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Thread: Well.......she's all done !!

  1. #31
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    I know of a number of problems people are having with Spectrum DX radios, so bad in fact one modeler poured fuel on his and set it on fire, he was so disgusted. It appears Horizon is having trouble nailing down the problem as a number of people sent their in only to receive them back and experience another failure.
    I watched in dismay at a glider meet last August, when a pilot lost control of an expensive hi-tech glider, he was using a Spectrum DX 18. Ansolutely no control what so ever.
    I came into possession of a DX 9 and have been reading of people having problems with them as well. I'm not going to use it. I put it up for sale on R/C Groups.
    I may go back to HiTec for radios.

  2. #32
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    Well I gave it some thought and couldn't see having years into this project and letting it go. I just ordered a new hull with Phil that will be carbon reinforced through out and some new ideas to possibly crack 110 mph it has gone 106, by the end of the year or beginning of 2018. If it hits it, great , if not, no problem. I look forward to the build, which is the best part....aside from the speed chase of course !!!

  3. #33
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    Want to sell the broken hull?

  4. #34
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    That sucks to hear, 95mph into a rock will ruin nearly anything. Boaters don't usually use high-power servos, at least not to the degree truck & crawler guys do. It's common for land racers to have the servo on it's own 5-10A BEC with the ESC powering the receiver. I hear about Spektrum users having brown-out issues with any servo that pulls 2A+, their receiver brains simply can't handle any minor voltage drop & reset/reboot.

  5. #35
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    I’ve run sport hydros into the high 90s on official SAW courses for years with my Spektrum DX4 radios, no problems whatsoever. This with HiTec high-torque digital servos and Castle controllers with built-in BEC. It can take considerable centering power to keep a big, very fast SAW boat on course, hense the powerful servos. Gary understands this requirement, others may not.

    I hear all sorts of things on the Internet, but I only believe 10% of it. And that’s from people I trust, not anonymous posters....



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  6. #36
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    Do you also discount video evidence if anonymous posters put it on the net? You can see the genuine Spektrum receiver browns-out to the point of a full reset, while the orange & HK brands retain full control of the servos.

    The scary thing is I just saw a truck guy post about brown-out issues, specifically with his Spektrum receiver and HiTec servo combo. He fixed his problem by "downgrading" to his Traxxas radio & keeping the HiTec servo. I hope you don't think I'm being a jerk, I'm just pointing out there are some lucky people that never encounter a common problem. There are many Ford Pinto owners that did not die in a ball of fire, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a problem.

    Internet shenanigans notwithstanding, his radio still coughed and sent his boat into a rock. Spektrum's glitch issue appears to be much more common (and worse) with recently produced hardware. I shouldn't have to remind anyone Spektrum was the only 2.4ghz radio brand which had interference issues with FlySky years ago.

  7. #37
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    Cool

    Sure I do, YouTube is one of the worst offenders and perpetrators of BS because “people believe what they see”. It is far too easy to lie about what is shown, even more important is the lack of disclosure about what is not shown (burned down setups, subsequent instances of good performance, etc.). I’ve seen too many false statements/examples on YT, too much info left out. Sure a lot is factual, but how do you filter it? You choose your source.

    It is well established that Spektrum had issues with voltage sensitivity, I’ve used Spektrum radios for a decade so I am well aware of the former shortcomings. But due to that extensive experience I also know what is required to make the radio work, and it isn’t rocket science. I have extensive experience with Futaba too, both brands have given comparable performance in both oval and SAW applications.


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  8. #38
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    Sure I do, YouTube is one of the worst offenders and perpetrators of BS because “people believe what they see”. It is far too easy to lie about what is shown, even more important is the lack of disclosure about what is not shown (burned down setups, subsequent instances of good performance, etc.). I’ve seen too many false statements/examples on YT, too much info left out. Sure a lot is factual, but how do you filter it? You choose your source.

    It is well established that Spektrum had issues with voltage sensitivity, I’ve used Spektrum radios for a decade so I am well aware of the former shortcomings, so is Gary. But due to that extensive experience I also know what is required to make the radio work, and it isn’t rocket science. I’ve watched Futaba-controlled SAW boats lose control, does that mean that Futaba radios are junk? I have extensive experience with Futaba too, and both brands have given comparable performance for me in both oval and SAW applications. You can hate on Spektrum all you want, be my guest....


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  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by CraigP View Post
    Want to sell the broken hull?
    Sorry Craig,it is missing an entire sponson side and really has seen it's better days of fires and crashes. It's junk for sure !!
    Also I really want to compete next year,anywhere in the USA,doesn't matter...well... maybe not Cali, too far LOL so a new hull and new ideas/cleaner layout is best.
    This new build will take away from my long range rifle project I wanted but that's o k for now.

  10. #40
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    I understand, by the description, the crash was really bad. I was thinking of just using a balsa fill and light glass over to make a tribute wall hanger for my brother, that drove the ‘91 Bud to a World Championship. Best of luck on the new build, maybe you can post some picks as you progress thru it. We all would love to see it come together!

  11. #41
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    Plus we all love carnage pics! (don't lie!)

