Laser 4/555 Range Check question

[B717 Furloughee]

I maidened my Impuls 3D this morning. Of course I performed a satisfactory range check prior to flight. During the flight (just flew a series of traffic patterns) the airplane began to get "knocked off" it's flight path each time it passed the upwind-to-crosswind leg of the pattern. At first I thought it was turbulence sneaking up on me, but the wind was light and variable almost nil.

After 3 occurances, I chopped the power and landed. I have since performed several range checks at home, wiggled wires and antennas. I am able to get as far as 60 feet, but then I get some slight jittering. If I continue it seems to mostly be intermitent until I reach 130 feet, where the servos go crazy, which I assume is max range.

I used to think the jittering was due to the position I held the TX, but have not been able to duplicate any situations.

What is going on here? Now I am not confident in the radio's abilty to maintain control.

One note of interest: I have had this Laser 4 TX/555 RX for under 1 year and never had any problems with it until I transferred the 555 RX to my new airplane. Servos are brand new for this airplane- HS81mg's.

Is it the TX, RX, or something else? How about battery connections, BEC? Any ideas welcomed, please.:confused:

[MikeMayberry]

There are many, many things that can cause glitching. It's tough to say if it is a problem with the radio. 60ft is not a good range check. Especially with the motor off. What are you powering it with? What ESC?

Mike.

[B717 Furloughee]

Hi Mike,
I have an Axi 2820/12 with CC Phoenix 45 speed control; All new! 555 RX is installed behind cockpit (totally isolated) with RX antenna strung from that point to vertical stab.

[B717 Furloughee]

Right now I'm charging the Hitec RX battery to determine so I can isolate the BEC from RX.

[B717 Furloughee]

I have since tried the TX/RX with AND without the speed-controller's BEC, with no luck. I've ruled out servos, BEC, and location.

My range check seems to vary from 40-85 feet.

[MikeMayberry]

I would suggest you try another receiver to determine if that is the problem. If so, send it in and we'll check it out.

You are using the Hitec dual conversion cystal... correct?

Mike.

[B717 Furloughee]

You are using the Hitec dual conversion cystal... correct?
Correct. I already shipped it to you guys, today. Thanks for the help and I look forward to getting it fixed.

[edbuell]

See the Castle section of the vendor group

there are known problems with the Phoenix 35 and the AXI motor4s they are working on a fix.

with higher cell counts.....it gets erratic

don't fix the radio or other things until you're sure its not the
controller

ed buell

[B717 Furloughee]

Thanks Ed,
I tried a range check with only the servos and RX battery back plugged into the RX. I hope this was sufficient to eliminate the motor and ESC from the problem?

It seems to me that the main problem I've seen with the Axi/Phoenix 45, has been high cell count under max RPM conditions, causing the frequency to get out of sync. Have you any other experiences? I only flew it once so I am not sure what to look for.
:confused:

[edbuell]

run a search on AXI and you'll all the notes on problems
with Phoenix 35 and 45's with AXI motors at high cell counts.