tigerbay

Novice question so please dumb down the answers. As a I fear a techie flare up

What ranges could I expect from different technologies and frequencies for a boat on water with line of sight.

I know there is 27 Mhz AM
I know there is FM but no knowledge of Frequency.
I know there is 2.4G

I know that you guys can also plug the knowledge gap.

alan0899

G'day Mate,
Further than you can see.

tigerbay

Hi Alan

If I can see an F4 approaching a frigate from 9miles I think I see a bit further than you think I do.

One lake I sail on is big and I want to be absolutley sure I stay in contact with the boat.

One of the models I am planing will have at least one mast over 2m and I will see the boat from a long way off.

I am asking for data please (on realistic distances) without too much tech detail.

Best regards TT

davewallace

My Feedback: (29)

tiger,
The current receivers have a minimum range of 5,000 feet or abou 1.6 kilometers. A fighter with a 10 meter wing span is much easier to see the a radio control boat.

Dave

alan0899

G'day Mate,
I should have said "further than you can see the boat"
Geez.

KingCobra2

[X(]

tigerbay

Hi Dave, thanks for the reply.

When you say current recievers, what reciever are these?
I have been told my Futaba AM 27MHz is only good for about 3-500 yards.

And I know I can see that far.

I am desperately trying to get sensible answers, and thank you again for a sensible reply.

alan0899

G'day Mate,
I'm sure you can see that far, but depending on the size of the boat, can you see IT, at that distance, & or what it is doing?
I'm not trying to be silly about this, but I've found that generally, you will not run your boat or plane, at the limit of the radio's range.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Tiger, I have a 2m sail plane, I've got it in a thermal to the very edge of where I could see it and still had full control. So the answer, farther than you can see it, and know what its doing and being in control of it, is a valid answer. Atleast for any modern commercially available FM system designed for something other than park flying use.

KingCobra2

hey there:

Take a look at the 2.4 GHz Fatuba 6EX FASST system(Tower Hobbies). Scott

onewasp

Unless you are simply trying to see how far out you can go, the radios are NOT the limiting factor.
Rather your ability to discern what control is needed and the vessels response to your control input is the limiting factor.

All of this goes out the window if the radio is other than totally healthy!

This really isn't any different than any of the others have posted----simply put in a little different light.

It is no fun to fly at the extremes of sight limits so while not a boater I think the same applies to boats.
We teach beginning fliers that "you can't fly it if you can't see it."

Unless you have good visibility, how would you know what control to input? Just the outline will do you little good and even experienced RC'rs can and are fooled by the visuals on occassion----not too dissimilar than an optical illusion.

Furthermore, a human's depth perception begins to fail at roughly 'bar room' distances. So you are kidding yourself if you think that you are going across any large expanse of water and still maintain full control.

The limit is human not technical in this case.

As far as frequency choice is concerned that choice has been made for you by your gov't.
What they allow for use on surface (non air) operation will be the deciding factor.

Healthy radios and good installations will take you well beyond YOUR physical limitations on any of the frequency bands you have mentioned.

tigerbay

thanks for the replies.