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Spektrum DX6i brown out issues.

Old 07-25-2014, 04:35 PM
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TheComputerGeek
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Default Spektrum DX6i brown out issues.

I am using a spektrum DX6i with an Ar7610 receiver and It was in my 1/3 scale pitts special. I was coming in for a final approach and was about 70 yards away and I lost all control of the plane. I crashed it straight into the ground. It was the first day we had flown it and it was on the 6th flight. Never had a problem in the other flights.

The plane is fixable, but it was discontinued and very valuable to me. Then yesterday I was flying my sig kougar and the same thing happened in almost the same spot. Now I am really mad. I am using a 6 volt life in both planes and they were both charged. Receivers were placed in the correct spot and not near anything with the antennas pointed straight. Remote receiver was 90 degrees from the main. What am I doing wrong? 2 planes down because of a radio? I never had this problem with the old radios.
Old 07-25-2014, 05:16 PM
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G'day Mate,
Have you proved it was the radio? Did you do a range check? Did you check your switch, they have a nasty habit of failing at the worst possible time.
If the plane was coming straight at you from 70 yards away, was the engine in the way of the RF signal?
Was the Pitts using a gas engine, if so, it is recommended to use extra satellites on the RX, to see around lumps of metal, like a large gas engine.
6 flights on the Pitts, how much charge was taken out of the batteries on the first 5 flights, what capacity is the battery/batteries, I would always use 2 in a plane that size.
So my point is, don't be in a hurry to blame the radio, until all the above, plus a lot of other things including the batteries in the TX have been checked, sounds to me like you used that TX a lot, that day, but did you check the TX.
Sorry for your loss,
Old 07-25-2014, 05:29 PM
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TheComputerGeek
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Hi alan0899. I did do a range check and everything worked perfectly. Ignition is on the bottom of the firewall and the satelite receiver was mounted up high and towards the back of the plane. Tx battery and rx battery were charged after the 3rd flight too. Using a 3200 mah receiver pack in the pitts but running 9 servos. Switch is fine and I inspected everything after the crash. The reason I blamed the radio was because I had 2 planes go down and I cant find any other problems.
Old 07-25-2014, 07:44 PM
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chuckk2
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The DX6i has AA pen-cells. The battery clips have been known to need re-springing every so often.
I tried using re- chargeable cells, and went back to conventional cells.

It also may be that the RX fail safe control positions need to be changed.

I had a failure, and the model ended up in the rough with very superficial damage.

Last edited by chuckk2; 07-25-2014 at 07:46 PM.
Old 07-25-2014, 08:41 PM
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It would be hard to blame or rule out the radio without using a data logger. I had my Cub snap roll on me the other day and I swore I must have had a hit. After landing, there were no frame errors or holds at all with the data logger. I was high when it happened and the winds were starting roll in so I think I just hit one of the vortices going a little slow on my nasty Cub. If you suspect your radio, get one of the flight data loggers.
Old 07-26-2014, 03:51 PM
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Today me and a couple of guys at the field determined it was the radio. We put the 7610 into an old trainer and sent it up with a data logger. We lost control of the plane in the same spot again but we didnt crash it. When we looked at the results, the battery voltage was normal the whole time BUT we had obvoiusly lost the signal once because all of the servos went to their failsafe positions at the same time for about 4 seconds. Next we tried an orange reciever and the same thing. Lost signal farther out (200 yards). I have also had this same issue in my yak BNF and my cub. Not sure what to blame now other than the radio unless i am doing something wrong. Now I am scared to use my spektrum!! Maybe i got a lemon?

Thanks for all of your help guys

Last edited by TheComputerGeek; 07-26-2014 at 03:56 PM.
Old 07-26-2014, 04:37 PM
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Yikes, that is not good. If I understand the situation, it does okay further out, but just one location closer to the runway is giving you problems?

Is it possible that there is a point-to-point microwave link in that area? A link between cell towers or a utility data link microwave system might provide enough field strength to overload the receiver. (BTW, how many errors and holds did the data logger denote?)

