CrunchyFrog

Hey, I managed to fix a board with a dislodged connector ring, the issue that's killed half my boards. So maybe I can bring some of these guys back to life.

I just scraped off the nearest insulation on the board's pathways, then applied enough solder to connect them.

CrunchyFrog

>For the ballast system, you can can have what's called a sealed ballast system, an on/off switch activated by a servos turns a pump which pumps in water to a sealed balast tank through a valve. As teh water enters the tank, the air inside is compressed. To vent the tank and surface, all you have to do is open up the valve to let the air through, the pressure of the compressed air inside the tank automatically blows all the water out.

To me this sounds like a neat, inexpensive system. I'm not sure a hobby shop would have a pump and valve in that small size, though...guess I'll have to research sources.

CrunchyFrog

Ah. Interesting. I wondered about this, in trying to build a sub with a 49MHz board for propulsion and a 27MHz board for bow planes.

Not applicable to my build...but I'm one of the guys who has never yet ventured beyond cheapie Wal-Mart parts (project constraints, y'know !) I just wondered if better gear gave you the option of choosing your frequency.

>Remember, your model is being radio controlled by a unit either on the 75mHZ or the general purpose 27mHZ 'citizens' band. Model cars and ships share these bands and if someone else is on your frequency it could lead to trouble. It's a good idea to carry a set or two of different frequency crystals in the event someone at or near the boating site is on the same frequency.

From Dave Merriman's site

http://vabiz.com/d&e/frequency_control.htm

CrunchyFrog

Finally ! Anchors aweigh.

Only for sea trials, and with some odd behavior from the radio gear, but getting to the test tank once in a while nevertheless.

CrunchyFrog

Managed a nice hour of playtime this weekend. Four drops got into my homebuilt WTC, for all that runtime ! (okay, really I think 10 or 20 minutes was actual in-the-water time). Wet servos running rudder and planes have been longer-lived than I'd expected, although a rudder servo retired once with no warning.

Not to brag, though--I found out it had probably been time to charge my transmitter battery; once again, I was having almost to touch the antennas of transmitter and sub to inspire the boat to complete its submergence. I'm not sure charging will cure its ills because the culprit might be my wiring patch to the antenna, and I hadn't retested after patching. But I'll know when it's all charged [&:] (9v transmitter, 6AAs for the sub)

Also in the not-bragging category--I'd always known my dive-plane servo had had a bad connection under all the silicone, so I picked this weekend to improve it. The result is a solid connection, but some latex I added as sealant may be causing extra resistance somewhere to turning. Man, I hope it's in a better mood after its 2AAs are recharged...if not, that's OK I know it responds when I rotate in the 4AA clip.