When I was cleaning my plane after flying this w/e, about 6" of the antenna wire broke off where it exits the plane. I did a range check with the piece off and only got about 35 paces before the servos started chattering. Can I solder the piece back on and get my range back where it should be, or do I have to send it back to futaba to have a whole new antenna put on? Thank you

you should be able to solder the antenna back on....it's worth a try.....if it doesn't work you'll have to send it in....if it does work problem solved......just remember that a good solder joint starts with a good mechanical joint.......there is 2 ways I'd solder this together....1 strip the wire back, open the strains of the wire to make a fan shape. Do both ends, now interlace the the two ends similar to interlacing your fingers....twist together and solder....cover with heat shrink......2. strip both ends and tin the wires(solder the end of the wire) now make a hook...hook together, solder and cover with heat shrink......
Good Luck I hope it works for you

Ive done it on cars before with no trouble.

You can do it. Just don't overlap the wires by more than 1/8" and you'll be fine.

I've done it on a couple of my planes with no problems, as jetmech said, make the joint proplerly and you should be fine.

It will fix your jitters if that is what is causing it in the first place. Have done countless antenna splices and it works just fine both on my stuff and others, even at the field and events. Some events in the past such as pylon and combat before 2.4 or the soda straw technique, antenna cuts or rip outs were common.

Don,t forget to slide some shrink wrap over the joint and shrink it. What always has worked for me is to simply tin an eighth inch or so with solder on each end separately without twisting or fanning just striaght wire strands then holding the ends side by side and melting the solder. And of course shrink wrap.

John

What John says, just tin the ends, lay them side by side overlapping about 1/8 inch, reheat to flow the tinned ends together, cover with heat shrink and you are good to go. The solder joint will be plenty strong, no need to worry about hooks, weaving wires together or such nonsense. If it is a typical 72, 27 or 6 meter antenna, a final length anywhere between 39 and 41 inches will give you full range.

Most hobby shops carry a new antenna wire. you can just replace the whole thing.

Thanks I'll give it a try

Whenever about six inchs or more of the antenna is in good shape Then I suggest to most that its actually not a good idea to replace the entire antenna and for them its a much better idea to do the simple splice.

Doing a circuit board replacement requires a much more precision soldering job with the appropriate iron. Trouble is many people are not comfortable with soldering and or do not have an appropriate iron. The place to learn soldering is precisely on simple antenna splicing or cutting servo leads to custom length and splicing not doing circuit boad work.

I,ve seen quite a few rx's that were essentially destroyed by bloobed up traces in attempted antenna replacements.

John

I've done and so far haven't had any problems, have a steady hand and you should be fine. Just be neat and don't over heat with the solder and you'll be all set.

Pete

I'll do a splice anyday before trying to do a complete replacement.
39"-41", the antenna doesn't care where the splice is.
Double the wire back on the RX case and tape it, this will act as a secondary strain relief.

Winding the antenna around a soda straw is the only way to go for me now. It's neat and it should delay the fatigue that the wire gets from flapping in the breeze. I use clear packing tape to secure the wire to the straw.

Without getting to technical, the antenna must be a certain length to operate properly. That is always plus or minus a tad bit, and, as long as you do the solder joint as Minnflyer suggests, then you will be just fine.

Solder the joint making sure you have good "flow" and don't over do the solder. Globs don't mean good joints. If the heat is right, just touching the solder to the joint will cause it to flow and make a good joint. Then put some heat-shrink tubing (radio shack and many hardware stores have it) over the joint to protect it and off you go.

CGr.