I am posting the Futaba reply here. Hope this is OK:

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

Wearing of the pins and the pin mounting is a normal part of any modular radio's life and why we always recommend annual or biannual check ups of all radios. This is one of many things we look for which are a part of normal wear and tear.

The very first generation 8U (non-supers) had some units go out with insufficient or "cold" solder joints mounting the pins to the board. Those units would tend to show intermittent contact and transmission, usually in the first 30-90 days of their use. It is possible your radio is still one of those, although if you have ever had it serviced in its lifetime it would've been checked and repaired.

We will be happy to service your radios, of course, for you.

Please see the following site for a worksheet which will simplify sending your item for service:

http://www.hobbyservices.com/techsup...orm-futaba.pdf

In case you can not use the worksheet for any reason, here is the pertinent information.

Please ship your product to:

Futaba Service Center
1610 Interstate Drive
Champaign IL 61822

phone: 217-398-0007
fax 217-398-7721
email: [email protected]

Please be sure to fill in all fields on the worksheet or, if not using the worksheet, to provide us a detailed explanation of your concerns and service required, as well as at least 2 means of daytime contact: phone, fax, or email are great, as well as your return mailing address. If this is non-warranty service, please also provide a means of payment (visa, MasterCard). Please note that we will contact you with an estimate prior to performing ANY repairs to a non-warranty item, so be sure to provide an easy way to reach you to avoid delays.

I hope you find this information helpful. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at this email address. (Please be sure to copy all previous emails into any future questions.) you can also reach our product support technical team at 217-398-8970, or via fax at 217-398-7721.

DID you KNOW that our web pages now all contain FAQs? (Frequently asked questions) Please drop by and take a look! We hope you'll find the information helpful and valuable to you.

We also now fully support and manage a futaba owners email list and a 6X users email list. To join (its free!) go to www.groups.yahoo.com, join the site, then join futabaowners and/or 6xusers. We also provide support on the 9C list at futaba9c and the 9Z list at futaba9z. Have fun reading the archives and hope you find the discussions useful!

Sincerely,
Mrs. AnnMarie Cross
Senior Manager, Proprietary Services and Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
[email protected]
www.bestrc.com
NO AUTORESPONDER

>>> "Jeff.Quesenberry" <[email protected]> 09/26/02 12:29PM >>>
This does not answer my question
-----Original Message-----
From: support Futaba <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, September 26, 2002 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: Futaba 8UAP ((antenna) -AR)


>Thank you for your recent e-mail.
>
>Thank you for your recent e-mail. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS AN INTELLIGENT
AUTOMATED RESPONSE BASED SPECIFICALLY ON THE INFORMATION YOU HAVE SUBMITTED.
>
>1) Cleaning TX antennas.
>2) Replace TX antenna on all radios except 9Z.
>3) Replace 9Z TX Antenna.
>4) Replace receiver antenna for 72, 75MHz.
>5) Replace receiver antenna for 50MHz.
>6) Antenna lengths.
>7) Repairing antenna/antenna mount.
>8) Duck/whip antennas.
>9) Replacement frequency flags.
>10) Antenna position during simulator and setup time when not flying.
>11) cost to check up receiver and replace antenna.
>12) Sending for service.
>13) Re-emailing for prompt live technical support.
>
>1) If you are looking for information on cleaning your transmitter's
antenna, please visit:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/service-faq.html#q258
>
>2) If you need to replace your transmitter's antenna on all current
generation radios except the 9Z, this is fairly easy to do. Simply visit:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/parts/futm5040.html
>and purchase the appropriate antenna for your transmitter. (These antennas
unscrew and the new antenna screws in place.)
>
>3) Regarding the 9Z's transmitter antenna:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/faq-9z-q115.html
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/faq-9z-q267.html
>
>4) Are you looking to replace your receiver antenna, or looking for the
proper length of a receiver antenna?
>FUTM1610 AL0142 RX ANT WIRE AM 1000MM
>FUTM1620 AL0146 RX ANT WIRE FM 1100MM
>are the proper receiver antennas. Note that the AM receiver antenna and the
50MHz antennas are 1000mm in length while the FM 72MHz is 1100mm in length.
To send for service for us to replace, see #11 below.
>
>5) FOR 50MHz, the antenna is different and is a special order only item:
>HSP57260 AL0138 RX ANT LEAD 1000 GREEN (SPECIAL ORDER through your
hobby shop.)
>
>6) For questions on the actual length of the antenna, please see:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/product-faq.html#q127
>
>7) Can I repair my damaged antenna or antenna mount?
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/service-faq.html#q235
>
>8) Can I replace my antenna safely with an aftermarket "duck", "whip" or
other antenna?
>We can not recommend doing so. Making this modification to your transmitter
is against FCC regulation (unless you are a HAM licensed technician) and may
also void your AMA insurance coverage.
>
>9) Are you looking to replace the Frequency Flags which attach to your
radio's antenna?
>This item is a special order item only. Plesae ask your favorite hobby shop
to contact Great Planes customer service to place a special order for a
Frequency Flag from Hobby Services.
>
>10) Ar you asking about extending your antenna when using your radio for
setup or simulator use? It is VERY hard on your transmitters internal parts
to be transmitting with a collapsed antenna for more than a minute or two.
ALWAYS extend your transmitter antenna or remove your module when using your
radio for long setups or for simulator use.
>
>11) Flat rate to replace antenna/check up receiver $15 plus $7.99 return
shipping.
>
>12) Sending for service:
>http://www.futaba-rc.com/service.html
>
>13) DID THIS AUTOMATED MESSAGE ANSWER YOUR QUESTION COMPLETELY? If so,
we're so glad we could help promptly. If not, please replyto this email,
being SURE NOT TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT and copy the entire email into your
response, and we will be happy to assist you.
>
>I hope you find this information helpful. Should you have any further
questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at this email
address. (Please be sure to copy all previous emails into any future
questions.) You can also reach our product support technical team at
217-398-8970, or via fax at 217-398-7721.
>
>DID YOU KNOW that our web pages now all contain FAQs? (Frequently asked
questions) Please drop by and take a look! We hope you'll find the
information helpful and valuable to you.
>
>Sincerely,
>Futaba Support AUTORESPONDER
>www.futaba-rc.com
>
>
>>>> "[email protected]" 09/26/02 12:18 >>>
>
>I was at a fly-in and lost a 3500 dollar airplane due to a failure of the
>radio. I have a Futaba 8UAP that is about 5 years old. At this fly-in, I
>was told, by three different people, that the older Futaba 8UAP radios had
a
>series of failures where the connection from the transmitter antenna to the
>trasmitter module would break and thus, stop transmitting. Is this true?
I
>have 3 other 8UAP radios. The radio that crashed has been in use for 4
>years witn no problem, but one day, it just went into PCM lockout. A
>different guy flew on my same frequency, also with an 8UAP, with no
>problems, right after I crashed. I was also told that a major change in
the
>8UAPS series, was to redesign this connection. Now, I have not checked the
>tranmission after the radio failure, but the batteries were full, post
>crash, when I checked them. I want to know if this story is true on the
>8UAP. If so, can I send these other radios in to have it corrected? I
will
>of course be sending this crashed radio in for a check-up. Please advise.
>
>
>