My Tether

[Chas 100]

I am working on my 3rd rov and trying to improve each time. my first 2 are still working great. my 3rd design is not finished yet but close. here is some detail, Pelican case, 10" color monitor, the controls for this rov will be nobs ( Pots ) setup in a flat panel. all thrusters will be controlled by speed control, my 2nd rov was a relay box system, so heres what I did this time, 24 volts at surface running thru a 18 awg 8 conductor multi-flex cable for tether, the tether is only .320 OD, this will give my thrusters 14.7 volts @ 150' of tether figuring in 4 amps. on my 2nd rov there was more voltage drop then i wanted. The rov will have a small juntion box were the thether will go to to supply thrusters, camera, lights, then I will cover in wax. the tether in my 2nd rov got a little bulky and took some performance away, this rov will have .320 OD and is very flexable and will do it all, BUT it is $ 2.13 a foot. I wanted more performance like the Video Rays rov so I down sized a bit too. here are a few pictures

[bossfrog]

Very nice looking.

[Sea-ker]

Chas, can you explain how you thrusters are controlled by speed controls and potentiometers please?

[Chas 100]

Chas, can you explain how you thrusters are controlled by speed controls and potentiometers please?

They are 15 amp pwm speed controls, they have a imput voltage from 10 to 26 volts. The pot ( nob )is wired to the speed control with 10 inch wire length, this depends on your control box, I use a Pelican case. The Pot is mounted thru a control panel, when the nob is at th 12 oclock position motors are off, turn ccw and motor starts to turn in reverse, turn nob cw, motor turns in forward direction. The more you turn nob the faster the motor will turn. I run 24 volts at surface thru a multi-flex 18/8 cable, that is only 5/16 OD. This supplys my thrusters with approx 14.7 volts at 4 amps with 150 feet tether. with speed controls you hardly ever need to go full power unless you what to. my 2nd rov was a joy stick control with relays, but my tether got to big with all the options ( pan & tilt, lights, etc ) Plus @ 150 foot tether there was more voltage drop then I liked.

[Sea-ker]

Thanks for the great info!

I am thinking about running with on-board batteries, do you think I could have the pot in my control box and my speed controllers on-board the ROV? Is there an issue with having the pot 50-75 feet from the speed controller? I was planning on using cat 6 cable to send the control to the ROV.

[Chas 100]

Thanks for the great info!

I am thinking about running with on-board batteries, do you think I could have the pot in my control box and my speed controllers on-board the ROV? Is there an issue with having the pot 50-75 feet from the speed controller? I was planning on using cat 6 cable to send the control to the ROV.

I don't think there would be a problem, depending on your speed control. The DC speed controls that I use are more into the Robotic field, not the ones used in rc cars and airplanes. I,m not a expert on electronics but there are other people in this forum that might chime in for you