What device do you use? I'd like to find one that may have one transmitter (keyfob) with 4 selections A-B-C-D that control 4 different receivers. Another way to put it, one keyfob that can be used to turn on-off multiple boats independently. There is this one on Amazon, but the description (chinese-english) is not clear that it does what I just described.
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You whooze-bunny! Is it too hard a task to remove the upper hull and throw a ****ing switch!?......What device do you use? I'd like to find one that may have one transmitter (keyfob) with 4 selections A-B-C-D that control 4 different receivers. Another way to put it, one keyfob that can be used to turn on-off multiple boats independently. There is this one on Amazon, but the description (chinese-english) is not clear that it does what I just described.
You do understand that it's good practice to occasionally pop the top and LOOK to see if there's any H2O in the cylinder! Mission-checks are more than plopping your boat on the picknick table and marching off to grab a sandwich!
... you people!
DavidWho is John Galt? -
Did I say it was a submarine? Maybe it's a surface boat.
Scenario. Your preping you submarine for running. You finish successfully. You turn on your power with your toggle switch and leave it on, ready to go down to the pond. You button it up. Turn off power with the wireless remote. Some yahoo know-it-all at the next table, or other person on your walk to the water, starts a long winded conversation with you. You put your boat down to talk. Conversation over. Now, oh crap, have to take a ****. Off to the bathroom. Done. Back to the boat. It's already pre-missioned. Take it down to the pond hoping no one talks to you again. Wirelessly power up the boat. In the water for a good run. Power off. Since might be using a LIPO. Power off the toggle and open the boat up for post mission.
BTW, looking to use this device in multiple party boats I am building. :PComment
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Wow I didn't even know they made something like that for that price and most likely includes the batteries for the transmitters. - it appears to have many variables of operation for each receiver, like a pass through for the 12 volts, the connection for 110/220 control (live), basic latched on off using the relay, and momentary on off using the relay... Pretty cool. If it were me I would want to buy it just to play with it, it shows on my account to be Amazon prime with free returns. Ken, if it were me... I would just buy it and if it doesn't fit the bill I'd return it.- BGLast edited by Bob Gato; 01-13-2024, 05:41 AM.Comment
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Uhhh, yea that can work the other way around as well. :)
Bob, yea a neat thing to have or look into. Although when done running you need to disconnect any battery as it does put a slight drain on any connected battery. You don't want to drain the batteries to nearly zero. I plan on adding an internal unseen toggle switch inside the boat I can turn off power after running. That way no need for hidden deck side toggle switches.
I asked on Amazon. For that unit, the A-B-C-D does control the individual receivers so you can use this for four different model boats and power them up individually. It also works up to 10 amps which is sufficient for my purpose. One nice thing that I like is only one transmitter for multiple boats, no need for a bunch of keyfobs, or grabbing the wrong keyfob and finding that down at the water.
I'll order one and see how it works and report back here.Comment
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Yes if you leave them connected it'll take about a week or more to deplete the battery... I have the standard AB 1 transmitter units in three of my boats... I like the idea of if you are done at the pond you don't have to disassemble anything to shut the boat down. Or if you having lunch or just BSing at the pond and the boat is sitting on the picnic bench or maybe you switch to another boat you don't have to open anything up to shut it down... The receiver power usage is so minimal... You can take your time getting home to disconnect anything... Heck the one I have in my Atlantis submarine is 1/10 of 1 milliamp in standby mode... But that one is very small all it controls is the battery monitor and the alarms.
Also for example-My surface boats have fail safes built into the ESC s - if you shut your transmitter down the book goes into a slow forward turn at LOS. So what happens if I want to switch boats... I would have to shut the RC receiver down and the power to the ESC. That could be a real PIA... But with these 433 MHz remotes, you can shut the power down to the ship and the remote stays hot wired without opening the boat up..Comment
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All good points. I have a remote keyless on off KEY FOB provided by Bob Martin in Arognaute. I replaced my KEY FOB with another when it failed. Why it failed who knows? IDK.
I liked the convenience, but as David says, you need to inspect the WTC!. As a procedure I always disconnect my battery connection from the WTC anyways, I have to to charge the batteries! Meaning I have t take the top hull off anyways.
In the field I also made & tested a bypass cable to connect inside the WTC for a field emergency too in case the second KEY FOB switch kraps out too If it does again, I will definitely replace the KEY FOB permanently with simple waterproof power connect to the battery. The switch is cool, but losing a sub in deep water is not.
I haven't quite converted from analog to digital radios yet. I have fought every night with my damn TV remote, it does things on its own just looking with distain at it. But I can't afford that with my RC sub. I have to have confidence.Last edited by Albacore 569; 01-13-2024, 03:15 PM.Comment
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Right you are!... I use ( make)a waterproof push button switch for my two subs.. mentioned above, But I use the pinky fingernail size 433 megahertz on off switch for my battery monitors which have loud alarms so they will not deplete the main battery... But I do use a standard 433 megahertz switch with relay to turn on and off my surface boats... I find that it fits the profile of my model boat usage well.Comment
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Right you are Ken.
I prefer remote switches also for Regatta's where I spend $$ just to get to, I don't care to waste time slugging large (or any) boats out of the water just to take a break. My goal is to maximize run time during the time spent there. For the record, three boats are my limit for a regatta, less mouths to feed.
