dantech

I just spent over $1600 getting back into R/C planes after 20 years, and can't get the plane in the air because of a stupid $5.00 part. I need a trainer cord for my new 9C radio (which has a square plug) to adapt to the person's radio that is teaching me how to fly (which has the older round port).EVERY STORE I CALLED IS OUT OF STOCK!!!! Towers has their own brand that would work, but will take 10 to 30 days to get it here!! I live in Canada, so getting this part shipped by UPS will cost me an arm and a leg because of brokerage fees. I AM TOTALLY TICKED !!! If a Futaba Rep reads this, and is willing to help me out, please call me @ 905-260-5361.
I only have about 6 weeks of half decent flying weather left, and I don't want to wait till next spring to start my training!!!!

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

We're sorry that the trainer cord with the micro plug on one end and the round one on the other has been out of stock. Futaba is making and shipping them as fast as they can. A large shipment has just arrived, and is already sold out. More are coming in about two weeks, and more a few weeks after that.

dantech

Yeah well "sorry" does not cut it!!! If you put a product out on the market, you should be prepared to handle support as soon as the customer buys it. I'm sure every member on this site would feel the same as I do, especially with the short flying season us Canadians have to live with. Dan

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

What do you mean, you don't have a 12 month flying season there? What stops it?

Jim_McIntyre

Just frozen digits.[]

dantech

The field that the club flies from is a sod farm, and when there is 2 feet of snow, there's no access to it !

Josey Wales

My Feedback: (61)

I understand that your upset but blasting the guy for trying to help isnt going to get you your cord any faster...JMO

I would po'd also

dantech

I'm not blasting anyone except Futaba !!

edge_fanatic

My Feedback: (4)

And futaba can't do anything to help you receive one until you order it.

dantech

Found a store in Louisianna that had one on his shelf, and will be shipped out today. should get here in 10 - 15 days.

Josey Wales

My Feedback: (61)

Congrats!!!

SDR-Hammer

I understand your frustration, this problem has arisen at our field too.

The question to Futaba is, why change the ports?

RAMFlyer

My Feedback: (65)

Don't get me wrong--I'm not trying to criticize anyone...

I learned to fly without a buddy box and have taught people to fly without a buddy box. I realize that a trainer cord and buddy box make it a bit easier but I hate to see you waste all that time not flying, especially with such a short flying season.

Have your instructor take you "three mistakes high" and go for it!!! When the trainer cord arrives you can start working closer to the ground.

SilverEagle2

My Feedback: (9)

I believe the change was to eliminate the tendency for the round ports to break internally when folks would set the radios on the ground. The smaller port with the 90 degree bend at the plug eliminates the tension all together because the port is elevated off the ground when the transmitter is set on the ground.

Jason

visioneer_one

My Feedback: (506)

An annoyance - I have an old Hitec Flash 5 which works great as a Futaba buddy box. One of my students has a 6DA with the new trainer port... once we received the appropriate square-to-round cable we found that the Futaba -> Hitec link didn't work! It only worked with another Futaba tx.

Now I need to find a cheapo Futaba box for training.

dantech

The club I joined had a close call while training someone when they swapped radios. The club rule now is that a trainer cord must be used. I re-read my posts after a couple days of cooling off, and I appologize for coming on a bit strong on the language. Hope I didn't offend anyone. Dan B

SDR-Hammer

Jason, if that’s the only reason then they should have just moved the trainer port to the side of the Tx like the old FG series.

I'm hoping for a more technical answer such as adapting a port that will better support computer interface to upload and download information and settings. Right now it looks like a way for Futaba to make some extra bucks selling an absolutely necessary item for new pilots.

4*60

My Feedback: (41)

"

Yup! That's what it looks like!

Surely someone there has an old Futaba that you could use. Oh yeah I forgot about high-low crystal changes and retuning.

JWN

My Feedback: (42)

It sure does look like Futaba is taking advantage of everyone with this little adapter. Kinda makes you wish they had just changed to the new, better, connector without even making an adapter. Then you'd have to buy two radios instead of just an adapater for a few $$'s.

John

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

I don't think the problem is Futaba introducing a new connector. Things change, and usually for a reason. They can probably move information more quickly across the new port. Read into that what you will.

Futaba's problem is that they didn't commit enough manufacturing resources to making the new cable, and still haven't. This issue has been going on since the 9C was released. I don't believe for a moment that they're making them as fast as they can. If that was true, they'd have contracted some work out to other firms and caught up with demand a long time ago. They aren't willing to cut into their margins to do it.

dantech

Being a tool maker,if I had a schematic of which contact on the square plug goes to the round plug, I could machine a plug to work untill I receive the ordered one. Anyone know where I might find this info? Or even better, if anyone has one, could they maybe use an continuity tester to find out!! Thanks. Dan

Phil Cole

The pinouts are posted at www.model-gadgets.com

dantech

Thanks Phil! It shows me the pinouts on the square plug, but not the round one. Just another twist to this thread. I woke up in the middle of the night last night wondering if my connector that I got with my Real Flight simulator would work. As soon as I got up, I grabbed the box and it contains both the square plug and the round plug. They can't be used as they are, but I think when I find out the proper wiring, I should be able to make them work.BTW, the back of the Real Flight interlink uses the same square plug as the 9C. I will try and post a picture of what came with Real Flight. Thanks, Dan B

Sincraft

Hmmm, just wondering if Futaba would care if I made my own buddy plugs for their products? I could do it in almost no time really.

S

A343

My Feedback: (4)

Dan
Use following link and click on D.I.Y Page, you´ll find everything you need to know about wiring the Trainer cord. There are also other FUTABA "Nice-to-knows"...
[link]http://www.model-gadgets.com/[/link]

Best regards
Thomas
Denmark