New from Futaba

[Jonathan Vincent]

Cool I knew I bought the right radio thanks FUTABA

[Tony Benton]

I bought the futaba T6EX fasst tx unit with servos and reciver unit to use at bonchester model club and am now glad that i did .

The bonchester club has some spectrum controllers and and a few futaba 2.4s running  just now , and 2 weeks ago while watching one of our members flying with his spectrum system his plane failed to respond to any controll movments he made after managing to get his plane down after controll response returned which was admitadly only about 2 seconds (but as you all probably know 2 seconds is enough to make a mess of your plane )we then procedded to run cheak's on his battery, his connections and his controller we could find no fault so we then proceded to do a powered down ground test he walked away 30 paces and tried controlls no problems there either we then discussed how his aireal was pointed it turns out that with his aireal not quit in the vertical position it was the one click step away from it and his aireal had been pointing at the plane as it flew towards him for an airfield fly by so we tested his spectrum pointed at the plane on powered down mode up to 30 paces still worked but 1 step past this point and the plane no longer responded to his controlls .

We then ran the same powered down test with my futaba 2.4ghz system 30 paces still working 35 paces still working 40 paces still working we saw no point in going any further than that as the 1 minite test time was running out anyway BOTH these test were ran on same area of ground with both aireals pointing directly at the planes the futaba passed with (pardon the pun ) flying colours at 40 paces ,  where the spectrum model failed at 31 paces so i say to anyone considering buying a 2.4 system that although the spevtrum may look a lot nicer the futaba is the one that gets my vote every time

[Tim Mackey]

Well if you want to turn this into a vote, the Spektrum gets mine.

This of course is because I am biased in favour of the Spekky 'cos I have one and has no objective reasoning behind it - Futaba make excellent R/C systems - my only objective criticsm of the Futaba 2.4Ghz stuff is its lack of features and plasticky feel compared to the Spekky. These subjective and unscientific "tests" do little to really appraise a system. There is a multitude of reasons for radio "failures" which apply to ANY R/C system on any frequency. The installation, the power-supply, maintenance ( or lack of it ) etc etc. I have used the Spektrum system for 2 years now wihout a single glitch of any kind whatsoever, it is in ALL my models ( currently 9 flight ready ) ranging from slopers to EDFs and IC powered WOT4s and 64" Spitfires. The ONLY oddity I have experienced is complete lack of response from the reciever after initial switch on, and this I have put down to the following.....

The TR must be switched on FIRST, ( good practice anyway ) and then allowed a few seconds to find a free channel(s). I ALWAYS check that I have complete servo response from all channels before committing to flight. Incidentally, I fly with the tr aerial in various positions, sometimes staraight, sometimes bent at a slight angle, and sometimes at 90 degrees....never noticed the slightest difference between all of them.

I just position it as I feel in the mood to do so

Flying the model straight at you, with the aerial pointing at the model is not advised with ANY R/C system. For what its worth. I suggest that your friends problem may equally have been down to insufficient voltage at the receiver - the "2 second" delay before control was resumed is exactly the time it normally takes for the receiver to "re-boot" after loss of signal or power. To analyze the problem and arrive at a more objective conclusion require more information such as the method used for powering the onboard radio and servos.

.02P supplied.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[colin robinson]

I would like to tell you about an incident that happened on Sunday 25th November at approximately 15:00. One of the younger members was flying his new Cougar on the Futaba 2.4 system when we heard a shout for help. One of the senior members of the club went to his aid and took the controls but unfortunately the plane crashed. On recovery of the aircraft all members gathered round to see if we could find what the problem was. Where upon another member was heard to have said 'my control surfaces are moving' and yet he was not moving the sticks on his Futaba 2.4 system. On closer inspection we found that both aircraft could be operated from one transmitter thus showing interference with the inevitable crash. Hope this may be of some use.

Regards,
Colin

[Jonathan Vincent]

The only reason I can think of that could have cause the incident reported by Colin would be that the Linking process was not done or not carried out correctly. Did they check for a green led. I think this process should be checked by a second person to ensure that it has been done correctly

Futaba 2.4GHz FASST system transmitters leave the factory with a unique and permanent ID code. Once linked to the receiver, the code ensures that the receiver will recognize and respond ONLY to that transmitter. The linking process is simple...just push a button on the receiver

To properly link the receiver follow these steps:

• Turn on the transmitter. Check the LED on the back of the transmitter to make sure that it is green. If so, proceed to step 2. If not, power down the transmitter and turn it on once again.
• Turn on the receiver.
• With the receiver on, press and hold the ID Set button (located between the two antenna exits) for more than one second. When the linking process has completed the receiver's LED will change to a solid green.

One should also remember that any incident where the memory of the transmitter or receiver is wiped will require this process to be repeated. The conditions that can cause a memory wipe need to be investigated.

It must also be possible to accidently link a Receiver and Transmitter if the operation is being carried out simultaneously be two people.

Regards

Jonathan

[Tim Mackey]

As is the same scenario with the DSS system of Spektrum - any receiver can respond to any transmitter, including multiple rcvrs on one tr IF they are " bound ".

[colin robinson]

Thanks Jonathan for the positive feedback. As far as I'm aware both Futaba 2.4 transmitters and their respective receivers were bound in the correct way. The troubling part about this is that both transmitters would and could operate either plane. Ripmax have requested both transmitters to be returned, possibly both on the same ID code.

Regards,

Colin

[Chris Dowsett]

A know of a couple of problems that might have caused the problem. They are in the public domain so I suspect Ripmax will make the situation clear for everybody soon.