#11 4 days ago 5

@EdW That frequency board must have brought back some old memories Ed - and having two guys running on 27meg as well, just to complete the picture for you must have finished it off nicely !

Two 27meg transmitters with their own fishing rod length of transmitter aerial’s would have another visual reminder - especially if they had their colour ribbon’s tied on the tips of them!

Does your frequency board have all the 27meg split frequencies on it and all of the 40meg too?

Bob.

Never too old to learn

#10 6 days ago 13

Yesterday I was at our club and frequency boards came up, there were two guys on 27Mhz 😂

Ed

Liked by zooma and roycv

#9 7 days ago 15

@zooma Hi, I have the frequency boards in my garage, as you say nobody uses them any more. I think I will re-purpose the pegs for domestic use! I seem to remember that the main problem was the user would take the coloured peg and put it on his aerial and go home with it. We stopped that by just putting the peg on the other edge of the board.

Back in the 80s we might have 50 people turn up for a trip around the buoys. I used to have an entry sheet and take the cash, (anyone remember cash)? Then I would have a separate sheet with 1 or possibly 2 specific colour frequencies on. This would be given to a competition judge and there would be a judge for each of the colours so that as long as there was a space to start no one would interact on frequencies.

There is always a small group who screw things up and we had a 5 person family and each one had a boat and all of them wanted to drive the other 4 boats and with 2 trips around the buoys for the competition this was 50 outings!! I put a stop to this!
Another time a competitor turned up with a tug with a rotating rudder drive, Voith Schneider drive, not easy to control. I stood with him to mark his progress and his wife was there as well! She contested every time he failed at a gate and kept telling me how difficult the boat was to drive. I felt sorry for the guy living with a woman like that!
And that is how a set of rules develops all caused by an individual, not the majority. It could be an exhausting day.
Roy

Liked by hermank

#8 7 days ago 17

@roycv I remember visiting the Fleetwood boat club over 40 years ago (not long after I moved up north from Devon) , and they were reversing their 27meg transmitter and receiver crystals in their yachts to extend the numbers they could get onto the water at the same time!

I also remember the 27 meg colour frequency board that was in action at the Bury Lido boat club about the same time period.

40 meg "saved the day” sometime afterwards and gave us all a lot more choice......and bigger frequency boards that needed a lot more pegs!

With the arrival of 2.4 gig radio control, all the frequency boards gradually disappeared . I have not seen one for years!

Bob

Never too old to learn

Liked by hermank

#7 7 days ago 20

@zooma Hi we did have the split channels 20Khtz above the lower colour, And the Black channel could also have the crystals reversed which gave you an extra one. I have most of them still. I do not think all of the 40 channels were issued as crystals either. I keep mine in tiny resealable plastic packets with the number written on a sticky patch.

I will not be changing the servo leads on the Acoms set as the servos have less power than current ones and the 9 gram servos are excellent for rudder operation and very cheap I buy 10 at a time from Mr. Ali.

He also sells tiny servo morphs or extenders to 170 degrees and the escs are so cheap and work very well, but I always divide Chinese amps by 3 to be safe. Also I have by me single lever total control via a mixer for twin screw model boats.
Roy

Liked by hermank

#6 7 days ago 20

My favourite set is the Hitec 3 channel transmitter, if anyone has one I am keen to have it. The 3rd. ch is a lever on the top right of the Tx or a knob on the left.
Modern AA cells are wider than the old lower capacity ones and I compensate by using a flat pack of 10 AAA cells with a small change in the TX by having a servo socket for the battery.

It all fits in without having to worry about the cell plastic divisions. The last lot of 35Mhtz transmitters can legally have a 40 Mhtz FM crystal installed although some 35 Mhtz receivers would need a special 40 Mhtz crystal. I bought a job lot of 35mhtz 5 -7 ch. receivers when 2.4Ghtz frequency was available. They all work nicely.
As I have so many older sets it makes no sense to update to new frequencies. The anomaly is 40 Mhtz AM, I have 2 sets and have isolated them away in sealed bags. But I also use 27Mtz FM 6 channel using old Micron receivers much better than the Futaba ones.
Fleet were as usual b****y minded by introducing there own servo connectors and have been the cause of a £35 disaster when mixed up with standard items. Lovely transmitters but why they went non-standard is beyond me.

Having dealt with the man directly there was no compromise from I am right and you are wrong, as not all he sold was that good. e.g. Stubby aerials with 15 foot range and very expensive sail winch that would not settle.
Roy

Liked by hermank

#5 7 days ago 20

@roycv Hi Roy, I forgot that you still enjoy running your 27 meg radio equipment, and you probably find it easier now than it was when it was at its peak, when we were all having to check and wait for our turn to switch-on to use one of the few limited frequencies that were made available for us to use.

