Buddy box - how does it work
07-30-2007, 09:55 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Washington,
DC
Posts: 993
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Buddy box - how does it work
This is just a curiosity question...
If you use a spare transmitter as a buddy box, why does it have to be trimmed for the plane? Wouldn't things be a lot easier if you didn't have to reverse servos and set trim on the buddy box? Couldn't the manufacturer insert the buddy box circuitry directly into the raw stick output? For radios (used as buddy box) with multiple model settings, can you select one of the "models" to be the buddy box for a particular instructor's radio?
For Futaba, at least, it appears that the instructor radio powers the buddy box. How much power (and why any) does the buddy box draw?
If you use a spare transmitter as a buddy box, why does it have to be trimmed for the plane? Wouldn't things be a lot easier if you didn't have to reverse servos and set trim on the buddy box? Couldn't the manufacturer insert the buddy box circuitry directly into the raw stick output? For radios (used as buddy box) with multiple model settings, can you select one of the "models" to be the buddy box for a particular instructor's radio?
For Futaba, at least, it appears that the instructor radio powers the buddy box. How much power (and why any) does the buddy box draw?
07-30-2007, 01:18 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Brussels, BELGIUM
Posts: 242
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Buddy box - how does it work
Hi,
A buddy box does not transmit, and instead of drawing about 250mA when transmitting, it draws about 30mA, either from the master (Futaba, Hitec, Multiplex & I think Airtronics/Sanwa) or from her own battery (JR, GWS).
I do not like the system where the master provides power to the slave : if something goes wrong in the buddy cable and the + and - of battery-circuit touch each other inside the cable... . Normaly a cable with only ground and ppm-signal is sufficient (like JR buddy-lead).
Some master TX does NOT require the slave to be programmed, servo reversed or trimmed. It is indeed a great facility, which I defined to be transmitters of "type 1". Check my website chapter 1 in the very beginning about the 3 different types of transmitter I defined type 1, 2 or 3.
For Futaba, it is called "Function" in the trainer menu, for JR it is called "pilot-link", both can be enabled or disabled.
For Multiplex mc3010-3030-4000-Evo9 & 12 it is -I think- always enabled as type 1.
Olivier
A buddy box does not transmit, and instead of drawing about 250mA when transmitting, it draws about 30mA, either from the master (Futaba, Hitec, Multiplex & I think Airtronics/Sanwa) or from her own battery (JR, GWS).
I do not like the system where the master provides power to the slave : if something goes wrong in the buddy cable and the + and - of battery-circuit touch each other inside the cable... . Normaly a cable with only ground and ppm-signal is sufficient (like JR buddy-lead).
Some master TX does NOT require the slave to be programmed, servo reversed or trimmed. It is indeed a great facility, which I defined to be transmitters of "type 1". Check my website chapter 1 in the very beginning about the 3 different types of transmitter I defined type 1, 2 or 3.
For Futaba, it is called "Function" in the trainer menu, for JR it is called "pilot-link", both can be enabled or disabled.
For Multiplex mc3010-3030-4000-Evo9 & 12 it is -I think- always enabled as type 1.
Olivier
