apteryx

Going to R/C frequency synthesis is a great breakthru. Although synthesis is nothing new in other electronic transmitters, 2-way radios, etc, using it on an RC transmitter with all the FCC rules in place, is a first. Were you able to get special approval from the FCC to not use "crystal" control because of the frequency scanning feature of your equipment to prevent possible interference ?

Just curious. I'd sure like to try one.

lewispolk

Thanks for understanding the careful planning that went into making a radio with tomorrow's technology. The FCC is more than familiar with Synthesized frequencies and in the lab tests we were far more accurate in signal as the computer sets the frequency dead center, where crystals deviate so much that you need a wider band to cover the deviations that glass crystals cause.

We also made sure that there was a signal lockout, so it's impossobile to come on the air if the frequency is in use. We were around during the dial a crash days of Kraft, so we knew we had to provide this feature.

Also, we made sure we still followed the AMA pin protocol, where you select an open frequency and the direct the radio to that one. We just didn't make the radio find any open frequency, not did we allow it to skip buy frequencies automatically to void the pin program.

We have been making R/C since the early 1950's and just thought this trough very carefully. We then got a patent on the process and we made the radio with the best components available in the world. We wanted the best radio that could be made and took advantage of the new lower prices for components due to the wireless phone boom.

Then we invested a ton of money to make it happen and this included writing a million line code software program to make this happen.

I could write a book about the birth of this radio, but this will have to suffice for now. However, our two engineers who conceived the project really deserve the credit and I'm just the team leader that produced the project.

All the best,
Lewis Polk