I recently picked up an Eclipse 7 to use with my eco-8. I'm really impressed with the transmitter so far (with the exception of no friggin' 90 degree swashplate support, had to use a prog mixer to get the CP working properly).
Anyways, this is my first tx with synthesized FM tuning. I'm noticing that the spectra module can get pretty warm (bordering on hot) during extended use. Is this normal, or is something horribly wrong? . I'm broadcasting on positive shift at the moment on channel 60.

I've spent the last hour or so setting up the pitch and throttle curves on my bird and noticed that it's getting pretty toasty during use.

Anyone got any info on this?

Make sure you have your antenna pulled out about 1/4 of the way when your just setting at the bench setting up your heli, from my understanding, if you don't have the antenna pulled out some the radio will get hot.
If that doesn't fix the problem, I would give Hitec a call and ask them about it (you don't want to burn your new radio up).

Thanks charlie, I never considered that. I'll give it a try and see what happens. It makes sense though, as I was out flying my foamies with it earlier and I don't remember it getting that hot.

Mine gets hot too!!! I will try the antena thing

get a duckie from smiley antenna...solves many problems--like forgetting to extend antenna.[]

Okay folks, I found the problem if you guys are interested. The modules on these digital radios are designed to unload a signal during use. If you're sitting at your bench right next to your helicopter tweaking it with the radio on and the sticks making little to no movement, the radio is not unloading it's signal, and as such, the module on the back can get pretty toasty over an extended period of time. Extending the antenna does help some, but it will still heat up if you're not giving any sort of input to the radio for it to transmit. Basically, just do your adjustments over a period of time with some breaks in between to avoid cooking your frequency module. This is a problem common to all module based frequency radios, and even applies to some crystal based radios, and is not exclusive to Hitec. If you're using your transmitter with a flight simulator, simply take out the module (or crystal) while you're using it and you won't have any more problems.
I'm sure you've all also noticed that, during use, if you're actually flying your model, the module will only get slightly warm, but never hot.

So, if you're at your bench working on the heli, extend the antenna, and take breaks inbetween to avoid cooking, and you are OK

You'd think Hitec would include valuable information like that in their manual..

That doesn't make much sense to me... the TX is constantly transmitting the stick positions to the RX... it doesn't matter whether the sticks are stationary or not... there is always data or "signal" present.

Maybe so, but the fact is, it works. If there is no stick movement and you just let the TX sit there, the module will get really hot. Aslong as you're using the TX and transmitting moving signals, the module stays within a reasonable temperature. I'm not saying what I said is accurate, as i'm not an electronics engineer, but this is from my own personal experience and what i've been able to gather from other sources online.

If the antenna isn't fully extended, the module will also heat up, regardless of present stick movement.

Maybe it has something to do with transmitting differnet signals instead of the same one over and over? I don't know

I dug out my old communications book and verified what I thought was true... average power of an FM signal is the same, regardless of the modulation index or the signal being modulated... so, in theory, the RF power that the module puts out should be the same, regardless of the stick inputs.

It's hard to argue with measured results, though, so if you have any links to online sources explaining what you described, I'd definitely be interested...

-pkh-,

Did some more reading and research, turns out this problem normally occurs only if the antenna is not extended during use. This was according to Hitec, anyways. Perhaps it is only my imagination that it does not get as hot if you're using the TX, but that's the way it seems to me. [X(]
Hitec says that during regular use, the module will get warm, however, if the antenna is collapsed, it will get hotter than normal, and so reccomends setting the TX up with the antenna out and during use.

I think you are right though, stick movement should not have any effect on the output now that I think about it.

Sure enough mine stays pretty cool when the antenna is all the way out and gets pretty warm when its left in.