitter is best held with its antenna held high, not pointed directly at the model as the signal to your model comes out of the sides of the antenna not the end.

Your Transmitter will generally have some coloured lights on it, either red and green, or 5 coloured lights, these tell you how much power is in the batteries.

here's what may you have on your transmitter

[toesupwa]

Welcome to the hobby to those who are just getting into it

The quick and simple way to get a rado control model is to go to a place like toys r us, and purchase one of their cheap READY TO RUN type models.  these come in all shapes and sizes, generally look fast.

I would of thought the best advice to a 'newbie' would be "Dont buy one of these toy boats, you will be dissapointed"!.  :'(

The electronics are junk, they have no range, they are never very fast, they wear out quickly... 

[Ghost in the shell]

aaah but what if you are too young to buy solvents? this is aimed at the school kid age where the purchase of glues, paints etc is restricted by law and daddy wont buy you paints because they are messy and smelly

[Stavros]

BUT ghost I know your posting is full of good advise and is an Excellent intro to model boats BUT by your own admition these RTR boats Will defiantly be swamped 100% by proper radio gear my advise to any newcomer is to save up and buy a second hand well sorted model with proper radio gear,thats my opinion anyway.



Stavros

[The long Build]

aaah but what if you are too young to buy solvents? this is aimed at the school kid age where the purchase of glues, paints etc is restricted by law and daddy wont buy you paints because they are messy and smelly

Just shows how much restrictions , restrict the hobby at an early stage , I was buying stanley blades, glue,fibreglass resin, paints at 13, not sure if it was legal in the early 80's but I had no problem.

[Ghost in the shell]

stavros look at it this way, you want a radio control boat, you are under 18, (more realistically just starting high school, your dad isn't interested in helping build a model boat, what do you do? mother wont let you use spray tins, this leaves RTR cheap toys as the way in

[wideawake]

5.
Having charged your battery you are ready to go to the pond.

study the pond well as to what is likely to give you problems.  are there reeds around the edges, is there anywildlife on the pond, are there any fishermen, and also what other modellers are there?

Having assessed your lake and found it to be ok, you can now go ahead and put your boat in the water.

1st
open your model up as stated in your instruction book and put the battery in its cradle and connect it up BUT DO NOT TURN THE MODEL ON.

2nd turn on your transmitter and extend the antenna fully

3rd turn the model on and close the model up and put your model in the water making sure to keep fingers away from the propellers, they may be plastic but they spin fast and can hurt if your fingers come into contact with the spinning blades.

4 sail your model.

This proceedure is set this way so that you dont accidentally do yourself or your model damage because of an unplaned start up, 1Transmitter on, 2 boat on, 3 boat off, 4 transmitter off

I would add 2a first turn the power on and check that the controls work as expected.    THEN and only then put the model in the water!

I'd also add a range check, certainly the first time the boat is used.

I can't imagine anything worse than putting a boat in the water for the first time, seeing the wind blow it out of reach and then finding that you don't have control!

HTH

Guy

[SteamboatPhil]

I see where you are coming from Ghost (nice to see you back) and it is difficult if you are a youngster (or even not so young) and wanting to take up model boating as a hobby. However as well have a probally seen the RTR are OK if you are own your own on the lake, and don't want to take the boat more the 20ft from the bank, however if someone turns up with either a another RTR or a "real transmitter, they will be in trouble and loose control. As a starter it might work, but my advise to any "newbie" (apart from read all the threads on this site) would be to join a club, as mostly there will always be someone willing to help and advise, and even let the beginner have a "hands on"
I know times have changed with regard the buying of craft knives, paint etc and that does not help any hobby, like TLB I was buying all sorts of things from about 8 with which to build a boat, generally stick bits of wood not only together, but to the table, the cat, but mostly to myself (thank heavens we didn't have superglue in the 60's- who knows what would still be stuck to me) I can only hope that maybe anyone who is thinking of boating visits here first.  

[The long Build]

I see where you are coming from Ghost (nice to see you back) and it is difficult if you are a youngster (or even not so young)

Yep still get asked about my age , must be my youthful looks 

[Martin (Admin)]

 

[herrmill]

Ghost, where did you find that TX?  It looks like something Q cooked up off of one of the earlier Bond films!   

Chuck

[malcolmfrary]

Many twin motor RTRs have a "safety feature" which means that they have to be in water before they respond.  Of course, if you can get your hand inside and bridge the two shafts with your fingers........(hopefully a few HSE numpties will read that and self combust or turn back into dust or something useful like that)
If we all know the actual limitations, problems and pitfalls of low end RTRs, we have the opportunity to be helpful to newbies, look good, and hopefully fire their ambition to better things.  Everybody has to start somewhere, starting somewhere else is not usually an option.

[cbr900]

You guys over there must be getting the short end of
the stick with RTR models, the ones that are in our club
seem to have been running for the last three years with
so far only one having any sort of problem, that was caused
by losing sight of the boat and it run aground and broke
one prop, easily fixed.
As for being swamped by other radios DOES not happen
here both frequencies here seem to be able to be used
with all RTRs so far with NO interference to any craft......
The only thing I can put it down to is that we must have
different regs than your good selves, seems very strange.....


Roy

[andygh]

Yeah, we get the short end of the stick with most things 

[SteamboatPhil]

And its getting shorter 

[dodgy geezer]

I thought this was going to be a bit simplistic, but as I read through I thought that there is a place for this kind of starter info, and it could really help someone.

Two points:

I echo Guy in calling for a test before putting it in the pond. Give it a test in the bath - you know you want to!. Just remember to hold on tightly...

I also am very unhappy about the lack of starter boats for kids. I have set up a web-site - http://modelboats.hobby-site.com - to show the kind of models we made in 1960-1980, with plans to hopefully encourage todays kids to try making their own. No matter how good a ready-built boat is, one you have made yourself is much better....

[andyn]

My first boat, age 13 was a Huntsman powered by a Merco .61. I'm now 17.

I really wish these rtr's weren't so &^$&^%££""%£!£^$! We see a new one every week, then we never see them again because theyre all on ebay