I think these parts will be of more interest to anyone like yourself that still operate them or for those that like to collect early radio control systems.

Although I love to see these old 27meg radio control systems (they bring back a wave of nostalgia that I enjoy being reminded of), I already have too many hobby interest's to add vintage and collectible radio equipment to the seemingly never ending list of wide spread interests that I currently pursue.

These items were part of a job lot of oddments that I bought recently, and their overall condition (and apparent lack of use) encouraged me to show them here in the hope they they may be of some interest to someone that may want to add them to their own collection.

If nobody has a use for them, I may well change the servo leads and use them in some of the smaller size restoration projects that I have as I am sure they will still work well enough.

The little battery box can also be rewired as they are always handy to have around when testing or setting-up a new radio installation, and can be used with the on/off switch.

The receiver and its crystal is probably the only thing that I cannot recycle if nobody has a use for this complete small vintage set-up that would probably be all that was needed to out-fit a small model boat's radio requirements completely.........if they had a matching Acoms AP-227 Mk11 transmitter to power it with !

Bob.

Never too old to learn

Liked by hermank

#4 7 days ago 21

I have about 3x old Acoms Ap227 27mhz transmitters, receivers and a few servos that have been removed from some of my boats and planes. 1 of them is my original Transmitter that I bought when I got my Perkasa kit back in the 80s. I think I still have my Dads 35mhz Acoms transmitter as well.

Will

Far too many projects, nowhere near enough time or skill!

Liked by hermank and zooma

#3 7 days ago 23

@zooma Hi I use old radio rather than 2.4Ghtz. I have this particular Acoms RC set with the early servo connectors in a complete set in the box which is a bit worn to say the least. The transmitter has just 6 cells in the back. It is available for sale if anyone is interested.
Roy

Liked by hermank

#2 8 days ago 33

Locking servo and battery box plugs.

I wanted to add these pictures to my first blog, but the system would not allow me to add them (!) so I have added them here.

Everything is so clean for the age and would suggest that they have never been used.

Bob.

Original large sized ARB-227 receiver.

Unique locking plug system used on these early receivers.

Battery box with on/off switch and unique early type locking receiver plug.

Unused (?) Acoms AS-1 servos with early type locking receiver plugs.

Never too old to learn

Liked by hermank and Madwelshman and

#1 8 days ago 35

Job Lot:- Vintage ACOMS AP-227 Mk11. 27meg Radio Components and Handbook.

Another Job Lot item of interest to Vintage radio control enthusiasts.

This last group of items that I would like to share on here is this collection of original Acoms AP-227 Mk11, 27 meg radio parts that would appear to be complete - apart from not having the transmitter with it!

This early version of the original Acoms two channel radio control has the very rare 10 page (12 pages including the covers) instruction handbook that is in very good condition for its age.

A bonus is the included Repair Price List that the importer (at that time)Richard Kohnstam Limited included with each new radio set. The £7 cost to repair a transmitter or a receiver was standard - regardless of the damage and/or replacement parts that were needed.

The same price for a servo repair seems comparatively excessive these days when new servos can be bought for less - even at todays prices - but none the less it makes for some interesting hobby history.

This outfit seems to have all the "signs" of being fitted into a model boat but never used.

Both servos turn freely and like the battery box, they have the unique type of plug that Acoms first used to fit into their early type rather large sized receiver.

The large sized two channel ARB-227 receiver itself still has a "Blue" 27 meg receiver crystal mounted in it with its rubber cover plug still fitted.

The battery box includes its on/off switch and again shows not signs of ever having any batteries left in it - with no signs of any corrosion and still looking "like new".

I don't own an early type Acoms AP-227 Mk 11 transmitter to test this set of components with, but I would be very surprised if they did not still work as they don't look like they have ever been used from new!

When I threw away some much newer, fuel soaked and abused Acoms radio parts as I removed them from my Sprite "swamp buggy" hull, there was a comment to suggest that perhaps I should not have dumped them.

These parts are in as perfect a condition as they could be for their age and are much older and more collectable.........so for anyone that collects or likes to use Vintage Radio Control, they could be of some interest?

Bob.

Bob.

Original handbook with receiver, servos and battery box.

Original Repair Price List.

Interesting reading!

Never too old to learn

Liked by hermank and Madwelshman and

MODEL BOATS WEBSITE

Job Lot:- Vintage ACOMS AP-227 Mk11. 27meg Radio Components and Handbook.

Job Lot:- Vintage ACOMS AP-227 Mk11. 27meg Radio Components and Handbook.