New to the hobbyworld of Submarines

[theo]

Hi all,

I am new to the world of building R/C submarines and I am having the time of my life if I don't go broke first!! I will be posting pictures of my progress as I go along in the construction process. I will be building what I call a "Brassboard" first. By that I mean I will building everything and testing the results prior to building the hull kit. I am building the Revell Gato sub. I will be adding specialized electronics, Hi res color TV and torpedo capability to my sub and alas the reason for testing prior to building the hull. Some folks have advised me to "keep it simple stupid" and as one who has mastered the art of listening with my ears and not my mouth, I will still do things the hard way with creativity. Here are some pictures that I have taken so far. I have tested my torpedo in my pool. It floats, goes about 20', has spin built into the tail fins and goes straight close to the surface of the water. All feedback and comments welcome.

[mylo]

Theo,

If it's all the

Theo,

If it's all the gadgetry and toys that interests you in r/c subs, then design them and get them functioning on your GATO. Build something that you have interest in, it will keep you motivated to see it through to completion. Who knows, you might come up with the next "great thing". ....BUT.... be prepared to put in the time/effort/money to make it happen. Even the most "simple" sub can be costly and challenging to get working properly in the water.

Mylo

[theo]

Boy's and their toys!!

Thanks for your comments Mylo. I appreciate your thoughts and will enjoy putting my creative touch into my Gato. I have also been modifying my transmitter functions. One channel had a lever switch function for an On/Off functionality. I removed it and put a momentary push button switch in it's place as it will be the button I push to fire my 4 torpedo's. I will be using a 8 bit shift register to cycle through the torpedo's one at a time. I have also modified a channel function that had a variable pot function. I removed it and put a 3 position switch in it's place. This switch will give me a +, 0 and - voltage output that I will use to command the sub to surface, go to periscope depth as well as go down 3'. Needless to say, I will be using digital logic circuits to determine wether to flood or purge with propel. I do enjoy being creative as I used to design unique "Star Wars" stuff in the aerospace business many Moons ago.

Jack