skowowski

Here is some more old footage of My first Home-Made RC Surfer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-qhzkkL6W0

skowowski

I will have my helmet cam up and running this week, so once a week (if i have time) I'll sort through the many hours of footage and try and post a vid each weekend. Just have to get used to filming with it on my head....

surfcurls

Hey Seb,

Thanks For The Oring Connection,

I just set a couple on a Kyosho Deck, and They Look Good, Strong And Fit Well.
I will Pass The Discount price on ...

ALSO, Your Home Made Maui Dude Rips Too !

Jimi Findrix

Hi Seb,
I have told Bob what you said, but you know, he is just interested intaking his photos not video.
I am just grateful that he is so stoked to get involved at all.
I did lend him my "Radio Waves" video today, so I hope that sparksan interest in video footage of the little shredding machine.
Hopefully, I can find someone with a decent video camera that is interested.
I have a Gath hat with an Oregan Scientific camera that mounts on and is waterproof but it is only good for surf that is close to shore.
Otherwise the board looks tiny.
What kind of camera and helmet are you gonna be using.

J. P.
Thanks for all your help with my equipment and spare body parts over the last 6 months and alsoall of yourkind words too bro.
You customer support is truly second to none and without your assistanceI would not be doing any of this at all.
I gather you like our latest efforts if you would like to use any of our pics for advertising just let me know and I will check it out with Bob.
The "Surfcurls" model really is an excellent place for anyone with no RC background to start their RC Surfing experience from.
I am enjoing experimenting with various strengthening and waterproofing ideas with some great tips from Brendon, Dave, Barrels and Seb.
But the heart of my shredder is still your configuration.
It is pretty obvious that your machines perform extremely well.
I recommend them to anyone who is thinking ofgetting involvedin this crazy"SICKNESS"

Goggz,
Keep experimenting with them fins mate.
They really do look great.
The other day I was imagining making a triangular shaped plate with a thruster finconfiguration on it.
Do you think that would work?
Maybe you could try making one of those too bro.
Where do you get the fibreglass sheeting that you are shaping the fins out of?

Rainer, Kev, and Cananzi,
These guys are are quiet, maybe they have gone surfing.

Hey Bad Billy,
If you read this make a post and say G'day.

Sea ya,

JIMI
(Geraldton, Western Australia)

Cananzi

goggz

skowowski

Brett, I would have just made a basic set up and practiced before doing major modifications. I hope it works out for your sake.

skowowski

Brett, my surfer is not easy to control. It is more top heavy than any other surfer out there. I have to give it throttle to self right and it can bounce out of control, but i know how to use it through a hell of lot of practice.

Not not mention you will have to make modifications to the deck lid and cut away plastic from it and melt parts to flatten it out,alsothebatterytraydoesn'tjustget cut out and fiberglassed, I have to lower it also. Are you sure you know what you are doing because I don't think you do.

Also why would youfiberglassa deck lid????

Cananzi

SEB

thanks for the vote ofconfidencelol.
You would be surprised howquicklyI pick things up so im not worried about powerIjust want it there if its needed. I have had alot of nitros over the past 6 years so im not new to rc's only new to the surfers ,throttle controlshouldn'tbe an issue for me.

I put one layer of cloth over it to stiffin it up. I tested it in the bath tub without it stiffened up and the pressure on the figure it bends the lid. Has anyone else stiffened there lids?

Saltypirate

Hey,
Im new to this rc surf dude thing, and I am pretty excited about it all. I have bought two surfers off the shelf so far (board sharks& bondi girl) and had all the usual problems, leaking, bad steering etc... so after having a browse through this forum, I decided to strip her down and start from scratch. Havent had much experence with rc but Im just gona wing it. So far I have bought a new motor Seaking 3660SL 3060kv boat motor and Seaking-60A Brushless ESC for Boat burst current 120A. and Hitec HS 311 Standard servo.
Currently im trying to figure out which prop shaft, motor coupling, and prop to get to replace the venom Bondi surfer girl one. So has anyone got any suggestions/links for new parts? Can you buy them as a package? The shaft diameter on the motor is 5mm.
Cheers,
Skip
P.S love all the photos and the footage

Jimi Findrix

Hey Captain Salty,
Hurry up and get those hulls seaworthy.
Hoist the Jolly Roger and take the drive up here to Gero Dude.
I will take you to all those cool spots I have been shreddin' up.
Great to see another West Coast RC Surfer come on the scene.
John @ "www.surfcurls.com" can help with a standard Kyosho direct coupler set up to start with then if you wanna go up a notch you might wanna try Seb's Graupner setup.
You will find the links to Seb's semi flex shaft coupler and prop gear a few pages back.
Good luck.

