Hello,

I have just built my first ARF 40 Trainer and noticed that the receiver switch position was on the servo tray. This means that I have to turn on the receiver before I attach the wing and I cannot turn off the receiver unless I take the wing off first. I have noticed that many other trainers have the switch mounted on the side of the fuselage so the receiver can obviously be turned on and off without having to remove the wing each time.
My question is does this really matter? Does the receiver use battery power just by being on or only when actually receiving a signal from the transmitter and therefore does turning off the transmitter each time solve the problem. I will move the switch if I am using battery power unecassarily but do not wont to if I dont really have to.

Thanks,

Troy.

Move the switch. The rx draws power from the battery if the switch is turned on. If someone els is flying on the same freqwquency as you your plane will start to have the control surfaces move. When you mount the swich into the side of the fues it would be a good idea to add a charge prot also at this time. You will wiant to xcheck the batrtery level between flights to ensure safe capacity. This will enable you to do so. There are switched that thave the charge port built into them on the market.

I haven't done this myself, but you can drill a hole in the switch to accept a stiff wire. The wire exits a hole in the fuse and is pushed/pulled to operate the switch.

(But do the switch/charge jack! more convenient)

Thanks for the tip Doug. Actually I do have a charge port connected to the switch via a short length of wire so I could probably just have it hang out the side under the wing.
Regards,

Troy.

I always mount my on/off switch to the outside of the plane (opposite of the muffler side) Here is a pic of my newly built bipe with the swich/charger so you can see. I just cut a small hole in the plane, put the back part of the switch on the inside of the fuse, and then put the cover on the outside and "sandwich" the pieces together. It looks very nice when done, and won't be a problem in flight.

Here is another picture with my seduction Freestyle, much easier to see what I did:

Here is a closeup of that same pic:

check out this switch/charger combo from Maxx Products. It's easy to use and only one hole in the fuse since the switch and the charger are together.

DSC Charge Switch

http://www.maxxprod.com/

Yes, it does matter. It matters so much that I doubt any decent ARF maker intended you to turn on the receiver before you put the wing on. Most likely, they intended you to use a stiff wire through a hole in the fuse to move the switch. Most switches have a hole in them just for this.

The reason it matters is that you should not turn on your receiver without first turning on your transmitter, and I don't think you'd want your transmitter turned on the entire time your wing was on. If you turn on the receiver before the transmitter, it's possible for the receiver to pick up weak signals, and try to move the servos beyond their end points (or so they say anyway). At any rate, even if it doesn't damage the servos, they will move around in response to weak signals they pick up.

However, to answer your question directly, the receiver uses a small amount of power on its own, but its insignificant compared to the power used to move the servos. So, yes, except for a lot of other good reasons, it would be OK to leave the receiver on if the servos weren't moving.

Troy, I know absolutely what you are talking about. I've seen the little place for a switch on the servo tray but have never used it.

Hi Troyp,
gpmikemorse at post #9 said it all.

I think its a bit mistake to have the switch inside the fuse... I mount mine outside.. along with a great little ($15.00) led display that has 5 indicator lights that tell me the status of the rx battery.. so there are no mistaken how much charge is left.. the $15.00 is good insurance,, rather than losing the plane.
Also.. always mount the slide switch with on in the "rearward" position.... That way.. if you sideswipe something.. it won't push the switch to "off".. and also a "loose" switch won't migrate to the off position by sheer inertia. Push to front for "off".. push to back for "ON". (and don't ask about vertical switches..>..)
Just my 2 cents... joe

Dubro makes a combo switch/charging jack. Pull on and push off, plus the charging jack has a built in cover. I use this on all of my planes. Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

All reasons given here in terms of switch position are good. However without getting into a debate about the push pull switches, I push in for on and pull out for off. Yes I have on 2 occasions accidentally pushed and left my plane on all night. It's better than having your buddy or you accidentally pushing the switch off just as the plane is turned loose and have the throttle servo twitch to full throttle.

Patrick

I also use push in as on. If I pick the airplane up I don't want to accidentally turn the receiver off.

However it's like light switches. Up is on in the States and Down is on in the UK.

Just make all your switches alike!

John