Question about R.C.

[cliffm]

I wanted to try out r.c. to get an inexspensive try at it so I got a RTF off the internet. This is the only modelers forum I use so I thought I'd pick your brains for a few answers. I tuned the planes servos for trim as close as I could in the house,charged it up and gave it a dummy run indoors to see that everything worked and it performed flawlessly. Next day after recharging took it outside turned it on and it acted like it was having a seizure,twitching,jerking and not responding to the controls except to turn off and on. Went back in the house and it performed great ,it's 27mhz FM. Any help or hints would be appreciated. Thanks,Cliffm

[Wildpig]

I'm definitely not an expert on R/C.

27mhz is used for surface vehicles mostly.

Twitching is mainly from bad feedback pots in the servos.

Except you say it's o.k indoors , so I think there is some kind of interference from an outside source. CB radio, remote phones,etc.

That's about all I know about that.

[cliffm]

I have a cell phone tower fairly close,maybe that? couple miles and its a clear shot. Other than that I have a dish for t.v. and I'm in the wide open spaces.

[Wildpig]

http://radiocontrol.wikia.com/wiki/27_MHz

Maybe the transmitter is flaky?

[davidchoate]

im kindof new to rc too. i got an RTF trainer to learn on myself, like you. mine came with a 2.4Mhz transmitter which i understand is better for planes. i did have a similar problem with erratic loss of control. it turned out to be weak batteries. you should do a range check before yuo fly too.

[slopemeno]

Try it again, but try standing 50 feet away or so. Standing too close can cause "swamping".

[cliffm]

I've tried everything aforementioned and then some, I finally popped the screws on the TX and found 2 unsoldered wires and an unattached antenna. I can see where the 2 wires were attached but am at somewhat of a quandary where the antenna gets hooked too. There is a little gob of solder where a wire should attach to the antenna, but, no wire, or suspicious looking spot for it to attach on the board. I just ordered a small soldering iron for working on the board as the one I have is a little large for miniature work so I'll have a few days to investigate. Any body have access to a diagram,schematic that may give a clue where an antenna attaches to a TX board. I probably should have sent it back to manufacturer, but I'd rather fix it. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanx Cliffm

[davidchoate]

you may be able to get help from mauf. website for schematic. i got books, but they are not manufacturer specific.sounds like your on the right track. just be careful you dont fry the circuit by soldering the wrong place. i did that before, and it sucks.

[David Lewis]

It's easiest to touch the antenna to different pads on the circuit board until you find the one that gets it working again. You can connect the antenna to any point on the circuit board (assuming you don't short two points together) with no danger of damaging anything. If that doesn't work, try holding the antenna with a plastic rod so you aren't part of the antenna during your experiments.

[cliffm]

Hey guys thanks for all the clues as I am not at all familiar with the interior of a radio. All things come to those who chase it long enough in most cases and knowledge is usually one of these cases. I know this isn't a devoted RC forum but in the past few years there is quite a collection of intelligence and know-how amongst the members here and thanks again.Cliffm