ORIGINAL: Black Cloud When I say I was cycling the battery by using the transmitter, I simply turn on the transmitter to discharge the battery to about the 9.6V nominal reading on the display and then connect the wall wart charger for a slow recharge with the TX off as normal. There is no external gear attached to the TX. I am simply using the TX itself to discharge the battery to a point and then recharge. The Tx had been on for about 30-45 minutes with the antenna collapsed and had been doing fine until I noticed the collapsed antenna and then proceeded to extend it. That's about when it all went south. The RF module was quite warm by then so who knows. I got an email today from HiTec and they have it now. We'll see what their techs say and how much it's going to cost.
Ah asimple explanation. "Cycling" in earlier post wasread late night asuse of a fancy electronic cycleunit such as the Sirius or Triton etc....In the "Old days" output transistors burnt out very quickly if the antenna was not extended before the unit was switched on.
Modern output transistors do tolerate more heat and generally last quite some time/sessions beforeeventuallyburning out. As range checks are done with antenna down albeit only for a short period and not long enough for serious overheating, thismay lull usersinto a false sense of security that extending the antenna is no longernecessary exceptwhilst flying. Raising at least the lower two sections,whilst battery is being discharged, will assist prevent damage.
Twoprevious threads which may be of interest:
Can I burn my transmitter by colapsing its antenna?
Main output transistor on TX burnt out
regards
Alan T.