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Boats…Radio Controlled

Friday Feb 13, 2009

The first popular use of radio control systems in models began in the early 1950’s with single-channel self-built gear… commercialized equipment followed later on. 
In the 1990s miniaturized equipment became widely obtainable, permitting radio control of the most small-scale models, and by the 2000’s radio control was commonplace even for the control of low-priced toys.  Prior to radio control, numerous models would employ simple burning fuses or clockwork mechanisms to control flight or sailing times. 

Typical radio control systems for radio-controlled models utilize pulse width modulation (PWM), pulse position modulation (PPM) and more recently,  spread spectrum technology, and trigger the various control surfaces using servomechanisms. 

Thanks to the advent of Modern powerful electric technology, today’s electric boats are accessible in larger scale models providing motors that can maintain lightning quick speeds. 

Just like when you purchase a new car you have to break in your radio contcontrolled boats. What you do is make certain that the motor is not under load ( not attached to anything).  Oil up the bearings well with a silicon or find machine oil and then connect the motor to a four cell pack and let it run for about twenty minutes. Then shoot them with a motor cleaner and then reoil.
Breaking in the motor is more important if you have a high RPM or high torque motors. To break in these motors run them on 6v for twenty minutes after oiling them down really well.

Powerboats of various types make up the lion’s share of RC craft.  This group can be divided into two classes: sport boats and racers. 

Sport boats are fashioned first and foremost to be entertaining. This takes a back seat to functionality.  Sport boats are in all probability the better choice for novice modelers, as they are designed with an eye toward simple and dependable performance with a healthy  dosage of speed mixed in. 

Racing boats are more unyielding and, consequently, more temperamental.  These boats are the fastest, but they are also the most high-maintenance and the most difficult to drive.

Many people are opting to purchase electric boats, as there is a good deal less upkeep to do .The biggest drawback is that electric boats gets slower as the run time progresses and the battery power is exhausted.

Most serious hobbists go for the gas and nitro models as these babies will require  
much more tweaking, and if speed is your thing …go nitro.

The one thing in common with all types of r/c boats… They do not tolerate “sea weed” in the water. The majority of radio control boats use rudder and propeller systems that are submerged fairly deep into the water .This can be overcome by the new flying boats that utilize out of the water propellers for propulsion.

So wheather you like to take it easy, or forever trying to break the speed record
( it’s around 140 mph!!) this  is a very high form of recreation that everyone can enjoy.

C.Jones radiocontrolledstuff.net

Check out rc boat squidoo lens

 

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RC Boats | RTR Assembly (What to Expect)

Wednesday Jun 3, 2009

Before buying a rc model boat realize they come with different assembly requirements. Builders’ kits are for the serious hobbyist, while the almost ready and ready to run kits, require only basic tools and skills.

You’ll find the lower priced plastic models, such as the Traxxas Blast, only require installing the radio receiver batteries. Other than that these rc boats are ready to run right out of the box.

For the grease monkey types, who are more into engines than boat building, there are the ready to go gas and nitro, radio contcontrolled boats to consider. Just waiting to be modified.

So that you can get an idea of the assembly required for a typical hobby grade gas rc boat, the following is a description of what I had to do in order to get my new boat ready for action.

The company I got my gas rc boat from, shipped from the factory in China. Yes the Chinese actually make really good rc boats. This one called, the Osprey, is 48″ and goes 50 mph as is. But here’s where it’s good to have a little handyman in you. The directions are like the Japanese ones…not very good.

If I would of had good directions the assembly would have been about 20 minutes max, but since it was my very first serious rc boat, it took me more like an hour. It didn’t help that after laying out all the parts, I was missing one of the two included allen wrenches.  

The hardware, (propeller and rudder) looked like they were going to be a challenge to attach, but they were really no problem at all . The radio box and the servos were already installed and ready. The antenna had to be set up, 6 AA’s for the receiver and the Osprey was ready to be gassed up.

Just like a car engine, some of these rc boat engines require a little breaking-in before the first time out. I found out by going online, that the Zenoah had been broken-in at the factory. My boat was now ready and I must say, worked perfectly all day as well as being wicked fast.

So you are never going to get a “ready to run” boat in the strict sense of the word.. There will be some assembly require, but it’s real basic (sometimes only installing the batteries) and usually takes under an hour.

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