Tag Archives: London radio sailing

“Antenna Frame” Anyone??

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When I read up about my transmitter’s working range, of course it’s all about airplanes and drones. “1.5km range”, I think it said.

Honestly, if the boat is further away than about 150m, frankly we’re on the limits of my eyesight! I’m sure most folks would pay no attention to the layout of the onboard antenna (two wires that stick out of the onboard receiver). I’d forgive anybody who thought it doesn’t really matter. I did notice though that when we initially rigged my new IOM at the Datchet club, the first thing PH told me to do was walk a really long way away and see if I could waggle the sails via the mainsheet joystick. The “voice of experience”, I suddenly thought to myself.

Did you know, the theory is that the two antenna wires should lie at right angles to each other?? The IOM I had been borrowing from a totally amazing man at Chipstead had this simple idea.

Aboard my new K2, the builder has integrated something into his proprietary pot that ties the antenna at right angles. Very neat actually, … job done.

For the F6 Marblehead, GH suggested looking at two potential antenna frames on the Sailsetc website. We chose this one….

You might miss it at first glance. The frame is that little black moulding at the top of the photo. The two “arms” at right-angles are hollow – you can thread the wires inside them easily. It weighs about the same as a sheet of Kleenex. I’d guess its is 3D printed. Very neat. It simply sits inside the pot and grips the edge. It is shaped for the standard 60mm Sailsetc “pot” that the majority of us have. You thread the antenna wires through the 90 degree “V”… then what? I just wound my antenna tails around the pot rather than thread them back over the frame. It keeps it jolly tidy in there, plus at least some of the wires’ length lies at 90 degrees.

https://www.sailsetc2.com/index.php/aerial-arc.html

Deck Patch Templates – The Easy Way !

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When you get going with your radio sailing, just occasionally you are going to need to replace your deck patches. The trick to make positioning them easy is the use a washing up liquid solution just strong enough to leave a film across the surface before you apply. Then you just need five hands to get them on – ha ha ha !!

Have you thought about how cut a stock of new patches? Rolls of sticky back sailcloth in all sorts of colours are available from the likes of Sailsetc

https://www.sailsetc2.com/index.php/deck-patch.html

Then you need some templates. I found that to cut templates in thin ply is insanely challenging to get precisely right, symmetrical, even corners etc. So in an attempt to find a way forward, I asked my expert seamstress wife how a dressmaker would approach the problem. The answer is that you go through an intermediate paper pattern stage.

(See photo) To get the symmetry and corners to match, fold the paper in the bow to stern axis down the middle. Then make your marks, cut it out and test it on the boat hatches. Re-do this as many times as you need to get the angles, sides and corners just perfect.

We decided then to transfer that shape to sheets of plastic off the back of an old A4 notebook (see the item on “Rig Trimming Tool”….used the same plastic sheet for this) Something thin enough to cut accurately with a scissors, but last a jolly long time in wet conditions and lumpy toolboxes. …Trace the paper pattern on to the plastic sheet, cut with the scissors and you have your template. Easy!! Should last longer than the boat!