Turn the light on....baitboat

[andrewwarduk@gmail.com]

Hi,

The problem.... when taking my baitboat out long distance in the dark I
am unable to see if the hatches have opened and dropped the bait. I
wish to turn on an led when the hatches/hoppers open so I can see this
in the dark

I have the eco bait boat as seen on www.baitboats.com and I wish to
interface a servo to turn on a led when one of the servos opens the
hatches/hoppers and drops the bait. Can i do this with the electrics?
or would I need the servo to mechanically turn a switch to turn on the
led?

Please help


Andrew Ward (An Inexperienced RC user) :-)
Thanks

[John Mianowski]

I'd use switches to turn on LEDs when the hatches open. Using a servo
(which still has to operate the switches, anyway) is overly complex.
Also, if you use a servo, you're really just lighting based on the
servo, not the hatch, which could be in different states so you
wouldn't really know what's going on.

JM

andrewwarduk@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The problem.... when taking my baitboat out long distance in the dark I
> am unable to see if the hatches have opened and dropped the bait. I
> wish to turn on an led when the hatches/hoppers open so I can see this
> in the dark
>
> I have the eco bait boat as seen on www.baitboats.com and I wish to
> interface a servo to turn on a led when one of the servos opens the
> hatches/hoppers and drops the bait. Can i do this with the electrics?
> or would I need the servo to mechanically turn a switch to turn on the
> led?
>
> Please help
>
>
> Andrew Ward (An Inexperienced RC user) :-)
> Thanks

[andrewwarduk@gmail.com]

John,

Thanks for the info.... any ideas how i would set this up? as i am a
complete beginner and have no idea how to do this? would you reccomend
i go to a model shop and pay to get this done as i do not wish to break
my new boat.

Thanks again

AW

John Mianowski wrote:

> I'd use switches to turn on LEDs when the hatches open. Using a servo
> (which still has to operate the switches, anyway) is overly complex.
> Also, if you use a servo, you're really just lighting based on the
> servo, not the hatch, which could be in different states so you
> wouldn't really know what's going on.
>
> JM
>
> andrewwarduk@gmail.com wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > The problem.... when taking my baitboat out long distance in the dark I
> > am unable to see if the hatches have opened and dropped the bait. I
> > wish to turn on an led when the hatches/hoppers open so I can see this
> > in the dark
> >
> > I have the eco bait boat as seen on www.baitboats.com and I wish to
> > interface a servo to turn on a led when one of the servos opens the
> > hatches/hoppers and drops the bait. Can i do this with the electrics?
> > or would I need the servo to mechanically turn a switch to turn on the
> > led?
> >
> > Please help
> >
> >
> > Andrew Ward (An Inexperienced RC user) :-)
> > Thanks

[John Mianowski]

andrewwarduk@gmail.com wrote:
> John,
>
> Thanks for the info.... any ideas how i would set this up? as i am a
> complete beginner and have no idea how to do this? would you reccomend
> i go to a model shop and pay to get this done as i do not wish to break
> my new boat.
>
> Thanks again
>
> AW
>
> John Mianowski wrote:
>
> > I'd use switches to turn on LEDs when the hatches open. Using a servo
> > (which still has to operate the switches, anyway) is overly complex.
> > Also, if you use a servo, you're really just lighting based on the
> > servo, not the hatch, which could be in different states so you
> > wouldn't really know what's going on.
> >
> > JM
> >
> > andrewwarduk@gmail.com wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > The problem.... when taking my baitboat out long distance in the dark I
> > > am unable to see if the hatches have opened and dropped the bait. I
> > > wish to turn on an led when the hatches/hoppers open so I can see this
> > > in the dark
> > >
> > > I have the eco bait boat as seen on www.baitboats.com and I wish to
> > > interface a servo to turn on a led when one of the servos opens the
> > > hatches/hoppers and drops the bait. Can i do this with the electrics?
> > > or would I need the servo to mechanically turn a switch to turn on the
> > > led?
> > >
> > > Please help
> > >
> > >
> > > Andrew Ward (An Inexperienced RC user) :-)
> > > Thanks

The electronics are pretty basic, & might be a good starting point for
you to start learning?

Basically, what you want to do is to create a circuit, from the + to
the - of your battery. In this circuit will be an LED (observe
polarity - they only work in 1 direction), a current-limiting resistor
(to keep from frying the LED), a switch, & some wire to hook it all up.
It's all pretty easy. LED & switch need to be rated for whatever your
battery voltage is. The resistor isn't critical - I'd use anything
from 1K to 10K, 1/4 watt.

The switch is the biggest variable. There are a lot of types of
switches available, & what you use depends on the mechanics of the
hatches/hoppers. They'll also need to be waterproof.

LEDs come in a lot of different sizes, packages, & colors. You'll want
to pick a size & color that you'll be able to see - some colors are
hard to see in daylight, for example.

I'd expect the materials to cost no more than the price of a couple of
beers. It should be pretty easy for somebody with the most basic of
electronic skills to do - maybe for another couple of beers? You can
try it in your shop 1st, to get it all working, before you cut any
holes in your boat.

JM

[andrewwarduk@gmail.com]

Gr8 thanks for all your'e help will let you know how i get on.

