Badnitrobreath

I noticed after a roll-over that my antenna wire was ripped off a few inches on the end...
...will this affect and shorten my signal range.?? The wire is now about 13" long.

The receiver is a stock one on a Tmaxx 2.5.....the radio used is stock also

If in fact this does affect the signal range....could I just replace the wire with a new one...
...if so, what gauge and what type of wire should be used.? Is there an optimum length
it should be cut to.?

Thanks for any information.!!

webdr

Some will say yes, some, no.
My experience..... I ripped my antenna off 3 inches from the base and soldered on a wire that was just a hair bigger than the antenna. I can go so far away that the truck is a little speck in the distance. No glitches at all.

DaveG55

You may or may not notice a loss of range. Do a range test (truck not running but electronics on and have somebody hold the truck and walk away from you untill it loses siganl) and see. You can just solder a length of wre onto the existing but I prefer to just replace the whole thing. Replacement antenna wires can be bought at most hobby shops and are usually about $3. Just pop the case off the rx and remove and replace the existing wire. The optimum length for these radios is approxamatly 20" total. That is a good length for either an AM or FM system. Some manufacturers are an inch or so longer or shorter but 20" is a real good rule of thumb.

RCtruckRacer

Seems to me that there is a direct relationship to the physical length of the rx wire and the frequency being received... in otherwords, the antenna is 'tuned' to the rx's frequency. So yes, typically you will see a loss in range. If its cut directly in half, (going from 1/8 wave to 1/16 wave for instance) should net you the least amount of reception loss.

But its been too many years for me to be completely certain of the specifics - attenuation, impedance matching... I just cant remember it all. No doubt someone else here can fill in the gaps if you need. Your best bet is to contact traxxas customer service. They will give you all the info you need to go to radio shack and get the wire you need. You'll have to open up the rx and desolder the old one off the board, then resolder the new one.