ManDownUnder

Hi all - complete newbie here (when it comes to designing and making RC boats...)

My end goal is to have a boat that will take about 1000 meters of fishing line out to sea, drop it and return to shore. I've heard of something similar done with a little deep V boat, 2 channel RC etc but not had the opportunity of seeing it up close. It's 20cc, 1000mm by 400mm, deep V with futuba 2 channel RC kit (rudder and gas?)

I have a couple of questions regarding what I need to be doing re the hull, power unit and RC gear, as I'd like to make one myself. I am a fitter by trade so physically making it etc will be some learning, but I'm not starting from scratch...

Ideally it would be quiet
My thought is that I'd prefer to go electric rather than Gas to address this but the weight consideration of electric and the power output from Gas make Gas the more desired... That being said I expect the line to go out, and after the noise has died down THEN the fish will be biting so noise, while it is a consideration is in not an important one overall.

Is there an electric setup that would do the job, or is that simply inappropriate for some reason that I haven't though of?

The RC gear will need a range of 1000 - 1500 meters
The's how long the line is and I want to be able to turn the boat and actually have it come back... If I have to spend a little more to get something with twice the range I think I'd be inclined to do that...

What is the standard way of dealing with a vehicle that threatens to go beyond range?
Are there any signal booster systems that I should be aware of?

The boat needs to be heavy enough to be stable in open ocean waves, yet unsinkable
My thoughts are to make a deep V with a keel to make sure that it will always right itself, no matter what. I am also thinking of making a balsa hull, then fiberglassing it. I did think about casting a ferro concrete hull but ruled that out - the weight would require too big of a power plant surely?

Is there anything wrong with just going with Painted/Suitably treated balsa?


I need an easy, and reliable method of detaching the line from the boat when it gets out far enough
This has the two solutions of me tying the appropriate knot so it be be detached with the flick of the wrist or somehow using one of the RC channels to do it?

I need a way of being able to see the boat easily enough (binoculars OK...)
I'm planning to attached a light to the top (for night time) and a flag for use during the day. Anything else that is commonly used for RC boats or planes that help people see them from afar?

Any and all help appreciated!
Nigel

Umi_Ryuzuki

Sounds like you need a Coast Guard Lifeboat.

I suppose the boat is all up to you. however I can give you some insight into the line drop.

If all you do is have an extra loop of line, or the loop of the hook locked into a slotted brass tube,
When you pull the rod out of the tube using a servo, the line will drop.
The rod is filed to a half round where it crosses the slot. So there is a small space left to hook the loop, or the hook. The weight, of your sinkers should cause it to drop off.

Or, if you wanted to mount this above the deck, you could then just pull it out using the fishing rod once the servo has opened the latch.

The biggest problem I see occuring in the ocean, is that a wave will roll the boat, or push the boat back over the fishing line, and cause it to tangle in the propeller, or around the boat.

Good luck.

The image below is a Mine anchor release for my combat ship.

bill heacock

You can also use a thrid servo attached to your release mechanism.

Bill Heacock

Umi_Ryuzuki

Didn't I just say that?[&:][&:]

Tachikaze

Is this legal to do ?
If so, I would look at electric. Too many problems with the possibility of fuel line fouling with the seas you may have to transverse. Are there big waves where you wish to do this? If not then you can do either.
I think that like Umi mentioned your important concern is how to drop the line. And I willl bring up another concern, make sure you have a transmitter/radio that can accomidate that range.

ibuildstuff

good luck on finding rc gear thatll do 1000-1500 meters ... your pushing 1 mile out.. 3200 ft at closest, and 4900 ft for the farthest... i think you should consider a fishing boat.. much easier, and proably cheaper.


Jesse

tsunami

wings n things hobbies has a boat that fits most of your bill, mods would be neccesary to unsikanize it but its electric and its desighd for our dam site fishing but it should still have athourity in the waves. i havent seen it run but have looked it over.

