Hi,

I'm new to R/C helis ... but an old hand at both computers and radio transmitters. Perhaps I can attempt to explain.

The problem being experienced is one of "overloading." The final stage of the transmitter bumps the power to the antenna and expects to find a "load" to balance the power transistor(s). Since an antenna is not connected, the power transistor heats and can damage the transistor(s). This is a common problem with many radio transmitters. Some of you may have played with CB radio, for example. If you keyed the mike without an antenna attached, and held it keyed for long enough ... then poof ... you lost your CB. Higher priced and physically heavier equipment can be protected by grounding the energy through simple circuitry, but ... there has to be a heat sink somewhere to dissipate the heat.

The antenna on your R/C transmitter dissipates both the energy and the heat and if it's not there, then potentially, you'll overheat and damage the unit. I haven't yet torn into one of these to see how they're put together, but I'm assuming there is nothing large enough to ground the energy to. Since we hold them, I'm not sure I'd want to carry around the weight either.

Collapsing the antenna should be enough to protect against overloading, but not having it physically connected to its base would, I presume, be asking for trouble. On my PCM 10, I typically store the antenna in the slot in the rear of the unit. Before turning it on, I would at attach it, although not necessarily extend it. I'm unfamiliar with the transmitter in this thread, but if it also has a removable antenna, then make sure you at least attach it before turning your unit on. Whether simply testing it, or actually using it.

The connection between the G2 box and your transmitter can not harm anything, although I did manage to try to plug the interface cable into the charging jack and blew the fuse ... <grrr>. While in there replacing the fuse, I did observe the interface cable is not amplified and appears to be simple TTL logic outputs from an IC. Regrettably, I didn't examine the radio transmitter, so I'm not certain of its design. If you would know of an online schematic, I'd be happy to be more specific to your brand of transmitter.

Hope this helps ... in a rather wordy way ... LOL