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[Noddy]

Hi Everyone and compliments of the season

My wife has bought me a Graupner True Blue Model Yacht for Christmas.  It has already been built
and comes complete with a radio control unit.  However my knoweldge of Radio Control is limited to say the very least.
It has a Lanyu 2.4g 5 channel transmitter and what I believe must be the receiver which is a small plastic box with short
ariel and 21 pins.  Inside the workings of the boat are two 3 pin plugs(black and red)s which obviously connect to this receiver box
but there is no instructions as to how the connect.  Any advice would be gratefull accepted
Thanks(in anticipation)
Martyn

[dodgy geezer]

A less common company that I have not heard of... here is their web site: http://www.lanyuhobby.com/index.asp

I suspect that their 2.4Ghz sets are very similar to all the other cheap chinese ones. These sets are very cheap - you can see two reviews on here for the Planet and the Radiolink - the cheapest of these is 25 GBP.

Briefly, you need to put batteries in the Transmitter (short name Tx) and connect some batteries to the receiver (Rx).

The Rx will take 4 cells - 4.8-6v. You have not mentioned an Rx battery box - is there one? If it's not built into the hull you mightl have to get one. Photos of the system would help us a lot to help you....

Once you have power to the Tx and Rx, you will need to connect the 'yacht workings' to the Rx. These will usually be the rudder and the sail ropes. Both these will be moved by 'servos', and I am guessing that this what the two three-pin sockets are....

Once these are connected many R/C systems will work, but 2.4Ghz sites usually require a process called 'binding'. This means making sure the Rx and Tx are talking to each other, and not any other Rx/Tx. The binding process varies between types of system, but is usually simple, like turning on both Tx and Rx and then pushing a special button. We will know more when we see the pictures are available...

Good luck - that model sounds like a good one - where are you thinking of sailing it? It helps a lot if you give us an indication of where in the world you are, as then we can point you at useful local services....

[dodgy geezer]

Is this what the boat looks like?

http://www.mjed.co.uk/trueblue.html

[Noddy]

Hi DG and thanks for the information so far.
I am located in Brize Norton Oxfordshire so there are plenty of gravel pits in the area although
most of my sailing will be done down south at a place called Calshot on the edge of the New Forest.
There is a battery pack already located inside the boat with 4xAA batteries(rechargeable) inside.
I have uploaded a couple of photos which I hope will be of use.
The main problem I am experiencing is connecting the RX to the servos. There is no way of telling where
the two three pin plugs should go into it - maybe there is some kind of adapter I am missing?

[Welsh Wizard]

Right then maybe I can help
No 1 on the reciever (Blue box small  aerial) plug the rudder servo plug into that one with the white coloured lead towards the long part of the reciver////take long part to be the furthest away from the pins

No4 will be the Winch white wire as above

The batt box lead which is the small one with a red and black lead on it to any of the others making sure the red is towards the long part of reciever.

The handset should now have the rudder on the right hand stick move this one leaft and right
The sail winch should be either up in or down in on the left habd gimball.

 lot of this with the chinees sets can be suck it and see

Dave

[dodgy geezer]

No - that is a standard Rx set of pins.

You can see that the Rx has 7 sets of three pins. That means it's a 7 function Rx - it can control a maximum of 7 servos. Each three-pin servo plug will go onto one of the vertical sets of three pins.

You have two servos - they can go onto any set of pins, but I would probably start with functions (sometimes called channels) 1 and 3.  The transmitter will control the functions as indicated in this picture: http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/radio-control-functions.html  or this: http://adamone.rchomepage.com/guide1.htm .

You will see from this that if you have a typical 4-channel Tx, channels 1 and 3 would be on different sticks. Of course you can play around with the channel positions until you are happy with the control positions. You don't have to use up all the pins in the Rx unless you want to buy lots of servos for doing different things...

Of more importance is - 'Which way around do I plug the servo pins in?  Servos usually have three wires - Positive (red, middle), Negative (black, one side) and Signal (white or yellow, the other side). There is usually an indication on the Rx as to which side the Positive is - can you see it on your Rx?

I'm not too sure where the power is going into your Rx, either. Is there a separate lead to the battery box? Or is there another servo-type plug? That is most usual - power is put into the Rx via a two-lead servo plug, using one of the channel connectors..

Does the above make sense? It's probably worth adding your location to your profile, so that any future questions don't have to include where you are...

[dodgy geezer]

I wonder if the Rx has been bound to the Tx already, or if he needs to do this ?  We will find out when he tries to turn on..... 

[Welsh Wizard]

Dodgy Geezer what do you mean with your and I quote

NO -that is a standard Rx set of pins

All you have done is to reiterate what I have said ?????

If you look properly in the photos supplied you will see that the Batt lead is indeed a futaba type of plug with a red and black lead in it.THIS can be connected to ANY of the remaining pins in the esc regardless.When you use a bec system in a esc it does not matter which channel you use as it powers the whole system.As this set up is not being use with an \ESC it means therefore that a separate power pack is needed hence plugging it into a spare channel on the receiver....simples


Dave

[dodgy geezer]

Dodgy Geezer what do you mean with your and I quote

NO -that is a standard Rx set of pins

All you have done is to reiterate what I have said ????? .....

