Safety Tether for Submarine

[cdelatorrejr]

Hello fellow submariners! I am a new seaman just getting into the RC submarine hobby. Over the past few months I have done some extensive research. I am starting out with a WTC kit specific for the Trumpeter Astute 1/144 model from Germany. The WTC is a basic static closed ballast utilizing an elastic diaphragm (balloon). I have read Bob Martin's book, Dive Deep, and the subject of surface and submerged trim. There isn't a limiter for my elastic closed ballast system so I cannot set the static submerged trim. In Bob Martin's book, they talked about setting the submerged trim where the comm tower is just above the surface line. In case of failure, the RC sub will rise enough so you can find it.

I am concerned about some failure with my RC sub below the waterline. I am thinking about tethering my RC sub with fishing line and a surface bobber. I would attach to the WTC with significant fishing line length. This way, if I lose my RC sub, I can always retrieve following the surface bobber. The question I have is, will this drag from the bobber on the surface negatively affect control & navigation below the water line? Also, if someone has a better solution for this use case, I'd love to hear about it.

Since I am a newbie to the world of RC submarines, I don't want to over complicate things and keep things simple.

Thanks for your advice in advance. Cheers.

[trout]

With a tether, you risk fouling up your prop. Build the sub first, get a feel for it. Keeping it slightly positive buoyant is a good measure.

[rwtdiver]

With a tether, you risk fouling up your prop. Build the sub first, get a feel for it. Keeping it slightly positive buoyant is a good measure.

I totally agree with Tom about building the sub first, and along the way start thinking about your WTC and its components. A tether with bobber at this point of the build would be one of the last components you would need to be thinking about. One step at a time, and keep asking questions! You will find a lot of people on this forum that will jump in and help you along the way!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[neitosub]

I assume you’re using the WTC kit from Maximus Modellbau? I think you could add a simple microswitch in the balloon compartment that would cut off the current to the peristaltic pump when the balloon is filled to the designed submerged trim.

Nate

[JHapprich]

Exactly thats how you build such ballast system. Make it so!

[RCSubGuy]

Nix the tether idea. It will be more bother than it's worth. Build in a failsafe routing to blow ballast in case of loss of signal, water entry, or whatever you deem suitable. Bring a little RC boat with you to retrieve the sub from the surface if it becomes stranded.

One step at a time. Get the sub working first, then delve deeper into the fringe tech.


Bob