kstick

Both here and on Polks site there have been recent discussions about uncommanded servo movements with Polk's Seeker II receivers.

I bought 2 Seeker II receivers in March of this year from the Polk's Internet site. One Rx has about 50 flights and seems to be working well. The Rx in question had 12 successful flights on the Super Stick I use for testing.

I recently put it in my new Venus II. Today on its maiden flight, on the first flight I had two instances of a sudden quarter roll and then control came back almost immediately. After the second I set up and landed successfully. I range checked again, both with engine off and with engine at full throttle. With only 1 segment extended (Futaba 9CS non synth) I got over 100 feet on both. I also moved the antenna from along the bottom of the fuselage to the top to move further away from the servos and wires as the rudder and elevator servos are in the rear. I checked the battery (1500 mah Nimh 4 cell) and it was over 5 volts under load. The servos are 5x HiTec 6635 s plus a HiTec 425.

After these checks I put the plane in the air again. It flew fine for 5 minutes when there was a sudden elevator pitch down (~ 30 degrees) when in level flight, and it also immediately let me recover. I turned to land and it happened one more time, but recovered again and I was able to land safely.

I'm real skittish now about this Rx after this experience and reading others having the same thing.

My question is was there ever any resolution to the previous problems that were discussed here and on Polks site? If so what was the problem, does it effect my Rx based on my purchase date? Is it due to a bad Rx or have I some how caused the problem by radio installation?

This is my pride and joy plane and I've invested enough in it to build and equip 3 of the planes I normally fly.

Thanks for any ideas on correcting the problem.

XJet

I suggest you add your comments to the thread I (missileman) started on the Polks BBS.

Your symptoms sound a lot like the ones I've experienced in almost all the receivers I purchased in a batch late last year.

Sometimes they'll sit there good as gold (for a minute or two) and then you'll get massive twitching, often on just *one* channel. In my case I've got a receiver that I'm flying (for lack of a replacement) that twitches real bad but only on throttle. The range has no effect -- sometimes it'll do it when I'm taxiing out and other times when it's way at the limit of visibility.

The worst ones also have short range and twitch almost constantly after being on for a minute or two -- I've sent them back. The first two were repaired/replaced and one of them is now 100% perfect, the other is the one with the glitchy throttle channel.

I've just sent another three from the same batch -- these have never been flown because they twitch/glitch so bad I dare not.

On several occasions I've asked Polks to confirm or deny that there was a bad batch delivered late last year -- but so far they're not saying (which means they're not denying it either).

I'm a bit pee'd off that I've bought $360 worth of useless receivers and the manufacturer can't even be bothered to tell me why they're useless.

Of course the usual disclaimer applies: the Seeker 6's I've got that actually work are *brilliant* and my favourite PPM receivers. If they could just get the failure rate under the 60%+ that I've experienced (or tell us how to avoid the bad ones that have made their way onto retailers shelves) then I'd be happy.

In the meantime -- I (and most of our club) aren't buying any more and we can't really recommend them to anyone else either.

ira d

I have a seeker 8 that has the sympton that you are dscribing I sent it to Polk and they
returned it in the same condition. I purchased the receiver two years ago and it seem
to work ok for maybe the first year, but it seems there is a defect in many of these
receivers I wont be buying anymore soon.

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

Hi;Interesting to see your post on the glitching!My seeker 8 seems to have same problem!Just cost me a plane did the movement to close to recover but was and old test plane anyway but could have been a good one too.Like the receiver but was just going to order couple more but think willreconsider although so far my others seem OK.Sounds like sending them in isn't much of an answer either?Mine was couple years old too probably came with my earlier tracker 11 not my new 111.ANy idea if the new ones are any better???Thanks!

XJet

My best Seekers are the ones I bought longest ago. All the recently purchased ones had problems.

twmoody

I was going to switch my entire fleet to Seeker 6's and I had bought 8 receivers but I started having problems. I would get a lap or two around the field and then the ailerons or rudder or elevator would suddenly go to one extreme. Several times I managed to get it back but I did destroy 4 planes.

I sent all the receivers back to Polk and when they came back I continued having the same problems and when I crashed the second plane I decided I would not risk any more planes. I sold the 8 receivers as is for $75 for the entire 8. The fellow that bought them sent them all to Polk and after they came back he has crashed 4 planes due to glitches in the receivers.

Too bad, the idea is nice but they seem to have a real problem.

Now I have been flying a Spectrum for a little over a year and have had no problems with it.

Tom Moody

ira d

My Seeker 8 was going to be a $70.00 paper weight but then i thought it would be good
to use to test with and set up servos ect ect I wont fly it any more though.

saramos

I used to be a proponent of Polks radios and was flying the Tracker and seeker. They had a good concept at a great price. But after 4 crashes and 1 totaled plane, and sending in both the radio and receiver for repairs, no more. Bye bye Polk, hello Spektrum (or any other brand).

