Servo Stretcher
By Tom Lenhart
Soling One Meter Sail Control Servo
The simplest way to control the sails of a
Soling One Meter is through the use of a servo
fitted with a double swing arm. (There is a continuing debate
about the best way.)
Servos as they come from the manufacturer are set up to rotate 60
degrees
(30 degrees each direction from a center point). To be
of use as a sail control
and to limit the length of the swing arm to a size that will fit
into the hull it
is necessary to increase the rotation to the range of 150 to 180
degrees.
This needed increase in rotation can be accomplished in one
of two ways, one is through
the use of a "servo stretcher", an electronic circuit that plugs in
between the receiver
and the servo.This circuit is available over the Web at http://www.robotzone.com/customer/product.php?productid=183&cat=19&page=1.
The product you are looking for is 180 Servo Stretcher, Product #667730.
The second way to obtain the needed rotation is to open the servo and
modify its circuitry.
The Spring 2000 edition of Model Yachting, the AMYA magazine,
contains an article
that gives complete instructions on how to modify a Futabo servo,
including pictures.
Other servos can be modified in a similar manner.