FlyM

In the pilots meeting, at a club site I was visiting, it was stated that Brand X and only Brand X receivers might have interferrence at one end of the field. I never had a problem with my radio before, but sure enough, at the end of the field they had warned about, I lost contact with my plane. It was in a vertical dive when I lost control. I stayed with it not giving up hope and regained control before it hit the ground. The flight continued without any further problem. I did not fly again that day. The transmitter was new, the receiver was an several years old. The plane was a trainer.
Now, I want to install a receiver in a new 28% gas plane and I don't know what receiver to buy. Any ideas on this? What about FMA’s new FS8?

Has anyone else ever heard of this problem?

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

It's unusual at best to receive interference with only one type of rx. But since it apparently was proven correct for your location, my only suggestions would be to use a PCM rx in a test plane to see if that will work, or use an after market rx. The only other solutions would be to change radio manufacturers, or fly somewhere else.

It still doesn't make any sense, though.

FlyM

Thanks SilverSurfer.

The thing is, they included all Brand X receivers. I assume that means PCM also. I think I will try the FMA FS8. It looks like the best alternative to me. Does the FS8 have the ability to show glitches after a flight?

Again, it does not make sense to me why this does not happen with other brands of receivers.

Rodney

I would have to seriously doubt this statement as effecting Futaba receivers only. I am an electrical engineer and a HAM with considerabler experience in this type of thing. If anyone can give me a possible theory of how this could be true, we might be on the trail of a new type phenomenom so far unkown to science.

FlyM

Rodney,

Maybe you are right about the phenomenon. If you have "considerable experience in this type of thing" then you should be able to splain it . But seriously. I doubted it too, until it happened to me. I would not risk my plane to see if it would do it a second time.

I also, have many years of electronic communications experience behind me ( way behind me[]). But that did not stop it from happening. Their has to be a real explanation. If I belonged to that club, I think I would request to use the district AMA scanner, or buy one, and take readings around the field. In my opinion, if there is something there, it is effecting other radios also. Maybe it just has not been noticed yet. There are several ways that you could track down the culprit if there is one. But who is going to spend the money to do it?

Lynx

It could just be a fluke. Legends are started that way <G> If you want to prove it epirically, get together all the club members with as many types of Brand X and Brand Y receivers as you can (an equal amount) and systematically prove that Brand X will fail more often than not than Brand Y. At your club it may just be that more people use Brand X so people with Brand X hardware are going to run into the problem more than Brand Y people. I'd say it's more of a social problem than a hardware one =) RF interference might seem like Black magic sometimes, but blameing a brand for susceptability to it is just plain silly.

matt n

I can prove this theory any day of the week. The field he is talking about is my home field. And for as long as 6 years we have known of the problem. There is a certain spot at our field that when you fly over it will cause a glitch. We have tried every brand of reciever you can possibly imagine. I know it sounds totally weird but you can ask any member at our field. It has come to a point where if you fly that brand you know to be prepared for it. I think our problems comes from a underground cross country pipe that carries oil and fuel through it. The reason I say that is because the glitches only happen when you are over the top of it. I know we should spend time and money to get a scanner, but we know that it's there so we just warn everyone and deal with it. I Know you will probably say this is crazy, but when you want to see for your self just email me.

Matthew

flycatch

My Feedback: (26)

I support the last poster concerning underground pipe installation an interference problems. Our company flys 1/5 scale aerial targets for the U.S. Army and on a live fire range located at Ft. Carson, Co. we have encountered a similar problem operating on 25 mhz.
The underground pipe carries electrical power through cabiling to this particular range. If our targets fly over this pipe below an altitude of twohundred feet they will experience interference. This condition becomes more pronounced if the soil above the pipe is wet. We were warned about this condition the first time we flew on the range.

matt n

That sounds exactly like our problem. The area where the pipe line lays is always wet. We're in a park that's on the edge of the river. We always have problems with water backing up in area's. Just so happens where the water usually sits is where the pipe is. And what really makes it all come together is the area is on approach. So you are within 200 hundred feet when you cross the pipe.

iflyj3

My Feedback: (7)

OK, you fellows have my curiosity up. Waht brand is Brand X ? If you don't want to answer here PM me.

Thanks,

sfsjkid

I too am curious about the brand. A certain manufacturer, sells their systems with SC RX's and "special" filtering. 99% of the time at our field, if someone is complaining about glitches it is that brand. Additionally, in the rec.rc.models newsgroup someone mentioned that that brand was totally banned at their field. Additionally, if you go to the distributors site, one notices that they don't seem to sell crystals at the lower end of the 72MHz band. If you could PM me and tell me the brand, it would be appreciated and would comfirm a theory I have about that company's radios.