bogordoug

I have recently received my Tracker II v 1.35 75mhz version. Before going to the pond (sailboat racing) I had preset my transmitter to channel 79. However in the presence of other transmitters (Futaba) upon turning on my transmitter I received a scanner error specifying interference with channel 29. Channel 29 isn't even on the 75 Mhz band range. What is the recommend way of getting by this problem? To whom do I report this problem with the Tracker II software?

Doug Hale

Montague

I have no idea if there is a problem with the scanner on 75Mhz. It's possible the radio is just doing the math wrong and showing 29 when it means 79. You might just add "50" to whatever it says.

But, if you read though the rest of this forum, you'll see some of the comments some of us have about the scanner on 72Mhz, when used in competitions where muliple radios are in operation at the same time.

You might need to take a couple of steps to avoid problems in the future. Mostly, retract your antenna before turning your TX on, and try to avoid turning it on when standing very close (a few feet) from another TX that is on with it's antenna up. In the extreme, retract your antenna and touch it to the grass when turning on. However, be aware that if you do this, you are almost totally disabling the scanner, so it's easily possible to turn on while someone else is on your channel, you're defeating the "safety" feature of the Tracker's built in scanner.

bogordoug

Thanks for the suggestion. I had thought of the issue of being off by 50. However, we had a small fleet that day and I was able to verify directly that no one was on channel 79, except me....and more importantly that no one was on 72mhz. Next time I will keep my antenna retracted and/or attempt to ground it.

Normal accepted practice in sailboat regatta (after all have been assigned their frequencies) is to have everybody turn on their transmitters then turn, on their boats and see if anything goes haywire. The problem I am seeing is that I may not be able to get beyond this error message when I turn on my transmitter.

Montague

It does sound like you'll have the same kind of problems some of us have run in to. The Tracker can pick up 3IM effects. These are mostly lower power signals that exist when two or more transmitters are on at the same time. The signals interact. The Tracker will pick these up and show a busy channel, even if no one is on your channel. It's not a false positive, really, the signal is there, but it's weak enough that your RX won't be bothered by it, even if the Tracker's scanner sees it as a problem.

You can get the Tracker on in a busy environment. I don't know how many TX's you're running at once, but I've flown combat with as many as 12 other planes and who knows how many other guys in the pits working on planes for their next heat. But you might have to work at it a little.