JIMI
(Geraldton, Western Australia)

Kevinmham

  You were right, jimi, I was out surfing !!  Also, I think I'm asleep when you guys are awake and visa versa . 

   Found out why my lipo puffed up.  My esc was NOT on a lipo setting.  Thought it was. Oh well.   I tried using 7.2 volt NiMh packs yesterday. Obviously not as much power as 11.1 volt LiPo's, but it was still fast enough. I'm using a 3600 kv motor and a prop from a Traxaas speed boat. 

    It was way to calm yesterday. All I could do was putter around and entertain seaguls and golden labs !  If that stinkin dog had got it's teeth on my board, he would have destroyed it for sure.  I'm gonna scout around for a better spot, with more waves. My current spot seems hit and miss but it is less than ten minutes from my place, and parking is about 50 feet (or less ) from the water. 
 
    Well, it is sunny out and my batteries are charged. Guess what I'm going to do  !!!!!   See ya!

goggz

Cananzi me bra i already surfed a hour that day.. Puniho road it looks a good wave but it isnt to intense gets rather boring after a while to surf.. if the wind stayed northery we would of gone to Stent road... that would be different skull would of stayed on the beach

Jimi brada thats a great idea!

I'll have to try that out, since im off work for a few more days.. wher do i get?? i make from resin and rolls of fibreglass cloth i have a few years in the trade making bodykits for cars and repairing my drift racing buddies write offs.. [:@]

This pic's a smaller day at stent road.. Its always a battle with the winds here in N.Z

One good thing is 10 guys out in the water is a crowd [:-]

Jimi Findrix

Hey Goggz,

If I was you, I would be sendin' Skull out at "Stent Rd" too, he can handle it.
That looks like a great wave, so close to the beach too.

Yeah, strong offshore winds can make it very hard work operating these little surfers.
The last couple of days have been extremely difficult but I have to take advantage of the opportunity when Bob and I can both be there.

Hope your fins work well bro.

Sea Ya.

JIMI
(Geraldton,Western Australia)

Jimi Findrix

Kev,
When I plug my battery in I get 2 beeps, this is to tell me that the ESC is set for 7.4v.
I often still use my 7.2v packs because they cost a lot of money and I might as well use them up.
When I set the ESC for them I get 1 beep when I plug in.
This is an easy way to check that it is on the correct setting for battery type.
I use Seaking 60A ESC.

I only used NIMH packs for the last 2 days although I probably could have used the extra power yesterday.
I opted to run the NIMH at "Bowes" yesterday because the wind was really howling and I thought a little extra weight might help stop the Dude from getting blown away.

I drive anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour to get to a spot for a surf .
I have run my board at over a dozen places so far and I know a few more good ones that I have not tried yet.
I check the local surf report for swell, wind and tide, this helps me determine where I think the best quality waves are gonna be.
It is still a bit hit and miss but it does improve the odds.
Sometimes I will drive for an hour, only to end up surfing the closest beach to my home.

Just go adventuring bro and if you find a place that is happening make a mental log of the tide wind and swell conditions.
That way you will know when to go there again.
That is what I do.
Hope these ideas help you to get the best surf sessions out of your machine.

Sea Ya.

JIMI
(Geraldton, West Oz)

Kevinmham

  Thanx for the info jimi.   My esc uses a programming card to set battery type.  When I checked it with the card, it turns out it was on NiMh setting.   The funny part was, while using the programming card, I pluged in the battery pack AND a 4 cell receiver pack !  Oops! Bye-Bye bec !
It might still work with a reciever pack, but I don't think that would fit in the board. I haven't tried.  The only esc my local hobby shop had in stock was an Aquacraft 45-amp job.  It does not have a LiPo cut-off, so I'm using HiMhs for now untill I order a better one. At least I can use the surfer, and it seems to work.  The seaking 60a seems popular, so I think I'll get one of those.

  When I went surfing today, my spot was as smooth as glass. Hardly a ripple !  Yeah, I'll have to do a bit more searching for a better spot. 
 
   Checking the local surf report in a good idea. That should help.  Am I looking for windy conditions ? I was told you don't want wind. Is this correct ? 

  Nice pictures, as well. Your guy is an excellent photographer.   I can understand him not wanting to shoot video as shooting stills is an artform in itself.
   Later, dudes.

Kevinmham

    Almost forgot, Happy Halloween everyone !

  Do you gus in the land of Oz have halloween, or is it a north america thing ?  Goggz's skull surfer is perfect for today ! 

