2 channel radio control system?

[John Stumbles]

I'm looking for a 2 channel r/c system (Tx, Rx and 1 or 2 servos) for a
model boat.

I see that Ripmax do a 27MHz AM one at £50:
www.ripmax.com/ProductFrames/P-FP2ER.html
which I guess should do.

Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM
set for a similar price?

BTW last time I was into r/c 27MHz AM was all there was, and multi
channel digital proportional was a luxury (i.e. expensive: I built my
own outfit then, even the electronics for the servo -- though I bought
the mechanism itself!).

Things seem to have moved on a bit since then :-) Can anyone point me to
an intro to the various systems around nowadays?


And a bonus question for another 10 points :-)

I'm looking for an electronic speed controller - any recommendations?
Again in t' good old days I built one, and even got the design published
in Wireless World as 'an inexpensive alternative to commercial designs
costing £20 or more' (which would be equivalent to getting on for £100
at todays prices).

The boat is a Model Slipway "Club 500" and they sugges a 15A min ESC.
I've seen various reasonably-priced ESCs at
www.huntersystems.co.uk/acatalog/Electronic_Speed_Control.html
e.g. their 15A 'Sonik4 Marine 15' at £20. Any feedback on these - are
they OK?

(I assume the description "6-2 volt ESC" is a misprint since it later
says "Voltage Input: 6 - 12 volts". And can anyone suggest why their
Sonik4 Marine 3 which can only handle 3A costs more than the similar
spec Marine 15 which does 15A?)

BTW what are 'one touch' or 'true 1 touch' set up?

tia

[Terence Lynock (MSW)]

The message <3462mcF44h8dlU1@individual.net>
from John Stumbles <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> contains these words:

> Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM
> set for a similar price?


Depends on the size of the boat and distance required, presently in the
toys/games section on ebay there are quite a few radio controlled cars
on both 27 and 40 Mgs going for less than a tenner, buy one and gut it,
the remains would probably supply lots of other useful bits too,

regards, Terry

[TalkTalker]

"John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message

> Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM set
> for a similar price?

Yes, on ebay. Cheap ripmax and other 2 or 3 channel controllers are for sale
most of the time.

[The Natural Philosopher]

TalkTalker wrote:

> "John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>
>
>>Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM set
>>for a similar price?
>
>
> Yes, on ebay. Cheap ripmax and other 2 or 3 channel controllers are for sale
> most of the time.
>
>
>
>
Nornal UK boat frequencies are 40Mhz. 27Mhz is essentially a 'toy'
freqwuency these days. Nothing wrong with that, but be aware that
'seriosu' modellers are on 35Mhz gfor aior, and 40Mhz for surface use.


Lots of sets going on ebay, and controllers - especially entry level stuff.

Not worth making anythiung thses days except for the fun of it. The kit
is ridculously cheap by comparison with 20 years ago.

[Kevin R]

have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A
here for speed controllers
http://www.mtroniks.co.uk/mtroniks_SC_products.asp?CategoryID=1&SubCategoryID=3
both companies are easy to deal with


"The Natural Philosopher" <a@b.c> wrote in message
news:crlife$reg$2$830fa17d@news.demon.co.uk...
> TalkTalker wrote:
>
>> "John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>>
>>
>>>Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM
>>>set for a similar price?
>>
>>
>> Yes, on ebay. Cheap ripmax and other 2 or 3 channel controllers are for
>> sale most of the time.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Nornal UK boat frequencies are 40Mhz. 27Mhz is essentially a 'toy'
> freqwuency these days. Nothing wrong with that, but be aware that
> 'seriosu' modellers are on 35Mhz gfor aior, and 40Mhz for surface use.
>
>
> Lots of sets going on ebay, and controllers - especially entry level
> stuff.
>
> Not worth making anythiung thses days except for the fun of it. The kit is
> ridculously cheap by comparison with 20 years ago.
>

[Jim Gill]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:46:39 +0000, The Natural Philosopher <a@b.c>
wrote:

>TalkTalker wrote:
>
>> "John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>>
>>
>>>Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM set
>>>for a similar price?
>>
>>
>> Yes, on ebay. Cheap ripmax and other 2 or 3 channel controllers are for sale
>> most of the time.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>Nornal UK boat frequencies are 40Mhz. 27Mhz is essentially a 'toy'
>freqwuency these days. Nothing wrong with that, but be aware that
>'seriosu' modellers are on 35Mhz gfor aior, and 40Mhz for surface use.
>
>
>Lots of sets going on ebay, and controllers - especially entry level stuff.
>
>Not worth making anythiung thses days except for the fun of it. The kit
>is ridculously cheap by comparison with 20 years ago.

27MHz is still used by serious modellers for boats, there's still a
lot of old sets in use. Just because there's a lot of toys using it is
not a reason for abandoning the frequency. The power output of the
toys are so low that a proper Tx will swamp them and have no problems.
Even 40MHz is being used by toys.

Jim Gill
Dundee Model Boat Club
http://www.modelboating.co.uk

[John Stumbles]

Kevin R wrote:
> have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
> http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A

Do you have a phone number for them?
- their web site is 0wn3d by R3Dm0nD -

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e37'

Invalid object name 'tblBrowserDetails'.

