I recently had the chance to sail a boat. My father lives next to a nice sized urban pond. He received a Nikko yacht as an Xmas gift. After sailing it for a little while, I quickly became addicted. So, I ran out and bought a Megatech Nirvana before doing any research. My question: does this boat meet a certain class in rc sailing? There are several different classes and it looks like they are categorized by certain true models. But perhaps it is based on size and type that maybe this Nirvana fits in. Is the boat decent? I wish I had checked to see what kind of class boats are sailed around me before I purchased it. Since it’s not one that is built from the ground up, it’s probably held in low regard. Just curious.
First
Welcome to the world of R/C sailing. [:-bouncy]
After looking at the AMYA site for your area seems to be a few clubs down that way.
http://www.amya.org/clublist.html#TX
Do not know which os close to you so, you may have to travel a bit or send out emails to the clubs to see what they are sailing in addition to those posted.
If a club is “good” there are ways to race the different class boats together. (handicap system)
Happy sailing
Jeff
Alberta
The Nirvanna does not fit into any current AMYA class. You can of course always sail it when clubs have “open” races. As suggested, if you are interested in racing, find out what your local club sails. Often you can find a used boat at an attractive price.
As to the “regard” of the Nirvanna, given its very low price its performance (if properly set up) is very good. Yes, it doesn’t compare to boats that cost thousands of dollars, but for under $150 complete boats plus radios its a pretty good deal.
One final thought, it is likely given the large number of boats sold in the US that someone will organize an AMYA Nirvanna class in the future. I know in the NY Central Park Club alone there are close to 20 boats.
Appreciate the reply Jeff. It seems that this hobby is two-part. It’s all about sailing and all about building. I have very little skill in the latter. My model skills always include broken parts and my famous “glue thumbprints” all over whatever I am building. That is why I bought that Nirvana. Are there other people out there like me who can’t build so they buy? And if so, do the serious ones get with a real craftsman (maybe even at this site) and pay them to build?
Thanks.
Ed
That’s interesting about NY Central having 20. Since you seem to know a little of the Nirvana, do you know anything about the radio channels? Are they “toy”?
Thanks Roy.
Ed
I just sailed my Nirvana today, as a matter of fact. There is a thread around here somewhere, but here is the link to the Nirvana Yahoo! group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nirvanasailing/
The box with the Megatech radio equipment is on the 27MHz band, and is available in 6 channels.
I got Tower Hobbies’ Ultimate Combo, came with a Futaba 2DR and 2 S3003 servos (replaced one with a 645mg for the sail).
Having never sailed before, I had fun my first trip out. No water seemed to get in no matter how far she leaned over, and after awhile she got moving pretty quickly across the pond. www.timbrown.net/nirvana.htm has lots of info on making the boat better.
“Two wrongs are only the beginning”
The Nirvanna channels are not the same as those for “toy store” inexpensive boats and cars. The Nirvanna with the factory radio comes on regular, hobby, surface 27mz channels.
FYI, the boat was designed by a very well known r/c sailboat racer who is also responsible for a very successful, more expensive ready to sail boat kit that is an AMYA and international class.
http://www.fact-index.com/2/27/27mhz_fcc_bandplan.html
“There are odd 20kHz channel spacings between channels 3/4, 7/8, 11/12, 15/16 and 19/20. These ‘unused’ frequencies are used by remote controlled toys such as toy boats and toy cars.”
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/radiocontrol/
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/personal/radiocontrol/data/bandplan.html
“FCC rules also list HF channels at 26.995, 27.045, 27.095, 27.145, 27.195, and 27.244 MHz that may be used to operate any kind of device including model aircraft and surface craft devices”
Here is a listing of all RC channels in the US:
http://ultrahot.com/RCfreq/
typically, the channels available for RC use in the 27MHz band are used by toy companies for their RC products, though you can buy transmitters and receivers from hobby shops that use this band.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBCP2**&P=ML
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGRE0&P=7
Even fairly expensive ones.
The point is, 27MHz isn’t “bad”, except that there are only 6 channels available for RC use on them, and it is common for toy manufacturers to use this band for their products. If one were to want to race more than 6 Megatech Nirvanas with factory radio equipment, and since Megatech puts them in unmarked boxes, it will be quite difficult. If people nearby are using “toy” quality RC products (a Tyco turbo hopper, for example), it just gets worse with only 6 channels to work with. Working with the 75MHz surface band will just save lots of headaches, there are 30 channels available to choose from. “toy stores” must use the same frequencies set aside by the FCC that everyone else has to use. Also, 49MHz is sometimes used on “toy” RC products, as 27 and 49 MHz are allocated for “general” items. Again, one can purchase transmitters/receivers using 49MHz as well from hobby shops, I believe.
“Two wrongs are only the beginning”
I have two friends that own Nirvanas. They do like them, but have only began liking them after upgrading some things on the boat. First, the sail servo that comes with the boat is nowhere near strong enough… to replace it, I would either suggest buying the kit WITHOUT servos, and then buy the servos separately (a Hitec 645MG will work fine I’ve heard) or you have to make some modifications to the radio tray to get another servo to fit. Another Nirvana ‘issue’ is the sail arm–it’s gears have a tendancy to strip out, and unless you can fabricate your own identical replacement, you have to order replacements directly from Megatech.
The sail servo is the most important upgrade as I understand it. Here in the plains of Kansas it tends to be windy a lot, hence the need for a more powerful servo. Once the two friends I have changed those items, they’ve been pretty happy with their boats.
Andy
Air Capitol Model Sailing Club
www.acmsc.org