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Everything posted by Ian_Grant
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	Just another thought - you said there's no hobby shop near you; what if you call the guy at Big Rich Models who curated your electronics? He'd probably be happy to talk you through debugging the boat.
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	Off topic but to continue about Italy; we spent some time in Venice and Florence on our 8 week (!) Europe-wandering honeymoon before departing for Corfu. Venice was good (we still remember the tour at the Doge's Palace, walking up to our ankles in water in St Mark's square, and the ornate bed in our room) but I liked Florence better, apart from all the scooters zooming around. My wife chuckled at the reverent look on my face when I saw Galileo's tomb. 🙂 We didn't get to spend any time in Rome but next time we will go there and again to Florence, and obviously around Amalfi & Naples to hike Vesuvius and see Pompeii. Plus some time relaxing in Northern Italy.
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	Bob, your model 3150 motors are definitely brushed; if they were brushless they would have three leads. Your post #7 shows your ESC is the "brushed" type, ie for brushed motors. Interesting that everything works with the deck off. All components are therefore good. Sounds like possibly RF interference. I see from your pictures that the leads from ESC to motors are pretty long and loopy. Brushed motors generate a lot of electrical noise as the brushes pass from one coil to another via the commutator; this electrical noise can then be radiated by the long motor leads. I recommend you try soldering small capacitors, say ceramic 0.1uF leaded, right at the motor terminals. This is a classic configuration to reduce noise from brushed motors; one capacitor from each motor power pin to GND (the motor metal case) and a third capacitor between the two motor pins. See this pololu description: https://www.pololu.com/docs/0J15/9 As they say, it will also help to twist each pair of motor leads together in a spiral from ESC to motor, so the two wires "cancel" each other's radiated emissions. Finally, and I realize this would affect your trim and ballast, try moving the rear battery up forward beside the other one so its noisy lead isn't near the Receiver and ESC. You could then twist the leads from batteries to ESC for the same reasons. You're very close........eyes on the prize!! 👍
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	If the motors are acting like that, it sounds like the ESC turns them on, has an internal protection alarm of some sort (short? overcurrent? temperature? other?), shuts motors off, and waits the "reset period" before trying again. Check the motors are actually 12V not 6V, maybe. Later Edit: I found a photo on pg1 of your log. The motors are clearly labelled 12V 4.5A; the ESC is quoted as 30A continuous. Are you starting up with throttle at high? Try turning on with throttle at neutral then slowly increase speed and see if motors are ok up to a certain point where problem occurs again. I'm not familiar with those "land" Transmit units with the wheel and trigger which I always associated with cars; I always use aircraft Transmitters. There must be a separate switch for fwd/reverse then trigger goes from zero to full speed in selected direction?
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	Steven, thank you! Those Pompeii frescoes are in Pitassi's book but somehow the b/w reproduction is nowhere near as clear as that. I see they really did use red and blue! 😊 That "Naval Encyclopedia" similarly shows some very tall awnings reaching the fantail but I don't think I want one like that; too much windage and I want to leave open the possibility of a flickering LED lantern dangling from it. I did drill a hole and glue in a copper eye before attaching it to the stern. We're thinking of booking a trip to Italy which definitely will include time at Pompeii/Herculaneum.
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	Sad to see these donated kits crumbling.....
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	Those not into RC can ignore this post. 😉 A little good news......I noticed at the RC club's indoor pool meetings this winter that if six or seven other boats were in use, my old FM 75 MHz two-channel set picked up some noise from them and the servos occasionally twitched. I have a 2.4 GHz 6-channel transmitter too, with "DSM" printed on it, which I bought with an airplane years ago but I wasn't sure if it was an old obsolete DSM1 unit or a newer DSM2 unit. I took it to Great Hobbies today along with a battery and a servo to experiment. It did actually bind to a modern DSM2/DSMX Receiver so it must be a DSM2 Transmitter. I bought a nice new 6-channel Receiver so now I too have an interference-free 2.4 GHz link. Nice! Six channels are not needed for the galley, but my square-rigged RC ship will definitely need more than two as on my old FM set.
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	Thanks Steven! Yours looks great but it's far beyond my artistic ability. Not sure how I want it to look. Or what they had if anything. In Pitassi's book some of the larger ships have what looks like a permanent structure, like the quinquireme in this video ( see time 0:46). I think a quadrireme would require something lighter due to reduced size and number of oarsmen. Pitassi indeed shows nothing in the quadrireme drawing but has an arched tent-like item in other drawings. Something more like what is shown in the ships here. Most have a "tent" of some sort with, thankfully, one plain colour or at the most stripes. That's a relief. https://naval-encyclopedia.com/antique-ships/roman-ships A snag is that I was planning to attach the cubby to the rear hatch to serve as a handle (similar to the boarding bridge and the forward hatch) so it can't actually be soft. Maybe a "soft-top" arch with hidden wood in the lower sides for my big clumsy hands to grip?
