radio woes

[RB Will]

got a bit of an issue with my radio gear. as soon as the battery is connected the servos just go mad all by themselves and it wont pick up any command from my controller. one of my old cars developed this problem i tried a new set of radio gear on that and it still did not solve it. this one is doing it from day 1 so currently i have a nice new car that i can either just sit n look at or set the throttle and chase after the bugger. any ideas very welcome. I dont think it is any interferance in the area I live as I have 2 other cars that have always worked perfectly.
thanks

[Gingerbread Man]

I had this problem with an old Tamiya Wild Dagger I have. Kept taking it back to the shop countless times to get it fixed. Then one day after going back again after they said there was nothing wrong with it, I turned up to a closed down, out of business shop.

I never did fix the problem, didn't matter where I drove it, what I did, what I adjusted. It now sits in my garage half dismantled. Shame really..but hey now I've brought a nitro truck

[BigMansZetec]

Have you tired changing the crystals? I know you say you don't think its interferance, but you got to start with the simple stuff.

Is it both servos that are going crazy or just the throttle servo going to your mech speedo?

You haven't trimmed the end of the reciver aerial or anything like that before?

[RB Will]

not trimmed anything the car is built exactly as the instructions say. though does it do any harm to trim the antenna cos it really is way too long it goes up the shaft for it then all the way back down again (just add even holding it up high it still does this.) its a different set of xtalls on a different freq that have bugged the 2 cars the ones that work fine are on another freq again. just had to buy 1 set of xtalls for it dont wanna buy another unless its a guaranteed fix.

[BigMansZetec]

Trimming the aerial isn't recommended, I did it once, got interferance, and ended up soldering a new one on.

You need someone to take a look at it really, difficult to suggest anything else without being able to see it.

Sorry I can't be of anymore help.

[Gingerbread Man]

BigMansZetec said:

Trimming the aerial isn't recommended, I did it once, got interferance, and ended up soldering a new one on.

You need someone to take a look at it really, difficult to suggest anything else without being able to see it.

Sorry I can't be of anymore help.

You re soldered my ariel but I don't think I ever put the car back together again to try it. Just buy another I say!

[RB Will]

not buying another one just spent £400 on this one and not bloody driven it yet! thanks for the help tho. I dunno what to do with it.

[BigMansZetec]

RB Will said:

not buying another one just spent £400 on this one and not bloody driven it yet! thanks for the help tho. I dunno what to do with it.

Just out of interest, what chassis and electrics are you running?

Depending on what motor you are using, you may benefit from some capacitors being installed on it.

[Zad]

Tune an AM radio to a relatively unused part of the band and put it near the model. Power up the model. If the model motor, electronics or whatever are kicking out interference then you will hear it on the radio. If there's no joy there, It could be that it is your mobile phone, or your pc/internet (if you have wifi) or something else chucking out the RF hash. Try taking it down the garden and turning it on there?

[sgrimshaw]

It sounds like you are experiencing what people refer to as "glitching". It happens from time to time, and you just need to be methodical to find the cause and eliminate it.

A very common cause of radio problems is a damaged crystal, they are extremely fragile.

You say you have two other cars, switch crystals with a known, good, set from another radio.

I don't have the time to go through the whole list of potential problems and fixes, but if you Google for "Radio Glitching" - you will find a whole host of resources to help you sort the problem.

Good luck,

Simon

[RB Will]

thank you