Aerial location - Question for Brett Hallett

[Derek Warner]

Brett - thanks for your off line posting re aerial detail - I am sure other PD's would find a copy most interesting

With Decoy, I have located all the R/C gear [three servos, speed controller & receiver] under the deck opening
just fwd of the rudder post - so from here I can extend the TX aerial just under deck level 700 mm fwd, cross
from port to stdb 200 mm and then run back aft for the final 100 mm

My question here is, does this last 100 mm aerial run object or have functionality problems living in very close
proximity [literally side by side] with the + or and - battery leads for the 6V 14 AMP/h gel cell that trace back to
the R/C gear but on the stdb side of the vessel [total current draw should not exceed 2 AMPS at any time]

Naturally the intention is to run the electrical supplies for the main engine, pump & fan all on the stdb side etc

regards Derek

[dragoncity]

Derek, You probably won't have any problems, however if you can make your
power leads a 'twisted pair' rather than two straight leads, the twisted pair
arrangement tends to cancel out any electical noise generated.

Of course how noisy ( electrical wize) are your motors ?

When I started experimenting with paddle boats I tried a very poor quality 6 volt
motor and no matter what technique I tried to suppress the noise, filters, chokes, capaciters, etc,
the receiver just did not like being anywhere near the boat ! ( Got the jitters real bad :-)

I was pleasanlty surprised that having TWO large windscreen wiper motors has no effect on
the receiver at all. At the moment the Rx aerial is simply wound up and tied with a rubber band
and just sitting on the deck -- not the best arrangement but OK for testing.

Cheers,

[dragoncity]

To Paddleduckers, DEREK WARNER suggested you might be interested in the following
missive on radio aerials and signal pattern,
Cheers,
Brett

Derek
You wrote :
======
My old set is channel 12, Tx = 29.745 & Rx = 30.200 and I checked - yes
the ribbons on the aerial are yellow & black,
======

A great freq !! Been using that one for years in yachts myself.

When refering to frequency the Tx freq is the one of interest, the Rx freq
is always more/or less than the Rx one depending upon the method used in
the radio ( NOT important in usage :-)
When you mentioned 30.200 I was a little confused about the type of
radio you were using !! As it been soo long since I bothered about such
stuff.

Tx signal shape
============
The Tx sends out a signal pattern somewhat like a 'heart
shape" radiating either side of the extended aerial. Imagine your aerial
is a line disecting the 'heart', therefore the weakest signal is that
directly along the line of the aerial itself.

Many modelers make the
mistake of thinking that pointing the aerial directly towards the model
will give them the best signal !?!?!

Modern Radios have a very strong signal, and very good receivers so to some extent
signal shape is not a great consideration.

e best book on setting up and using radios and servos is
"Guide to Computer Radio Control Systems" by Don Edberg
write to Dynamic Modeling Computer Book, 4922-G, Rochelle Avenue, Irvine, CA 92604-2941,
or email 72417.2067@compuserve.com

as the book is self published. The guy is good, as he wrote the official reference manual
for FUTABA radio gear.
( I hope the address is current as I purchased my book in 1997 for cica $US15 )

His book really explains how to set up your radio gear to get the best out of it, dont be put off
by the reference to COMPUTER in the title as the information therein is useful to all
radio gear setups.


By the way, Derek, I dont think range will be a problem in your bath !!!
===========
Brett S Hallett