Filmed in Autumn 2021 with members of the Buxton Model Boat Club.
Using Gopro, FPV Camera and Video Monitor to assist "Getting the shot in frame from different angles" - "Not easy trying do do everything at the same time " !. - Just For Fun !
Nice calm night last night, so thought I'd go down an disturb the peace. Camera battery must have been going flat as the sound/picture sync was miles out, but you'll get the idea, (the sound is ahead of the picture by about 4 seconds) Might try for a better one when it's lighter and the battery is fully charged. YT also distorts a good video in the transfer for some reason (my HD camera anyhow)
Hi Rick, it's actually a tidal estuary (Orewa River) which doesn't look as good when the mud's in😁 (arrow is where I was for perspective). Get some good pics of sunsets from there at times. There's a walk/cycleway round the entire estuary which is pretty nice. Star is my place, so quite handy for boating. I was running the airboat from beside the boat ramp.
Bionic Bill and Ben ready for an outing on Halloween today 😂🤣. Sadly the weather is so awful that they can't get on the lake as they would just be blown to the far side.
(Apologies for the shaky video, trying to operate the Tx while holding the camera)
Sun was out, wind was down, so took the boat for swimming lessons. Went very well, no problems other than the silicone couplings trying to screw themselves off as usual, (too much bite and torque) and bunching up to the motor causing friction), (have a possible fix I'm working on for that today) Heaps of power from the 2 - 540 HV brushed motors only running on 3s. Never went much more than a tad past 1/2 throttle which was spot on scale wise.
Very quiet as well, - mind you, couldn't hear much anyhow with a road milling machine working at the end of the pond about 150m away, at around 80db where I was!!😠😠😠😭 Of course it would have to be there today,! something like this always stuffs my plans up, cars, trucks, screeching seagulls, people talking to you while you are trying to make a nice quiet video etc etc. Can't seem to get away from noise. Added to that, the video's crap,- as soon as it uploads to YT it turns to rubbish,- was quite acceptable till then.
Must be the wide format they use, as it's fine in a small screen (ie YT preview) and my computer. Worst thing is, it took an hour to load this rubbish on a fibre connection!! Not loading any more till I get a better camera, "Santa, did you hear that ?"😁
I might de-power it a bit, as it has too much power really,- might put 2 540 45T motors in which will run on 2s nicely with 30mm props (has 35s at the moment) and not be as touchy on the throttle. You can steer this just using the throttles it's so bitey. Spins on the spot like a jet boat as well. Stereo worked well, but the IR remote doesn't like working too far away in bright sunlight, (have a separate vid, but YT would give a copyright warning, so I won't put that up) The vid is garbage, but you'll get the idea😁
Hello JB!
Congratulations, also on your idea with the sack truck, which I am taking the liberty of copying. . .
Just awesome your ideas here on this homepage!
Greetings Mike
On the water again, Graham starts to evaluate his Gaff Rigged Pilot Cutter.
Filmed 20th June 2021 - onboard with Grahams fixed cam, and with Gopro from my camera boat.
"Ellen" is a Gaff Rigged Bristol Pilot Cutter model from Graham - Graham93 , is a Model Boats Website member and member of the Buxton Model Boat Club .
Graham started his latest project 6 months ago at the beginning of second lock down.
A truly magnificent working model example of engineering, woodworking, electronics perseverance and total dedication ! - I am sure all will agree !.
Nice job with the video Phil, especially liked the 'over the rail' shots of the deck and gear. Graham's done a brilliant job on her, and she looks to be sailing very nicely.
Part 1. ideal conditions; nearly 30°C, cool Bier at hand😜
Sea Scout built by Dad in the early sixties with a Taycol Target and 6V lead acid wet cells (very wet😡). Renovated and dragged into the 21st century over the last several months 😉
See Build Blog 'Sea Scout 'Jessica'' for details!
Motor: Propdrive 2830, 1000kV, 30mm 3 blade Raboesch prop. Quicrun 16BL30 (30A) ESC with BEC.
Tested with 3 battery types, all started with 99% measured capacity-
1. NiMh 4.2Ah 7.2V, nom. 408gm.
Result: Speed sedate (OK 😉scale river cruising!) No planing.
Max current: 3.6A
End status V / capacity left: At end of short run ca 3 mins. 7.78V 99%.
2. 2S LiPo 4.0Ah 7.4V nom. 257gm.
Result: Speed still sedate but due to lower batt weight at least the forefoot came out of the wet stuff! Max current: 4.1A
End status V / capacity left: At end of short run ca 3 mins. 8.25V 93%.
3. 3S LiPo 4.0Ah 11.1V nom. 315gm.
Result: Now we're getting somewhere!!😁
Good speed, manoeuvrability and planing 😊 Max current: 7.5A
End status: 11.95V 74% after several long runs, ca 20 mins total.
Estimated (extrapolated) endurance on a 4Ah LiPo around one hour - mostly 'full bore' - 'Pedal to the metal man' 😊
See also:
The competition!
Final run. (Beer was getting warm😁)
Cap'ns log entry:
Boat dead-weight w/o battery: 1.8kg.
