Was this a good-to-go ground test .....or am I grounded??
I'm asking this same question at the other RC place too, so pardon if it's a repeat to you, but I'm trying to get as much input as I can to make a decision before I go flying tomorrow.
OK.....this afternoon I did final preperation and a ground check on an electric PT-40 for a maiden flight I intend to do over the weekend. I've got a proven 8103 FM 72mhz radio and receiver I've used many times before. I placed the plane in the grass with the nose facing me. The receiver antenna runs through the length of the fuse with about 10" of antenna exiting out of the bottom of the fuse and laying in the grass. I stood with the radio and antenna down, about only 30 feet or so downrange from the plane. In between the plane and my radio I have a gazebo with metal corner panels and a metal patio table and metal chairs. All the plane surfaces fluttered and moved like crazy back and forth with no control. I changed out the receiver thinking maybe it was bad, but got the same bad ground test results with the next receiver I tried. I pulled the radio antenna up about 12" to see if that made a difference but the plane was still acting crazy.
I then moved the plane to my cementy driveway to do the ground test. I had the same 10" of antenna exiting the plane as before, but lying on cement this time and not in the grass. This time too there was no patio furniture in between anything. It was basically a straight shot visually between my plane and the radio with no patio furniture in between. I left the radio antenna down and walked away 75 feet and everything worked fine. No more crazy flutter.
Is this good to go, or is a phantom waiting to strike?
Last edited by rustyrivet; 07-22-2016 at 08:07 PM.