Neptune mod, or late to the party.

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

It's definitely not the stock prop.
The stock one is a small 1.5" brass three blade.
I hope it works well for you.
The stock motor has loads of torque so can handle a much larger prop.
You will find the battery is actually the weak link in this sub.
We have all switched to Lipo and have doubled or tripled the run time.
I am actually toying with the idea of adding helicopter skids to the bottom in place of the rubber feet for pools.
It would look cool too. BD.

[JWLaRue]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Opening the drain slots won't have any measurable effect on operation as the surfaced waterline is above the tail cone. However, it would make it quicker to drain when pulling the sub out of the water.

Question: are the stern horizontal fixed fins stock or have they been cut down? I like the look!

-Jeff

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

And settle into the water too.
Mine seemed to sit there forever tilted till the front filled with water.

So Jeff, you are saying yours does not ride at a mid hull W/L?
You may want to check your trim.

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Jeff, it is for draining purposes that I want to open up the holes. When I took the sub out of the tub it took forever to empty the tail cone (it looked like it was peeing).
The dive planes were enlarged, so the fixed planes look smaller. I found one of the original owners here http://www.rc-sub.com/projects/viewproject.php5?id=35 Bob had it and did his modification on it.
My son wants lights. Have you guys added any and if so how?

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

That prop should work good with the stock motor.
It did look like it has a bad pee problem come to think of it.
I am adding lights now. I am using the strip LEDs from HK.
And a RC dual switch from Robotmarketplace. BD.

[Guest]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

LED's are best fed off a regulated voltage if possible. The 5v receiver bus powered via the BEC is ideal, don't worry about the extra drain, LED's don't consume much unless you go potty and fit them everywhere.

If you use normal 3 or 5mm LED's, just wire 100 ohm resistors in series with one of the legs on each LED, and you're done.

Another option would be slow changing RGB led's which would give a psychedelic glow to the boat underwater, reminiscent of a cuttle fish- far out man!

Ebay is good for LED's.

[JWLaRue]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

The dive planes were enlarged, so the fixed planes look smaller.

Tom,

I think your static stern planes were modified. I'm thinking of possibly doing the same...it's a good look. Take a look at this stock photo]http://images.rcuniverse.com/market/itemimages/Aug/lg-1014742-1-9384.jpg[/img]

-Jeff

p.s. I agree, the sub looks like it's taking a pee when pulled out of the water!

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Do you pipe any of the lights out of the cylinder? If so, what way did you run the wires out?

Jeff - I see what you mean, great catch. Funny, I wondered why the warning sticker was cut off on mine, duh. Rumor has it you are modifying your sub, care to elaborate?

Missing some screws.....Got to make another run to the hardware store.

[JWLaRue]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

We need to get Jim Butt to share with everyone the way he added lights to his Neptune. He added a series of forward facing lights that surround the clear arcylic dome up front. Works really great when running at night and even allows him to get video in less-than-optimum lighting conditions. And of course they can be controlled remotely.

I haven't made any exterior physical modifications to mine yet....other than putting the TT power prop on it. I did do a full-up paint job on it with custom-made decals. Check out page 5 of the December SCR for a photo. I have installed a SubTech SES switch on a spare channel. The intent is to connect it to one of those inexpensive laser pointers to serve as the 'phaser bank' of my underwater shuttlecraft.

-Jeff

[Guest]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

I recommend green laser modules. I have two 500mW green laser modules which were about a tenner ($15) each off ebay, from China (where else?). They're quite something, show up a beam through water, and even in air in subdued light. I find the modules draw about 1W each with 3volt input.

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

I found the stock planes worked well if the sub can actually make a good speed.

Some of our guys did have the LEDs on the outside and ran the wires out the camera connection point.
But most just mount them on the inside tech rack. That is what I am doing.
Here is the S/W and LED tape.

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

I recommend green laser modules. I have two 500mW green laser modules which were about a tenner ($15) each off ebay, from China (where else?). They're quite something, show up a beam through water, and even in air in subdued light. I find the modules draw about 1W each with 3volt input.

How big are they?
That would look cool in my FS1.

[JWLaRue]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Water is dense enough and has enough particulates in it that red lasers work just fine.

-Jeff

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Lasers? Better not let Sam see this thread.


It balanced out with everything attached. Now to get it to the pool.

[Guest]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

I find the green shows up better, and just looks more trick. I did consider going for blue lasers, as they're available, but they are quite a bit more expensive.

The modules are quite small, about 3/8" diameter and about 2" long in old money. They look like this one- http://proto-pic.co.uk/laser-module-gre ... tAod2S0Auw

Those ones are lower in power mind you.