Scott

XJet

I still have several Seeker 6 receivers that are flawless in their operation - but I also have some that won't dare see the air again.

I wonder what gives?

Clearly they *can* work very well, but too often they just don't.

If I could rely on getting a good one each time I bought a new one, I'd buy a whole heap more bnut until then I'll use the ones I've got which I can rely on and wait until there's some definitive word from Polks as to what the problem(s) are caused by and how they've been addressed.

It's a shame really -- I was contemplating trying to secure the agency for Polk gear for this part of the world but I can see that the support cost would make it unprofitable right now.

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

HI XJET:Ya! I sure wouldn't want to be responsible for selling there equip with the reports I see on here!I have both the Tracker 11&111 trasmitters and several seeker 11s.I may not be the best flyer in the world but I can tell when I am not giving the orders to the plane and have had to many of those incidents.From what I read no use sending them in either as I have tried that too!The only other one at our field is a new tracker 111 which he no longer will fly at all do to obvious uncontroled movement of surfaces!It to has been sent in with no improvements.MIne is always saying busy while other scanners say nothing.Have seen it on ground go to busy while testing it and all contols go to fluttering,yet others on same channel have no problems!Don't know but there will be no more Polk equip for me,waiting for the new Futaba SS system to be available!Good Luck!!

ira d

What is sad about this situation is that Polks is very much aware of the problems with
their radios and yet say nothing, they should step up to the plate and admit there is
a problem and either replace the defective equp or offer refunds.

They will likely be out of the radio business soon if they keep going the way they are.

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

HI;I guess if they won't stand behind there equipment and allow this to go on without even acknowledging a problem the should be out.Now the SS willprobably kill them anyway as at least I would be afraid to buy any more of there equipment.Such a shame as there idea was wonderful and had lot of promise.My problem now is whether to continue using my equip and flying with my fingers crossed or get something else to use till the SS from Futaba is avail?It seems that there is problem with both the Tx and Rxs?Lost 2 planes with uncontroled movements but took same rxs and changed channels and have had no further problem with them?Lot of busy signals on my Tx when other scanners say none.Fly in area with lot of interference?Near a large military research facility and large military airport really wonder if here the radio gets overwhelmed with interference just shuts off as busy?We have a couple of SS units here now and so far no problems!!!Good Luck!!

novabill

Just out of curiosity, what channell are all of you flying on? I have 7 seekers and have flown them in glow and electric for the last 2 years. I fly on 30 and to date, I can remember 1 glitch. However, they have been used on 42 and 48 and we have seen similar symptoms as described above. Things that make you go HMMMMMMM....

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

Hi;Re;channels.Lost 2 planes on channel 41 and quit 52 due to constant busy signals not shown on other scanners.These don't count dumb thumbs!!Only other tracker at our field no longer used due to constant glitches not sure channel but know it is seeker 6,I don't use my 6 so mine were all on seeker 2s.

kstick

I originated this thread and thought I'd post an update for those who may be struggling with the same issue.

The plane is still fine, but I switched it over to a HiTech RCD3800 Rx after my first two flights.

After bringing the plane home after the glitching on the second flight, I experminted with it on the ground in the yard. With both the Tx and Rx on, if I took the Rx antenna and held it along side the fuselage and kind of flopped it up and down I could get different servos to glitch every once in a while. If I held the antenna a foot away from the fuse then I could not induce any glitching.

I then switched the Polk Seeker II Rx for HiTech. I then flopped its antenna alongside the fuse also. In my subjective opinion it was much harder to detect any servo glitches, perhaps by a factor of 10.

Remember from the first post that there are three servos mounted in the tail so the antenna run along the fuselage was parallel to and only 2-4 inches away from the servo extension wires which are about 24" long. In my opinion the glitching was due to stray magnetic fields from the servo extensions inducing a false signal into the antenna (or someting of that nature). The HiTec Rx seemed to be more resistant to this problem than the Seeker II.

I left the HiTech RCD2800 Rx in the Venus II, and routed the antenna to the top of the vertical stab. This got it about 2" further away from the servo wires than my last flight with the Seeker, which had it taped to the top of the fuselage. I've had 12 flights on the HiTech since then and have NOT had any glitching.

Routing the Seeker II antenna the same may have cured the problem, but I wasn't willing to take the chance since my experiment indicated the HiTech was not as sensitive to the problem.

Finally, I put the Seeker back into my Super Stick test bed, and its had 6 flights without any problem. Of course, on the Stick the antenna does not run parallel to any servo extensions.

Answering some comments since my original post.

