1956 Chris-Craft 54' Constellation by bcochran

[bcochran]

This is my proposed setup of the R/C components, receiver, servo, batteries, motors and ESC.    I think this will work.

Edited November 30, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

14 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Normally props would turn opposite to each other. It's up to you to order a left hand and a right hand prop. Since a single ESC will be driving both motors, just swap the wires to one of them to get it to turn the opposite way. Modern ESC's switch their MOSFET transistors on and off at a rate somewhere in the kHz's. Sometimes in the audible range. I'd have thought a modern 2.4G Rcvr would be pretty immune, unlike the FM Rcvrs of my teenage RC years, but it is still a good idea to keep them separate. You should add small ceramic capacitors at the motor terminals to suppress the switching noise.

 

I have not yet used modern batteries such as NiMH or LiPo; not sure can you just parallel your two to get more amp-hours? Or do you mean they are in series to give you 12V for the motors?

The batteries have a Y harness that plugs into the speed control. The batteries are two 7.2 volt batteries, so total going to the ESC is 14.4 vols I presume.

 

The kit supplies the left and right hand props. My R/C conversion instructions say to use those.

Edited November 30, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

I made a shelf to mount the rudder servo.   The receiver has its own platform and is held on with velcro.

Edited December 2, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

The batteries have their own platforms and the batteries are held in place by Velcro.  There is one pack in the bow and one in the stern for balance.

 

Everything (props, motors, servo & linkage, electronic speed control, receiver and batteries) is installed in its place except the rudder linkage, which is coming tomorrow.   I need to connect the servo and ESC to the receiver and try it out. I also need to caulk around the stuffing tubes to make the hull water tight.   I am not sure what I am doing, so I hope it doesn't explode or something.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by bcochran

[yvesvidal]

You are ready for the first tests on the water.....

 

Yves

[bcochran]

I tried to operate the system, but with no luck.  I am supposed to bind the receiver to the transmitter but I can't get that to work.

 

I am assuming I plug the servo into channel 1 on the receiver.  The servo wires are yellow, orange and brown.  I don't know if it matters how you plug these into the receiver. The instructions say to plug ECS to channel 2 of the receiver.

The power to the receiver comes from the ECS because when I turn on the ECS I can push the link button on the receiver in and the LED lights up.

 

You are supposed to bind the receiver to the transmitter.  At first, the LED of the receiver was on.  I had the servo plugged into the receiver channel 1.  I pulled the trigger on the transmitter and the receiver LED when off.  Now, to bind the transmitter to the receiver, I am supposed to hold the receiver link button down until the LED goes off, but it never goes off.

 

I never expect things to work on the first try.  It would be a total shock if things worked as the instructions say they should. The problem is how to fix it.

Edited December 2, 2022 by bcochran

[Ian_Grant]

Bruce, the brown servo wire is the GND and goes nearest the outside edge of the Rcvr.

The ESC should have either a black wire or a brown wire too; in either case this is the GND and again goes to the outside.

 

Check these connections before trying again to bind.

I don't know anything about Tactic components so can't help you there.

 

By the way, the prop tubes should be solidly epoxied in. There should be no need for caulk, just grease in the stuffing boxes.

Edited December 2, 2022 by Ian_Grant

[bcochran]

3 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

You are ready for the first tests on the water.....

 

Yves

Well I have to get the stuff working right yet and I don't know how to do it all yet.

[bcochran]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bruce, the brown servo wire is the GND and goes nearest the outside edge of the Rcvr.

The ESC should have either a black wire or a brown wire too; in either case this is the GND and again goes to the outside.

 

Check these connections before trying again to bind.

I don't know anything about Tactic components so can't help you there.

 

By the way, the prop tubes should be solidly epoxied in. There should be no need for caulk, just grease in the stuffing boxes.

There is space between the stuffing boxes (tubes) and the hull for water to get into the hull.  I was going to caulk that space. 

[Ian_Grant]

It should be fibreglassed or epoxied.

[bcochran]

Per Ian's suggestion, I epoxied the stuffing boxes (tubes) to the hull.

 

I also completed the rudder linkage.

 

I am struggling to learn to use my battery charger.  The batteries have no charge on them so I can't test anything yet.

Edited December 3, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

I was able to put a charge on the batteries but I am not able to get the receiver and transmitter to hook up.

 

[bcochran]

A test float in my jacuzzi shows she sits in the water at the right level.  Of course there will be more weight added when she is finished.

Edited December 4, 2022 by bcochran

[Ian_Grant]

Bob,  I looked at a video about binding your Tactic Transmitter to the Receiver.

 

Is your Receiver a TR325?

 

At any rate all he did was turn both on; should see a red LED on the Tx but nothing on the Rx. Then use a small screwdriver, for example, to press down on the recessed binding button within the Receiver and hold it down for about a full second until it beeps and a solid red LED comes on. Pretty simple; used to be you had to use a "binding plug" which temporarily plugged in to the Rx to indicate to it that you wanted it to attempt to bind.

