darticus

I don't too much about adding extra stuff to a sailboat or anything thing else RC but maybe you can suggest some things. My radio stuff in my little sailboat stopped working and I had a 6 channel radio, that I had, with two larger servos for the sails and rudder and 3 smaller servo for maybe an added effect. Is there something I can add to the sailboat to use the other servos? Maybe something that can be hooked up without inventing the wheel. All suggestions would be great! maybe I can get something on ebay to work with it? Thanks all Ron

Hydro Junkie

Lights would be something, use a micro-servo to to turn them on.
Just a word of caution. Sailboats don't like a lot of unneeded weight. They also don't like things that upset the airflow over the hull. If you really "have" to use the other channels, keep everything as light and unobtrusive as possible

darticus

Wanted to add a few lights to the sail boat. I did wire up 3- 3mm led lights and wondered what type of switch to use. I guess the small servo would move and arm and hit the switch. Know anything about the type of switch to use? Maybe I can get it on ebay? Can the leds get power from a spot on the receiver thats not being used? Thanks Ron

Hydro Junkie

Unless you're using low-draw LEDs, I wouldn't recommend running lights off your receiver pack.
A standard miniature push on/push off button switch would work for lights. That way, you don't have to leave the servo energized and drawing more power than needed. A servo will draw power anyway, just takes a lot more to hold one with any sort of load

darticus

OK Thanks Ron

darticus

I am using low voltage led lights. Can I use any of the unused receiver plugs marked + - to get the 6 v for the leds? I'm using a 6 channel receiver so a lot of extra plugs I might be able to get the 6 volts from. Thanks Ron

mfr02

Voltage for the radio appears on all of the pin sets, usually there is a picture on the radio telling you "-,+,S". Battery pos and ground are common to all the pin sets with ground (black wire) nearest the edge of the board, 'cos thats the easy way to design the board. 5 volts (usually 5) appears on the middle pin, see where the red wires go. 3 LEDs with the appropriate ballast resistors shouldn't pull more than about 50mA. Not much, but maybe enough to reduce sailing time. A separate battery would be better.

rgburrill

At least one RC sailboat uses a second servo to fine tune the jib. The sheet from the main servo is fed through it to give a more realistic control of the jib. Not legal for racing but not everyone races.