buzzard bait

I know this has been covered but I got confused looking at old posts.

Here is my problem: I have a plane I bought from someone else that has old Airtronics gear in it. The receiver won't work. I have a new JR receiver and several Hitec receivers, but the servo connectors from the old Airtronics servos won't fit any of those receivers.

I cannot replace the servos--they are buried in the fuse and have pull-pull connectors I don't want to mess with.

If I were to cut the case on a Hitec receiver so that I could get the plugs in, would it work?

I know that the battery leads are reversed on the old Airtronics too.

Thanks for your help.

Jim

MrMulligan

My Feedback: (314)

If the servos have the old Airtronics connector, you can buy adapters from Maxx. I did for a set that I had that had never been used.

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

I'll bet Radio South (or other fine shops) could fix your non-functional receiver, if it's actually not functional.

What receiver, and what are you trying to drive it with? Airtronics made some AM receivers, you can't drive them with an FM transmitter. A good shop could tell you what you have and how to operate it with your JR radio.

Good luck,
Dave Olson

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

No, No this will instantly destroy the Rx. You must either find a full set of adapters for all four servos or you must cut the servo wires and splice in Hitec S plugs reversing the positive and negative leads as you do. Don,t bother rewireing the switch harness polarity just get a new harness Hitec S, JR and Airtronics Z plugs are all completely compatable.

buzzard bait

This last post goes right to the heart of what confuses me. I know that the polarity of the battery terminals is reversed. But if I have that correct, is there any problem with either scraping off the ridges on the old style servo connectors or enlarging the holes on the receiver case, and then plugging the old Airtronics servos into a Hitec Rx? This is strictly a question about the servos, because I understand the battery problem.

Or put another way, if I used one of the new micro receivers that just has pins sticking out, could I just plug old Airtronics servos into it?

I've seen some posts that seem to say this is OK; that's what I'd like to clear up.

Thanks,
Jim

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Don,t do it. Every airborn plug on the old style Airtronics system 'ALL' have reversed power polarity from everyone else then and now. This 'is' the heart of the problem.

This includes:

All servo male plugs
All Rx. female plugs/ports
battery pack male plug
switch harness charge jack
switch harness rx plug
switch harness female batt plug

Nothing is interchanable period.

Agine force plugging old style airtronics servo plugs into a Hitec or Futaba Rx will not and can not work.

For a time Hitec produced some Rx's with reversed polarity power buss for those old servos but the one you have is not or you would already have discovered that the old style plugs do fit that Rx. However these Rx are long out of production.

If you ever want to ever use those servos as I said before then your only options are 1. replace the servo plugs switching the power polarity in the process (I do not recomend you doing this yourself without help) Or 2. acquire for the purpose adapters for each servvo.

John

buzzard bait

OK John, I'll get the adaptors then, thanks for the explanation. Jim

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

It can be done quite reliably and "on-the-cheap"
I have an Avistar completely loaded with the old airtronics flight pack and a new Polk Rx. All you have to do is to carefully release the + and - pins from each plug that goes into the Rx and reverse the locations. Then shave the tabs off of the plugs. When doing the switch, ONLY modify the one that plugs into the Rx. You can then continue to use the old style battery pack and charger. I've been flying this setup for 3 years with NO problems.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Krossk you are quite right it can be done this way and I too have also done this, the problem arises in the translation in how to release the pins. Many times the locking pins get damaged by folks and the result is pins that push out and will not stay in.

The down sizing of the plugs is far more than what is neccessary for just removing the Futaba J tab. It takes far more time to do than just cutting the leads and installing a modern plug that fits properly and it presents more reliability problems when done carelessly which is problable in many of these cases.

John