Jimi Findrix

Surfer Kev,
You do want some wind.
The best surfing conditions are created when the wind blows from land to sea, (Offshore) preferably not too strong.
This wind will make the waves stand up and throw nice clean hollow tubes and the faces will be smooth.
A cross wind can be a bit bumpy.
Onshore (Sea to land) is the worst.
Unfortunately sometimes the offshore wind can be a bit to strong, this can cause the Dude to get held over if you don't have sufficient ballast.
Then the Dude will float out beyond the break and start heading for China.
Strong offshores can also make it hard staying on the face as the wind tends to blow the surfer off the back of the wave.
It takes great skill and determination to navgate in decent size surf especially when the wind is very strong.
Dead still (Glass) is also very nice for surfing.
Due to the fact that the wind comes from different directions, sometimes it pays to go to different spots if the swell and tide is right.
In effect, searching for a wave where the wind is directly offshore.
It can be onshore or cross-shore winds at one break (blown out) and still be perfect around the corner.
Headlands, coves and bays are always good places to look.
Groynes and harbours / Marinas can also produce shelter from bad winds.
Get to know you local coastline well.
A spot that has no waves today could be pumping tomorrow.
This is part of the surfing knowledge that I was rambling on about a few pages back.
It takes years to really know your coastline well.
It is in the blood of all good surfers RC or not.
Although anyone can have a lot of fun with an RC Surfer, to really get the most out of an RC Surfer you really need to:
THINK LIKE A REAL SURFER, this will take time but as your knowledge and understanding increases you will get more hits and less misses.
If you check your loca beaches regularly you will start to understand what I am on about.
Good Luck Bro.

Sea Ya.

JIMI
Geraldton, Western Australia)

Saltypirate

Hey Jimi

Cheers for the leads mate, cant wait to get this thing running. Been up to Gero a few times, mainly surfing at Greenough as well as a bit further north up near Coronations, definately plenty of rc surfer action up there.
Take it easy

Kevinmham

  Thanx Jimi . 
         Again,  very helpful info.  See, I was wrong.  I assumed you would want the wind to be blowing towards  the land.  I figured that if you lost control of your surfer,  it would eventually be blown towards the shore. Shows how little I know about the hobby !! But, I know a little bit more now !   The spot I have been using is known for huge waves in storms.  In fact, they often shut the road down along the road because waves wash over it during a storm !! 
 
   I think I'll take your advice and check out the coastline a little more.  If I have a couple of spots to choose from, if one sucks, another might be great. 
    
   Seeing the great pictures posted here by yourself, goggz, and others, makes me want to get my little dudette out there in some waves and get some pictures !

R a i n e r

I stiffened the deck lid with 3 layers of fibreglass, as well.
That sure makes sense.
The deck lid is one of the main sources of leakage.
The stiffer it is the better it seals.

@Cananzi:
Did you manage to shift your servo to the front and mount your motor? (the one with the cooling water connections on the non-drive end).

I just ordered a similar brushless motor:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
plus a 100A-ESC:
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
===> altogether for 43,-EUR (= approx. 55,-$)incl. shipping - unbeatable price!
Ipaid 120,-EUR (= approx. 155,-$) for a comparable setup at my local dealer.
I willreport if thecheap motor plus ESC works, as well.
No matter if you order it from ebay or from your local dealer: The stuff comes from China, anyway! ;-)

@Jimii:
Winter has come to Germany - no more surfing 'till March '11 :-(
'Will spend my time upgrading blonde Lisa to brushless.

Take care!
Rainer (... freezing in Germany... :-( ... )

Cananzi

Rainer

I was hoping for the same result ,stiffer lid= less leakage

yeahImanaged to shift the servo forward with no problems at all. I just shifted it as far asIcould with the provided cable length.I knocked out theoriginalservo poles out ,rapped my servo in foil,pushedit down into the epoxy putty to make a mould for the servo to sit in. the putty wont stick to the foil so you can pull the servo back out once it drys.Then I screwed a strap down with two screws over the servo to hold it down tight in the mould.Itdoesn'tmove one bit.

That motorIgot looks identical to that one.the problem i had with mine is it had a smaller gap between the engine mount holes, not sure if yours will to tho. I think the standard engine mount is 25mm and my engine mounting holes were 19mm. bummer! might try change the engine mount somehow.

R a i n e r

Thanks for that servo-putty-foil-trick - great - I will try this, too!!

Making a new motor holder out of 2mm-aluminium is no big deal. ('did this as well)

Take care!
Rainer

surfcurls

R.I. P. Andy Irons ...

Jimi Findrix

Sebski,
The flexi shaft thing is here, just waiting for the props.
OK, solder over the hole.
Then what?
Do I just poke the flexi end into the coupler and do up the nut?
Any other instructions bro.
Please give advice.
Thanks Dude.

JIMI

CalifKid

Na I still have my kyoshos running from new like 2000-2001 I think. Upgraded the electrics etc but otherwise mostly stock.
There was no surfcurls or leaky nqd's in those days! I'll leave you guys to it