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[flyte]

Hi everyone, I'm busy restoring an old Yacht and I need to decide between keeping it free sailing or going with a simple RC setup, possibly rudder only.

Anyhow, I've been looking at controllers, is it wise to buy these second hand on Ebay ? can you recommend a decent (and reasonably priced) unit  I should look for ?

I have some servos knocking about from my Son's cars and other bits n bobs but its all 20 years old now !

(the yacht is 1mtr long with a single mast dated around 1940 I think)

[nemesis]

Unless you know who had the radio I would buy new, they are quite reasonable for what you get and are guaranteed. Look around and see what the others are using. you normally only need a two channel set for a yacht. Have a look at Howes to get an idea of prices. Nemesis

[flyte]

Thank you nemesis, will do 

[malcolmfrary]

Rudder only can work OK-ish on some yachts in the right conditions.  Fleetwood club run a "steering only" class.  They work well, but do become a handfull in stronger winds.  Having a winch on the sails enables less fraught sailing in a much wider range of conditions.  At todays low prices for basic 2.4GHz sets, an old second hand set makes little sense unless the vendor is well known to you.

[flyte]

Thank you, this is interesting as I'm just learning.

 I might be in luck if I go the RC way, I spoke to my Son and he thinks there's a box of RC stuff in his attic...... fingers crossed !

[Netleyned]

As long as its not aircraft rc.
If its 35 Megs it aint legal for
surface use.
2.4 GHz is ok for both though.
Ned

[tigertiger]

If you are just learning, then yes, 2.4Ghz is simple with no crystals or fixed frequencies to mess around with.
With 2.4 the transmitter set just looks for an available channel and then pairs itself with the reciever.

Some 2.4 sets can be so cheap new, it is not worth buying second hand.


The older 27 MHz sets were more expensive and you had to mess around with crystals if you needed to change channel, because someone else was already on your channel, you had to change crystals.

[flyte]

Interesting ! I didn't even know there was a 2.4 Ghz system, anyhow, we found the old gear and its 35 Mhz so it wont be getting used, thanks for letting me know. There's also a receiver, a couple of battery boxes and a few servos which I'm guessing will be ok if their working.

I've seen a couple of pond yacht's with servos mounted on deck under a raised hatch or cabin, I'm still deciding if its feasible or even the "right" thing to do with such an old boat. 

[Colin Bishop]

If the servos are old then they may not be fully compatible with modern TX/RX. As others have said, the basic outfits and servos are cheap these days and you can guarantee that everything will work together.

Colin

[flyte]

Ah ok point taken Colin, I dont have much of a budget  so was looking at ways to save some money, but as usual the cheap option isn't the best......update.....my wife says if I sell some of my "junk" I can buy what I like !   I will never understand women 

[tigertiger]

Have you checked the vintage model yacht group? http://www.vmyg.org.uk/
See if your boat is shown anywhere on their site.

Or post a pic on here, someone might recognize her.

Who knows, the model you have might actually be of some historic interest to vintage yacht owners. If that is the case, unlikely I know, it would be a shame to convert her to RC.

[John W E]

This is how cheap 6 channel sets are, but you still have to buy the servos 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLY-SKY-2-4G-FS-CT6B-6-CH-Channel-Radio-Model-RC-Transmitter-Receiver-Control-A/262602578911?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D38661%26meid%3Dad2e23e867314d5c8c6f02ea4c979e6b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D291760016997

[flyte]

Hi Tiger, yes I sent a message and photos to Russel Potts a while back but have had no reply so far, I posted some pics here in the "yachts and sail" section but dont think its anything special. I wont go ahead with any mods till I'm certain.

Hi John, wow that is cheap !   it says in the ad that they are for planes/helicopters but I'm assuming from what I've been told here that 2.4 Ghz is fine for boats ?  but having 6 channels means their "suitable" for planes ?

[malcolmfrary]

The big market is aircraft, so RC manufacturers put aircraft function names on the labels of the controls.  As long as the intended operation happens, no problem.  The radio neither knows nor cares what it is controlling, as far as the receiver is concerned, it has servos plugged into it.  Extra channels does no harm, and these days usually doesn't cost any more.

[flyte]

Thanks Malcolm, that explains a lot.