Angling Technics Baitboat Battery Meter

The beacon should be plugged into the gold connector on the boat and will remain inactive until a low battery condition occurs. The beacon will begin to flash after about 27 minutes use from a full charge. This will allow about 13 minutes to retrieve the boat (400 yards) and recharge. The beacon should stop flashing if you stop all power. If the beacon remains flashing with no power applied then you are in danger of not having enough power to return. It is wise to return the boat as soon as the beacon starts flashing to allow for conditions. In cold weather the 13 minute safety margin may be down to below five minutes. If you do find yourself in difficulties, then let the boat drift for as long as practical and then try again.

Place the Solar Panel plug into the included “Y” connector and attach the “Y” connector plug into the gold charging socket on the boat. The Solar Panel is designed to top up the charge on your boat battery(s) during extended use, but can charge the boat from flat in about 14 hours although it is unlikely that there would be sunshine for that continuous period. The Solar Panel should be positioned such that it directly faces the sun without any obstructions. The Panel functions best in direct sunlight but will give reasonable output in overcast conditions. The vacant socket on the “Y” connector can be used for monitoring the charging process using a Battery Meter (available separately) or for the transmitter lead (included) so that the transmitter mat be charged using the solar Panel. When charging the transmitter from the Solar Panel do not charge it for more than 1 ½ hours, as you are rapid charging it and it may start to overheat.

To use; place the larger of the two plugs into the cigar lighter socket of your vehicle, and the other plug into your baitboat's gold charging socket. An extension cable is included with your charger to allow you to plug your charger into a 12 volt battery directly. As there is a possibility that a user may inadvertently connect the crocodile clips incorrectly (black to + and red to -), a protective device is fitted which prevents any damage to either the boat or charging battery. The battery may be any 12volt lead acid unit with a capacity greater than 15Ah, a leisure battery is ideal. The bankside charger is designed to top up the charge on your baitboat battery during extended use, not to charge the boat from flat and because of the reverse polarity protection the charger will only charge the boat to within about 0.6volts of the charging battery. It is therefore vital that the car battery has a good state of charge.

You should ensure that your cigar lighter socket is 'live', by testing the cigar lighter before using the bankside battery charger. some cigar lighters only work with the ignition on). Some vehicles have positive earthing in which case the extension cable will need to be used directly on the battery. The length of charge required will depend on how depleted your baitboat battery is, the state of the charging battery and the temperature. You are strongly advised to use the charger in conjunction with the Baitboat battery meter as this will allow you to judge the charging situation without guess-work. It is advisable to place the boat on charge as soon as it has returned from a trip.

CAUTION: The charger may become hot if used for a long period of time, this is quite normal and you should take care not to handle the unit until cool.

Baitboat hints & tips

1) Ensuring you don't run out of range. Extend the transmitter aerial to about half its normal height. If the boat loses radio signal, fully extend the aerial and you should regain control. If you do run into range problems, hold the transmitter above your head with the aerial pointing skywards.

2) Reducing the effect of towed lines on steering. Attach two adjustable clips (drop off's) to the centre of the handle and lead the lines out of the chamfered section of the doors through these clips. When you release the hopper doors, a slight tug on the line should unclip the clips.

3) Reducing bilge water. In some conditions water can enter the drain hole at the bow so cover this with waterproof tape before use, always remembering to remove and drain after use.

4) Extending the life of the transmitter batteries. The nickel cadmium batteries can acquire a memory which will reduce the operating time of the transmitter. If this becomes evident then by fully charging the batteries and allowing the transmitter to run completely flat in one stage. By repeating this procedure a couple of times this should sort the problem.

The Baitboat Meter indicates the voltage of the boat battery and must be used with no motors running. The graph shows the profile of a fully charged battery from fully charged to fully discharged.

The point on the meter where the green zone meets the red zone indicates a value of 11.7 Volts and corresponds to 40 minutes use of the boat. The green zone indicates from 13.2 to 11.7 Volts and the red zone from 11.7 to 10.2 Volts. An estimation of time remaining on the boat can be made from the meter e.g. if the meter needle indicates halfway through the green (12.45 Volts) the boat has about 23 minutes of life remaining. The boat should not be used when the needle is in the red zone. The included ‘Y’ connector is used to monitor the battery condition whilst being charged from either the mains charger, the bankside or the solar charger.