Star 45

Star 45

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

[Star45] Winch? Which Winch?

Winch? Which Winch?
From: "Douglas" Subject: [Star45] Winch? Which Winch?
To: Star45@yahoogroups.com

Is the Hitec HS-785HB Sail Winch Servo enough for the star or is the RMG the must have for the star? Is there any other options, better options with regards to a drum servo? Is the drum the best choice? What's your opinion, I'd very much appreciate it?

Doug
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From: "jfisher"

I have not use an arm winch for years, but one difference I found was that they tend to use more power than the RMG. I usually use about 600 mah in 3 hours of sailing with an RMG. So I run 1340 lipo’s and swap at lunch on a big regatta or not at all on club days. Only 80g for the battery. I usually use more battery out of the TX than the boat.

I also don’t like that the power of an arm winch changes depending of your sheeting. On my M it used to sheet out while reaching on the puffs. With the RMG this doesn’t happen. I have considered the new digital ¼ scale servo’s since they are super fast. Now you can gybe without losing speed.

If you want a cheap drum and have not used an RMG before the Hitech drum winch is a good choice, about $50. But once you sail with an RMG with its quicker speed you wont want to go back. Also you will need a more advanced radio to change the sheeting length as it only turn 3.5 turns, while the RMG has programmable travel.

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From: Larry Ludwig

The Futaba 5801 is an excellent choice for the Star 45, and has one particularly nice feature in the form of a set screw that allows you to dial the travel length right there with the winch installed. It is also considerbly cheaper. The winch retails for $149.00 from www.towerhobbies.com and they have a special right now for a $150 order take off $15.00 so $135.00 and it may even qualify for free shipping. Smoking deal.

Personally, I prefer a swing arm over the drum winches because of reliability. I know several guys that swear that they have never had a drum "spool off" but I am the opposite, I have never had one that did NOT spool off at one point. Just my .02 but I don't know of a swing arm winch that I like for the Star, they are either too big or too small. If I was to pick one, I would say the Ozman or Probar, I think those are still available.

posted by Dave_Mainwaring  # Tuesday, April 28, 2009