Servo chatter in the radio box - Is this normal?

Question

Good Evening. After using conventional radios for most of my time in the hobby, I thought I'd give a computer radio a try. I purchased a Futaba 7CAF FM radio, with a T7CAF transmitter, an R127DF receiver, and

4 S3004 servos. I charged up the transmitter and receiver batteries for
15 hours, as the manual suggests, then, without removing anything from the box, I hooked up the battery to the receiver through the switch. When I turned the transmitter and receiver switches on, the first thing I noticed was chattering of the servos. This seemed to worsen as I walked further away, with the transmitter, from the radio box. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Will the chatter problem go away if I unfold the receiver antenna? I am leery of using this system in a plane until I can get the chatter problem resolved. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Harry Sanchez snipped-for-privacy@jetlink.net

ahdofu · Accepted Answer

The antenna needs to be fully unfolded and you should also make surethat it does not cross over a servo wire (or cross itself) as this ineffect shortens the effective antenna length. On some applicationswhere the fuselage may be too short in relation to the antenna, peoplewind the antenna over a piece of balsa or plastic (without crossing thewires) and this is Ok too.

MK · Answer

If it's brand new you might need to unravel the antennae.  Seems silly to say but you might have forgotten.mk

R.A.Gareau · Answer

NEVER FOLD THE ANTENNA OVER ITSELF ALWAYS FLY WITH IT FULLY EXTENDED,ANDMAKE SURE THAT ANY WIRE FROM BATTERIES OR SERVOS ARE CLOSERT THEN 1 INCH,BEST  is to attach the antenna on top of the fin and let it  fly

mjd · Answer

Just a question - you did unplug the charger right?Otherwise you'll get jitter city, at least on any radio I've ever owned.

chris-s · Answer

Just make sure you have selected PCM/PPM on the tx accordingly!

Servo chatter in the radio box - Is this normal?

Join the Discussion

Didn't find your answer?