[link=http://www.wings-n-things.com/dboat/index.htm]wings n things[/link]
hope this helps

TERBObob

My Feedback: (21)

1500 feet is all that is the norm for RC radio gear . For anything else , you will need to contact the FCC and license yourself for ham ( AND then ,hope they give you a temp permit , which I honestly doubt they will do for the reasons you are wanting . )
No matter how you throw the dice , I think your biggest problem is gonna be the radio gear needed for your intentions .
Can a radio be modded to amp out the signal ? yes . Can it be done for the distance you are wanting ? Yes ...
Can you find someone that will DO that mod for you ? NO ... that is TOTALLY illegal .
750 milliwatts doesn't get you too far and the closer to that 1500 foot mark you get , the greater the chance of a glitch and then ... out to the deep blue for your hard earned monies invested in that boat and setup .
I agree with the others , it wold be cheaper to just get yourself a regular sized boat , grab a 6 pack of pop and start dropping your line(s) ....
Oh ... and take a snooze too , if you'd like

ManDownUnder

Thanks all...

Keep it coming - and I'll need to find out about the required permits/limitations imposed on radio gear - I am in New Zealand and I saw one here stating it'd do 1500 meters (damned near a mile) so if it has been done I HOPE it's legal.

Good idea to check that out prior to building it tough huh?

Anyhoo... back to it!

Any more comments are very welcome!
Nigel

TERBObob

My Feedback: (21)

Oh , hey ...
My sincerest apologies ... I should have looked where you were from before I started flapping off at the mouth about legalities .
Hopefully , there is someone here that knows the rules pretaining to this for your country .
Again , I am honestly sorry . I thought you were here in the US .
Not sure , but , I think that all the Tx's have the same range though ... ( again , not sure about that )
Please accept my apology for assuming you were here in the States .

And the 1500 meters thing ... that could have been a simple mis-read . Since you probably deal with the metric system , and here we deal with US standards , you might have thought that you read 1500 meters instead of 1500 feet . ( which is the max distance they claim for a Tx here in the US using 750 milliwatts or less , of power output )

LtDoc

ManDownUnder,
The distance may/will be a problem for normal RC radio equipment. I have no idea what is available/legal for you 'down there', so no help with that.
Some of the fishermen here use a block of foam hollowed out to hold a automotive/marine battery and a trolling motor. The distances they work with are quite a bit shorter than your's and they use a 'jerk-line' instead of RC, but there's no reason you couldn't use radio control. There's a company that makes floating docks here so large 'chunks' of foam are easy to come by. In Australia? 'Nuther one of those 'no idea' things for me. Guess you could always make one. There are a number of ways to attach the fishing line to the boat, just depends on how elaborate you want to get. The simplest is just a tube at an angle on the boat. Drop the fishing weight into the tube. When you stop the line from paying out, it's pulled from the tube.
There are a couple of manufacturers that make 'fishing boats' but they are probably much smaller than you need, and certainly not inexpensive!
Good luck...
- 'Doc

PS - All fishermen are crazy so this isn't exactly an unexpected idea, right?

tsunami

nope ive thought of it more than once at the river.
the foams a good idea(now unsinkable)but what bout the waves pouning on it,ive never had dock foam so i dont now the strength,also a more secure setup for the line would be needed becouse of the conditions.

LtDoc

tsunami,
The strength of the foam? You got me! It's used for inland water docks, etc, so it should be fairly strong. They are usually large enough that a small 'chunk' missing from here and there doesn't make a lot of difference (sometimes wall thickness is 6" or more), and the waves on some of the local lakes during bad weather are the same relative size as you'd find on an average day on the ocean. This foam is not what you'd usually find in the average icechest, much stronger, coarser 'grained'(?). If the same type of foam can't be found, use whatever you can find and 'sheet' the hull with fibreglass, balsa, plastic, or epoxy? The 'boats' made here are very utilitarian, meaning if it last a full season, who cares is it's sort of dinged up? Besides, fishermen don't care if it's 'pretty' as long as it works... I did see a 'name' painted on one but I can't repeat it here.(LOL)
- 'Doc

lawnsplus

I have built an electric trolling motor driven 60" v-hull boat. It was originally powered by a 27cc weedeater engine-too slow. The boat sat in the shop for quite a while and one day I looked at an old out dated trolling motor beside it. The next thing I knew, I had an electric powered rc boat with reverse. I cut the shaft to fit the boat, installed a weedeater head on the shaft, put a 1/4 giant scale servo with 2 ea. round control horns and put a long shoe lace connected to each of the horns (one horn paying out and the other taking in) and a lot of raps aroung the weedeater head attached to the trolling motor shaft and I have a working rc fishing boat with reverse. If I get in trouble, I just turn motor around and go backwards. If I can do it I will try and post a picture. John

lawnsplus

Picture of 60" home made wood boat with fishing motor installed.

