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In my 30+ years of RC flying I've always observed the 'rule' that one switches the trannie on first, before powering up the model, and vice versa on shutdown.  The other day at the field I was nominated as 'the man to talk to' when a prospective new member came along with a small quad (or was it heli, I can't remember), the kind that comes with its own transmitter and is usually flown indoors.

 

It was a dead calm day, so flying the model was feasible, so I went through the startup with him.  When he started to plug in the model's battery first, without the trannie switched on, I 'corrected' him and said it should be done the other way round.  Luckily he'd read the manual, and he told me that it has to be the other way round, and after swithing on the trannie you have to go to full throttle and back to zero before anything will happen.  He was right -- doing it my 'proper' way resulted in no response from the receiver/flight controller.

 

I know that the trannie-on-first 'rule' was important in the 27/35MHz days when there was a possibility of a powered receiver responding to another transmitter -- or to other interference -- if its own transmitter was not switched on, but how relevent is it these days?  My own view is that it's still relevant, even in the days of model-match and binding with 2.4GHz because there's still a possibility, however remote, of a receiver or ESC doing unexpected things if it's not receiving a positive signal from its transmitter.  So it would be helpful if all manufacturers would follow the trannie-on-first protocol.

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I have an XK 520 Fighter , which is a twin prop vertical take  delta using Futaba type protocol trannie. It must be bound every time (receiver first) to activate  . One side effect seems to be that if you close the throttle fully for a few seconds ,as in a spin ,it loses bind

 

The original trannie on first regimen was pre 2.4gig to prevent servo damage from glitches caused by adjacent channels

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1 hour ago, john davidson 1 said:

I have an XK 520 Fighter , which is a twin prop vertical take  delta using Futaba type protocol trannie. It must be bound every time (receiver first) to activate  . . . .

 

Why do they make it like that?  Are the electronics cheaper if it can't retain its bind information?

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Years ago a clubmate had one of the first available type of  2.4G plug in modules (IIRC Assan) fitted to a Futaba FF9. He used to switch on Rx first then Tx as he said that was in the modules instructions. 

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Yes the XK520 Fighter was only £80 all in from China , but it only has that one flaw , which can be avoided by remembering not to close the throttle stick for more than a second or two. Three modes - vertical with gyro,   horizontal with gyro, and horizontal no gyro. Quite entertaining and good value really 

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