Hi Tall Paul,

Current TX - 2.4GHz - probably surface to 50-75cms on a good day, with a following wind, winning lottery numbers etc.etc. 😊

Or 40 MHZ - 5-8 feet perhaps

Or UHF (459MHz) openLRS - maybe 100cm

Or 868MHz - no idea of depth.....

Best and most active place I know for Submarine help is

Facebook group - "Dive-in to Model Submarines"

Regards
Jonathan .

Hi,

VLF (radio waves) I think works to depth of 20 metres,
sonar (sound waves) I’m not so sure about.

Current Tx for model submarines are ?
and to what depth ?

Hope you can help,

Regards, Tall Paul.

Sorry Doug i did not notice it.
Just another cockup.
Hopefully i have got it right now.LOL!

Martin555.

It's 'in the box' Steve.
Hope your dive module from R&R comes with all the Failsafe safety gadgets.
Loss of signal, excess depth, water ingress etc ----> Emergency surface!!
'Gluing' them on afterwards ain't so easy!
Cheers, Doug 😎

"Sorry to jump in but ...."
SPLOSH Martin😁
Up to your neck in muck and bullets again?
BTW What's with your fetish with the Finns?

Haluaisin nähdä sen alusta suomeksi.
Miksi fetissisi on suomen kielisen ällistämä?
😂🤣
😎

Excellent, looking forward to it Steve.

Martin555.

Ok, you've talked me into it!
I need to finish my blog on the Resolve Tug, which is nearing completion, first.

Steve,
Sorry to jump in but are you going to do a build log on your Arkmodel Type V11c submarine. ?

I would like to see it from start to finish.

Martin555.

Thanks Fred. I am now fixed up with the Arkmodel Type VIIc and a dive module from R&R.
Once again, thanks for your help.
Steve

Thanks Doug. I have PM'd you re the costs.
Should have plenty of time to build and test with the Vimto Virus lockdown.
The dive module will be with me in the next couple of days.
I will keep you updated .

Steve

Hi Steve,
Your Sub-Tech book will be on it's way tonight. Per Registered Post.
Happy reading, and have fun building👍
Take your time - You'll need it!
Before you take it to the lake-
Test, test, test in the 'Domestic Test Tank'.
Then test it again!
I tested my first sub in the DTT by leaving it underwater for several hours and periodically running the motors and waggling everything that moves.😉
Cheers, Doug 😎

Email sent, just reread your post saying were you are in the U.K

Fred

Thanks Fred. Know what you mean about the weather. Just getting over the worst of the floods which effectively cut Worcester in half.
I have PMd you my email address.
Steve

Hi Cormorant

If you system has a "Module" I would think you may be O.K.

If you have a look on the AMS forum look for a david f he is the man with most of the answers on open RS, he helped me out a lot, in fact he set my system up for me.

If you send me your email address I can send you some photos of the "S" class, it will have to be when this weather sorts its self out as here on the south cost it is high winds and rain.

Fred

Hi Fred
Thanks for getting in touch.
Interesting comment regarding the demise of both 27 and 40 mhz. All the information I have so far is that the best way forward is 40 and that 2.4 will not penetrate the water.
I use the Taranis x9d for all my surface boats. Can this be used with your set up? If so that would be great!
Thank you also for the links. I know one of the guys on the RC team who has offered to help in my initial build - do I take it that you are looking to sell your old "S" class?
Regards
Steve

Morning Cormorant

I have only just picked up your post, I have been into sub's since the 1990's and have been down the 27 and 40 meg way, but on the demise of them both the sub fraternity started to look at other frequencies to operate our boats with, some of us have gone down the open RS route.

i have a set up that fits my 2.4 transmitter so that I can sail all my boats with out having to have two transmitter.

I do have an old John Darnell 1/48 "S" class sub just the deck and hull that is in need of work, you would have to work out the W/C and running system to fit.

Do have a look at http://www.theassociationofmodelsubmariners.com
http://www.rcsubs.co.uk/
http://www.subcommittee.com
Beck’s Model Marine on Facebook he took over from Sheerline

Hope that this is of some help to you.