Hope you get to the bottom of this and let us know what you find out. If it does end up being the transmitter, it would be good to know what the root cause was. Best of luck on the trouble-shooting there. Makes it hard to fly when you can't trust the radio system.
Old 07-26-2014, 05:00 PM
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TheComputerGeek
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Yes we did a full flight with no problems and perfect performance.It was just on that final approach that we had problems. BTW there were 2 holds (didnt notice the 2nd one) 1st one for 150 frames and 2nd one was 80. Flight was 7 minutes
Old 07-26-2014, 05:33 PM
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I would be looking for some strong interfering signal around that location where the problem occurs. I have had loss of control with non-diversity (single antenna) receivers, but the diversity Spektrum receivers are fairly bullet proof in regard to multi-path from what I have found. With three planes having the problem in the same place, there is likely something there.
Old 07-26-2014, 07:09 PM
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TheComputerGeek
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Id be suprised if there was any signals because our field is in the middle of nowhere. Just surrounded by farmland. How should i check for interference?
Old 07-26-2014, 08:03 PM
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TheComputerGeek
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I have thought for a while about the situation and it seems like its time for a new radio. NOT a spektrum. What do you guys use? I was thinking either of these futabas

http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/fut...4sg/index.html

http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/futk9255.html

Or possibly this hitec

http://hitecrcd.com/products/aircraf...-radio/product

If you guys have any suggestions please tell me. I like the idea of being able to see your rx battery voltage from the transmitter too.. Does the Hitec have this feature?
Old 07-26-2014, 09:19 PM
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Rob2160
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Originally Posted by TheComputerGeek
I have thought for a while about the situation and it seems like its time for a new radio. NOT a spektrum. What do you guys use? I was thinking either of these futabas

http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/fut...4sg/index.html

http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/futk9255.html

Or possibly this hitec

http://hitecrcd.com/products/aircraf...-radio/product

If you guys have any suggestions please tell me. I like the idea of being able to see your rx battery voltage from the transmitter too.. Does the Hitec have this feature?
I understand your frustration, once you lose confidence in a radio its hard to win back.

Just a thought, what was the orientation of your TX antenna during these drop outs? Did you have a chance to try another DX6i with the same receivers?

On the matter of Futaba, I have two 8FGs which have been flawless and also a 14SG, mine had a few minor issues initially but has now proven itself to be a good radio.

I would choose the 14SG over the 10CG due to:

1. The telemetry (only with the right receiver though)
2. The ball bearing gimbals (once you fly with them you won't look back.)
3. Compatibility with several Futaba protocols IE, Fasstest, Fasst, SFHSS etc. This gives you a wide choice of receiver options.
4. Voice option (with headphones)

I don't have any experience with Hitec but have heard mainly good things about them.

Last edited by Rob2160; 07-26-2014 at 09:47 PM.
Old 07-26-2014, 10:10 PM
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Originally Posted by TheComputerGeek
Id be suprised if there was any signals because our field is in the middle of nowhere. Just surrounded by farmland. How should i check for interference?
You would have to find someone with a spectrum analyzer to come out and check things out. It sounds unlikely though if there is really nothing around. You might want to check for an irrigation controller though, or try to see if there are cell phone towers visible where you might be right in line with them as they often have microwave links between them. If you do see a tower of any kind on the horizon, go check it out and see if there is a dish or dome pointed in the direction of your flying field.

