.. still on the ground.
 

I'm a newbie on RC plane with a piper cub falling on my lap. A month has passed and it is still on the ground. All airborn gears are there but would someone with enough knowleges on electrical stuffs to tell me what is wrong:

- Four Hitec HS-311 servos.
- Cirrus MRX-4 Mk.II 4Ch FM 72MHz receiver (battery is excell.) (http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/443534.asp)
- JR F400 4Ch FM 72MHz radio with both TX & RX crystals 72.850 (battery is excell.).

PROBLEM: With all power on radio and receiver didn't communicate what soever!!!!!! [sm=angry_smile.gif] And it was spooky enough that with the power left on for a while then suddenly all the servos acted up at the same time by themselves (scared the heg out of my wife at night!).

NOTE: TX & RX came with the JR F400 radio (used) as a seperate pakage, not originally with the airplane. I bought it as thought that any 4Ch FM 72MHz radio would work with the Cirrus receiver (wouldn't it?).

Please help or someone will come to my house to perform "exorcism" on the piper!

Thanks!

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

The cirrus receiver will need a cirrus crystal that matches the same channel as your JR radio:

"The crystals for these new Cirrus Receivers can be found by clicking [link=http://www.hobbypeople.net/prdcls/xtalrh06.asp]here[/link]! This receiver uses crystals that start with 4462. The final two numbers of the item are the channel that you want. [i.e. 446211 would be for channel 11]"

Edit:

The servos started chattering after a while indicating that the receiver battery was going dead. Normal behavior for a radio system, so no reason to bother your local priest, pastor, or shaman.

The receiver you purchased is auto-shift, so it should work fine with either JR/Airtronics (positive shift) or Hitec/Futaba/Tower (negative shift) radio systems.

The JR receiver crystal that came with your transmitter probably won't work in the Cirrus receiver. Manufacturers recommend that you use only their crystals in their receivers.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Hello bigedmustafa,

WOW! What an eye opening for me. I could never be able to guess on these stuffs. No more questions for now! And thank you so much for your quick helping & expertise. I'll let you know of my soloing or ... crashing! javascript:void(AddText(':D'))

T. Vo.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Hi bigedmustafa,

I just read your email again and realized you're an Omahan. Well! Well! Well! I have lived in Lincoln for 20yrs and knew Omaha quite a bit. Across N. Plate river, next to I-80, there was a "RC Air Park" (near Ameristar) and I used to come to watch people flying their RC and wish someday I would learn all of these stuffs. I'm getting close. It is nice to know you and big cheer to an Omahan. I still miss NE.

T. Vo.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Happy to help! That flying field is home to the Twin City Eagles Squadron flying club in Council Bluffs, IA. The club is still going strong and has been growing pretty steadily over the past few years. One member said he couldn't afford to fly there anymore, because his wife would drop him at the field with his helicopters and then head over to the Ameristar casino next door until he was done flying!

There's a gentleman in town who puts up a website called Metro R/C Flying that's kind of a clearing house for information on all of the clubs in the area:

http://metro********.com/

It's not the prettiest website, but it helps you see all of the events from all of the different clubs in the area on one site. The Lincoln Sky Knights are linked to from there as well.

I hear the flying is good in Texas, but if you ever end up back this way again, you can rest assured you'll have plenty of runways to choose from for takeoffs and landings.

Good luck, and feel free to post back here with any more questions!

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Ameristar Casino? TRUE! It was very very "expensive" to watch RC plane flying on that field with my young sons. The same with Offutt Airshows which costed many hundred of $$$ at the end. Been there done that with A.C.. I still love Omaha!

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

.. got a new RX crystal 446253 from hobbypeople .. and no luck .. receiver & transmitter won't talk .. total quiet!. What else should I do? May be I got a bad "used" transmitter that the seller lied.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Mixing brands is never a good idea (At least not when it's Tx and Rx)

If it's A JR Tx, spring for a JR Rx.

OR just pop for one of these - then you have everything

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...dID=JSP14000**

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

I would hate to see you spring for a new receiver, only to find out your transmitter's fuse is blown.

Think about trying this approach : Send the transmitter and receiver in to Radio South, or your favorite local RC repair facility, and have them checked out. The problem may be a simple thing, like the fuse blown or a wire detached.

An alternative : Have a club member check for output with a frequency checker. Or find someone else with a channel #53 transmitter, see if the receiver is active. Either way, additional test work could pay off .

Best wishes,
Dave Olson

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Your not going to use this Piper Cub as a trainer are you?

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Mixing brands is never a good idea (At least not when it's Tx and Rx)

If it's A JR Tx, spring for a JR Rx.

OR just pop for one of these - then you have everything

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...dID=JSP14000**

_____________________________

Mike B.
AMA# 42400

"Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others." - Groucho Marx
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ___


Already had matching Rx & Tx which came with the JR F400 and it did not work. Per advice, I bought Rx from cirrus.

Try another Cirrus Tx?

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

I would hate to see you spring for a new receiver, only to find out your transmitter's fuse is blown.

Think about trying this approach : Send the transmitter and receiver in to Radio South, or your favorite local RC repair facility, and have them checked out. The problem may be a simple thing, like the fuse blown or a wire detached.

An alternative : Have a club member check for output with a frequency checker. Or find someone else with a channel #53 transmitter, see if the receiver is active. Either way, additional test work could pay off .

Best wishes,
Dave Olson

_____________________________

I can't spell well enough to post grafitti.

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __

On the transmitter, the fuse is good and the level indicator shows full.

It is time for the shop.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Your not going to use this Piper Cub as a trainer are you?

< Message edited by Munkster -- 4/9/2007 5:51:56 PM >

__________________________________________________ ____________
I guess so since it is the only plane I got.

Thanks.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

I just took the whole piper to the shop. Folks from the store "Discount Hobbies" swapped this, that, and it turned out to be I have gotten a bad "used" transmitter. The risk I was willing to take for $10.

Looking for transmitter again.

Thanks.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

It is so close to flying. But..

I just got a new DYNAM NE-KO 4 transmitter (4 channel, cheapy but decent) and all servos/channels worked great except channel #1. On the receiver channel #1 labeled as "battery/channel 1" and a "Y" wire was used for battery/ailerons. Also, just to check out, no matter which servo I connected to this channel #1, there was no motion. One thing for sure all servos worked.

Please help.

THX.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

this is the great pumpkins way of tellin you not to use the piper as a trainer

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

I have to agree, bad choice for trainer. Cubs are slow flying planes but have some characteristics that make them difficult to handle on the ground.

Were you plugging directly into the receiver to check the channel, or going thru the "Y" harness? If the latter, then it sounds like the harness is bad. If the former, then you're going shopping for a new receiver.

I hate to say it but you're learing a valuable lesson about aviation. Untill you've got enough experience under your belt, IMHO, you should always buy either:
1. Used stuff you've personally seen fly so you know it all works or
2. Brand new stuff with a warranty, so the MFR will help you out if stuff dosen't work right.

And I would further suggest your first plane come from either a fellow club member, or a local hobby shop reccomended by a fellow club member. Mail order and Internet can be much cheaper, but it's not worth it to save money if you're pulling your hair out trying to figure out a problem that could be solved with a simple visit to a shop or your field. A couple minutes of advice can save much fretting and wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth. And cursing of SO's, pets, etc you get the idea.

Andy

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

... learning! ... learning! Thank you for advices.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

Your best bet is to join the local RC club and then you will find a lot of very helpfull members who will get you started in the right direction.

RE: .. still on the ground.
 

does somebody know if the dynam ne-ko 4 transmitter is negative or posetive and also the range of the receiver