alex-RCU

I have a futaba skysport six radio which is experiencing severe problems.
If my glider flies more than about ten metres away from me the servos jitter.
i have tried different servos
Any suggestions?

Thanks alex

Steve Lewin

It's not very likely to be the servos that are at fault.

What receiver are you using ? Is the receiver antenna straight, outside the fuselage, not coiled up etc ?

Are both receiver and transmitter batteries fully charged ? Transmitter antenna fully extended ? Did you do a range check with the transmitter antenna down, as in the instructions ? What range do you get on the that ?

Steve

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

Has the receiver been crashed hard? How old is it?

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

Wouldn't be an R127DF would it?

alex-RCU

I have two transmitters and receivers experiencing the same problems.
i am suspicious of my receiver which has had a fairly rough ride.
i have been very careful to get the receiver wire as straight as posible away fro other electronics.
it was doing a range check with the tx areil down that first showed up the problem.
with freshly charged batteries jittering starts from 1ft away total range of ten feet. i have checked the batteries, they are fine. I have also replaced the crystals. the problems have no relation to the position of the pane. the receiver wire seems to have a solid connection but the glue holding it in place stops me from seeing properly.
Any suggestions now?!!!

Thanks for all your help Alex

alex-RCU

just to add
the receivers in question are:
R147f and FP-R116FB

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

Don't see a 147 or 116 listed here Futaba

alex-RCU

they are both six channel receivers bought in the last 6 months in england
Yes i did read the code correctly

Any help
Thanks
Alex

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

If they have been crashed, you may have a crack in a board or in the crystal or where it mounts. Might send them to futaba and have them look at them.

Before you do that, change the switch and check it again just to make sure. They go bad quite often, but this doesn't sound like a bad switch.

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

Are US and European frequencies and channels the same etc?
Have you changed any crystals in the Tx or Rx_bob

Steve Lewin

If as you say you have 2 transmitters and 2 receivers experiencing exactly the same problems it sounds more like the cause is external e.g. interference. Are they all on the same channel ? Can you try them on a different channel ?

Have you tried them in different combinations Tx A with Rx B etc ? If neither Tx can control one Rx that sounds like a fault in the Rx. On the other hand if one Tx has poor range with several RXs that sounds like a Tx fault.

I would also clean the transmitter aerials carefully and make sure they are tightly attached but it's sounding very strange. Two transmitters going wrong at once is very unusual.

BTW bob_nj, frequencies in UK/Europe are completely different from the US (35MHz vs 72MHz). We are allowed to change crystals and often do, without problems.

Steve

alex-RCU

thanks for all your help
i have tested every possible combination there do not appear to be any cracks or breakages in the receivers
it has nothing to do with interference as i have tested on top of a hill and in my garage and the symptoms are the same.
it looks to me like a double fault somewhere along the line and i was hoping someone might be able to tell me what the problem is from the symptoms. the batteries and servos are in perfect condition and i have tested them so that is not the problem. i doubt it is the crystals since i have tsted them with a spare pair and it is unlikely to be the linkage since the crystals have only been changed once. All wiring appears fine and everything is clean. it is probably a problem with the microelectronics. Anyway here are the symptoms once more:
Minor but constant servo jittering
severe loss of range

it looks like i might have to find another flier with futaba equiptment
any more suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks Alex

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

Have you tried changing the servos? Its possible that one of them has a bad motor creating noise that bothers the receiver. It would be easy to check. Just unplug them one at a time and see if your range comes back.

High Nitro

Sense you have apparently exhausted all the usual radio related possibilities you might be having a metal to metal emission problem. While setting up a a plane I have found that besides a Steel screw touching another steel part causes jitter. In addition to this... a pile of tools such as screw drivers underneath the plane sometimes causes this sort of problem. Try rubbing 2 screw drivers together near an antenna and you'll probably see a little jitter.

alex-RCU

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.
After narrowing the problem down by alot of testing i have discovered it was the rx battery after all.
the battery i compared it to had a faulty conection.
the rx batery itself looed fine but when i opened it i discovered a battery cell with a bad dent in it.
i have read in one of my magazines that a dented cell can cause serious interference so in flight this is what must have happened:
whilst the plane was flying close by the signal was strong so there was relatively little interference and jittering. As the plane goes furthur away the signal becomes weaker and the effect of the interference becomes greater until eventaually the interference is so great that the signal is lost.
my zagi now flies beautifully once more.
thanks again

Alex