Andrew


John Mianowski wrote:

> andrewwarduk@gmail.com wrote:
> > John,
> >
> > Thanks for the info.... any ideas how i would set this up? as i am a
> > complete beginner and have no idea how to do this? would you reccomend
> > i go to a model shop and pay to get this done as i do not wish to break
> > my new boat.
> >
> > Thanks again
> >
> > AW
> >
> > John Mianowski wrote:
> >
> > > I'd use switches to turn on LEDs when the hatches open. Using a servo
> > > (which still has to operate the switches, anyway) is overly complex.
> > > Also, if you use a servo, you're really just lighting based on the
> > > servo, not the hatch, which could be in different states so you
> > > wouldn't really know what's going on.
> > >
> > > JM
> > >
> > > andrewwarduk@gmail.com wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > The problem.... when taking my baitboat out long distance in the dark I
> > > > am unable to see if the hatches have opened and dropped the bait. I
> > > > wish to turn on an led when the hatches/hoppers open so I can see this
> > > > in the dark
> > > >
> > > > I have the eco bait boat as seen on www.baitboats.com and I wish to
> > > > interface a servo to turn on a led when one of the servos opens the
> > > > hatches/hoppers and drops the bait. Can i do this with the electrics?
> > > > or would I need the servo to mechanically turn a switch to turn on the
> > > > led?
> > > >
> > > > Please help
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Andrew Ward (An Inexperienced RC user) :-)
> > > > Thanks
>
> The electronics are pretty basic, & might be a good starting point for
> you to start learning?
>
> Basically, what you want to do is to create a circuit, from the + to
> the - of your battery. In this circuit will be an LED (observe
> polarity - they only work in 1 direction), a current-limiting resistor
> (to keep from frying the LED), a switch, & some wire to hook it all up.
> It's all pretty easy. LED & switch need to be rated for whatever your
> battery voltage is. The resistor isn't critical - I'd use anything
> from 1K to 10K, 1/4 watt.
>
> The switch is the biggest variable. There are a lot of types of
> switches available, & what you use depends on the mechanics of the
> hatches/hoppers. They'll also need to be waterproof.
>
> LEDs come in a lot of different sizes, packages, & colors. You'll want
> to pick a size & color that you'll be able to see - some colors are
> hard to see in daylight, for example.
>
> I'd expect the materials to cost no more than the price of a couple of
> beers. It should be pretty easy for somebody with the most basic of
> electronic skills to do - maybe for another couple of beers? You can
> try it in your shop 1st, to get it all working, before you cut any
> holes in your boat.
>
> JM

[William]

<andrewwarduk@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1160558153.388835.26500@m73g2000cwd.googlegro ups.com...
> Gr8 thanks for all your'e help will let you know how i get on.
>
> Andrew

You may want to use a magnetic "reed switch" to detect the hatch opening.
Glue a small magnet to the edge of the hatch so it comes very close to the
glass envelope of the switch. Here's a description of how they work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_switch The glass envelop makes these
naturally water proof - you can waterproof the connection with a couple of
coats of model enamel, but in fresh water it's not critical.

Radio Shack used to carry a couple of these, but I don't know if they still
do, except as the plastic-cased ones used in burglar alarms. You can
often find them very cheap at electronic surplus stores like this:
http://www.sciplus.com/singleItem.cfm?terms=12671&cartLogFrom=Search
The smaller ones are probably better for your application - one whose glass
section is about an inch long.

If you're lucky, you can find a switch that is "open" when the magnet is
close.
That means it would turn on your LED when the magnet moves away. These
aren't that easy to find, though, since the most common type closes when the
magnet is close. In some cases, it's easier to find "SPDT" types which have
two contacts - one of which is open when the other is closed. These have
three wires instead of two. (The common variety is SPST - single pole,
single throw.)

If you can only get the SPST type, you could use a small relay with SPDT or
DPDT (double pole, DT - just use one set of contacts) to turn on the LED
when the reed switch opens. Or just assume a lit LED means the hatch is
closed.

By the way, for the resistor value to use with your LED, here are a
few suggestions that should give you plenty of light. (Each color LED
has slightly different needs, but they sort of fall into two categories.)

Red, green or yellow LED: 430 ohms for 12V, 300 for 9V, 180 for 6V
White or blue LED: 360 ohms for 12V, 240 for 9V, 130 for 6V

1/4 watt resistors are fine, those are standard values so you should have no
trouble finding them. You can always pick the next higher or lower value
(which will give you just a tad less or more light). Use one per LED if you
have more than one LED. (You could use three or four so you'd be sure
to see it no matter which direction the boat is facing. The extra battery
drain
will be negligible - you could use a 9V battery just for the LEDs; an
alkaline
one should last 10-12 hours even with 4 LEDs.)

The long leg of the LED goes to + and the short leg to - (or, if the legs
are
the same length, the body usually has a flat side next to the - leg).
Doesn't
matter which leg you put the resistor on.

I'd suggest a colored LED - red or green - they're cheaper and a little
more robust as well as easier to see if there are reflections of the moon
or nearby lights on the water. You can get some really bright ones too.

-Wm