WhatDoesThisButtonDo

MN, USA.

Thewindk

Hi Q.

Futaba is mainly cars, helicopters and planes. But they have a partnership with modelboat maker Robbe. They provide them with slightly reworked versions of their radios. The one most suitable in my opinion is the Robbe/Futaba FC-16 boats & trucks.
You can order from Robbe directly, i have already done so and for me at least their service was impecable. They are a EU based company, so you may want to check how to import radio gear into the US before you order. Personally, i'd consider finding a sympathetic RC store who can have it shipped over for you.
Also to consider is the frequency: i'm not sure what bands you are allowed to use in the US; The FC-16 is certified for 40 and 41Mhz, i'm not sure if it will work with 35 or 75Mhz crystals.

Hope this helped!

Greets,

B.

alligator

Q,

You have a PM!



Al,

yanceynmp

You have a PM.
If you don't have any luck get back in touch with me. [&:]

Myles

mikessubworks

Hello,

You have a pm if you're still looking for a radio.

Thank you!
Mike and Alissa Shubar

WhatDoesThisButtonDo

WhatDoesThisButtonDo

Turns out it is just as well I did order it when I did. I checked it yesterday and it has been discontinued on TowerHobbies ....

subsinker

My Feedback: (61)

Hi,
I believe you can send a radio in to Futaba and they can retune it. I have a 9CAP that is on 75Mhz and all the controls (and manual) say 72mhz. Contact Futabas service center, they will steer you in the right direction. They are right down the road from me in Champaign Illinois. Also, FYI: you don't want a PCM frequency modulation for a submarine. Strictly FM is best.

hope that helps,
Pete

ir3

My Feedback: (42)

Subsinker,

Check in at Harbor Models and consider the Robbe F-14 75MHZ radio. I am using this radio for my Dusseldorf Fireboat. The transmitter is expandable with switch modules and proportional modules and is a great way to add animated functionality. Not cheap but a great way to go. It is my radio of choice for both my Engle VIIC and my Revell VIIC that will be going into the water soon.

IR3

subsinker

My Feedback: (61)

IR,

Yes, I have an F-14 for my Engel Typhoon. I use it as the Typhoon has the Tmax system, which has ballast tanks for and aft that are independently controlled. The F-14 has slider switches to accommodate this feature. I was under the impression that the poster was looking for a computerized, multi-model radio. Unfortunately, the F-14 isn't either. However, you are right, it is a good radio and has a ton of upgrade possibilities.

regards,
Pete

badassissimo

Hello everyone!

I just started on the forum. I've been looking for what parts it would take to put a submarine together and I'm stuck on the transmitter. Where would someone go in 2013 for a 75MHZ transmitter? Also, how many channels should I try to get? What kinds do people use and why? I know I want to move a rudder, dive planes, and throttle. I'm using a weedeater engine. It won't go deep but it will dive and get restarted by a starter motor when surfaced or if thats not possible, use a compressed air source to give it a few seconds underwater. Should make a fun u boat if I can get the control I want on it. I think thats four different servos already. I'd probably want a fifth for a bilge pump and a sixth for ballast tank. Does anyone operate this many servos on one control? Do you use two radios instead? Do you have anything to tell you the air pressure in the ballast tank so you know when to regulate it? Would there be any way to add more servos than those six?

Any tips would be great. I emailed Tony at radiosouthrc and was referred here so I'm hoping I find answers here. Thanks.

mar7ck

6 Channel 75 MHZ Radio GWS
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...GWS-GWT6A.html

4 Channel 75 MHZ Radio GWS
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...GWS-GWT4A.html

Captain Nemo12

Forget about the combustion engine, having to use air means that you'll need build a valve mechanism that can be quite complicated, not something that you'd want for a first sub! To my knowledge, no one has ever built a successful IC-electric hybrid submarine model. Stick with electric motors for propulsion, it'll save you time and money in the long run! As for the channel layout, a typical static diver is set up like this:

-1 channel for throttle
-2 channels for steering (diving planes and rudder)
-1 channel for ballast tank control (flooding and emptying)

So you will need a 4-channel radio running on 27 or 75mhz (2.4 Ghz does not work underwater). If you want extras such as a periscope mechanism or torpedoes, invest in a 6-channel radio. I have the GWT-6A suggested above and its a nice affordable radio with basic functions. The WFLY 8 is also popular if you want something slightly fancier:

http://www.sub-driver.com/electronic...ansmitter.html

Hope this helps!

Nate

badassissimo

Thank you both of you! I had just been looking at the one remote. I wasn't too keen on what other brands I could use. I guess my big question is how I can use the different channels. I would think that 1, 2, and 3 would all be servos that would move according to where a joystick is pointed. The fourth one would be more of a switch I guess. Not sure how that would work on a remote with two joysticks. Also, I held a transmitter one time and the two joysticks it had had one that sprung back and the other moved back and forth but would set I guess in grooves for throttle to be regulated. It didn't move side to side though. I'm hoping the reccomended transmitters move up and down as well as side to side on both sticks and do not set in position. OR, if they do, can that be changed? For the periscope and torpedos, would those be operated by push buttons or how would those be operated on one of these transmitters? I want to make sure I buy the one that will do what I need it to do. OR, I guess one thats big enough I can take apart and rebuild.

As far as cheaper parts, I have everything I need to make the hull already. I already have the weedeater engine. I have several motors but not servos that I scrap from different appliances. I get rods and so for from scrapping so I don't think I'm going to spend too much after I have a transmitter, receiver, necessary servos, probably bilge pump if I don't end up scrapping something similar, battery or batteries, and any other R/C accessory that may become necessary like crystals or wiring or something.