Whoops, sorry - wires crossed in transit.

The 'NO, that is a standard set..." refers to Noddy's comment "....There is no way of telling where the two three pin plugs should go into it - maybe there is some kind of adapter I am missing?.."

I couldn't see the wires too well, and I don't know the receiver, so I opted to wonder about the power input. If you know it I'm sure your more precise instructions are more useful to him. What confused me was the original statement 'two three-pin plugs'. I would expect three three-pins, two with three wires, and one with two...

We were both saying the same thing to him at about the same time. You got in first. That's why I seem to be just re-iterating what you are saying. Great minds.......  

[Welsh Wizard]

Spot on I agree


Dave

[pompebled]

Noddy,

These receivers usually have the ground (black or brown wire) on the outside, so that's where the - from the powersuppy should go.

Usually the red wire is the middle one of the three pins.

Let us know if things work out (or burned out...)

Regards, Jan.

[Noddy]

Once again thanks for your help
I am now home alone(Wife is at her mother's) and have had a chance to examine things in greater detail.
The battery box connects to a separate plug within the boat.
The RX has 7 sets of pins numbered 1 -7 with a small button next to the ariel.  There are 2 servo plugs which will only plug
in one way - I have plugged these into sets 1 and 3 as you say that leaves the white wire at the top with the red middle and black
bottom.  This leave the electric input plug which as you say has only red(middle) and black(bottom).  There is no apparent electrical input
plug noted on the RX I am assuming that this can be plugged into any of the spare sets of pins left on the RX providing the red and black wires
correspond with those of the servo wires ie red middle and black bottom?  Having done this I have turned on the TX and nothing has happened
except for a green light followed closely by a red light coming on.  I am assuming that the small button on the rx is something to do with "Banding"?
Also would the battery box normally have a power switch or is the RX live all the time unless disconnected?
Please be patient I am learning all the time!!

[Noddy]

Wow!! just answered my own question and found a power switch "hidden" down the side of the battery box
and  a red light has appeared on the RX Box.  By pressing the button on the RX and having the corresponding
channels set to "on" the red light flashed about 5 times then stopped - Hey Presto it works I now have an operating rudder
and sails.  I have no doubt I still have a lot to learn although I do understand the rudiments of sailing which I'm sure will
help.
Final questions - Firstly where should I locate the RX Box?  The leads from the servos are not long enough for it to be situated
outside the boat and it doesnt look particularly waterproof. Will reception be affected if the ariel is inside?
Secondly what is the range for these radio controls and is there a fail safe when you go outside that area?
Many thanks
Martyn

[Netleyned]

The easiest thing to do is to secure the receiver to the underside of the deck with a bit of velcro or double sided tape.
Range should be a couple of hundred yards by which time it's hard to see which way she is pointing.
Are you going to sail in the sea at Calshot?
If you get a problem she could sail off into the wild blue yonder   

Ned

[Noddy]

Thanks for the info Ned and thanks to all who helped me out.
We belong to Calshot Caravan and Camping Club and will only sail in the lagoon when conditions are good.   
I have an inflatable canoe which will be blown up and ready when the inevitable happens!!
regards
Martyn

[pettyofficernick]

Hi There, I had a True Blue recently, nice sailer and easy to handle in light winds,. The receiver and battery sit in the two spaces in front of the servos, of which there should be 3, 2 linked together for the sails and one for the rudder, the switch lies alongside the battery compartment. You should not have any trouble with water getting into the electrics as everything is out of harms way, quite high up in the boat, however, it is advisable to secure the battery in place with a zip tie, I used Velcro at first, but the battery came adrift and I had the devils own job of retrieving it, as access into the hull is limited.Hope this helps, I built mine from a kit so I am pretty au-fait with its inner workings, so if you get stuck, give us a shout. Another little tip is to replace the battery box for a 6v Nimh aa pack (5cells) as the extra 1.2 volts will help the sail servos, which have a lot of hard work to do.
All The Best,
good luck with the boat,
Regards,
Nick.

http://www.mjed.co.uk/trueblue.html
http://www.mjed.co.uk/trueblue.html

[triumphjon]

could also be a good idea to place the receiver inside of a balloon ?

[ben hall]

i have a true blue   and its best to greece round the hatch now or then i do that with mine and i can push it under watter and it wont let in any water

[Netleyned]

I recommended the receiver be velcroed under the deck because it is a 2.4GHz setup and most of the kit yachts were designed with the longer
lower frequency aerials in mind  which came up through the deck and up the backstay or similar.
Under the deck just gives the rx a little more height.

Ned

[ben hall]

they say in the instructions just to run the aerial under the deck but because there is hardly much accses down where they tell you to put the reciever   so i velcro it just forward of the hatch