Its really nothing but a board with 2 relays on it, the R/C dual ended switch, that TD designed for robot wars, but it works great in ships. It uses the KISS theory of operation. No throttle control, just forward and reverse, but its actually what seems to work best in a fast gun ship setup. Plus its getting you the highest efficiency at transfering the battery power to the motor, since the electronic speed controllers are not that efficient, why they get hot. Visit this site He also sells the single high current board that alot of us use for switching on the pump, and the solid state switch cards that we use to fire the guns. We were talking about that yesterday, how amazed we were, that this ship would have 12 guns in big gun, and how you can get everything to fit, and the ship will actually still float.
I use the same switches that Dave is talking about. They rock, _AND_ Team Delta is supportive of our hobby, donating like $125 of door prizes for Nats (in the form of $25 gift cards). So they're good cards, and they show us a little love back. For those who are having trouble translating the describtion into a mental image... the dual relay card is best described as a "no moving parts MAG throttle". No finessing servo throws, no microswitches coming undone from the servo mount, etc. And they're pretty light and compact.
Anyone want to see some wiring? Here are some pictures of the PE with all the wiring done. She is totally functional now. All I have to do is build the supports for the guns magazines on the bottom of the forward deck, and cut the length of the barrels down some, and plug the CO2 hoses to the bottom of the guns. And then build the combat superstrcture. I will finish the gun magazine supports, and then start on John's Des Monies tomorrow as promised, should only take a few days to lay out the wiring. Well here she is, I tried to make the wiring as neet as possible, for I too cannot stand nasty wiring, being a telecom field engineer. Stern compartment. Center compartment, the one connector needs to be plugged in to power the ship, the TD boards are waterproofed. Bow view. Everything is waterproofed, and my firing card can be seen next to the receiver. Over all view bow to stern. Don't really know what I can do to improve the wiring anymore, anyone see anything that can be improved. She floats right on the waterline, and weights in at 16 pounds right now, so she should be no more that 16.5 when the super is done. Just about 2 pounds under max. Oh by the way, I took out the super reverse motors, with the shafts as flat as they are, between the center and outer shafts, she went under water as soon as I turned the super reverse on. []
AWESOME!! Love the way you have the internals laid out. Thanks for the pics they are extremely helpful. Can I get a better look at that TD board? Sorry but when I order these babies I want to get it right the first time. Excellent work !! Curt
Still looking good! Your ships seem to be far more technologically advanced than mine, not to mention prettier! Can't wait to see her all done and ready to duel with the allies! yeah!
Thanks guys, this is the third ship I have made, so I keep trying to improve what I do, and make the installation as clean as possible. That way if somthing does go bad, its just so much easier to fix. I have used the TD boards in all our boats, and only had a issue with one of the switch boards when I hooked the damping diode up backwards, and took out the opti-coupler on the board. I just replaced it and it was fine again. I still don't understand how I reversed it, since I know what I was doing, must of been gremlins. Curt I will take a picture this evening showing the 3 boards if you need me too. Here is the link for Team Delta. The solid state firing card has a 5 ms response time, so if you can press the button fast enough on the transmitter, it will fire 200 times per second. The only one I have seen that approaches that speed is Don C. Man he can fire fast. Visit this site Of course with my diode steering board, I have mounted a 5 volt reg also to supply power to the receiver. And I can independantly fire each gun, or go with a full tripple shot.
