Awhile back, my antenna fell off of the RX and is gone. Meanwhile, my TX batteries were down to about 25%. When I was flying the other day, the heli got about a block down the street and just landed itself. That's the third time it has happened, landing squarely on the skids! (lucky) I walked down to it, spooled it up and flew it back, walking behind it.

It's likely a loose connection or intermittent ESC that caused the problem. But, I'm thinking it may have been caused by me exceeding the radio range because of the missing antenna.

Does anyone know if the RX has a fail-safe built-in that cuts power when it's out of radio range? Does anyone know what size/type of antenna wire I should buy to replace the original?

Originally Posted by HeliGriff

Awhile back, my antenna fell off of the RX and is gone. Meanwhile, my TX batteries were down to about 25%. When I was flying the other day, the heli got about a block down the street and just landed itself. That's the third time it has happened, landing squarely on the skids! (lucky) I walked down to it, spooled it up and flew it back, walking behind it.

It's likely a loose connection or intermittent ESC that caused the problem. But, I'm thinking it may have been caused by me exceeding the radio range because of the missing antenna.

Does anyone know if the RX has a fail-safe built-in that cuts power when it's out of radio range? Does anyone know what size/type of antenna wire I should buy to replace the original?

If it's like my car rx's (and I'm sure it is) then it should be designed to cut throttle to neutral if it loses it's connection with the TX. Spin up your blades on the ground and shut the tx off to verify. From what you describe it sounds like it may even be programmed to cut throttle slowly (and return servos to neutral) for a somewhat softer landing as opposed to just killing the throttle completely (Causing the heli to drop like a rock) when the signal is lost...so thats a nice feature and may have saved you,lol
I'de say it's most likely the missing antenna that caused you problem..... I'm really surprised it continues being able to bind at all with the antenna missing, much less still have usable range.

Originally Posted by HeliGriff

Does anyone know if the RX has a fail-safe built-in that cuts power when it's out of radio range? Does anyone know what size/type of antenna wire I should buy to replace the original?

Walkera 2.4g RX's power down if they lose signal from the TX. If you want to check the TX range then disconnect your heli motor, then power it up and bind with your TX. Place the TX on the ground then start walking away with the heli. When the RX starts to blink it has lost signal. If it starts blinking very close then you may have an RX issue. If your not using a 2801pro yet its not a bad investment. The 2801pro has 10x the output of Walkera's other TX's and also 8 memory slots for your other heli's.

The antenia wire just looks like a bit of servo wire to me, but i could be wrong.


Mick

Originally Posted by HeliGriff

Awhile back, my antenna fell off of the RX and is gone. caused by me exceeding the radio range because of the missing antenna.

Does anyone know if the RX has a fail-safe built-in that cuts power when it's out of radio range? Does anyone know what size/type of antenna wire I should buy to replace the original?

Yes and Yes.
The decreased range was most likely caused by the missing antenna. 10mw radios have roughly a 700 foot range. That's about a city block. But, with the Rx antenna missing I'm surprised that you had any range at all.
I assume you're talking about the Rx antenna on your V200. If so, the antenna is just a 1-1/2" length of stranded hook up wire. The wire size (diameter) isn't important. But, the length is. The missing antenna was soldered into a land (hole) in the front corner of the bottom circuit board on the Rx. There may still be some white silcon rubber over the hole.
If you know how to solder and have a low power (35 watt) pencil point soldering iron you can replace the antenna yourself. Find a piece of stranded wire, not solid wire, and cut it to length. Scrap any silicon off the circuit board, unsolder any remaining piece of the old antenna and solder in the new one. Then, put a small blob of RTV (bathtub caulking) on the wire and board. It will protect the wire from sharp bends that could cause it to break easily.

Thank you ALL for the antenna delema solutions! ..and how did you guys know that the RX had that feature I didn't know it and I know EVERYTHING

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by HeliGriff

Thank you ALL for the antenna delema solutions! ..and how did you guys know that the RX had that feature I didn't know it and I know EVERYTHING

Thanks again!

It is a secret known only by the chosen ones.

HeliGriff, there's a thread I've been following for my FPV ambitions (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1159968) that has detailed info about the radio part of things.

In short it's good to note that the length of the antenna is quite important and ideally should be matched to the exact frequency used. Since the Walkera system fixes onto any frequency in the 2.4G band there is this 'rough' length that is used. The one on my V200 rx is 40mm and what looks like 24-26 AWG wire. Wire lengths should vary thereabouts.

Originally Posted by nese

HeliGriff, there's a thread I've been following for my FPV ambitions (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1159968) that has detailed info about the radio part of things.

In short it's good to note that the length of the antenna is quite important and ideally should be matched to the exact frequency used. Since the Walkera system fixes onto any frequency in the 2.4G band there is this 'rough' length that is used. The one on my V200 rx is 40mm and what looks like 24-26 AWG wire. Wire lengths should vary thereabouts.

Thank you for the info! Good stuff to know!

Originally Posted by dsobbe

Yes and Yes.
The decreased range was most likely caused by the missing antenna. 10mw radios have roughly a 700 foot range. That's about a city block.

I remember reading a post on a thread written in 2009 (before the 100mW 2801pro tx was released) where this guy basically drove away from his 2801E (10mW) tx with his heli in the car and lost signal 300ft away. It is possible that he got a lower range because he was in a car.

Just curious, anyone lost range with their Walkeras before? What about glitches?

Originally Posted by nese

I remember reading a post on a thread written in 2009 (before the 100mW 2801pro tx was released) where this guy basically drove away from his 2801E (10mW) tx with his heli in the car and lost signal 300ft away. It is possible that he got a lower range because he was in a car.

Just curious, anyone lost range with their Walkeras before? What about glitches?

Mine has been flawless, no signal losses or glitches of any kind. I use the 2801pro. I've been a good 600 feet away with my v450 before.

I haven't flown my Walkerized King3 that far yet, but this inspires confidence.

I think as far as visible distance is concerned the 2801pro is more than enough to cope since I've read that its max range is about 3000ft - and that's way beyond what I can see.

But what about the 2402 or 2403 that comes with the v200?

Originally Posted by nese

But what about the 2402 or 2403 that comes with the v200?

I have a 2402 and 2603 and never had any issues with those either . I don't use them anymore since I got the 2801pro though which works with any Walkera rx. I think the range on any of them is going to be much farther than anyone could see to actually fly.

My 2403 transmitts about 315 feet. That is more than enough for me. I get out more than about 200
feet and I have trouble seeing the orientation of the Heli.

Thanks for your observations. I think this generation of Walkera Tx/Rx systems is still a winner and can be expanded... provided of course Walkera makes their new devention systems back compatible

Today was a good day. I managed to find an art shop that had aluminum tubes with a 4mm lumen - an ART shop. They also had a small tube cutter so I've got my top sleeve all done up and installed - all 6.3mm of it. I've tried hovering it in my living room and found I needed to adjust the ail gyro but that's all the time I had today - it took me a good 3 hours since I had to bevel the edge closest to the swashplace to prevent it from getting in the way just as HeliGriff had done.

I'll take it out tomorrow and see if there's any effect on the bucking. I think I'll be spending some time re-adjusting those pots too.