LtDoc

lawnsplus,
A 'shoe-lace'?? Oh, I like that! LOL The ones I've seen have had the trolling motor mounted in front so as not to interfere with the line being towed at the back. But, whatever works.
- 'Doc

Aaronie

NICE BOAT!! How fast does it go?

ManDownUnder

No big deal...

I hjad no idea if the rules you mentioned were part of a global understanding or simply local to you. I have some digging to at this end is all..

Cheers!
Nigel

ManDownUnder

'Crazy' is such a harsh term - I prefer 'inventive'...

lawnsplus

The pictured boat above is not fast at all. It does leave a heck of a wake but no roostertail. I plan to build a removable pvc catch system to retrieve our race boats and another system to simply sit at the dock in an easy chair and troll for fish. Thanks for nice remarks-the boat was 4 months in the building-not full time of course.

LoverboyG

HEY MAN !IM WHRITING U FROM GREECE!\

I HOPE THE FISH THAT WILL COME TO YOUR HOOK
WILL BE SMALLER THAN THE BOAT YOU WILL BUILD!!!!!!
OR ELSE YOU WILL END UP WITH A SUB!!!!!!HAHAHA

I DO UNTERWATER FISHING.... JUST BELIAVE ME THAT YOU CANT ENJOY TWO HOBBIES AT THE SAME TIME!!

WE HOLD THE LINE WITH OUR HANDS AND ITS DIFICOLT.

IMAJEN TO HAVE A SEVO!MAN ITS A BUD IDEA!

AND WITH THE MONEY U WILL GIVE IN THAT JUST GO AND GET A QUICKSILVER 3meters!!!

AND FOR HOW LONG YOU WILL HAVE THE NITRO OR THE BATERY POWER???

WHEN I GO FISHING I STAY FOR 4 HOURS!

WILL YOU BE SATISFAED WITH 10 MINUTES???

HOW ABOUT IF THE LINE GRUB SOMEWHERE???

YOU MUST SWIM TO UNGRUB IT!!!


WHELL I HAVE SWAM TO GET MY 1/8 BABY TOO !!!!HAHAHA
BUT NO MORE! I MADE A SYSTEM SO I CAN GET IT OUT!


SO TAKE CARE!
ILL GO TO MY TOPIC FOR THE REAL NITRO IN GLOW ENGINES!

THE LONLY HYDRO RACER
GEORGE

ps. sorry for my bad english

LoverboyG

AND I DONT REMEMBER WHERE I HADE DOWNLOAD A VIDEO WITH A DUMAS GAME FISHING BOAT
1metre long WHITH CAMERA ON
CACHING A BIG FISHAND BRING IT TO SORE!!!

LoverboyG

http://www.radiocontrolzone.com/boat/index.asp


GO HERE AND C A REAL!! FISHING BOAT VIDEO!!!

UAV

Hi this is my first post ever....
if you are thinking to use a radio i better recommend that you use a gps system... it will consist in an hand held gps that you program the wp and a small device that read the tracking error of the gps through the gps serial port and then convert the heading error to steering commands an only use the radio when the boat is in your sight. I dond remember the company that make it but i remember that i was cheap around $100.
this could be great since you can lay off and let the auto-sterring take the boat around, the system will work whit any gps that has a serial port output.

larryTrip

I am not sure if you can get these in the USA, but check out these sites in Poland. It might be what you are looking for.

Check out the Video on this site. Not sure how it would handle in ruff water but its worth looking at.
http://www.karpmax.pl/klamotykarpiowe,48

http://www.karpmax.pl/news,87

http://www.becker-fishing-tackle.de/...products_id=42