Wes Huff

I'm new to this glider thing. I have just range tested the radio in a new 2 meter glider. It is a basic 4 channel Futaba transmitter and an 8 channel GWS receiver. I can only get 40 paces with the antenna down and 120 paces with it up before the servos start chattering. This does not seem like enough range for a 2 meter glider.
How much range should you have for a 2 meter glider?
Does anyone have any experience with these GWS receivers?
Would leaving the antenna inside the fiberglass fuselage make any difference (completely uncoiled of course)?
Thanks in advance.
Wes

BalsaBob

My Feedback: (24)

As far as range that is needed ....... you will find that you will probably (eventually) fly your 2M glider as far (and probably higher) than most of your regular glow engine airplanes. As far as your range check, some 'park flyer' receivers have a range of only 500 feet. Thats fine for some park flyers, but not nearly enough for your 2M glider. Bob

sf4JC

I'm glad that you asked that question though. I'd really like to know the answer myself.

I've been out of the hobby for to long and I'm just getting back in. Something tells me back then I took the antenna off the radio to do the range test. Is this still done? My radio is an old AM channel radio that I haven't really tested out yet.

What is the proper procedure for range testing radio equipment?

I may need a "refresher" course in R/C before I get back in the air.

sf4JC

sf4JC

Thanks for that reply, BalsaBob!

Can you direct me in the right direction with the proper procedure of range testing radio equipment? Actually, AMA may have the info I need, I guess.

sf4JC

Ollie

sf4JC,

If your transmitter is in the 72 megahertz band and was produced before 1991 it is probably a wide band transmitter. In 1991 odd numbered channels were added between the existing even numbered channels thereby narrowing the allowable channel width by half. Here in the USA this required the old, wide band transmitters to be upgraded by an FCC licensed technician or junked. There was a two year grace period in which the wide band transmitters could continue to be used but not at the same time as adjacent channels. At that time a gold sticker was added to new and narrow banded transmitters to identify them. It is no longer legal to operate wide band transmitters because they can interfere with the adjcent channels. If you have a wide band transmitter, it could be off the center of the channel frequency enough to be contributing to your lack of sufficient range. BTW it is no longer practical or economical to upgrade an old transmitter because of the difficulty of finding a licensed technician with the right test equipment and the cost of new equipment is so much less. Modern radio sets also have narrow band receivers that prevent interference from adjacent channels and image frequency channels. Many of the old AM receivers are subject to both adjacent channel an image frequency interference.

Also, as the nicad batteries age, the probability of battery failure and a resultant crash goes up a lot. You can't trust 11 year old batteries, especially if they have been stored in a hot environment.

You would be well advised to get yourself a new radio set and not turn on the old transmitter.

Wes Huff

Ollie, thanks for that information. I never new what that gold sticker really meant. I'm in the UK (expat from Texas) so I have a 35 megahertz radio.
Thanks again.
Wes

sf4JC

THANKS for that bit of info, Ollie!

Just dug out my transmitter and see that there IS a gold sticker at the top. But now my concern is the date that is shown on it. The gold sticker says....

R/CMA RF CHECK
AMA DATE: 5-90


Is this the gold sticker being referenced to?

I believe that was also when the radio was purchased. And yes, the batteries are most likely that old as well. So I know I definitely wasn't going to trust them in the air totally, but that brings up another question. On average, how long does a battery pack last?


sf4JC

Ollie

The battery life depends on how many times it was cycled before it was put into storage and the average and maximum temperature it was stored at. The prudent thing to do is replace the 12.5 year old transmitter and receiver battery packs.

The gold sticker means the transmitter is narrow band and it is probably quite usable. If the Futaba part number of the receiver has a "D" in its designation it is dual conversion and narrow band too. Back in 1990 some Futaba receivers (the
Attack model) were single conversion but not as narrow band as they should be for today's environment. If it is single conversion, replace it with a good dual conversion receiver on the same channel if you can find a dual conversion AM receiver. I don't know of anyone who is making a narrow band AM receiver today. If you can't find a good narrow band dual conversion AM receiver, you can use your old one safely if you take the frequency control pins for your onw channel, the adjacent channel numbers and the channel numbers 23 and 46 channels away from your channels. That could be as many as seven channels that have to be guarded when you fly. Most clubs won't tollerate that kind of "channel hogging". In that case the practical thing to do is junk the old radio and buy a new one.

sf4JC

Now I'm really DOWN !?

But, that's life! Guess I can still keep and use it, but be very considerate to those around me. I'd love to be in the air, but not at the risk of losing the respect of others. And just to be sure, I'll look into the situation it's going to create to give me an idea as to whether or not to even use it.

THANKS Again for the info, Ollie! It's very helpful!

sf4JC