Time for a Mean Machine

[Beaux]

Well it's been awhile since I ran the mean machine 2. I put a tp 4070 in her with a sf300 lite on 4s. My grandson and I took our boats out today, I've got totell ya the mm 2 is one tough boat. It was out about 75 yds and I lost radio contact.
Naturally she was wide a$$ open headed away from me, she had about 100 yds to really get going. There is a small island between us so I lost sight of her, the next time I saw her she was about 15 feet in the air. She hit the bank and launched.
So we get in the truck and ran over She's laying approx 35 ft from the water, fearing the worst , I pick her up open the hatch, motor mount broke loose and unplugged the motor. That was a good thing it took us about 5 mins to get over there.
The only damage I could find was a little chip paint on the left tip on the sponson, the break away rudder broke away and when landed I guess it bent the linkage, WHEW that was close, one tough boat.

[ray schrauwen]

That is tough. Go over it very closely for hair line cracks etc. Sometimes they are hard to notice until you give the hull a little twist.

[Beaux]

Thanks Ray I'll try that. Still trying to figure out what happened to the radio. I've run it that distance before with no problems, I think I'll put anew receiver in it just to be safe.

[ray schrauwen]

If you changed some esc settings a recalibration is always a good practise AND after a recalibration cycling the power of the whole system might prevent this.

I forgot to cycle power on my SF220 once in Michigan and my Cheeah went around the back straight and then did the same thing yours did but it impaled itself on a shoreline tree.

[Beaux]

Ray you may be on to something there, the rx and the esc were new. I set the esc on the bench. I've got a rx in one of my trucks, I know it's good for at least 600 ft. I will swap them out.

[NativePaul]

You wont get the same range on water as you do on land, as land reflects the signal whereas water absorbs it.

What radio do you have? Does it not have failsafe, most do? Many ESCs have a failsafe too. If neither your radio or ESC have a failsafe, there are standalone failsafe units available, they are marketed mainly for IC models, as most electrics have one already, but they will work with electrics too.

My Aeromarine hulls are like that too, good designs, but layed up needlessly heavy.

[Beaux]

Hi Paul, I'm using a Fly Sky FS-GT3B radio and a fly sky fs-gr3e receiver. I'll have to read up on the fail safe. I can recall it somewhere. Needlessly heavy maby. But
a black jack or geico would have shatterd on impact. The rx and tx are on the cheap end but I've been using them about 3 years, no problems till now.
I did not know that water absorbed the signal thanks.

[Beaux]

Well I set the fail safe pretty simple. Swapped out the rx also just in case. I'm gonna go run it later today.

[TRUCKPULL]

The easiest way to check your Fail Safe is,
On the bench, turn you rudder with your thumb, hold a little bit of throttle, then with the other hand turn your radio (transmitter) off.

The motor should Stop. and the rudder should return to neutral.

Larry

[NativePaul]

^^^^
Sound advice, it is always good to have a failsafe, set the failsafe, and check the failsafe. That assumes that you set the failsafe with the rudder centred, personally I set mine with a right turn on.

If I were to lose signal at the end of a straight it isn't going to go straight on decelerating into the bank. My max turn is a bit tighter than the course, so if I am on or near the racing line anywhere on the course, it should safely come to a stop inside the bouys.

It decelerates faster with rudder on, so will stop quicker.

It would demonstrate that you have a radio problem, so you don't waste time troubleshooting a non existent electrical issue.

[Beaux]

Well I went out and ran my mean machine, the fail safe worked fine. I like the idea of the rudder turned a bit. If you don't mind me asking what type radio and receiver do you run, and what kind of range do you get.
Thanks, Beaux.

[NativePaul]

I run Futaba FASST, first a 6EX and now an 8FG. Thankfully I have never found the range limits of either, but even at our SAWs lake I am only a maximum of 150 meters away from my boat.

Despite running FASST for 10 years and not yet having to use my failsafe, it does not mean I would go without setting it, it has the potential to save a life as well as my boat.

[Beaux]

I'm going to have to upgrade, I've got three boats I can't open up all the way. I'm going to try some better receivers , if I can find any that will work with my fly sky radio. Got any ideas?

[NativePaul]

Most of the 2.4ghz radio makers have their own protocol and none work with each other, although some manufacturers do make RX compatible with the protocols used by the bigger companies like Futaba and Spektrum. For example FrSky (not the same company as FlySky and much better), Orange and Corona have their own protocol and make RX for their own radios, but they also make Futaba FASST compatible RX, and Spektrum DSM2/X compatible RX, which are not compatible with their own protocol. These have a market as they are much cheaper than the RX from the big brand names.

Probably only flysky RX will work. Flysky is the cheapest out there, so no one is going to invest in making RX compatible with them, or risk their reputation making decent quality RX for TX that have a basic protocol and poor build quality/quality control.

[Beaux]

I see, thank you. Looks like a new radio is in the works, thanks again.