Flightfreak777

Hey guys, yesterday was a sad day for me. I put a lot of work into my hangar 9 T-34 with retracts, custom flaps, etc. etc. Maiden flight was yesterday and she was flying like an absolute dream until I received what I can only understand to be interference. After a nice low pass it started to turn right for no reason, so I corrected. It then turned left hard, rolled over augured in. All batteries were fully charged, so I have no explanation for it.

Because of this, I don't trust my Futaba 6EX-PCM FM radio anymore. I'm looking to buy a 2.4 radio and my first assumption was to just go with the same Futaba 6EX radio in the 2.4 version. The tactic TTX650 radio also caught my attention, because of its programing ability.

Could anyone shed some light on this radio? Is the Fuataba better in any way?

Matt

raptureboy

Well before I would blame the radio I would want to know if you load tested the batteries before flight and if not did you load test them afterwards? How old are the batteries? Charging them means nothing if they can't hold a charge or no longer can discharge to at least 70% of their rated capacity. It's really rare that a radio just fails all at once, most of the time there is a power failure because the batteries are too old, or too small to handle the load. Was there anybody else flying in the area? Sorry for your loss we have all been there, but it really sounds like you have a battery issue.

Flightfreak777

I'll have to look into the batteries. When I got the plane back I plugged everything in and it worked. Not that that means the batteries are still strong so I'll check. No one was flying in the area. I still think I'm going to upgrade even if it is a battery issue

Matt

Handiman

My Feedback: (2)

2.4 is the way to go.
Futaba makes a great radio. So do others.
figure out what caused the crash.
if it were the batts or a servo or a jammed linkage you might never know.
but if it were to happen again on a different radio it would suck.

Good Luck

AMA 74894

My Feedback: (1)

My Dad has the 6EX, it is a decent radio, but it's program functionality leaves much to be desired....
(if you're ONLY planning to fly simple airplanes without mixing, expo, elevons, single elevator servo, single aileron servo etc. then programing isn't a big deal)

I also did the review here at RCU on the tactic ttx650 ... THAT radio I do highly recommend. it's VERY easy to program, does have a ton of features, inexpensive receivers, etc.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I would check everything out very carefully to try to find the problem.... battery pack, linkages, servos, hinges, switch harness, receiver, transmitter, etc. Otherwise I could never be sure that I had fixed the problem. Interference may well be the cause, on the other hand, maybe not.

Flightfreak777

All very true. All connections were in tact when I got to the crash scene. I did run the battery pack and they seem fine as well. The fact that I don't know what the cause was is definitely going to erk me. However, the other day I received a generous gift from a student of mine (I'm a flight instructor) and today I was able to pick up a Spektrum DX7s. Beautiful radio, with lots of program-ability and it has Telemetry. Now I can put an on-board receiver that will tell me the voltage of the receiver battery among other things!