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[AlisterL]

Hi All,


the club to which I belong runs a set of 6 small boats as a fund raising activity at our pond and also at school gala's and so-on.
Currently the boats are all controlled by old Futaba, Acoms and other branded AM radio sets. These are starting to get a bit old and in some case unreliable as well as increasingly suffering from interferance (now that the local power transmission co. has upped the voltage in the lines that run right over our pond).
The club has asked me to investigate replacing these sets with 2.4GHz gear.


It seems that there are very few 2.4GHz stick sets available and my usual sources (Hobby King, R2 Hobbies, etc) don't have them at all. Google tells me that there are other brands available, Tamco and Etronix for example, but these are all sourced out of the UK and unknown in NZ (as far as I can tell). I think we need to retain the stick configuration as fixing the transmitters such that they cannot be removed is a priority and this is probably more easily done with a stick set than a car style pistol grip configuration - currently we strap them in place with bungee cords.


Also, as you might imagine, the transmitters need to be fairly robust - some of the kids can be enthusiastic and some downright rough with the gear, despite our supervision of it's use (believe me we tell them if they are being too rough - but you can't watch everyone all the time) so the control sticks get thrown and pushed all over the place. This is also why I think 2 channel gear might be a better option than 4 channel - the wrong stick cant be used by mistake and thus confusing the kids.


My questions are:

• can anyone shed any light on the reliability of the Tamco and Etronix equipment, physically and electronically.
• are there any other reasonable options that we should consider.

Obviously we are on a budget, but at the same time can't afford in the long run to buy equipment that will only last a short time. For your information, we charge $2 for 5 minutes of usage and the last time I helped out with this we went through over 40 sessions in a 3 hour period (we have up to 6 boats running at once) and it's nit unheard of for all the boats to be running flat out all the time.

I have also been asked to look at ESC's - but I'll post that question in the relevant section.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

[upscope]

Hello, I work for a UK model company and shop, yes there is a lack of 2 channel stick sets on 2.4ghz. I only personally use Futaba, but am surprised they have not yet released their Attack 2er set on 2.4ghz
The cheapest and best so far ive come across is the TAMCO sets, I am aware of a problem or 2 with these sets from other posts on MBM, but in general they are not too bad.
There are some cheap 4 channel makes, but I also see what your referring to with the kids using the wrong stick.
 

[john44]

The kids using the wrong sticks?
the sticks only work on the channels they are plugged into on the RX.
If they only have throttle and rudder, wheres the problem?
If you mean the extra up/down stick movement of the spare channels
Planet do a limiting kit for their sets to fit over the sticks
to eliminate that problem.
you could make similar shields for yours.

puzzled

john

[AlisterL]

Perhaps I could have phrased it better - with a 4 channel tx there is a very high likelihood that a child who has not used any RC gear before will move all the stick in all directions at once and therefore get confused as to what is making the boat go. Believe me, even with only 2 channels this still happens... Even after you tell them... repeatedly... :)


Ahh John - you edited your reply as I was typing the above - that's a good point about blanking piece.

[vnkiwi]

Hi AlisterL,
I'm an associate member of your club, down here in Hamilton.
I've been using Hobbykings 4 channel 2.4Ghz set for a number of years now, including letting weeun's using them.
I now have a Hobbyking 6 channel 2.4Ghz set (same receivers) as well, but only because I also have a seaplane, and need the extra channels.
If you decided that this 4 channel set is the way to go, its cheep, robust, and simple blanking plates would very easily be fitted to only allow 2 channel to be used. At the price don't think you could go wrong. And with the price of receivers, I now run individual receivers in each boat, 8 to date, and more being built.
Another option maybe
cheers
vnkiwi

[AlisterL]

Hi vnkiwi - next time you are up our way we'll have to meet! I was down your way earlier in the year - at Turtle Lake I think it was.


I think John might have hit the nail on the head with the blanking plate idea - we could even use it to limit the length of the throw if necessary too.


I'm happy with using HK gear myself, I just need the rest of the club to understand that there is a small risk in getting that gear - some bits may not work! Personally I have a pair of Turnigy 9X radios and a 7 receivers - great gear.

[Jerry C]

Operating my Voith Schneider Parat I don't use channels 2 or 4. Neither do I want self centering sticks or ratchets. To achieve this I removed the cantering springs and ratchet ending up with floppy sticks then used the plastic cut out of the hull for the VS units to make blanking plug/gates for the Tx sticks. The slot of the gate is a tight fit on the sticks, providing some friction and the neutral position is a bigger hole in the center of the gate. When driving another boat I simply remove the blanks/gates and screws and store them in the battery compartment on Parat.
Jerry.

[vnkiwi]

Yep, was at Turtle Lake as well, with my wee "scruffy the tug", and the big yacht on the push cart.
Next time I'm up
see you then
vnkiwi

[Circlip]

Wonder if the unreliability issue is down to the "pots" breaking down? Might be an idea to do a re-build of standard items in custom cases with two single slotted H/D pots under them.
 
  Regards  Ian.

[Guy Bagley]

i have several etronix pulse 2 channel stick sets, my 10 yr old son has 2 boats and 2 buggies with these sets and they have stood up well to the abuse he has dished out to them over the years...
 
i would recommend them

[inertia]

Wonder if the unreliability issue is down to the "pots" breaking down? Might be an idea to do a re-build of standard items in custom cases with two single slotted H/D pots under them.
 
  Regards  Ian.

Ian
Probably more cost-effective/prudent to wait until the transmitters break down then replace them with new ones. The stick units in cheap sets are usually an integral part of the case moulding and may be difficult to remove in any useable fashion. Alternatively SLM Model Engineers of Cheltenham can supply panel-mounting single-axis stick units with either 5K or 220K pots for about three quid apiece. I use them in the ACTion show demo boxes and they can withstand the sticky fingers of any number of hyperactive infants ("Wot's this do, mester?")
BTW the alternative spelling of "custom cases" is E X P E N S I V E.............. 
Dave M

[Circlip]

How many right angle  mounting brackets can you get out of a length of bed iron? Custom case? ANY hard plastic box to shoe horn the bits into.
 
 Don't forget, this guy comes from the land of the worlds fastest Indian.
 
  Regards  Ian.

[AlisterL]

Always preferred this myself :)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Britten


Thanks to all for thoughts and comments.