Old controller now illegal?

| This past week I was literally given everything I need to start flying | RC aircraft, including two aircraft and engines. A relative's neighbor | was throwing everything out, but my relative rescued the stuff and | surprised me with them. | | I'm concerned that the controller (a 6-channel setup from the mid | 80's) might now be illegal to operate. Anyone know anything about | this?

Assuming you're in the US, and that your date is correct, it probably is.

From 1988 to 1998, they went from 80 kHz to 40 kHz to 20 kHz channel seperations, and as of 1998 it's illegal to use any transmitter that uses more than 10 kHz (in the 72 mHz band.)

Transmitters can be modified to use the narrow band and generally they'll have a gold AMA sticker if this modification has been made.

a pretty good summary of what happened.

Your servos are probably still good, but your transmitter and receiver are likely to be obsolete. Post the exact models here and channel and we might be able to give you a more definitive answer.

Your batteries are almost certainly junk. But they can be replaced relatively cheaply.

If your radio equipment needs replacing, you can probably do so for about $100 for new equipment (assuming a 4 channel setup) or less if you can find some used equipment (like I could probably sell you an AM transmitter and receiver for $50 or so.)

Mid 80's should be fine. Any more details on the transmitter (controller)?

Red S.

It depends on the brand and mosel of transmitter. If it is a Futaba FM system, it is legal as all of them manufactured met the narrow band requirements. If it is another brand, many could be modified to meet the requirements. The manufacturers will no longer perform the modification but you can find private firms that may still do it.

That said, you still might be money ahead if you just buy a new 4-6 chanel basic system because you will almost certainly need new batteries for the transmitter and receiver. These will cost about $30-50 depending on the configuration. Also, it is likely that the receiver is a wideband model if it is the original one. This will be "legal" to use but can suffer from adjacent and 3IM interference. Replacing the receiver will cost about $60-75. Once you replace the receiver, you will likely have to either change the servo connectors or buy new servos at $10-15 each. As you can see, buying a new radio system at $150-175 is a very economical alternative. One other thing you can do is scour any local clubs for used radio equipment. There is usually some good used equipment available at about 2/3 the cost of new.

Thanks for the information!

It's a Tower Hobbies System 500 (gold), crystalled for channel 38.

| Thanks for the information! | | > Post the exact models here and channel and | > we might be able to give you a more definitive answer. | | It's a Tower Hobbies System 500 (gold), crystalled for channel 38.

Hmm, not really sure about that one. If it doesn't have a gold `1991' sticker on it, it's probably not legal for use now. You might contact Tower Hobbies's support to be sure.

If you do determine that it needs replacing, this is probably the cheapest possible new replacement :

**&P=0 for $90, you get a new transmitter, receiver, charger and batteries. No servos. Or used you can go cheaper.

I know I will be flamed for this, but it is now illegal to have a radio narrow banded, that was not previously converted.

alternative.

I don't know why you should get flamed for your statement, BUT please quote your source for this statement.

bob

No flame here, I've been telling 'em this for a long time. :) Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

Odd. I thought that the whole issue was that the trasnsmitter didn't transmit sidebands outside its designated slot.

How this is achieved is not a matter for legal interest: You could indeed just take the batteries out, and it would be quite legal.

I am searching for the quoted materials. I know I found this out for a friend last year who wanted to use his radio in a local meet, however was unable to even though there are those who will still make the conversion.

maybe you can help me answer Bob Cowell, he asked for where this informatin comes from.

| tailfeathers wrote: | | > I know I will be flamed for this, but it is now illegal to have a radio | > narrow banded, that was not previously converted. | | Odd. I thought that the whole issue was that the trasnsmitter didn't | transmit sidebands outside its designated slot.

Well, you're on the other side of the pond, so things are likely somewhat different over there, but yes, that is the ultimate goal -- the transmitter is not to have signifigant emissions outside of the 10 kHz channel.

However, the FCC not only designates the final destination, but limits the path one can take to arrive at this destination.

| How this is achieved is not a matter for legal interest: You could | indeed just take the batteries out, and it would be quite legal.

I do believe that would be legal :) though I do also believe that the FCC doesn't want anybody to narrowband old R/C radios anymore. Not that they'd really know if somebody did ...

In any event, I think it's a moot point. Unless the original poster can do it himself, it'll cost about as much to narrowband his transmitter and buy a new receiver as to buy new ones from Tower for $90. And the batteries are almost certainly bad. Once you factor in all that, it's better to just spend the $90 rather than $30 for battereies, $50 to narrowband his transmitter and $50 for a receiver. And besides, he can use his old transmitter as a buddy box now if he wants.

It's on the FCC website, but I can't, offhand, tell him where to look. The entire RF section would have to be replaced at this point. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

Ok, Didn't know that learned something today.

bob

I contacted Tower and the girl I talked to wasn't familiar with the controller. She put me on hold, and when she came back on told me that the controller was illegal (there's my answer), it was unsupported, and that they would not answer any questions, or give me any information about it. I got the feeling that if there had been an exit nearby, she would have escorted me through it! Probably some big liability issues at play.

One of the planes I have needs a 6-channel controller, so I'll probably shell out for one.

Thanks, all!

Check out the Futaba T6XAS. Lots of bang for the buck. If you can find a Futaba T7UAF on eBay, that's a dynamite radio, too. Also, Hitec's Eclipse stands out. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

Just wanted to point out that while I love my 7UAF, these are not the "Super 7's", and only have one model memory. The 7UAFS is the super 7 with 3 model memory and many more features and often goes for about the same price on Ebay. Either is a good call, but don't pay as much for the older 7UAF.

That would mean that it was an AM system as all of Futabas FM systems are legal. By extension, that would also mean that all of the rebadged Towers would also be legal.

I was thinking it was FCC's site but wasnt sure... that is good enough.. if he really wants to know he can read.

Thanks