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gary View Post
    Sorry Craig,it is missing an entire sponson side and really has seen it's better days of fires and crashes. It's junk for sure !!
    Also I really want to compete next year,anywhere in the USA,doesn't matter...well... maybe not Cali, too far LOL so a new hull and new ideas/cleaner layout is best.
    This new build will take away from my long range rifle project I wanted but that's o k for now.
    Boy that sounds like the time I hit a dock going about 60 at the start of a race at the Masters race. Deep sixed the hull and brought the rest of the stuf home in a Mcdonalds bag.

  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkF View Post
    I am using a 2316 10 prop which is a little lifting but the bouncing seems to be starting from the sponsons. I have tried moving the weight all over the place and more forward works better. I have a 2215 15 prop to try now and I might even add ride pads just to see if that helps. The nats is in 2 weeks and no way will I be competitive pedaling the boat around just to keep it on the water to finish a heat.
    I would like to hear from Phil T himself and see what he thinks.

    Mark
    Balance and weight and strut depth and angle all have a part to play in the boat staying on the water. Prop should not really lift so try the octura x or the more raked abc, Not sure whayt size you need to use but a 23 is 58mm and the 22 is 55mm, I would think a good racing prop woud be a 50 mm size, x648 or x450 or a 1455 is what I use for a nitro boat.

  14. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gary View Post
    Well I gave it some thought and couldn't see having years into this project and letting it go. I just ordered a new hull with Phil that will be carbon reinforced through out and some new ideas to possibly crack 110 mph it has gone 106, by the end of the year or beginning of 2018. If it hits it, great , if not, no problem. I look forward to the build, which is the best part....aside from the speed chase of course !!!
    Gary here is your new boat, carbon reinfored deck and sponsons, I did add some carbon to the cowl too.
    Good luck going past the 100 mark.
    20171108_151919_HDR.jpg

  15. #45
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    Your the man Phil. It was a big decision to go down this road again but between this new hull and new and cleaner ideas for it I cant wait !!!! Thanks again.

  16. #46
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    very nice hydro.

  17. #47
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    All built and better than ever thanks to Phil! Boat ran a 97 out of the gate on cold batteries so looks real good for faster speeds next year. Tough to warm them batteries up in 20* weather LOL but the lake was not frozen so had to test her out before it freeze's!

  18. #48
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    Good to hear that you got to test. send me a good pic of it.
    Phil Thomas www.philthomashydros.com

  19. #49
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    thats a great speed 97 you will definetly hit the 100 plus mark with some more trimming / prop work etc and warm battery packs might help. use your car heater or a 12 volt fan heater / blower to warm them up if its too cold outside.

  20. #50
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    Ohh that's one powerful boat! Too bad about the lost of control

  21. #51
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    My old crash and burn hull had gone a best of 106 so hoping to hit/break that !!

  22. #52
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    Default she's all done

    Quote Originally Posted by Gary View Post
    My old crash and burn hull had gone a best of 106 so hoping to hit/break that !!
    how many cells, Gary?

  23. #53
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    6 cells my friend.

  24. #54
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    BTW if you still want to try that receiver/servo combo, try the item linked below. A crawler I know of had a similar HiTec/Spek issue and this fixed it. I speculated Spektrum uses a very low (probably 1.7v) TTL voltage, this probably boosts it to 3.3v or 5v that other radios/servos typically use.

    https://www.amainhobbies.com/spektru...r-spmcp/p48333

  25. #55
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    My new 2.4 Futaba is working very well so I am happy with the FM to 2.4 switch.

  26. #56
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    Latest update from a late night testing. Boat went 108.3 mph ....and was still climbing according to the data log, and then backed it up with 106 mph. She pulled 347 amps and turned 44,500 rpm. Boat comes in loaded at 13 lbs. Am real happy that all this work paid off and it made my night....and a winter that will not end, I am in CT,LOL.

    I was having blow overs at 93 mph and said screw it....put 1.5 oz on each side {inside}of the sponson tips and at the last minute before I taped the hatch down put one more ounce up front "for the hell of it". I hate adding weight but I also detest blow overs. Well she loved the extra weight.
    My only problem is I am using my new 2.4 gig Futaba setup and at the furthest distance I will loose communication. I am not loosing control of the boat but the ESC is beeping telling me that I am and I assume it happens at the maximum distance from me . I sent her way out on these run's also. Antenna is at max height and I hold the radio up a little as soon as the boat passes me. Does not seem to be a major issue but I will poke around a little with the receiver.
    Last edited by Gary; 04-02-2018 at 09:52 PM.

  27. #57
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    Congratulations Gary on this great SAW speed result, that is really moving . about your radio range , have you done a walking range test ? the Futaba 2.4 gig with external rx antenna normally have very good range on water so maybe this issue could be something in the ESC and not the Radio Range atall. worth a range check.

  28. #58
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    You know I will do that. I will get someone to stay with the boat and walk until there is a problem. I have done this but not "real" far like at lake distance.Thanks

  29. #59
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    not like the AM / FM Radio days where you just had to collapse the TX antenna and walk about 100 yards. Spectrum have or had a short distance range check built into the Transmitter where you just press a button and hold while you do a quick walk range test of about 25 or so yards. Futaba is the go.

  30. #60
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    Congratulations Gary!

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