Spray rails to be added!😲
Slight list to port to be trimmed.
Rudder servo to be reversed!!😲
Keel protection to be added: some scratches and flaking from stony sloping shore 🤔
Summary: much as expected👍 Forget anything less than 3S.
Anyone want to buy a batch (4) of new 2S 4Ah 45C Lipos? 'One careful owner'!
Happy boating people, Cheers Doug 😎
PS Many thanks to Camera girl Gisela 👍
Recorded in 1080p HD.
Hi Will,
The videos were all taken at stage 3. 'Now we're getting somewhere' with the 3S LiPo.
As depicted in the report there wasn't anything worth filming on either the 7.2V NiMh or the 7.4V 2S LiPo. Plod plod boring! I wasn't really surprised. I just wanted to know 😉
Cheers, Doug 😎
Finally got a good day to try the new brushless motor. Boat goes 100% better now (if a bit noisier) 3s 25c 2200mAh liPo got a bit too hot, so probably need to up the C rate to 40 to keep it cooler (maybe install a fan as it's closed under the seat) It's pushing a 6lb boat with a 26mm jet with a 3000kV brushless so it has an excuse to get hot, (only got down to 3.7V/cell after that run, so not too bad). Runs with a more scale look now which is what I wanted. Took a bit of experimenting, but got there in the end. Thermostatic cooling fans for the motor worked well, and within 10 mins the motor was cool. Only used around 2/3 throttle so as not to stress the coupling too much (you can hear it protest a few times, - silicone tube slips slightly making it squeal)- automatic rev limiter😁
Sorry, vid is blurry again ☹️ (original's fine -HD) but something happens when it goes through my movie editor then to YT. Keep procrastinating about getting a better camera (or maybe it's just the editor. - More experimenting, this is getting tedious😐
Hi Ron, haven't spent a huge amount due to the fact that all the electrical bits are very cheap ($1 ea for a voltage reg, $8-12 for a pump, $30 ea for a motor (bought 2 as the first was not fast enough) and jet unit, $15 for the ESC, a few JST plugs and wire, $3 smoke pen, few lengths of silicone tube etc, plus balsa and f/glass, -probably not a lot more than NZ $200. A lot of things you buy of course like resin and paint, usually have to be bought in bigger quantities than you would use on one model, and may be used on other projects, so it's hard to work out an exact cost. I think the hull was the most expensive part, due to the cost of balsa and resin.
Mostly a lot of time, (hate to work out the labour cost on any model at going rates,- probably in the thousands)!
Second test was slightly better, using the aluminium spiral cut universal which came with the jet unit. As you can probably hear, it was horribly out of balance (even with cable ties to reduce it). It was not even drilled centrally and the spiral is right hand when it should be left hand, (like a spring twisted against the wind, it wants to deform). Slight improvement in speed on the first test (no slip this time) but the noise was horrendous.
Have pulled the jet apart and found that the 3 blade prop is around 1 mm too small for the hole, causing cavitation (see loads of bubbles in the jet stream) which is causing loss of thrust. The prop is the wrong type as well, with rounded blades, so I have modified a larger prop with more pitch to fit snugly in the unit to hopefully increase thrust. The shaft is also wrong, with a flat cut almost half the diam and carrying on through the bearing, allowing the grease to fly out.
I actually saw a Chinese site on Al Expr stating that "some dimensions on the product may be different due to the number of machines and operators involved in its' manufacture," SERIOUSLY!!??? their quality control must be utter crap and the operators not skilled enough to eat their lunch😐 Why bother having a dimension at all?? Little wonder nothing fits properly.
Unfortunately, most model shops sell the very same stuff, unless you want to shell out muchos dolleros for European stuff. I have just ordered some 4mm silver steel to make a new shaft, so a coupling or silicone tube will fit better. Also ordered some solid connectors to try. Vibration is wasted energy so it needs to be eliminated. Hopefully the mods will improve things and allow the motor to run on 4s rater than 3s. Worked out that the motor is only 1200KV, so it's only doing around 13,000 rpm under load. Probably will need around
18,000 rpm for proper performance. Onwards and upwards (or forwards as the case may be.😁)
Sorry about the blurry vid again, but my camera lens is knackered.
Airboat on board camera added. You can watch both of these vids together if you start them one after the other and adjust the sync by quickly pausing the one which is ahead till they match. Who didn't know that then?😁 Only works in std view not full screen.
Added some strakes to the bottom, and added some down thrust to the motor (to push the stern down) which has made it run a lot straighter and with more control on full power. Also added a camera mount as well.
Jb,
Definitely looks more controllable, you may have tamed the beast at last or she is saving up a little surprise that she will give to you latter.LOL!!
Test no 2 with deflector plate above jet unit,- stops water running up the transom in reverse. Changed cameras so vid is slightly better than the last rubbish😁 Also demonstrates the jets ability to have fwd, neut and reverse while running in one direction.
Hi Martin, quite pleased that it worked so well😊 And you mean put out fires like this ? (jet boat, Lake Lyndon NZ 2012)😁😁 Quite a common fire fighting method by the public for boats these days, especially using jet skis.
JB