Fred

Hi Doug
It seems that Engel is the bog's dollocks of model submarines, part of which is reflected in price.
Yes, the Akula is a very good saving, but it is the uBoat (or possibly the British S class), that I must build.
Thank you for your offer of the book, I have PMd you.

Cheers

Steve

It was Pte. Fraser, Doug, not Godfrey.
You'll have to stop driving Toyotas!

"Unfortunately Rc Submarines are an expensive hobby."
Right on Martin,👍
There's also a 1.9m (1/34) version of the Type VII by Engel Modellbau here
https://engel-modellbau.eu/shop/en/Submarine-Kits/VII-C/U203-Type-VII-C-with-Diving-System-Tmax-BRUSHLESS-FULL-SET.html
€3000 with all the bells and whistles and safety features!😮

Steve,
Unless you are dead set on a WW2 sub you might like to look at the AKULA 2 set that I bought. Not so big as the Type 7 at 87cm but big enough and 1/3 the price😊
https://engel-modellbau.eu/shop/en/Submarine-Kits/AKULA-II/AKULA-II-Model-Submarine-SET.html
My experience with my 107cm Type IA U Boat is that with enough ballast to get the beast down to it's waterline it wasn't bothered by any weather that didn't bother me!😉
Painted in Kriegsmarine light grey above the W/L it was easy to see over 100yds or more against the wet stuff and/or the flora behind.
Tip, I also bought the Hall effect switch for the dive tank which helps to refine the trim control by telling the dive processor how much water is in the tank.
The kit comes with all basic safety devices; depth, loss of signal and low battery voltage.
I also bought the magnetic switch to turn everything on without having to open the hull and WTC.
BTW: the 'water sloshing about in the tank' problem that Bob mentions can not happen with Engel models. They all use piston ballast tanks so there is no air above the water to enable sloshing. They also do not rely on sucking in air through the periscope to surface.
The piston simply pushes the water back out 'et voila'!😊

BTW: There's a model sub specialist; Norbert Brüggen, here who has written an excellent book on how model subs and their originals function.
It includes explanations, pros and cons, of the various dive systems used in models.
Somehow I have acquired two copies of this book, in English (scratches head🙄).
PM me your address and I'll send you a copy.
Might help you decide which way you want to go.
Don't be put off by the publication date, the physics hasn't changed in the meantime even if the model equipment available today has!
Cheers, Doug 😎

'Veeery interestink' Martin
Unless I missed something along the way, and I've watched Preview and chapters 1 to 3 including the tank test, he blows the ballast tank by sucking air in through the periscope and forcing it into the tank with an airpump!?
Similar to the U Boat Snorkel technique for running diesels to charge batteries without fully surfacing.
This would however mean that he can only submerge to periscope depth.
Unlike what Scratch and I are doing/planning.
I hope he has fitted a float / flap valve to the air inlet to close it off if a wave goes over it, as the snorkels had.
Otherwise once he goes below peri depth he's DOOMED☹️😭
"We're DOOMED, DOOMED!" as Private Godfrey would say😁
Cheers, Doug 😎

Thanks Martin, very helpful. Interesting to hear his take on the size.
Steve

Hi Steve,
Unfortunately Rc Submarines are an expensive hobby.
Bob Martin at the nautilus dry-docks have a few videos on utube.
I don't know if you have seen these videos.
It might help you decide.




Martin555.

What a superb looking boat!
Having almost decided on a 1/48 scale model due to the size of my workshop - http://www.arkmodel.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=421&language=en
a modelling friend of mine says it needs to be big enough to be seen properly on the water and not look like a "pop bottle".
He suggests something like this https://otwdesigns.com/type7-uboat.
What are your thoughts?
Thank you.
Steve

As promised.
Some extra pictures of U47 and the Gato Class.

With the floods we have here, that won't be difficult!