/incorrect_browser.asp, line 30

(I get this with Mozilla, Firefox 1.0, Konqueror and Opera - even when I
tell it to identify itself as IE6.0)

[Kevin R]

12 BANBURY ROAD
KIDLINGTON
OXFORD
OX5 2BT
Tel: 01865 848000
"John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:348f1tF48n7v5U1@individual.net...
> Kevin R wrote:
>> have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
>> http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A
>
> Do you have a phone number for them?
> - their web site is 0wn3d by R3Dm0nD -
>
> Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e37'
>
> Invalid object name 'tblBrowserDetails'.
>
> /incorrect_browser.asp, line 30
>
> (I get this with Mozilla, Firefox 1.0, Konqueror and Opera - even when I
> tell it to identify itself as IE6.0)

[Gary R. Schmidt]

John Stumbles wrote:
> Kevin R wrote:
>
>> have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
>> http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A
>>
>
>
> Do you have a phone number for them?
> - their web site is 0wn3d by R3Dm0nD -
>
> Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e37'
>
> Invalid object name 'tblBrowserDetails'.
>
> /incorrect_browser.asp, line 30
>
> (I get this with Mozilla, Firefox 1.0, Konqueror and Opera - even when I
> tell it to identify itself as IE6.0)
Just to confirm, it also fails with NS7 on Solaris.

It works fine in IE, of course.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

--
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
whether you were up them with or not
- Barry Humphries

[Paul McIntosh]

Worked fin in Avant as well.

--
Paul McIntosh
http://www.rc-bearings.com
"Gary R. Schmidt" <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote in message
news:KeODd.4078$i6.35893@nasal.pacific.net.au...
> John Stumbles wrote:
> > Kevin R wrote:
> >
> >> have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
> >>
http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C
3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A
> >>
> >
> >
> > Do you have a phone number for them?
> > - their web site is 0wn3d by R3Dm0nD -
> >
> > Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e37'
> >
> > Invalid object name 'tblBrowserDetails'.
> >
> > /incorrect_browser.asp, line 30
> >
> > (I get this with Mozilla, Firefox 1.0, Konqueror and Opera - even when I
> > tell it to identify itself as IE6.0)
> Just to confirm, it also fails with NS7 on Solaris.
>
> It works fine in IE, of course.
>
> Cheers,
> Gary B-)
>
> --
>
__________________________________________________ __________________________
__
> Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
> whether you were up them with or not
> - Barry Humphries

[John Stumbles]

Kevin R wrote:
> "John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:348f1tF48n7v5U1@individual.net...
>
>>Kevin R wrote:
>>
>>>have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
>>>http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A
>>
>>Do you have a phone number for them?
>>- their web site is 0wn3d by R3Dm0nD -
>>
>>Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e37'
>>
>>Invalid object name 'tblBrowserDetails'.
>>
>>/incorrect_browser.asp, line 30
>>
>>(I get this with Mozilla, Firefox 1.0, Konqueror and Opera - even when I
>>tell it to identify itself as IE6.0)
>
>
>

[John Stumbles]

Kevin R wrote:
> "John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:348f1tF48n7v5U1@individual.net...
>
>>Kevin R wrote:
>>
>>>have a look here for radio prices better than rip off max
>>>http://www.howesmodels.co.uk/product_select.asp?prtID=138&usrID=3C7F7A6E-B9C3-4281-8F0C-D6C9C5DDB76A
>>
>>Do you have a phone number for them?
>>- their web site is 0wn3d by R3Dm0nD -
> 12 BANBURY ROAD
> KIDLINGTON
> OXFORD
> OX5 2BT
> Tel: 01865 848000

Thanks, they turned out to be as cheap as another model shop on eBay and
had an ESC at as good a price as I'd seen elsewhere, and a bunch of
1300mAH NiMHs cheaper than SVP.

Now if only they'd get their web site fixed :-)

[garyg]

Why would you want a 2-channel outfit? Later you may want to add operating
features or use in another boat. A cheap 4-channel transmitter, 4 servos and
charger sells here for $150. Maybe you could buy a used outfit there that
somebody wants to upgrade from.







"John Stumbles" <john.stumbles@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:3462mcF44h8dlU1@individual.net...
> I'm looking for a 2 channel r/c system (Tx, Rx and 1 or 2 servos) for a
> model boat.
>
> I see that Ripmax do a 27MHz AM one at £50:
> www.ripmax.com/ProductFrames/P-FP2ER.html
> which I guess should do.
>
> Can I get it for a better price than that anywhere? Or can I get an FM
> set for a similar price?
>
> BTW last time I was into r/c 27MHz AM was all there was, and multi
> channel digital proportional was a luxury (i.e. expensive: I built my
> own outfit then, even the electronics for the servo -- though I bought
> the mechanism itself!).
>
> Things seem to have moved on a bit since then :-) Can anyone point me to
> an intro to the various systems around nowadays?
>
>
> And a bonus question for another 10 points :-)
>
> I'm looking for an electronic speed controller - any recommendations?
> Again in t' good old days I built one, and even got the design published
> in Wireless World as 'an inexpensive alternative to commercial designs
> costing £20 or more' (which would be equivalent to getting on for £100
> at todays prices).
>
> The boat is a Model Slipway "Club 500" and they sugges a 15A min ESC.
> I've seen various reasonably-priced ESCs at
> www.huntersystems.co.uk/acatalog/Electronic_Speed_Control.html
> e.g. their 15A 'Sonik4 Marine 15' at £20. Any feedback on these - are
> they OK?
>
> (I assume the description "6-2 volt ESC" is a misprint since it later
> says "Voltage Input: 6 - 12 volts". And can anyone suggest why their
> Sonik4 Marine 3 which can only handle 3A costs more than the similar
> spec Marine 15 which does 15A?)
>
> BTW what are 'one touch' or 'true 1 touch' set up?
>
> tia