Thankyou I look forward to that. The Solenoids, what brand are they, or type as I am now more than ever leaning towards having a solenoid setup in my Tennessee and changing my Tx to pushbutton activation for cannons.How much do you figure the whole VU project cost? Curt(looking for free time to get the PE completed)
They are the Kips, I spent alot of time researching other brands, but no one else seems to want to give you the 3/16 flow volume for a cheaper cost, I was able to find other brands, but they wanted in the $80 range, so I passed of course. So I went ahead and purchased mine from BC. They are selling them very close to their cost. $220.00 ea, 1 Hull with shipping $220.00 $49.00 ea, 3 Solenoids total $147.00 $26.50 ea, 3 BB Cannon total $79.50 $34.00 ea, 1 Gearbox total $34.00 $50.00 ea, 1 Receiver, total $50.00 $20.00 ea, Wood for deck $20.00 $22.00 ea, 4 RCE200 20v $88.00 $33.50 ea, 1 RCE210 $33.50 $36.00 ea, 1 RCE220 $36.00 $50.00 ea, various Deans connectors $50.00 $25.00 ft, silicone wire $25.00 $10.00 ea, Graupner motor $10.00 $10.00 ea, 2 u-joints $10.00 $6.50 ea, 1 set RUD52 BC $6.50 $3.50 ea, 2 RPOST BC $7.00 $4.50 ea, 2 RARM BC $9.00 $19.00 ea, 1 1-1/4" 4 blade 25 pitch $19.00 $19.00 ea, 1 " 4 blade 40 pitch $19.00 $6.00 ea, 4 5" Shaft $24.00 $30.00 ea, 1 Large Bilge Pump $30.00 $11.00 ea, 3 Expansion Tank $33.00 $30.00 ea, various CO2 fittings $30.00 $59.00 ea, 1 3.5 oz. Bottle $59.00 $35.00 ea, 1 Regulator $35.00 $100.00 ea, And various other odds and ends, glue, silkspan, balsa, and other items $100.00 Lets see what it all adds up to. Grand total is a total guess, since some items are estimated. $1174.50 Wow no wonder my wife says I spend to much on this hobby. Of course I most likely missed a few items here and there, so the true cost would be a little big higher I would say.
Fantastic. Great. This is what we need here. Now the new guys in our club can see what the costs are to build a small ship let alone a much larger ship. These guys are not going to use Kips or accumulators so that brings the cost down a bit but this is a great reference. I will cost me more for the kips but I am going to get them from Battler's as well along with the other items too. Thanks for your construction item and again Well done Captain well done.
Well Curt I might go the way of the boards for the Sodak build. Until it warms up I can't resin in the deck. So my build might be in the Spring and I will have all gear ready to go when I can resin deck into place.
Paul make arrangements with Steve to get over there to his place and fiberglass. He has the facility there to do that. Make a coffee run. Should not take long to resin in the deck. Or have Craig drop the hull off and see if Steve or Craig can resin it in for you. I know your working awfully hard and have little time I can relate to that. Curt
I should have John's wiring and CO2 plumming done today on his Des Monies, its looking alot better already. Then back to work on the mighty PE.
Well I got John's boat all wired up, and the CO2 plumming all done, it feels like I just made a Des Monies for myself. He's got about 2 or 3 hours worth of work, and he will at least be able to battle it. A few days worth to make everything right. So tomorrow, off to Rick's and back to work on the PE.
David Thanks a bunch for all the help. Now no more dilly dally with my boat. It is mine to worry about. Get the PE all set so you can fill me full of holes
Ok the PE superstructure is completed, I just decided to go with a battle super, somthing simpler, since this will be my main ship, and will take a quite a pounding, I can allways add to it if I want too. No picture right now, wife went on a cruise with her sisters, and took my camera. So all I have left is to fit the barrels, and figure out a support for them, and secure the magazines, I will be done tomorrow, finally. Oh wait the Kumano is waiting as I speak, I will take a break till after the battle in Feb, then start on her.
Weekend after next, 8-10 Feb. You flying out, its a bit warmer here. [] Right now if everyone comes who says they are, were looking at 12 to 13 boats on the water. But it will be around 10 if I would guess. Only 3 axis, we will have a glorious fight to the finish,[xx(] with us being finished off of course, but should be fun. Can't wait, a new battle year awaits us all. [^]
Sure I'll fly out! You paying? j/k Naw I'd love to, but with taking all the time off for Nats im keeping the travelling to a minimum this year. Maybe I'll make it out september time frame after I start getting paid vacation days. -Brandon