Losing confidence in radios is tough. I first tried an inexpensive non-diversity 2.4 Ghz system that Tower had on sale and had to send it back. I fly in front of a concrete house so the multipath made the system unusable at certain ranges. Never could even fly as I discovered it in range checks. I now fly with a Spektrum DX6 and have several AR-610 receivers and have never had a glitch. Only thing I don't like about the DX6 are the battery connections which don't seem very robust, but the rest of it has proven itself over hundreds of flights.
Old 07-26-2014, 10:30 PM
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My DX6i has done the same on 2 planes. I have a DX9 now as do not trust the DX6i. I have noticed it is better with alkaline batteries and should not be used with the rechargeable ones. I replaced the antenna as well. Get a DX9 and you will be very happy. Sean
Old 07-27-2014, 06:04 AM
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dsawyer44
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I have had the same thing happen to me last week. I crashed two different planes in two days. Everyone at the flying field insisted it couldn't be the transmitter. Everyone blamed it on the receivers or a bad connection. After the first crash, i range checked the radio and found no problem. I went 1/4 mile away and still had control. The next day i crashed another plane and did another range check. This time i didn't get 30 ft away and lost the signal. The radio seems to only do it now and again. My radio is new and has only been used about six times without any problems until this week. I did a range check on my friends DX6i and found the same problem, so there must be problems with the DX6i. Don't let anybody tell you different. Yesterday i did a range check without holding the trainer switch and it lost control at about 25 feet.
Old 07-27-2014, 10:36 AM
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Just a little while ago we bound somebodies backup 6i to my sig kougar. The damage was not that bad from the last crash (just a split cowl and bent gear). Before we flew it I did a range check. I held the radio and walked just 25 steps in the direction where i have been having my issues. The signal was lost. So i walked out the the middle of the field. Same thing. Then we put my buddies futaba in the plane and did a range check. No signal loss anywhere. Not sure what to say about that... He was nice enough to let me use his radio for the day. I flew my plane 4 times and did about 100 low passes with perfect reception. His radio was a 12fg. I loved it but i cant find it anywhere!
Old 07-27-2014, 05:34 PM
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Curious as to whether those having problems are aware that you need to rebind the DX6 after setting up a model in the transmitter. I had some odd behavior as a few of my receivers would work after the first bind but some would not. (I actually flew my Tiger after the first bind and then had it not work on a subsequent flight.) Someone here on RCU told me about the rebinding necessary and I have done that on all my receivers and things are solid. I also remember having the hobby shop owner tell me to very carefully read the instructions in the manual on binding. Not sure if this might be a factor, but be aware of that rebinding being necessary.
Old 07-27-2014, 06:42 PM
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I always re-bind it after I set up the plane. I am running all four ailerons on one channel on my Pitts. Is this ok?
Old 07-27-2014, 06:48 PM
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Whatever it is, it is the transmitter and it needs to be checked out or replaced. The only way its the planes are if you are making the same receiver instillation problems. Tx antenna also should never point at the plane; ever.
Old 07-27-2014, 07:32 PM
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Gosh I hate hearing these kind of story's about Spektrum. I finally broke down and bought a Dx6i about eight months ago and I've only had one problem with it. It just stopped transmitting one day at the field and it was not caused by loose batteries in the xmitter. A couple of days later it just started working again and I've had good luck with it but I don't put it in any aircraft that cost over $100.00 mostly because of all the horror story's I've read on here.

Good Luck with you're new Futaba
Bob
Old 07-28-2014, 05:45 AM
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aris1
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Good morning,
I am sorry to read about your crash.3 years ago ,I had 2 crashes,exactly like yours,using spektrum.I sold all my sepktrum equipment,and went back to JR,were I was for the last 30 years without a single problem.I have nothing against spektrum,but I lost more than 2000 us.Best regards
Aris1
Old 07-28-2014, 06:23 AM
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Have to admit that I thought I had some problems early on with my DX6i and that is what prompted me to buy the flight logger which I use about 80% of the time. I hate hearing these stories too and with all the reports, it has me wondering about those early incidents I had. Rock solid performance these days and I fly several times a week, but am going to be wary.
Old 07-28-2014, 09:10 AM
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Another thought.... when I first got my dx6I I checked the power output screen in the menu's and it was set for "EU" which is lower power output. So I switched it to USA output which is higher signal output. Maybe you guys that are having problems should check that setting. It would make a noticeable difference.

Bob
Old 07-28-2014, 09:32 AM
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TheComputerGeek
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Yes Bob I have switched it. I have tinkered around with all of the settings too. I also asked around at our field to see if anybody has ever heard of this dead spot. Nobody else seems to have this problem.
Old 07-28-2014, 01:43 PM
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Maybe its heat related. The transmitter may get too hot and shift frequency or something. You may have to send it to Horizon.

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