Control for Searchlight

What would be interesting and useful, especially if this will be used as a marine (or other unsteady platform) searchlight, would be incorporating some stabilization into the control.

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Close to ready-made solutions are likely available in RC airplane hobby stores, or you could buy the components and figure out the details yourself.

Use two of these, (DPDT centre off, centre biased toggle switch), one for X and one for Y. Supply to common contacts, motor "+ve" to diagonal opposites, motor "-VE" to other contacts.

And make them momentary, centre off.

dear John, please do not overestimate my intelligence. I basically understood what you mean, but don't dare to do the wiring by myself!

Greetings r&ddoc,

As a fellow mariner I can appreciate the new addition to your trawler.

Building a controller yourself is probably the most economic way to go.

As a side thought have you searched Google for a replacement joystick?

You may not have to do any modifications if you do buy a joystick and if you do, they will be minimal at worst.

Only drawback may be shipping but the joysticks like the one below are only about 10 oz.

In addition, any boat junk yards in your local? You may find an inexpensive used one there.

Here is a common wiring scheme for the older Jabsco line;

Safe travels Mate

Regards KJK/USA

Thanks mate!

I did a google search on Buenos Aires hobby shops, and these guys popped up. They may be able to help.

http://www.helitec.com.ar/home.htm

Hi kramarat, my knowledge in electronics is near to zero. Should I get such joysticks and connect them to the x / y motors using contactors?

No, you won't need contactors. The two I worked on were wired directly. The other suggestions, while feasible will not be water resistant. If you go the switch route, you will have to spend some quality time with your local electric supply house. The wiring is straight forward, but you may need to crimp/solder. Your local boat yard may be able to help, another possibility is a radio repair shop (as in police/taxi radios. They will have the tools and expertise. It may cost you a fishing trip etc.

Best,

I visited Buenos Aires in the '70's beautiful. Great time, best steak(s) ever. Your English is remarkable.

Hi JW, thanks for your input! I define myself as a intuitive and daring person, based on these (virtues?) / (defects?) I repaired the oddest things you may imagine: from my wife´s hair dryer to the multiformat camera of a CAT scanner or the engines of my former cars. As you certainly know, most of these gadgets fail to work because of the simplest reasons like defective wires, relays, etc. Before calling an expert I always look under the hood: it saved me a lot of $! The price I´ve paid for my mistakes was sometimes quite high…. but it made a lot of fun learning it the hard way (not when it happened, of course! About your visit to BA in the 70´s: as you can imagine things have changed a lot since then (for good and for bad); but steaks are still good!!!!! About my English: too many years ago (probably when you were visiting BA, I dated a British girl. As German is my second language, it was not that difficult to me to learn it. (this is one of the few things I learned the nice way!) Have a great day!

Oh: I forgot to tell: I also repaired people´s brains!

Basically you need two SPDT switches, one for up and down, the other for left, right. These should be center off, with springs to return to center. The original was a joystick affair. As Jabsco is still in business, I would send them an e-mail. The unit you may be referring to, dual filament bulbs, is still in production.

Found this....

Link....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jabsco-Main-Control-SEARCH-LIGHT-Remote-Control-43670-0003W-WITH-PLUS-PLAN-/141192457065?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item20dfb9eb69&vxp=mtr

Hi to all!

thanks a lot for your input!

At the moment it is almost impossible to import ANYTHING into my country. Our government is inspired in Venezuela´s ""project"" and we, the people, are paying the price of their experiment.

I know this is not the place for talking or discussing politics , but my prior sentence was just to remark that the only alternative I see for getting a control for the searchlight is by doing it myself, as getting it abroad is almost impossible.

Before these restrictions I actively bought stuff over ebay or foreign websites.... but this is history to me now.

My experience in electronics is quite basic, but I´ll do my best to decipher your diagrams!

Well you have a boat, says you....You live across the bay from Uruguay, says I......

http://packageforwardingservice.com/shipping-to-uruguay-what-you-need-to-know/

hI solar eagle! you make me laugh! :-) every now and then every single boat owner I know (even me) has jumped over the pond (as we call it here) to get things that were unavailable in my country! I will contact these guys to see if the offer a sort of PO box there, to receive the controller, should I buy it! Kind regards!

I would save a bundle by simply buying two switches...and use a tin can to mount them on.

The ones that toggle up, centre off and down.

Power goes into the centre terminals, and leaves by the end terminals.

Put them so that the switches are up and down for the "up and down" and sideways for the side to side movement. You already know which wires drive which motors, just hook them up as I explained.

Hi Jimrat, You earned a + vote from me! Your idea is excellent,, but it may require to cut some square holes to fix them to the board (which may be tricky). BUT this led me to another idea. I will get 4 panel mount round push buttons (it´s just a single hole) and a switch. They can be arranged forming a cross with the power switch in the centre: by pressing one button (up / down), there will be a single motion. If (R or L) are pushed simultaneously, panning will also be possible.

Think you'll find that if R & L are pressed simultaneously, you'll blow a fuse (if fitted; if no fuse you'll burn out the wiring - and maybe the boat).

Edit - or did you mean e.g. R and U for diagonal motion?

Hi John, Yes, I will use fuses! (they are cheaper than a new boat!). I suppose, the original control system also provided a swift diagonal motion, which I would love to have, but will certainly not achieve using buttons or switches. A more primitive movement like turning to the right + downwards (or the opposite) should be possible pushing two buttons (or switches) at the same time. Kind regards!

(Too late to edit, but) You'll still need double-pole switching, for the reversing action, and the point about R & L (or U and D) together causing damage still holds - which is why I suggested changeover switches)

I have just found this:http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-494716420-modulo-joystick-analogico-con-pulsador-ps2-pic-arduino-_JM for a couple of bucks. Its intended for 5V as most electronic stuff. "A" plan is trying to get a 12V / 5 V transformer (BTW do they exist??) or (B) connect it straight to 12V. If directly connected to the motors it will blow, thought about adding one relay for each movement. Does it sound reasonable to you?

Seems complicated and un necessary. A couple of switches will do it, and to hell with the voltage.

I believe you are right Yusef1, but I love collateral thinking :-)