I'm not signed on to Polks to add my comments to a thread. Am I wrong or has Polks made themselves scarce on this forum and even on their own?

I haven't quit using my Polks Rx's (I have 2 Seeker II's and 1 Seeker 6). They are relegated to my 3 least favorite planes, but seem to be doing fine. Its kind of a shame as I bought them to put in planes to take to fun flys so that if I couldn't fly on my Futaba 9C frequency, I could use my Optic 6 that has the synth module.

Novabill - I was on channel 20.

novabill

That kills my theory

bigdarylg

i think we all agree and have figured out that there are problems with the seeker II receivers. couldn't wait to get my system after i finally decided to get one. first flight took off flew out in front of me doing loops,rolls etc. flew back to the runway,turned went the length of the runway,got 75' or so past the end of the runway FULL DOWN ELEVATOR. needles to say i was only maybe 40' in the air.
totaled the plane. sent the transmitter and receiver back to Polks, they did not hesitate to have me send it in. got it back with a note saying short range on the receiver and said they replaced a component. put it in my pizza box flier for now because i don't know if i can trust it yet or not.haven't been able to try it out yet with the weather as it is here in Ohio. My question is are the Tracker III transmitters fully reliable with other receivers? also will they work with other sychn. receivers?

saramos

All I have left to say is, I regret ever recommending the Polk, and I got my DX7 today.

Scott

novabill

If anyone has a synth TX, try 30. I have been to SEFF 2 years in a row and used 30 most of the time. When it was taken, I used 31. Never had a hit. Is the Seeker particular to specific channels? I thought the lower range was good, but after hearing CH 20 glitches, maybe it is more specific.

ira d

I dont think it has any thing to do with what channel you are on I have
tried mine on many different channels and it glitches on all of them.
I think the problem is that some of the units were assembled sub
standard parts that kind of soft fail with use. mine seemed to work
fine the first year of operation and then developed intermitten glitching
problems that seemed to be worse when the plane was comming at
me from the side.

moodier

My Feedback: (1)

HI;I have gone back to using my Tracker 11.I think it is smoother less strange movements than my 111.Maybe the early ones were better quality.Know there won't be a third one!!!!Going to SS.We fly near a military research and test facillity really think this may be some of our problem here!Of course they would never admit that!Don't know if the SS will be able to combat that or not??While ago we lost a lot of planes in a few weeks then see in the paper how they were testing a new radio control method to detinate the roadside bombs in Iraq???Daaaaa?

kstick

Moodier

Not sure about the Tracker II versus Tracker III issue. I'm using a Futaba 9C and the
issue I saw was with the receiver, an 8 channel Seeker II. Flew it (the Seeker I had troubles with) in my Super Stick today and didnot have any glitching, but then the antenna is not routed
close to any servo extensions or metal rods or cables like it was in the Venus II where it seemed to create the occassional glitch.

cstrang

Oh do I have some information for all of you. According to Polk Hobby, there were no problems with the 4 seeker II (8channel) radios my friends and I bought over a year ago. Both of my friends lost airplanes with these radios. I was setting up a new airplane, when I notice the "servo glitching" problems you all have decribed. I am able to reliably reproduce the problem at will.

I have talked to polk hobbies many times and it seems like they do not like to listen to customer problems. They asked me to send in my transmitter and the receiver in question. I also sent them a brief write up on how to reproduce the problem. Once they saw the problem, they admitted that there was a problem. They also said they woulf fix the problem, which they did. They sent back the transmitter and reciever. The problem was no longer there. That was 4 months ago. At that time I asked Polk Hobbies what were they going to do to remedy the problem with the rest of their 6000 installed base. They told me that they would update the radios as users would send them in, but they were not going to issue a recall. I thought this was a bit irresponsible, so I contacted my District AMA VP. He refeered the matter to someone in Muncie, but I never heard anything since. I just recently sent in the other 3 receivers for them to "fix" the glitch problem in their firmware. I just got a call today from their technitian asking me what problems was I having with the receivers, since they could not find anything wrong with them. I told them to go talk to their sales manager, that he would know what I was talking about. To my suprise, he did not remember anything about the problem. After a few minutes of going back and forth, I finally jogged his brain. He remembered (and his engineers also remebered at the same time) the issue and the fix. They told me they would update my receivers and that was the end of the conversation.

The following is a writeup on how to reproduce the problem. The problem only exists on negative shift radios (i.e. futaba, hitec, etc) and according to polk hobbies the problem does not exist on the higher end of these brands (i.e. 9, 12 and 14 channel futaba transmitters).