Thank you again for the reply and I appreciate the concern. I can see how buying everything would get costly in no time. Scrapping helps out a lot though. I imagine I'll have some tvs fixed before the end of the project to help fund anything else I come up with.

Nick

Captain Nemo12

The two joysticks on a 4-channel radio can both move up/down and left/right. The sticks are mounted on gimbals and each gimbal pivots about the axis of a potentiometer:



These two sticks would be responsible for the 4 channels. For a 6-channel radio, the extra 2 channels are usually taken care of by toggle switches or knobs at the top of the radio. You can modify the sticks are you wish, each channel is essentially controlled by a potentiometer. Some people have even modified their radio to have a miniature ship's steering wheel.

I'm curious to know why you want to use a weedwacker engine as the main propulsion, is there a particular reason?

badassissimo

Thank you for your reply. I'm getting a clearer picture of what I'll need with every piece of advice. The reason for the weedwacker engine for propulsion is because I already have it. I don't have to buy it. It was free. Buying another or more motors would cost money. I don't need to spend money on a motor because I have one.

I guess I would just exchange the gimbals if I wanted them to act differently? I can't tell by looking at the picture if the wires from the potentiometers connect to the circuit board and have a path to something before the antenna that is different than say the switch. I'm curious if I could have the third potentiometer on the remote. I guess I would build a case and put it on the bottom but right where one of those toggles is might work too.

Thank you again. I imagine I'll know which one to get before long. It seems like most MHz transmitters are for airplanes and I hear that I would need a surface transmitter instead. Do you think airplane remotes won't work? Thanks.

Captain Nemo12

72 Mhz aircraft frequency will work but it is illegal due to FCC regulations, surface models are only permitted to run on 27 and 75Mhz. Different radio manufacturers have different gimbal setups inside their radios, so it'll be best to take apart one that you can find and work your way from there. See what you can do with the weedwacker engine, to keep it simple you could run a snorkel from the engine air intake, through the hull and up to the surface. Your maximum dive depth will be limited by the length of your snorkel in that case. You will also need to invest in some sort of cooling system for the engine as well.

badassissimo

I keep finding airplane transmitters for sale but haven't seen any surface models. I have seen mostly 75 mhz. Frequency aside, I don't know what the difference between surface and air is or if that is negligible. Because I haven't seen a surface transmitter for resale, I may have to get a brand new one but I'm kind of hoping that the airplane transmitters I've seen can be used.

I figured I would go by trial and error with the engine cooling. I figured I would put a fan in it to keep air to it for cooling. It has fins and I assume that is all it needs in natural conditions. That's all it has as a weedeater and I've tore up driveshafts myself before a motor when I had a yard to mow. I think a fan blowing on it should keep it cool. I think I'd put ducts around it to circulate it and then have enter and exit according to the intake and exhaust.

Captain Nemo12

Try looking on RCU marketplace, Ebay, local Craigslist, etc. Surface radios tend to pop up every now and then due to people moving onto the newer 2.4 Ghz systems. Like I said, 72 Mhz will work (only with a 72Mhz receiver) but it is illegal due to FCC rules.

badassissimo

Too bad the 72 is illegal. I wonder if I could put a 75 mhz transmitter in it. Swap it out. I saw a couple of 75 mhz transmitter modules on ebay and some evo7's in my pocket range. Anybody done this before?

Nick

Captain Nemo12

You mean swapping out a 72Mhz crystal with a 75Mhz one? It has been done before but this would require re-tuning the transmitter's circuits to work with the new crystal. This can only be done by a certified technician for it to be legal.

badassissimo

That might be an option. I think I read that 27 Mhz works better for subs anyway so as long as I'm having it retuned, I guess I'd have it taken down to 27. Anyone know how much that would cost or where to go? Maybe like 50?

Also, is there a difference between air and surface transmitters and if so, what would need to be done to make an air transmitter work like a surface transmitter. I keep seeing helicopter and plane transmitters but I've seen in some places that I would need a surface transmitter to penetrate water. I'm curious what makes a car or boat transmitter different than an airplane or helicopter transmitter. Other than the amount of gimbals and mixing. Thanks all.

Nick

Captain Nemo12

The difference is solely on the frequencies, aside from the frequency values they are virtually identical (except for the helicopter radios of course). In fact, my 4-channel Futaba radio is essentially a 4-channel airplane radio with a 75 Mhz turned circuit in it. You may want to start a thread in the Radio Equipment forum here at RCU:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_157/tt.htm

I've received a lot of help from these guys in the past.

badassissimo

I see you have a U boat in the works. I guess you would be using an airplane transmitter? Also, what would be different about a helicopter transmitter? Other than the sticks and function of the switches, the frequencies wouldn't matter. Would they? Still could use an airplane transmitter or a helicopter transmitter for an airplane. Right? Just a matter of the toggles and gimbals?

Nick

Captain Nemo12

Not quite, RC helicopters use something called CCPM mixing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic/...e_pitch_mixing

So helicopter radios have electronics that are specifically designed to implement this control scheme. However, on some helicopter radios, it is possible to "de-program" the CCPM mixing via some good-old re-soldering of wires (depends on the radio model). Computerized radios simplify this further but enabling the user to switch between helicopter and airplane mode via the press of a button. My 4-channel radio is a Futaba 4EXA, basically a 4-channel airplane radio with a 75mhz surface frequency (no helicopter mode on this radio).