Radio Issue

[Wayne Johnstone]

Hi all,

Went out for our club day today and I have discovered an issue with my radio gear (I think). I am using a Futaba 4PKS with 603FS receivers. Normally if tx is off but the radio box is on, there is a solid red light on rx which turns to solid green when tx is switched on. However, today, after going out for my first run it appeared as though I was on and off the throttle but I was actually full throttle all the way. So after bringing the boat in, I noticed that the rx light was flashing. So with all switches turned off I then turned the radio box on, the red light comes on Rx (for various periods of time) and then starts flashing green, when I turn on tx it goes solid green. Now I changed receivers (2 different ones), different batteries in radio box with the same result. Re linked the rx to tx still with the same result. Has anyone had a similar issue or have any idea what could be causing this issue? It has me plus some others baffled. Thanks

 

[Wayne Johnstone]

According to the manual a blinking green light means receiving signals but ID is unmatched. So I am guessing that I have either had 3 receivers fail at the same time or maybe some issue with controller

 

[Jim Caldwell]

Try rebinding the rec's to transmitter and turn the trans on first.

 

[Greg Moss]

Hi Wayne

I only have a 3 channel tx, so I'm just shooting the breeze here, but I don't suppose there's a chance that the TX is in the mode for 4-channel receivers now? C1 vs C2?

Something to check at least.

 

[Wayne Johnstone]

Checked that Greg, all as it should be. Have tried to rebind but will try this method next time I'm allowed in the shed

 

[Mike Larson]

There's a ton of Futaba team guys on here... the receiver is coming unbound, and why.... I'd thought they had a built in overheat system or something of that nature awhile back, and if they get hot or to a certain temperature possibly... idk... it could be a vibration issue... anything.... I've experienced 2 failures way in the past, 603Fs, and upon inspection had the blinking unbound condition, and i built theory then, that an overdraw of power/spike per a heavy G turn in a hydro..... was simply too much and it kicked... idk..... they have to be insulated in foam padding and 0 moisture.... I'm not an electronics tuner... but you'll find the issue.... keep eliminating things..... mike

 

[Andy Greene]

Could battery voltage be an issue ??

 

[Ken Webb]

Email Futaba cust. service. Explain the problem and they should answer you back within a couple days.

 

[Wayne Johnstone]

Battery voltage may be an issue, but I am thinking more the transmitter rather than the receiver, reason being that I tried a borrowed battery that we know had a good charge in the radio box with the same result. There was one option that was discussed and if possible would very much appreciate some opinions, I hadn't properly set the failsafe so when we checked it on the bank, it would only return to the half throttle position (roughly). Now the backing on and off that was happening on the water, could this be the boat going into failsafe and then back out to normal? I didn't think of it at the time but after setting the failsafe to shut off fully, i should have put the boat back on the water and see if it shut down as this then would at least point to the boat going into failsafe. My next question would be, what causes the boat to go into failsafe? I thought generally it was a loss of signal from the transmitter, if I have a battery issue with the transmitter, could this be the result? The battery warning 'beep' on the transmitter wasn't sounding and the lowest power reading I think was 6.7 on the screen. Thanks for the advice also, much appreciated.

 

[Andy Greene]

Wayne , am I reading right. Transmitter voltage @ 6.7 V or Receiver pack voltage @ 6.7 ?

If in fact you are running your transmitter @ 6.7 volts- there in lies your issues-imho .

My 3PKS normally charges to 11.4 - 11.6 range and disharges to around 10.0 or so on a race weekend if I dont forget to turn it off. I just pulled mine out of the case and after a month of sitting it reads 10.2v .

I wont use it under 9.2/ 9.4 range - but thats me.

 

[wayne middlemiss]

lipo power way to go. also the jr r-1 tx wont perform less than 10v . electronics are your worst nightmare.

 

[ZZ RACING]

Solid red means it is not bound or it's bad.. Flashing green means it is receiving a 2.4 signal but not from your TX. Solid green means it is bound and receiving signal from your TX

 

[Wayne Johnstone]

I have the standard Futaba. Battery in the transmitter 6V 1700 mAh NIMH

 

[shawdaddy]

Andy, These new Futaba radios run on 4 AA batteries, So 6.7 is about right.

 

[Andy Greene]

Got ya, thanks Ryon - just making sure he didnt miss something simple

 

[Tim_Duggan]

I use a 2S 2100mah LiFe pack in my 4PKS. Works great.

 

[tnrcboatracer]

I had a similar thing with my 3PJ with FASS module. The boat would bind (solid green) and then start flashing for a few seconds on the starting table, but then re-bound just fine. Not sure what was going on, but it ran just fine after that. I have had 1 received un-bind while in storage (1+ years after the last run); I dodn't thnk that was a problem with the receiver, though. It ran just fine after rebinding.

 

[Wayne Johnstone]

So I have finally been able to spend some time today trying to sort this out. I have replugged the wiring to the receiver, I have not charged any of the batteries, reason being I wanted to see if it was a charge issue. I have turned on the receiver and transmitter and for whatever reason, the flashing hasn't started, I have been turning power on and off, leaving the power on, simulating a run, still all working as it should. So at this point in time I am no wiser as to why it happened last weekend.

 

[Wayne Johnstone]

Could be Greg. I normally charge everything the night before and tape up radio boxes etc the night before, maybe I should do it in the morning from now on. It was pretty cold that night, maybe some condensation, plus I usually put the receiver in a balloon so it may have been moisture