"I have an Engle Piston tank and auto leveller....Both brilliant."
That's the guy I was referring to Bill👍
Alexander Engel,
https://engel-modellbau.eu/shop/en/home/
Cheers, Doug 😎
PS That's where my AKULA 2 came from 😊

Hi Steve,
Jacko is quite right, 27Megs will also work, probably deeper than you will ever (deliberately?) need. But bear in mind that 27Meg sets are more susceptible to interference from outside the RC band.
I have no idea if you are scratch or kit building or who/where your source of bits n pieces is, but if you need some sources of proven dive gear; dive tanks, pressure switches, fail safe processors etc etc, let me know. There's a guy here in Germany who specialises in RC sub kits n bits😊
My U25 is an ancient Krick dynamic diver.
But my Akula II will have a piston type dive tank, pressure switch, fail safe, and auto trim.
Both run on 40MHz, my ancient Graupner MC-10, one of the first generation so called 'MICROCOMPUTER MULTISOFT' sets.
A while ago I bought a second hand unit for spares, just in case the wheels come off!☹️
Also bought up a stock of 40Meg crystals while they are still on the market.

Like that with the 'German towel', that habit has irritated me often😠
Guess it's gonna take you a while to fill up your harbour, looking forward to that.
Was wondering what had happened to your Hood and Cambeltown.
Cheers, Doug 😎

Hi Steve.
Re Diving subs.
I agree with Doug.
I am a Submariner at heart (if you check out the profile picture.) but build all RN WW2 types.
Definitely NOT 2.4 it simply will not work.
I use 40 megs, and used to use 27.These frequencies will work ONLY in Fresh water but NOT in Salt water.
I sail my U-boat in the local canal in Exeter up to a depth of 4 feet with no problem.
I have an Engle Piston tank and auto leveller....Both brilliant.
Am away at the moment but have pictures I will post on my return.
If I can help please ask.
I have a Gato Sub that I use 2.4 with but she is surface only so no problem with that.
Regards Bill

"otherwise I may have to flood Q! " 😮
Don't do that Steve,
FLOOD THE GARAGE!! 😁
😎

Thanks for the advice re the radio Doug, and the pressure switch failsafe.
Not sure what sort of diving system I'm using yet, except that it won't be dynamic.
I don't think I will need to take a towel. As it's a German sub I will just use someone else's.
I have started to update my harbour, but please don't look at some of the paint jobs, which are of my own devising. You may also spot a few similar pennant numbers.
Cheers
Steve

So I have heard. I should have kept the old 27mhz I'm using in my profile picture circa 1980

Once again, thanks for your help gentlemen.
My harbour will be updated soon, otherwise I may have to flood Q!

I think the old 27mhz will work through water ?

I too would love to see your fleet before you sink some of them.

Fleet Admiral Doug is the man that has his finger on the pulse when it comes to this sort of thing and as he said 40MHz is absolutely the right way to go in the U.K.
I do know that some other countries use a different frequency but i am not sure quite what they are.


Martin555.

Yes, post your harbour! Show us what your Mrs. is saying to send out to sea...🥴

Hi Steve,
Go 40Megs young man😉
You're right; 2.4 Gig is useless for subs, unless you just want to run on the surface😐
What energy doesn't bounce off the water into the sky, depending on the angle of incidence - which is normally quite flat, will rapidly be dissipated by trying to warm up the lake water.
By jiggling the water molecules around, just like it does in your domestic Microwave oven to heat up your nosh😋
40MHz doesn't resonate the molecules so can penetrate the water about 2m or so.
Real subs use VLF frequencies around 8-10KHz to communicate underwater, receive only, using a very very slow bit rate data transmission. TX aerials on land are kilometres long😮

Strongly recommend that you fit a pressure switch operated fail safe, set to initiate surfacing if you get below 2m. Or the max depth of your lake less a decent safety margin.
The fail-safe should also be able to operate on Loss of TX Signal or ingress of wet stuff.

What kind of diving system are you intending to use?
Piston tank? Compressed air? Dynamic? .... ?
Watch out for pond weed!!!!😮😭
Take goggles, snorkel, swimming trunks and beach towel with you 😉
Cheers, Doug 😎
PS Why aren't all these surface warships in your Harbour???
As a Naval Buff I for one would love to see them!👍