When i do buddy box will both radios need a full charge? If anyone knows let me know ASAP I am leaving soon

I believe the buddy box radio is not supposed to be powered up, just the trainer's radio. I have a Futaba buddy box and it uses no batts at all...

thanks PKH, but does it not take battery to send it to the other radio and out to the plane?

If you got the stuff there, hook it up without the battery (or whatever) and see if it works. DUHH

Do you or your instructor have a field quick charger? I would bet he (or another at the field)does, a lot of experienced pilots do.

I dont know bruce. we arent going to a real field, but i will check there, I have had it chargin for an hour so i will leave it charging till right when we leave

Ok, here is how the setup works. The actual radio is the one in the instructors hands and controls the plane. It has and uses a battery. The buddy box does not use any batttery. In fact, if the buddy box has a battery in it and you turn it on it will usually mess up the connection to the other radio. Because of that the buddy boxes I use don't have any batteries in them. I am an instructor for our field and I have a buddy box for all the different types of radios, so I just them empty with no batteries in them.

So, to answer your question. Charge the main radio and take the battery out of the buddy box.

Hope this helps.

Only the instructor's radio needs power -- the buddy box doesn't even need a battery in it. In fact, powering up the buddy box will cause a crash if the buddy box is on the same freq as the instructor box. It may also damage one or both Tx.

Here's a good FAQ on the Futaba site...

http://www.futaba-rc.com/faq/faq-training.html#q694

I thought there was one brand/model out there that did require batteries in the buddy(but not turn on) but I can't remember the name. I will concede to the others and I do know that you do not EVER turn on the buddy.

What brand/model do you have??

ok thanks guys. I am no longer worried (For now at least)

But this is my first time at the sticks with it in the air i am excited. My mom is taking the digi cam so i will be sure to get plenty of pics and vids

Well, we expect to see them posted here. I'll be watching.

According to the Futaba FAQ, the computer radios in "buddy-box" mode are powered up through the cable from the trainers radio... this just powers up the CPU (programming) portion of the radio, and not the RF section.

The JR brand of buddy box requires a battery and that the box be turned on. The JR buddy box cables only have 2 wires in them which isn't enough to contol the plane and also power the buddy box. Thats why I don't like JR. [8D]

Actually, with JR, the buddy box is required to have a battery, but DO NOT TURN IT ON. When you plug a trainer cord into a JR radio, it will turn itself on automatically, but will only be drawing a fraction of the current, because it is not actually broadcasting a signal. The master JR radio will broadcast the signal, and so will need to be turned on, and will draw normal current from the battery. Again, the JR buddy box does need a battery, and it does need to be charged, but do not actually turn on the buddy box, it will power up itself when the trainer cord is plugged in. You can remove the crystal and antennae from the buddy box, but leave the battery in. Again, this is just if you have JR--I'm not sure about airtronics. What brand of radio do you have?

Aitronics and Futaba buddy boxes do not need battery! Thankx for clearing up how the JR wroks 2Slow. [8D]

WOW, this is one scary thread. So many WRONG answers.

Couple little tips about JR: One is that you can remove the regular battery from the slave transmitter and install a standard small 9 volt alkaline and it will work OK as a Buddy box. No need to worry about charge. Another is to beware of the fact that even if turned off the JR will indicate "ON" when the cord is plugged in. Don't let it fool you. One of these days some sue-happy person is going to collect on that one. I use JR but I respect their built-in errors.

Another item to use caution is when coupling a Hitec slave transmitter to a Futaba Master, using a Futaba old-style standard cord. The Hitec can transmit on its frequency even without a battery in it. BTDT. Remove the Hitec crystal.

Hossfly, I believe that is what I said about JR. I don't believe that ANYTING I said was wrong. Why in the world would you remove the regular battery and put in a 9volt. You'd have to solder connectors to it to connect to the radio, and eventually it's going to go dead, and then what, replace the 9volt battery? You do have to worry about charge with the JR slave. The slave pulls power from it's OWN battery. Therefore, it it's dead, then it won't work. Also, I mentioned that when you plug in the trainer cord, it will power up on it's own. And, that it would consume only a fraction of the regular amperage, but it will comsume current from the battery.

ok, well i did it and for somereason i had to turn my radio on to do it, but it DID end up working. Are you suppose to have to reverse the servos for it?

That depends--you never said what brand of radio you are using.....But, in general, I would say no--you are not supposed to turn on the slave radio. this would cause it to broadcast a signal. And, second, yes, you will have to match the norm/reverse switch for all of your servos for the particular model you are flying. However, as I'm currently learning with my new JR radio, Jr has a feature called pilot link that makes it unnecessary for you to reverse any channels on the slave radio--the master takes care of all of that kind of stuff for you.

We used a Futaba 6exa and 4yf

He used the 6EXA

So we went micro to round plug

Since I'm an instructor I have several transmitters that I use as buddy boxes. I have 2 futaba's, 2 airtronics, and 1 Hitec. Since they are only used for buddy boxes I have taken out the batteries and the crystals. There is no chance that they can interfer with the student's plane or any others in the air at that time. I know that eveybody can't have a dedicated buddy box, but for the most part you should at least take the battery out of the buddy box (with the exception of the JR that needs the battery). Because the instructor is working with both boxes there is little chance that the students buddy box will interfer with the main radio of the instructor, but it is very likely that it could interfer with someone else in the air at the same time. In my mind, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Just my .02 worth

and you said you had to turn on the slave ? interesting. I never seen this before. I guess it could be something about the micro to round. becasue I used futab to train and I never had to turn on the slave. in fact I guess you learn something every day . I never had a Jr radio and didn't know this crap about consuming the radio battery in the slave.

rc, yeah luckily we were the only ones there and in the air so there was no worriing bout other planes. I didnt think about that till now, I never thought about flying around other planes.

RcKEN, you are exactly right. And, I must add, with the JR you can remove the antennae and crystal. The battery is still in, but if you accidentally turn on the slave, no signal will be broadcast without a crystal! Just a thought for those with JR buddy boxes.