What the heck is the white dot??
 

I was just surfing FEJ's and there is a notice about the 6014FS having a white dot...It says if there is not white dot send it in for an upgrade??? What the hell?

I just bought 2 6014FS's in the last month from tower. Neither of them have a white dot, Nor does the one in my 16 that was included with my 12FG i bought in November. I have a dozen flights on them between my 16 and 310 and they feel just fine. What is going on?

Sorry if this has already been posted but I just saw it and it made me really nervous..

Pete

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

The RX with the dot are not/less sensible for heat. The first FASST RX's could not work properly when exposed to heat (> 50°C).

I think..

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Well I can live with that...

Thanks, Pete

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

don't leave your RX in the open sun, always put the canopy on. No probs than ;)

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Koeniboy,

Have you actually heard that from Futaba?

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

there was some talk amungst the Futaba people in the know who said the dots only meant the QA check was completed on the receiver. i don't own any Futaba myself, but i do allot of building for others and some of the newer receivers have had white dots, some gold.

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

First rule of the white dots.......


Don't talk about the white dots

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Then what about the gold dots?:)

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Don't even THINK about the gold dots:D


Marty

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Hobbico who is the Futaba repair center here in the USA claims to
know nothing about the dots or the heat related issues, However
many people have done their own test and have found that the
non dot receivers will sometime shut down when they become a
little hot while the dotted receivers can take a lot more heat.

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

You want the whole story ? Check this post if you have patience to read through it http://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/f...ggestions.html

Fill the missing info of the link with flying - giants . com

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Exactly!

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Non-Dotted

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4...c30486130b.jpg

Gold-Dotted

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9...5eb8347f7b.jpg

My non-dotted versions are installed like this (just a precaution......)

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/90/novakfans1jq5.jpg

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

The dotted version took care of more than just heat issues, they also adjusted the drive levels (signal levels) to the servos.

See post #2045 of the following thread for photos

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_61...82/key_/tm.htm

See post #24 of the following thread for the drive levels of the dotted version, the non dotted version will cause problems if you use Hi-Tec digital servos or certain other ancillary devices like sequencers, or valves, a simple line driver (amplifier) like the one sold by electrodynamics will cure any problems with drive levels of the non dotted receiver.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_87...tm.htm#8750838

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Im running all Digital Hitecs on my non-dotted version and everything has been uneventful..

Always something..[:@]

Pete

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Pete,

The issue was with one or two old Hitec digital servos, and Hitec is fixing them for free.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_82..._1/key_/tm.htm

Doug.

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

There is a quick test to see if your receiver is the new version,or old version (I just got done checking two receivers for my buddy) connect two Hi-Tec digital's on a Y harness and try it....if it is the old version they will be very unstable.

Even with one servo the signal is very unstable with a hi-Tec digital connected

Photo #1 shows the output of the receiver connected to one H-Tec Servo on the top trace
The bottom trace is the signal through a line driver (amplifier), notice that the signal on the bottom is around 4.8 V where the signal on the top is around 2.8 v

Photo # 2 is with the output of the receiver connected to two Hi-Tec servos, notice that the bottom trace the pulse width is widened (out of compliance)

Photo #3 is the output of the receiver connected just to the line driver, the output of the line driver is connected to two hi-tec digital servos, note there is no more distortion of the signal, and the levels are around 4.8V

Bottom line is I would not trust running any hi-tec digital servos with out using a line driver on the older receiver.

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Ok, Good to know. My 5955's are on a Y and operate normally.

Pete

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

My Gold dot has gone, I think it got too hot, but it is working perfectly with 8 digital Hitec servos, two Jetteck valves and a couple of sequencers on it. ;)

Mike

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Welcome to Futaba's All Secret Service Tell-no-one - FASST ;)

Nothing seems to have been published officially by Futaba. Tests done by an individual on this forum has "confirmed" that the gold dot version would handle temps in excess of 100 degC and the older "non dot" versions would stop working in excess of 70 deg. If you visit the FASST site you will see that they recommend not wrapping the receiver in foam and ensuring sufficient airflow around the receiver to prevent heat build-up. That is why some guys chose to put small fans on the non dot versions.

As stated above as well the low signal voltage issue has also been addressed in the newer "gold dot" version. We have only got gold dot versions over here so I am not too sure if the "white dot" is the same as the "gold dot"? The latest version is the HS which has 6 high speed outputs for digital servos.

I made sure I found some "gold dot" versions for our African sun.

I have not seen anyone locally have issues with the non dot versions in both jets and large scale aircraft.

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

As far as I know the only people who had problems with overheating where using the Rx in extreme conditions (Middle East) as far as the low voltage issue I have an FS version in an Elan with all digital servos and it works without problems, none of my airframes use Y leads they can be the source of problems, I also do not use 4 cell AA size 4.8volt batteries to supply my Rx and servo's.

Mike

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Hey Gonzalo, is that a Smart-Fly setup with the fan?

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

I was looking over the pictures of the two Rx's earlier in this thread, is it me or are the components different on the two - look in the area where the two antenna's pass over [&:]
If so is this usual?

marcs

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

That particular setup shows a smart-fly board with a receiver and fan attached to it.

I don't think that there are a lot of heat issues in jets since there is a good air flow inside the fuselage, but in IMAC type planes were everything is enclosed, there could be some problems if you leave your plane under the sun even for a short period of time.

According to some test that were done, the temperature at which some of the non-dotted receivers would stop working was very low so why take a risk ? I bought some small fans and installed them on the receivers. Do the fans help ? I don't know....... but at least I have peace of mind knowing that I did take precautions.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXMYJ0&P=7

RE: What the heck is the white dot??
 

Its not just the Middle East but here in the states also people had heat problems, However the bottom line is the non dotted receivers can not be used the
same way as the dotted one's and others that are currently on the market because more precautions have to be taken in high heat environments and I
would say this is more true for the 608 6014 non dotted receivers.