Successful Day

periscope · 14-02-2006

Had a great day today with the sea trials of my first sub - the Robbe Seawolf. Not only did it dive OK but I actually got it back and brought it home with me..... no leaks either. I'm going to need a lot of practice now to stop 'porpoising' but I suppose that comes with experience. I found the strangest thing was having the right hand stick doing turn and dive so sometimes when I didn't concentrate I turned and dived .. oh well I'll keep trying. Hope the pickies come out OK.

Ian

Mankster · 14-02-2006

Looking great! Nice shot of it underwater. Glad it worked out first time in the drink!

adzam · 14-02-2006

Excellent Ian !!!

**Bunkerbarge** · 14-02-2006

Lovely job Ian. There is a chap at my club who has just completed the same model and he is also thoroughly enjoying sailing his sub. It is an excellent first sub and will teach you an awfull lot about the trials and tribulations of running an RC Sub.

Thanks for the pictures.

**Bluewavestudios** · 14-02-2006

Looks Good Ian,
I am sure you will be a dab hand at sailing it soon by the time the decent weather gets with us and all the meets start up again.
Good idea with the Bright red periscope to aid visibility as it is all to easy to lose track of where these things get to underwater and usually not helped with the reflection off the water too.
I am sure you will have a lot of fun with this one.

Regards........Mark.

magpie · 15-02-2006

Well done with that!!!

Jason

periscope · 15-02-2006

Thanks everyone for the comments. I really enjoyed myself on Sat in spite of the murky water. I'm going to do some tests this weekend to stop the mast tilting back too quick and bringing the sub up too soon. I found the best way to dive was to keep the rear planes level and let some speed drag the boat under - then use the rear planes to try and keep level - I don't want the mast tilting the front planes back - I only need to slow the boat to get it to rise. On one of the other forums I got a great idea from Junglelord in Canada - I don't use the long locking bolt supplied with the kit due to stripping the thread - I have a stronger bolt set into the inner plate then I use a wingnut to tighten it up with - I left the guide tube in the bow for strength and the idea is to put an LED at the front of the sub with the wiring going down the tube to a battery - the LED can be seen when the sub in under water to great effect plus the nose cone can be seen easier. I think that's a great idea I'll have to visit one of our local electric shops and see what kind of LED I'll need to do the job. I suppose I could use a servo to switch it on and off 'cos the servo could be inside the WTC with just the wiring coming through the front cone. Has anyone got any ideas on the LED type etc.?
Now I just need loads and loads of practice in steering under water - after Saturday I was thinking of changing my handle from Periscope to Porpoise but hopefully I'll get better at it eventually.

Cheers all,

Ian

new to trains · 15-02-2006

any LED will be fine, - make sure it is 'potted' ie encase the terminals of the LED in a watertight material ie resin or epoxy glue or similar.....
I have 20 LEDs on my sub, never had a problem with any of them, the actual light emitting section of the LED is watertight anyway, but by potting the terminals you dont cable corrosion on the terminals and sick wire syndrome !

periscope · 15-02-2006

Thanks for that Guy - so do I just ask for a white LED to operate on 6volts or whatever voltage battery I'm going to use?

Ian

Mankster · 15-02-2006

Hi Ian, Its rare to find a LED than will work off 6v most are much lower and you will need to add the appropriate resistor. Your LED supplier (Maplin is a good source) will have the specs for the LED's they sell.
This site has a online calculator to save you the headache http://metku.net/?sect=view&n=1&path...calc/index_eng . You can get flashing LEDs as well.