So I leave my boats on a mooring. I can have up to three sitting there, already rigged for sea, ready to get underway by just removing the bow magnet, and flipping on the FOB.
Here's the 631 sitting in lake Ronkonkoma demonstrating "SM" (Submarine Mooring Buoy ID, it's a QM thing.). She has three SS Mooring chains to RE Magnets. Each boat I build now gets a magnet on the inside of the hull fwd to "ride the mooring".
In 2022, I had SSN-591, and K432 moored together but I unfortunately didn't get what would have been a very rare Soviet ALFA and US SKIPJACK in bed together lol!Both boats were ready to get underway on a moments notice, sitting there from 0600 to well past sunset.
Here's 591 in 2021 on the older mooring (Orange Waterproof key holder) that used a small brass hook to a faux ballast tank vent hole fwd. Courtesy EvK (God rest his soul)
They sit there all day until needed thanks to a remote switch. Considering what my large boat weighs "wet", it saves my back.
Several things to note:
1-Make sure whatever "pressure hull" you use, make sure you get NO leaks. I don't use WTC's so I don't even "fog".
2-Use strong magnets for a breeze to kick up, or wave action by folks whole violate NO WAKE speed limits in mooring/anchorage areas (lol)
3-It's worth it for saving time at a regatta, especially at a place you can wade into, pointless for your Saturday/Sunday local fun runs.
v/r "Sub" Ed
Silent Service "Cold War" Veteran (The good years!)
NEVER underestimate the power of a Sailor who served aboard a submarine.
USS ULYSSES S GRANT-USS SHARK-USS NAUTILUS-USS KEY WEST-USS BLUEBACK-USS PATRICK HENRY-K432-U25-SSRN SEAVIEW-PROTEUS-NAUTILUSComment
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I'll have to keep that capacitive switch in mind.
Ed, I like your mooring idea and saw you doing that at Groton a few times. Although not something I'll do with a cylinder boat. I do do that with my party boats.
Here is a review of the item from Amazon I posted in the first post. After some frustration deciphering the chinese-english instructions I have it working how I want it to work and it is what I was looking for.
It comes with four receivers, receiver cases, two keyfob transmitters and transmitter clips. The keyfob's did not come with the typical plastic sheet inserted so the batteries were in use from the time they were inserted and stored wherever. But both worked when any of the buttons were pressed. Each receiver has been labeled to the corresponding letter on the keyfob, nice touch.
Closeup of two of the receivers. The two inputs on the right are power inputs. The triple connector on the left is output. In the lower right is the learn button to change the mode the units operate in. In the corner by the learn button is a led indicator. It lights when power is applied or when the learn button is pressed. The relay is rate for 10 amps which is enough for my purpose. The coiled wire is the antennae. The circuit board appears well built and labeled. The silkscreen is done nicely.
One thing I did not like are the connectors. They have a spring thingy where you insert the wire. When inserting stranded wire it might tend to separate the twisted wire and cause some to stick out. I prefer the blue connectors if you are familiar with those.
This is my test setup, to test two units at a time. A 12v SLA battery, a few wires and two Mabuchi 555 motors. Directly connect to a battery these motors draw 225ma no load. Out of the box these units were setup as momentary. So when the button was pushed the motors would turn on, let go of the button they turn off. Not the setup that I want, not useful. Reading the instructions, you need to press the learn button twice, then press the desired letter, A or B or C or D. So I did that. But according to the instructions you need to do some uncommon wiring to get it to work somewhat.
The bottom of the receiver. Looks nicely made.
Notice these three solder jumpers. Out of the box, C was soldered, A and B were not. After some trail and testing, you need to remove the solder from C. And you need to solder across A and B.
When you solder A, it connects positive to the center position of the output. So whatever input voltage you are using, you will get that output pin 2. That pin on the silkscreen is labeled Common. I would think common would be negative-ground. But it is probably labeled that way for one of the other configurations. Soldering B makes output pin 1 negative or ground. Output pin 3 appears to be connected to a relay pin. So pin 3 would be positive, or in my case 12v.
The component side.
You can see the input on the left and output on the right. Pin 1 is ground. Pin 2 is your input voltage and is always hot. So if you connect something to Pin 1 (ground) and Pin 2 you will always have power. Pin 3 activates when you press the proper button on the keyfob.
The keyfob. Well built. Three screws and the bottom is off.
The battery side. I did not want to remove the battery for fear of having to relearn the buttons. Since I already disassembled the test setup. The Amazon page specifies a CR2 battery. Probably a CR2032. Nothing is said about the battery in the instructions.
The Amazon page shows the instructions, same that came with the unit. It took a bit to figure I had to unsolder C. Once the soldering was taken care of everything worked like charm. So for now I'm happy with this and look forward to getting it in the party boat I'm working on. I did not test for any other configuration as I have it working like I want it to.
Something to note. No matter which way you put the board in the case, assuming the wires would exit the case directly in front of the connector, the exit point in the case does not line up with where the wires would be. Maybe if you used a small gauge wire that would work, but I'll be using 18 gauge which will not be flexible enough. Guess I'll be drilling holes where they need to be for the wire exit points.
Last edited by Ken_NJ; 01-16-2024, 08:09 PM.Comment
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