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	Bob, it would be worth a little debugging before spending money on a new RC set! The two most likely problems that come to my mind are (1) the ESC somehow burned out, and (2) the RC Tx and Rx are no longer binded for some reason. I'd be surprised if anything is wrong with the Tx or Rx. If the ESC is burned out then it will not supply power to the receiver via the 3-pin "throttle" connection and the boat's innards will be inert. I recall you have a voltmeter at least; with the battery connected to the ESC measure the nominal 5V it should be supplying for the Rcvr. Centre pin is +5V, GND is usually a black wire. If no voltage, it's the ESC. If the Tx and Rx are no longer linked, then the Rx will ignore the Tx and again the boat will be inert. You could test this by connecting any 6V battery to the Rx's "BATT" pins (if you have a spare 3-pin connector with the wires, or cut one). Now that the Rx does not depend on the ESC, test for servo operation. If nothing happens try repeating the binding process. If you're sure they are binding according to the instructions in the TX and Rx manuals, then OK maybe one of them is at fault but again I'd be surprised. Wish I could just pop over to help..... Good luck!
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	Glen, your imagination never disappoints! Should be another heirloom build to add to the heirloom collection. 🙂
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	Progress slowed down due to some paying jobs done for neighbours, and I finally got around to opening our pool today. Port and starboard mechanisms reassembled; lift servos moved closer to amidships so they won't collide with the fore and aft companionway ladders. Also changed the upper oar bar mounting holes to vertical slots to permit adjustment of the upper oars relative to the lower sets. Completed detail painting of the fantail decoration. And I received my NiMH battery pack (5 cell, 6V, 3800mAh; far smaller than lantern batteries), and a slow charger (600mA) so charges will take overnight but that's ok with me. It's less stress on the cells. With the pool now open I can try the boat again. I want to drop the waterline a smidgen, to mid-wale which was the original plan. This will give the oars a little more clearance from catching crabs. I fear I may have to drill out some of the fixed lead ballast in the bow......fingers crossed the drill doesn't "catch" and go through the bottom. 🫢 I have yet to make the oar modifications too. Also started to think about how to make the commander's "cubby" at the stern a convincing "canvas" shelter. This has dragged on too long; need to finish it for summer.
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	Fully agree. It was all working, it's going to be something silly. After all your time and effort it's worth ten minutes in a hobby shop for diagnosis.
- 296 replies
 
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	Is the ESC one of the type where one must power on with throttle at "stop", then move stick/wheel to full ahead then full reverse?
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	If the screws' blades are twisted in opposite directions, then they need to turn in opposite directions to propel the boat in the same direction ie forward or backward. Yes, just reverse the wires on one motor. Note - you may find on the water that when you push the throttle stick in what you conceive to be "forward" the boat goes backward. Unless your transmitter has servo-reversing you'll then need to reverse the wires on both motors.
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	Bob, the fan on the ESC is to move air over its cooling fins. It would be a good idea to put the Rcvr in a plastic bag (some people even stretch a balloon around it) to keep water droplets away from it.
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	Good to see you back, Bob. Yes, NiMH cells in theory are 1.2V so your 6-packs should give you 7.2V. However, they do charge up to a slightly higher voltage. When taken off the charger they're usually around 1.4V, or 8.4V for your six-packs, as you observed. Does it matter? It doesn't matter for the batteries; this is normal behaviour. They should drop slightly after a few hours off the charger. What about your ESC and motors? It probably doesn't matter (I think you have brushed motors?) although they will burn a little more power since more current flows with the higher voltage. I think you got your stuff from "Big Bob"? - if so he will have chosen compatible components, knowing the characteristics of NiMH. In use the pack voltage should drop to 7.2V fairly quickly. Looking forward to the maiden video from the pond! She's a beauty. Regards, Ian
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	Gee, I was looking forward to the masting and rigging on this magnificent model.......
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	She was a lovely ship as were all the steel windjammers. I was working on a Heller plastic "Preussen" 5-master until I interrupted it to try my first RC build in 40 years but I hope to finish "Preussen" this winter. Then I want to make an RC square rigger. Reading about Neville Wade's many sailing models (including one based on Herzogin Cecilie) makes me want to build a 4-master. However, I was thinking of ordering Underhill's drawings of L'Avenir instead since she was a slightly smaller ship and so would be slightly larger scale. Looking forward to seeing your HC restored to her full glory!
 
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