Remotes go fishing

Based in Killybegs, Ireland’s premier fishing port, Seaquest Systems products include fish pumping systems, winches, deck cranes and net sounders. The company is ISO-approved and builds to DNV and Lloyds classifications and works with a wide variety of vessels from 10m potters to whitefish vessels and the top pelagic vessels in the world.

Seaquest specifies HBC-radiomatic remotes for the net winches and hydraulic cranes that it designs and manufactures for fishing vessels. Designed to customer specification, the cable winches are manufactured up to a 70,000kg pull using Seaquest’s multimotor winch drive system.

These, and the knuckleboom cranes designed for marine and offshore operations, are offered with HBC-radiomatic remote controls chosen from the company’s Linus 6 and Spectrum 2 ranges.

Brian Leslie, director of Seaquest Systems explains why remotes are offered as an option: “Use of remotes for the on-board equipment offers a number of advantages, the principal being operator safety. With the net winches, for example, the operator can stand well back from equipment. Bearing in mind the conditions he might be working in, this is safer and offers a better view of what is happening. It also means that the winch can be operated by one man, freeing up other members of the crew for other duties which means fewer people needed on deck.

“We’ve tried remotes from a number of different manufacturers but the HBC-radiomatic products stand out for being robust, waterproof and up to the rigours of operation at sea. They are straightforward to use, so crew training is not an issue, and they are very reliable.” The company had already had a longstanding relationship with HBC-radiomatic (UK) for the repair and maintenance of remote control units that it sourced from Scandinavia when it switched to supply from the UK company two years ago.

Mark Hollyhead, technical sales manager for HBC-radiomatic (UK) explains: “We were able to offer a closer business relationship, which means Seaquest gets the products they want, when they want them. We worked with the company to determine the best range of products to suit their needs. This makes order and supply very straightforward it means Seaquest keep spare units in stock so they can replace a remote for a customer, immediately without having to wait for a new one to be produced to their specification and shipped.”

Both HBC-radiomatic ranges, on the Seaquest supply list, fit the requirements perfectly for robust build and easy operation. The Linus 6 range is an ergonomic transmitter design for hydraulic applications. It has six linear levers which give smooth and precise control with up to six stepless functions for various combinations of push buttons, toggle switches or rotary switches.

The Spectrum 2 is available in versions for industrial cranes or hydraulic applications. The hydraulic version specified by Seaquest has eight linear levers which enable it to operate numerous buttons, toggles or rotary switches.

Both ranges include features such as electronic keys which enable quick activation of a spare transmitter in the event of the original being damaged, eliminating downtime and re-chargeable batteries which deliver 20 hours of continuous operating time. Both models can be carried on a hip belt or shoulder/ neck strap, so in an emergency, the operator can have both hands free without the risk of dropping the remote