>Sorry for the delay. I have boxed up one of my transmitters (Futaba super 7) with a connected transmitter battery, one of the Polk seeker II 8-channel receivers >and a charger. To see the problems, do the following:
>
.
>
>1. Hook up at least 4 servos. More would allow you to see all what all the channels are doing, but the effect can be seen with four. The problem can also be >seen without the servos if you watch the signal LED on the receiver, but the full effect comes with the servos.
>
>2. Turn on Transmitter.
>
>3. Plug in a receiver pack to the receiver.
>
>4. Move both sticks to full upper/right locations. One or more of the servos will begin to twitch and the others will not hold position (but will return to the >position if moved). If this for some reason is not happening, check the gear switch (channel 5, on the left side above the trainer switch) toggling it should make >the problem happen.
>
>5. Once you have observe the problem, try the following (all while holding the two sticks to the upper/right corners):
>
>a. Moving switch 5 on and off. The problem should go and come as you toggle the switch.
>
>b. Leave switch 5 in the “problem” position and move the flap dial (on the left of the display) again the problem should go and come and also will attenuate >the point at which the sticks need to be moved for the problem to begin.
>
>c. Leave switch 5 and dial 6 in the original problem locations and move the channel 7 dial, again as with the channel 6 dial, the problem will appear and >disappear depending on the dial position.
>
>6. If you have any problems reproducing the problem, please call me on my cell phone XXXXXX any time of day.
>
>Keep in mind that I have reproduced this problem using several different (3 or more) negative shift radios on different channels. I have also tested this on 8 >different Polk seeker II (8-channel) receivers with the same results.


Make sure that all servos are moving in the same direction (channels 1 thru 6 or 7) and I believe it is counter clockwise, but that may be different depending on the brand of servo. They tried to tell me that it could be the servo causing the problem. Noctice how the servos are glitching and then look at the LED on the receiver, notice anything? Well, unplugg all the servos and put the sticks back into the position that produces the problem and you will notice that the LED still flashes in the same manner it did with the servos connected.


If you have crashed while using a seeker II radio, you may want to contact AMA and then Polk Hobbies. They will deny any problems. If you have crashed while flying seeker II radios and a negative shift transmitter and caused property damage or injured someone (whether you have been sued or not) you NEED to contact AMA about this issue. Polk claims that there are no issues reported with their receivers, but it took more time to register to search this forum than it did to find thid thread.

kstick

cstrang
I started this thread (see posts #1 and #15) about the glitching so I was interested in your findings and decided to try and duplicate. As mentioned in my #1 post I am using a Futaba 9C when I had my glitch.

When I tried to duplicate your findings on the same receiver that I had problems with I could not get it to glitch using your procedure. You mentioned they said that the problem did not occur on high end (9 channel + Futaba's) radios (but my experience says other wise). Anyway, I also have an Optic 6 so I tried your procedure with it and still no glitching.

I'm not sure were this leaves all of us. For me, I'm only using the two Seeker II's I have on my two least favorite planes. As I mentioned in post # 15, since moving it to my Super Stick and making sure the antenna is not running parallel to any servo wires I have flow successfully (have 10 succefull flights on it now) since then without any glitches that I've been able to notice.

I'm somewhat upset with Polk's lack of response here and on their website to this issue. The people who have posted about this don't appear to be reasonable and not trying to blame the receiver for their bad flying. You're right, that they may have gotten in over their ability and resources to deal with problems like this.

Somewhat in Polk's defense, free after sales support can really eat up your profits (think M$ - on Windows - they are very limited in the amount of free techical questions they will answer for you).

Also, I had had an issue with my Optic 6 in which once during a range check it just quit transmitting but tapping on the module on the back made it start again. By tapping on the module I could get servos to glitch. When I asked HiTec about this their response was "never saw this and noone else has a problem. Send it back and we'll look at it." Well, its summer and I'm not sending it back and lose a month of flying. I was just careful and got away with it. Then upgraded to my Futaba 9CS since the Optic didnot have enough mixes. Later HiTec admitted on their forum (also here) that they had sold a batch of Optics that had an undersized Spectrum module. The fix was to put tape on the sides to make it tighter or send it in for a proper sized module.

I guess the point is even the bigger outfits are reluctant to admit (and pay for) there is a problem with their equipment. And a smaller outfit with less resources probably even more so.
It's still no excuse. When I switch to 2.4 Ghz (next year) I think I'll stay with Futaba even if it's somewhat more expensive. They have the resources to make things right when the problem is apparent.

Sorry for the long post. The first half is informational, the second half is just me venting.

cstrang

No problem. Actually I was just venting too...

The problem is real and it may sound a bit insensitive, but I REALLY do not care. I was just letting the rest of the Polk hobby users know and trying to get AMA involved. I will NEVER buy any Polk products. I will try to unload these receivers once I get them back from Polk and make sure that they have corrected the problem we originally experienced with them.

Thanks for you attention.

Charles