<div dir="ltr"><font face="Tahoma" color="#000000" size="2"><div>I purchased a Vortex EPX and 3300mAhbattery as aChristmas gift for my 7 yr old.After reading the Redcat Racing manuals, my plan tonight wasto set up the steering and throttle set pointsand servo switches before gift wrapping it.</div><div></div><div>I had charged both the 1800 mAh and 3300 mAh I purchasedwith the car. I installed the3300 mAh in the car, pulled the antenae wire through the tube and stood it vertical, then installed 8 new Duracell AA batteries(purchased at Walmart yesterday) in the remote. The remote indicated full charge (both red and green lights were bright), and the car beeped when I turned it on.</div><div></div><div>Things seemed to be going fine as I stood right next to the car (which was on astand)in the garage and made adjustements in the steering and throttle using the controls on the remote control. After a couple of minutes I started to notice that I kept losing connectivity with the car. I kept having to hold the remote closer and closer to get the car to respond. (less than 10 min had passed at this point). With the antenae fully extended on the remote, indicating full battery, and a freshly charged battery pack in the car I could not exceed about 10 inches and it seems to get worse with time.</div><div></div><div>I swapped the 3300mAh battery out and installed the 1800mAh and observed the same problem.Ire-seatedthe "channel one" and "channel two"connectorsin the receiver in the car (also swapped them at one point),re-seated both crystals in the car andremote(also swapped them at one point), removed and reinstalled the 8 AA batteries in the controller, moved to a different area but nothing seemed to help. Each time I would find that after turning it off for a few minutes, I could turn it on and have maybe up to 20 feetof range (sometimes considerably less)and then it wouldreduce to only inches after about2 minutes or so.</div><div></div><div>When you have thereciever within range (a couple of inches)the car runs super. Allcontrols on the remote function as they should (including the stop adjustmnetsand servo switches). It really gets up some speed but you have to hold the car in one hand and the remote in the other to observe this. The battery lights never dim, they are full bright. It doesn't appear to have interference as there is no sporatic action or uncontrolled movements. As soon as you move the remote out of range, the car receiver LED starts to flash and it just sits there.</div><div></div><div>I'm sorry this is so long but I'm a bit paniced with Christmas right around the corner and now I'm not sure what to do about this car (his big gift). I've watched all ofAli's training videos and even calledRedcat earlier yesterday(before I had observed this prolem) just to ask if there was anything special I needed to do tbefore Igift wrap it.

Any thoughts on this would be very appreciated, Thanks!
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a very odd problem indeed!

im assuming that it came with a standard radio, and not the 2.4ghz radio.
if so, is the antenna in the controller screwed all the way in?(it came not in the remote right?)

have you tried it outside? i know there is one spot in my house, where ALL my radios glitch really bad but they work fine otherwise.

also, try disconnecting the steering servo from the reciever(channel #1) and see if it drives without glitching. sometimes, if a steering servo is bad, it will still move but mess with the controls. its rare, but i have had it happen to me.

oh, to test range outside, or with the steering servo disconnected, place the truck on a box so the wheels dont touch the ground and walk away while seeing if you still have throttle control.

i hope its something simple. the vortex is a great little truck!

Yes, it came with the standard AM radio. I have removed and re-installed (by screwing in) the antenae several times again this morning to ensure a good seat.. I also liked your recommendation about the stering servo. I disconnected it and turned the car and remote off then back on but no change. The light on the ESC keeps blicking if I'm more than inches away.

I have not taken it outside just yet (the kids are up and it's his present so I'll have to wait until their in bed to try that). Would WiFi effect this? I do have wifi in the house but my guess is this will not effect it.

I am still very excited about this truck! I can't wait to get it running (I used to work in customer support for a different companyand I have seen my fair share of things not work "right out of the box"... it just can't be avoided 100% of the time). I'm confident Redcat will help if needed.I purchased this online from a hobby shop who has directed me to Redcat for this which I completely agree with.

I've been told they are sold out of the Vortex EPX so I'm hoping maybe they could send parts and let me send my parts back to them?? Hobby shop recommended Transmitter and receiver as first items, ESC as a secondary approach.
Thanks again for the input!

yeh, a guy who has the right idea! some people have a problem and just assume that redcats must all be junk. getting stuff new that doesnt work right can happen with anything we buy.
there is no fear of redcat not having any parts you may need. why they may be out of stock on vortex epx's, the vortex shares the same electronics and drivetrain as the tornado and volcano epx. so they will have plenty of parts. only the shock towers, wheels/tires bumpers and body differ from the tornado and volcano. i have both the tornado and volcano(brushless PRO versions) and was surprised by how tough they are! they can really take a beating.

you dont happen to have any other AM radios do you? if you do, you can put the radio crystal from the redcat into your other radio and test. if it still doesnt work, then you know the redcat radio is good. that just leaves the Reciever, ESC and servo. i agree with the hobby shop that the radio and reciever are most likely causes.

did you buy it from the hobby shop, or on-line? if you got it from the hobby shop, maybe the guys there would be willing to let you "test" another reciever and radio to see if that fixes the problem.

opps, double post

oh, i did want to add, that while i dont know if wifi would interfere with a AM radio signal...it is possible.
i mentioned that near my house(about a 10foot square area next to the house on the driveway) all of my AM and FM radios glitch, and i have to get closer to the car to re-gain control. i dont have wifi, or anything else that i know of that should cause this. its just a "dead zone"...lol
my 2.4ghz radios arent effected tho.
i hope you can get the issue sorted in time. good luck.

Just came from the local hobby shop and trouble shooting revealed a bad receiver. Kudos to the RC HOBBYHOUSE (Waverly Iowa)!! Especially since he doesn't carry Redcat and he had no qualms about giving me a half hour of time to get to the bottom of this.. then didn't charge me anything..

He stocksa compatiblereceiver but he expects RedCat will have no probablems sending me a new one (since the car hasn't even been driven yet). I'll call RedCat this next week and discuss with them.

Either way... looks like there should be a working RC car under the tree Christmas morning!!
Thanks-Brian

Awsome!
yep, having a hobby shop thats run by people who really enjoy the hobby and care is worth more than any part they may stock
redcat has a warrenty link on their main page. just fill out the simple form and im sure they will replace it.(filling out the warrenty form will get you a replacement quicker than calling)
your son will no-doubt have a huge grin on his face the 1st time he pulls the trigger!

Great job glad tohearall worked out fine BIG UPS! to your local hobby shop who helped you out that is really great. Youhearso many stories where hobby shops will not help you out if youdidn'tbuy the car from them. I have never understood this idea because one thing about this hobby you are going to always need some parts are more and because anytime you will need something for the car they will be the first place you check because you will always rememberthey help you out when you was in a bind. Great job to your LHS!!!!!!!