bcochran
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Everything posted by bcochran
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I gave her a water test in my hot tub. She sits nice in the water. The batteries were not on board for this photo shoot in the sunshine but they do not displace much water and since one battery pack is in the bow and the other is in the stern she would still be level. The physical building is complete and as soon as I get the electronics right I'll take it to the pond. I really had planned to do that since I bought a carrier to carry it to the park. I think it turned out OK. The water color sets it off nice.
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Thanks very much for the encouragement. I won't give up just yet. I am pretty sure I have a wiring problem. Here is my new dinghy and two more deck chairs. I sent for two life rings and a radar head.
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This is the last post for this build log. All the electronics have gone hay wire. The servo does not act correctly nor do the motors and reliever. I don't know how to fix this one without replacing components. I am not going to do that. Thank everyone for the help and interest.
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Looks like I spoke too fast. When I got the boat back together the screws stop and go, stop and go. They were working beautifully. I don't want to take it apart. Now both motor and rudders do not work. This build really tests my willingness to get it on the water. So I have to take the decks off and find out what the .... is the matter. I have also broken two stanchions laying my arm on them while I work on the electronics. This is the point where I was last year when I lost all interest in this boat because I could not charge the batteries and I could not get the receiver and transmitter to bind.
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Well, I got EVERYTHING working right. Both rudders turn each direction evenly and stop in the center. That means the end point adjustment was successful. The screws turn in opposite directions. So it's dark now, I have to wait until tomorrow to give her a try in the hot tub and quite possibly on the pond. i am a little afraid of the pond like the boat sinking in the middle.
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I do not know yet but I did not do that when I said everything works. IT WORKS! I had the ESC wire plunged into the wrong position on the receiver. The rudder servo turn all they way to the right and very little to the left. I found another screw that matches one of the one on the boat. Is it good the screws turn the same way with matching screws? I was a radar repairman in Vietnam war. We had servos that were used to turn the dish with controls from inside a building,. They were connected by wire. Whatever direction you turned the control the dish would turn in the same direction. I think that training helps me with these boats. I am a pretty good at converting G scale train engines to battery operation and remote control. A few weeks ago I learned to operate HO scale model trains with your I Phone. It involves wifi. The Army taught me the way to repair electronic items was to first understand how the electronics work. Then make a list of the symptoms you observe. Since you understand the electronics you can make a list of things that could cause the symptom Then you check those potential causes one by one until you find the actual cause and repair it. That how I solved the problem with my motors not turning.
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Off to test my boat in my hot tub. The boat is not working now. The rudders move and the ESC is on. The motors will not turn. The charger says the batteries are 8.3 and 8.1. so it is not the batteries Maybe a lose connection, I had to super two of pins in the connectors.
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Again here is the switch that turns on the electronic speed control ECS. I think this is one of the coolest things about this build in that the switch just fit where the kit switch would have gone. There was very little engineering that I had to do to get it together. There are quite a few flaws on this boat, but they are not very noticeable to most people. I know where they all are and I am not telling. I do have to accept them and move on.
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This is the transmitter/controller that I bought with the rest of the parts from M.A.C.K. Products. I think it is mostly used by R/C car owners. You can make EPAs or end point adjustments. I am not sure if I need to do this. In how-to videos they use a R/C car and turn the front wheels all the way right and set that end point then do the same all the way left. For me I would have to turn the servo arm all the way in one direction because the rudders on my boat are more fragile then the front wheels of a car. I don't know yet if the rudders move enough or are OK the way they are. I guess it depends on how tight a turn you want to make in the water.
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She is ready for a test in my hot tub. I think everything that needed to be done is done. If that goes OK then I can take her to the pond.
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Should the screws turn in opposite directions? I can reverse the wires on one of the motors. The screws have apposing fins.
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I was lucky to be able to use the kit's slot in the deck for its on off switch control to mount my ESC on off switch. I can now attach the decks and be able to turn the ESC on and off without needing to remove them,. I had to remount the ESC. All that needs to be done is to deal with the correct shaft rotation and to adjust the throttle.
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EVERYTHING WORKS! The transmitter and receiver are linked. The servo moves. The motors work. The switch on the electronic speed control turns it on so I will have to find a way to turn it on and off without taking the decks off. I guess I will splice more wire to it so it can sit next to the helmsman on the deck. It looks like both screws are turning the same way. Both are turning counter clockwise. And the screw's blades are angled in opposite ways. I can take the wires coming out of the ESC, on one of the motors, and switch them around. I will have to miss match the black and red colored wires going to the ESC, I don't know which way the screws are supposed to turn. CW or CCW. I need to adjust the trim on the controller and basically learn how to use it.
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I connected the batteries and I can turn on the fan on the electronic speed control. I don't know if I need a fan that can only be turned on by taking off the deck. Maybe I should get a switch that I can mount above the deck some where. Is this fan needed? Does the switch turn on more than the fan? The kit has a switch control that fits through the non removable part of the deck. Maybe I can use that. Next step is to get the transmitter and receiver to link. I don't know how to make the video smaller. IMG_2054.MOV
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Hi Shipman. Good to have you here. I did not feel any tremors. I’ll have to check the news. How is merry old England? I have to go to the doctor because I have a low platelet count. Cancer could be the cause but I don’t think so. I’ll find out tomorrow.
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I was getting ready to connect my batteries and found out that each of the battery connectors had either a male or female pin inside the connector lose. I super glued them in place. I am going to connect the batteries together and see if I can get 14.4 volts. I got 16.11 volts so the connectors are OK. I am writing this at 1:30 AM. Two of my dogs want my complete attention. They keep panting and want me to hold them. They were driving my wife nuts so she couldn't sleep and she has to get up at 5:00 AM to drive to work. I am retired so I shut the bed room door and kept them out of the room where she is sleeping now they are keeping me up all night. I don't know what is wrong with them. I want to connect the batteries to the system and see if I can link the transmitter and receiver. If I can do that I should be able to control the servo and turn the props with the controller. I don't want to do that while I am half asleep so I will wait until later in the day Then testing the boat in my hot tub. I need to learn the controls. Then to the pond. Maybe by this weekend. My wife asked what do you do if the boat gets away from you and you can't wade out to get it,
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I also named this boat. I'm thinking that the ladies on the deck like sun bathing in their bikinis and they like lounging on the boat, seeking the sunshine.
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I found these stool/chairs on eBay as I did the people. They all are 1/20 scale. I think the chairs look better than the platform the kit supplies. I go to model boats and search for 1/20 scale and find these treasures.
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To get to the components you have to remove the decks. I built the boat to be able to do that and keep them in one solid piece. The rear deck is held on with two screws and the cabin has tabs that stick into holes in the main deck. With them off you can get to the components.
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On a side note I found this lifeboat and deck chairs on EBay. They are from one of the early MARX constellation kits. I think the boat looks very realistic and I will add the chairs and the boat to my model. I need to paint the chairs to match my other deck chairs or maybe not and add some more color to the boat.
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The first step for me is to charge the batteries. I could not do that before. On rereading the charger instructions I learned you have to hold the start button for 3 seconds to start charging. My batteries are NiMH 1,2 volts in packs of six totaling 7.2 volts. There are two of these together supplying 14.4 volts to the R/C system. I have one charged to 8.43 volts not 7.2. I don't know if that maters. If you are new to this log I'll tell you that I know little to nothing about R/C boats. The next step is to plug the batteries into the system and see what happens. One battery is charged the other is charging.
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Yes please do that
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