Last year we wrote Beginners Manuals for radio sailors with Radiomaster, Flysky and Futaba transmitters. There is an excellent Spektrum manual from the USA for which we also published the download link. The manuals have been enormously popular and downloaded about 1,500 times in twelve months. Interestingly the most popular is for Radiomaster, followed by the Radio Sailors Manual for Futaba.
We have been busy recently on both Radiomaster and Futaba finding out how to implement some more advanced features for radio sailing, over and above what we all use normally.
These are:-
. Advanced Mainsheet Management
. 4 Position “Pinch and Puff” using joystick plus switch
. VMG Fine Tune for Mainsheet using volume dial control
. Flick Gybe on a Button
. Advanced Rudder Management
You can download the Implementation Guide for these features on Futaba by clicking here:-
When we launched the Datchet Radio Sailing website in late 2023, we had an eye on trying to reduce the inhibitors people often feel when they get into radio sailing.
A few “Beginners Guide” manuals were created as downloads, mainly for radio transmitters, but also the likes of installing new winches (very popular!), diagnosing problems in the electrics, installing new transmitters and so on.
The response has been amazing. In a few days time, the radio transmitter global downloads of the manuals are going to reach a total of 1000. It’s 985 downloads as I type (August 2025). Of those, about half are for the Radiomaster – interesting.
The beginners guide on how to fit a new winch has, alone, been downloaded 255 times. How to install a new transmitter has been downloaded 72 times.
The Futaba and Flysky manuals are about equally popular as each other – Futuaba slightly more so.
I have a Spektrum in the workshop ready to install on a Proteus IOM. I had a plan to produce a manual for that also (one day … takes a lot of time). In the meantime, there is a link to an excellent radio sailing manual for the Spektrum DX6 on a US based website. If anyone wants to give a hand with that, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
We had something of an “ah ha” moment here the other day when the Domestic Steering Committee (a seamstress of note), reminded me that transmitters and snugs are a 3-dimensional design challenge not easily thought of or seen in 2D…
We went back to the snug and transmitter inventory and tried all combinations of transmitters and snugs to see if basically it really is “choose anything you want”. If you’re a Flysky or Futaba user, you might get an “ah ha” moment too.
First up, when I use my Radiomaster Pocket I realise now I’ve always tended to use it without a cover. The transmitter is so ridiculously robust I suppose it felt best to use it in the open air. It was anyway so small it is lost inside a snug.
The second really important thing is that my fabulous Catsails snug is a terrific cover and will basically take anything you want to pop in there with ease – with a Spektrum it can easily accommodate the stubby aerial at any angle you prefer.
It’ll be interesting to see what SailboatRC come up with in their forthcoming snug design.
What’s the Thing About a 3D Snug Design?
It’s in the implementation….
The Steering Committee’s head seamstress pointed out there are differing approaches here to creating a 3D space for the transmitter. Catsails are basically using what a dressmaker thinks of as “darts”… apparently… there’s a single seam with different material sizes each side of the seam causing a ‘compartment’ effect.
The Rooster…
That brings us to the Rooster…. with a different approach to creating a 3D shape based upon multiple seams. They are creating the 3D space more by design with seams along the edges of the 3D space. (see photo at the top of this article)
Can you see there are four seams on the Rooster?? Taped flat on the outside (the Catsails outside seam is “piped”) and also miraculously also flat on the inside for comfort maybe…
In sewing, this is apparently called “flat felling” or “flat locking”. Just so you know…
Given the two people that will have had a big hand (sic) in designing the Rooster snug, it suddenly comes as no surprise to me now that the Rooster 3D space is a really great fit on Flysky and Futaba, like it was designed for them. Like a glove….. My lovely Spektrum is a better fit in the Catsails snug. The antenna stem is something of a compromise inside the Rooster. Enjoy choosing!
Datchet Radio Sailing - Making It All Much Easier !! 