I have been dealing with Tower for 30 years. For the most part, I must say they have treated me splendidly. However, I just bought a new Tower Hobbies 6 channel radio. It seems defective and I get hits constantly. I rerouted the antenna and still got interference. The previous radio in the model worked perfectly, ( but lacked expo).

Guess what ? Even though I just bought this radio, and it doesn't work correctly, I can't send it back. Tower Hobbies won't take it back. They say its used. I must handle the matter via the warranty.

So be forewarned, Tower won't accept the return of defective radios.</p>

Well, who makes the radio for them? Is that a Futaba system with a Tower name on it? I would imagine that they are not much different than what Best Buy, or Staples is with some electronic equipment... after you walk out the door with it, you send it to the manufacturer for repair or replacement under THEIR warranty guidelines.

Not that I agree with the policy, but that seems to be the way some retailers do business with some of their products.

CGr.

thats odd they sell stuff in scratch and dent, i thought those were used stuff... sorry to hear about your radio man. I hope you can work it out some how.

I definitely understand your situation and frustration. Still, have you investigated the issue further? The problem could be the receiver or it could be in the transmitter. Have you tried a different receiver that you know works correctly? That would help identify the bad component.

Also, is this a 72mHz radio? If so, is it on a different channel than your old one? If so, could there be something or someone in your flying area causing issues with the new channel?

Finally, have you tried sending it in for warranty service? I've always had great luck with Hobbico service. If there is an issue and it is under warranty they will likely repair or replace it for you.

Unfortunately that is not necessarily or even likely to be a problem with the radio itself.

Try changing frequencies, try checking the range with the engine off and on.

If the radio doesn't seem to get hits with the engine off, check your throttle linkage.
Metal linkages will cause RF noise.

They aren't going to just take it back, you must send it in for service and they will check it out. If it's the radio they usually send you a new one. I'm not a real big fan of Tower or there service but most people here seem to feel it's very good.

No. They will not send you a new one. They made that very clear. You must send it in to be repaired even though its 2 weeks old, has 10 minutes use on it, not crashed. Not damaged by me in anyway. It came to me from Tower defective.

I have a Tower 6 channel radio and I had the exact same problem. My issue turned out to be the antenna was not screwed all the way into the case. I unscrewed it the rest of the way, took it out and cleaned it all up and then screwed it all the way back into the transmitter. I haven't had a hit since I did this. I realize that this would be a longshot with regards to fixing your problem, but give it a try anyway. Good luck

try a different frequency i know it solved my issue a fews years back

send them the radio for warranty service I dont see any problem, let them decide if they want to fix it over and over again...
I have 6XM sent them under warranty and they fixed it different problem though.

just remembered a piece of junk motor I bought years ago (not from tower) It didnt work well so I brought it back and the guy trying to give me a new engine of the same kind instead, well what is the difference?
if the first one is a piece of junk what make the next one work better?
why cannot you give service to what you sold me?

If they are willing to fix their radio its a better sign, its futaba by the way, I'm very happy with mine.

Alex

How did you go about that??????????????????????????????????????

Hobby Services often sends out a new replacement. They don't really come out and say it, but often (not every time) that is the case.

i would check antenna's. can you set the radio 5 feet from the plane (aka reciever) and let it sit their for 30 min and not get a hit?
range check it? how far can you go?

i was using a futaba Super8UAPS a few years back, and the flying field we were flying at had "bad channels" we would get hit on certain frequencies... So i asked around what channels were "safe" and bought the module for my transmitter and crystal for my receiver I never had any problems after that....

Which radio was it, this one http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...adio&search=Go ?

I wouldn't mess with trying anything, just send it back and let them take a look. If it is indeed defective, they'll either repair it or more than likely, replace it. I would enclose a note and ask for a different channel though if they replace it in case that was the root of the problem.

I already sent it back . I have another radio just like it in another airplane and it works great. I have nothing against the Tower line of radios, (aka Futaba) , its justthis particular radio that seems bad.

Someone mentioned their Xmitter antenna was loose. Mine was also, but tightening it up didn't seem to help any. All the tricks in the book wouldn't have helped this radio. I'll have to place the old radio back into the ship while Hobby Services decides what to do. The old radio works fine, it just didn't have "expo" andthis little ship has HUGEcontrol surfaces.

My fear is that Hobby Services won't be able to recreate the same conditions in their shop that actuallyoccured in the air, I couldn't. But, maybe theywill find it. We'll see.

I realize you sent it back but I'm curious. When did you get 'hits' and what happened? Did you lose complete control, while flying or on the ground, loose all control intermittently, have your control surfaces move randomly by themselves without any input from you, were there other radios in sight, etc.? And what do you mean by you rerouted the antenna?

Maybe you're just explaining the problem incorrectly to them. If it's a 72MHz radio then "hits" are not the fault of the radio. You're operating in an unsafe environment with other senders on your channel or some large broadcast source nearby. The radio is fine.

If it is a 2.4gHz set-up then something else is causing what you believe to be "hits" but must be something else. Could be battery or you're standing too close to the receiver. Do a ground test from 50 feet and see if it "glitches". True hits are rare and usually the result of other events.

But, if the radio is less than 30 days new and you are dissatisfied (and haven't modified it in any way) they should still take it back. I have had excellent results with Tower but have always purchased my electronic equipment at a local hobby shop. There you can look them in the eyes and discuss problems.

What I am reading is your concern with Towers costumer service more than the actual radio problem.  I too have bought from Tower for many years and have always been satisfied.  But very recently I had an issue so I called Tower.  The lady on the phone basically gave me an "oh well, sucks to be you" kind of attitude.  Needless to say I was furious when I hung up.  I swore I would never buy from Tower again.  I calmed down and called back after about 5 minutes and I immediatly asked to speak to a supervisor.  When one got on the phone I calmly explained both my problem with my recent order, and the previous conversation with their rep.  The supervisor and I were able to succesfully settle my issue.  Sometimes ya gotta go up the channels to get someone who has the authority to make a decision.  A 2 week old radio, in my opinion, should have been swaped with a new one, no questions asked.  But thats just me.</p>

Amen !