 

If no joy, check polarity of your three-pin ESC connection to the Rx: black or brown to the outside of the Rx. It's the ESC which supplies power to the Rx via this connection, and in return the Rx sends the speed control signal back through the signal wire.

 

Looking forward to seeing your electrics run!

Edited December 4, 2022 by Ian_Grant

[bcochran]

Well, I had the batteries plugged in to the charger several times, but I can only get e few minutes operation out of them.

 

I followed the instructions for linking the receiver to the transmitter without success.

 

I can continue the build without operating the boat and try to figure out what I am doing wrong later.

 

[bcochran]

21 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bob,  I looked at a video about binding your Tactic Transmitter to the Receiver.

 

Is your Receiver a TR325?

 

At any rate all he did was turn both on; should see a red LED on the Tx but nothing on the Rx. Then use a small screwdriver, for example, to press down on the recessed binding button within the Receiver and hold it down for about a full second until it beeps and a solid red LED comes on. Pretty simple; used to be you had to use a "binding plug" which temporarily plugged in to the Rx to indicate to it that you wanted it to attempt to bind.

 

If no joy, check polarity of your three-pin ESC connection to the Rx: black or brown to the outside of the Rx. It's the ESC which supplies power to the Rx via this connection, and in return the Rx sends the speed control signal back through the signal wire.

 

Looking forward to seeing your electrics run!

It is a TTX300.  I have done the linking procedure with no success.  When I first put power to the receiver, the LED was lit.  I thought it was linked.  I pulled the trigger on the transmitter and the receiver LED went out. Now if I hold down the link button the LED lights, but stays lit as long as I hold down the button. When I no longer hold it down, the LED goes out. No linkage happens.

 

I haven't been able to charge up the batteries either.

[Ian_Grant]

Bob, yes your Transmitter is the TTX300 but what is your Receiver? Are you certain that the Transmitter has power?

 

Do you have a volt meter? It would be worth checking the output of the ESC's BEC (battery eliminator circuit) to verify that the Rcvr is actually being powered. By the way, which ESC were you sent......7320....7325?

 

Also, are you certain you are connecting the 7.2V batteries in series, not just y-harnessing in parallel, for your 12V motors? Again a voltmeter would be useful.

 

You can buy a multimeter for as little as $17USD at your Home Depot.

 

Lastly, I'd call Big Rich and have a helpful chat.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Ian_Grant

[bcochran]

22 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bob, yes your Transmitter is the TTX300 but what is your Receiver? Are you certain that the Transmitter has power?

 

Do you have a volt meter? It would be worth checking the output of the ESC's BEC (battery eliminator circuit) to verify that the Rcvr is actually being powered. By the way, which ESC were you sent......7320....7325?

 

Also, are you certain you are connecting the 7.2V batteries in series, not just y-harnessing in parallel, for your 12V motors? Again a voltmeter would be useful.

 

You can buy a multimeter for as little as $17USD at your Home Depot.

 

Lastly, I'd call Big Rich and have a helpful chat.

I have a volt meter.   I’ll do those things.

Maybe tomorrow

[bcochran]

I am still here. I have a holiday garden railway display at a zoo this Saturday and I have been getting ready for that.

 

i am debating wether to build the rest of the boat and deal with the electronics later. 

[James G]

For what it's worth I have two Chris Craft models I built over the last two years that I'm now just getting around to completing the drive trains and electronics on. I preferred to stay focused on the builds before getting to this final phase. Personal preference for me and seems to be working out just fine.

[bcochran]

Good morning.

 

I am trying to charge my batteries again.   Also getting ready to paint the edges of the decks.

Edited December 22, 2022 by bcochran

[Ian_Grant]

Bob, your decks look great!

[bcochran]

Hello,

 

I didn't die.  I have been working on other projects. I've found that when working on long term projects I often run into problems that I don't have a solution for.  The R/C equipment on this boat is one of those problems. Until I can come up with a solution I stop working on them. I can't get the electrical part of this thing to work.  I think it is because of my lack of experience with this kind of R/C project and the equipment I am using.

 

So I lost interest in this boat just before Christmas and began getting some garden railroad equipment ready for a demonstration Christmas display my club was putting on at a children's zoo.

 

I think that soon I will be back on this project and complete the kit before I get the r/c components working.

 

Sorry to have been gone for so long.

[ccoyle]

Just now, bcochran said:

Sorry to have been gone for so long.

 

It's only been a month -- you're gonna have to stay away for much, much longer if you want to join the ranks of the truly great procrastinators in our hobby! 😉

[Ian_Grant]

Bob, glad to hear you didn't die. 😀

[schooner]

Bob, 

 

I just found your log. I too am a total RC newbie.

 

A couple of thoughts:

1) I have the same batteries and charger you do. Trying to understand the charger instructions drove me nuts - about 90% of them are devoted to keeping lithium batteries from exploding (which is irrelevant to the NiMh batteries we have).  After multiple rereads of the charger instructions, multiple attempts to charge and a lot of bad language I finally got them to charge, although I never got the charging progress readout on the charger screen. I found that an early attempt to charge was defeated by a loose wire in one of the plastic connectors - your multimeter should help you with that if you have the same problem.

2) Figuring out that little receiver was another PITA (my receiver is different, it has 5 slots and my remote control box is way different). As Ian has told you, the brown or black wires go away from the printed area on the receiver. Another thing to think about when you get it working is do you want the rudder servo to return to the amidships (neutral) position when you release the remote control toggle? That is the logical way to have it but you may have to switch the servo lead on the receiver to the other empty slot to get that effect.

3) I can't help with binding issue - I got both the control box and receiver from M.A.C.K. (where your motors are from), the instructions said there as no need to pair (bind) them and they were right. If you got your receiver from MACK you might want to e-mail them - they have been pretty responsive for me. 

4) There are a lot of RC online groups, some of them seem pretty responsive when people ask for help. I'd try to find one that allows you to post photos - that can save a lot of frustrating back and forth as they try to figure out what the issue is. Some sites that might be helpful:

- modelerscentral.com  - has a list of California RC boat clubs, one might be near you along with someone who could fix your problem in about 30 seconds (always good for your ego and self-image)

- rcgroups.com  - has lots of chat rooms and resources

- shipmodelers.com  - go to the tab for "model boat electronics",  at the bottom of that doc there is a good diagram about how laying out your wiring can prevent interference problems (keeping the receiver away from the motors is just a start)

 

Good luck, you've got a very nice looking build going there

Edited January 28, 2023 by schooner

[medic12]

Hi Bob,

I just acquired the same model still complete in the box...except for instructions. Would you be able to scan your instruction sheets and email them to me as a PDF file? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks!

Mark

combatmedic2012@gmail.com

[bcochran]

Hello folks,

 

I am thinking of reopening this build log.

 

I still do not have the electronics working.  I figured I would work on the superstructure of the boat while I try and figure out how to make the electronics work.  I also play with G scale trains, and I have done over 20 battery R/C installs in Garden railroad engines.  I even teach other members in our garden railroad club how it is done.

 

When I left off here I had the hull painted, the decks painted, except for the edges, and all the electronics and controls installed. 

 

So here goes on another adventure.

 

 

[bcochran]

On 8/17/2023 at 7:19 PM, medic12 said:

Hi Bob,

I just acquired the same model still complete in the box...except for instructions. Would you be able to scan your instruction sheets and email them to me as a PDF file? Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks!

Mark

combatmedic2012@gmail.com

Hi Mark,

 

I just stumbled on to your post. I will send the instructions if you still want them.

[bcochran]

On 1/28/2023 at 5:30 AM, schooner said:

Bob, 

 

I just found your log. I too am a total RC newbie.

 

A couple of thoughts:

1) I have the same batteries and charger you do. Trying to understand the charger instructions drove me nuts - about 90% of them are devoted to keeping lithium batteries from exploding (which is irrelevant to the NiMh batteries we have).  After multiple rereads of the charger instructions, multiple attempts to charge and a lot of bad language I finally got them to charge, although I never got the charging progress readout on the charger screen. I found that an early attempt to charge was defeated by a loose wire in one of the plastic connectors - your multimeter should help you with that if you have the same problem.

2) Figuring out that little receiver was another PITA (my receiver is different, it has 5 slots and my remote control box is way different). As Ian has told you, the brown or black wires go away from the printed area on the receiver. Another thing to think about when you get it working is do you want the rudder servo to return to the amidships (neutral) position when you release the remote control toggle? That is the logical way to have it but you may have to switch the servo lead on the receiver to the other empty slot to get that effect.

3) I can't help with binding issue - I got both the control box and receiver from M.A.C.K. (where your motors are from), the instructions said there as no need to pair (bind) them and they were right. If you got your receiver from MACK you might want to e-mail them - they have been pretty responsive for me. 

4) There are a lot of RC online groups, some of them seem pretty responsive when people ask for help. I'd try to find one that allows you to post photos - that can save a lot of frustrating back and forth as they try to figure out what the issue is. Some sites that might be helpful:

- modelerscentral.com  - has a list of California RC boat clubs, one might be near you along with someone who could fix your problem in about 30 seconds (always good for your ego and self-image)

- rcgroups.com  - has lots of chat rooms and resources

- shipmodelers.com  - go to the tab for "model boat electronics",  at the bottom of that doc there is a good diagram about how laying out your wiring can prevent interference problems (keeping the receiver away from the motors is just a start)

 

Good luck, you've got a very nice looking build going there

Hi schooner,

 

Sorry for the long time between your post and my reply.

 

Thanks for all the advice.  I just now reopened this build log.  It has taken me over 1/2 year to get back to wanting to attempt it again.