Double Horse 9116 not responding SOLID red light on control board

Was working fine. Had a few rough landings, but no crash. Turned off an headed home now when I turn it on there is a solid red light on the control board on the helicopter. Previously the red light flashed. Both batteries in heli and controller are new and charged Heli two days and three flights old Any ideas? I assume that the red light on the patrol board had to do with the connectivity between the heli and the controller.

Hi Scott. I seen ur email. Does the controller work with your other heli? If it does the circuit board for the heli may be bad. I have had crashes with mine and never seen what you are having. I know if you hit it just right it will damage the board. Circuit boards are avaible for it. I have loads of fun flying mine, had 2 but down to 1 for now(other one lives high in a tree for now lol). Hope this will help you.

I've got a 9116, and I don't know if this helps. The PCB LED on my heli flashes when there is no signal from the controller. It is solid when it acquires a signal.

After making sure the batteries in both the transmitter and the helo are good. Switch on the transmitter first, then the helo and see what happens. You could have a fault on the PCB, like a dry solder or broken circuit track. To check if the battery in the helo is still good, check the voltage in each individual cell with a multimeter, it should read approx. 4.20VDC per cell, with a combined voltage of 8.40vdc fully charged, straight after charging, if left for a few days it may drop to 4.0vdc per cell.

Are you using the OEM charger/balancer that came with the helo? they are known for not being all that good. A programable charger with individual cell monitoring whilst charging is preferable to maintain good battery condition.

Let me know how you go...

Mick.

The charger and both battery packs are fine. The second heli works fine with the controller that came with it, but does not work with the othe controller that came with the heli that will not work. I assume that it is the PCB. If I order another one how do I link the new board with the existing controller?

Check the largish red wire that loops back onto the board, thats the antenna, check to see if it's come clear or completely loose of the board, re-solder it back on if in doubt.

Use a low temp or temp controlled soldering iron so you don't over heat the components. Also check all push connections that attach to the board, they may have come loose also.

You could also purchase another board to swap it out with the old one, the transmitter should automatically "pair" up with the receiver, when both are switched on, so there's no need to specially re-calibrate or manually "pair" up the transmitter to the controller.

Try also using the transmitter that came with the inoperable DH9116 with your other 9116, they are both 2.4Ghz so it should pair up with it automatically.

They are use a similar technology to a bluetooth device, the red led flashes on the PCB indicate a "pairing" type mode. Basically it transmits a specific ID code signal saying "I'm here, my ID code is XYZ and want to pair up", the transmitter cycles though different ID codes until it gets a reply from the helo, they "shake hands" and are then locked together (synced) at a specific frequency within the 2.4Ghz bandwidth and they stay synchronised together until you power them both down, which unlocks that specific frequency. They go through the same synchronising procedure everytime they are switched on. It's like, you are told you have to find and take commands and stay locked to an unpaired person within a hotel that has a specific amount of rooms (bandwidth), and you have to check each individual room stating your name and cycling through each language you know (cycle through the ID codes and frequency within the bandwidth) until you find an unpaired person and get a reply you understand, you "shake hands", and stay locked together until you no longer need to talk to each other.

When you use two helo's and operate them within the same area, they won't interfere with each other because even though they are using the same bandwidth, they will each use a different frequency and ID code. Sort of like the same example I used earlier, except when you open a room you find someone is already talking to another person in one of the rooms in their own specific language and they are locked to each other, you ignore that room and keep looking until you find another room with an unpaired person in it. So in essense, the other controller will know there is another controller nearby, but will ignore their signal codes because it's being transmitted at a different frequency, doesn't have the correct ID code prefix and is not locked to it. Imagine the command is coming from an army radio, "33 Alpha (the receiver's ID) this is 33 (the transmitters ID), new command, turn left". It's sort of like two pairs of people having a conversation, one pair is talking in chinese, the other talking in english, although everyone can hear them, they know they are there, but they are only listening for commands in their own specific language. But with these helo's, they constantly cycle through different codes and bandwidths each millisecond (reports), so each command will be in a unique set of codes specific to each pairing, so as to avoid "clutter" within the radio airspace, especially if the transmitter has to boost it's signal slightly because it isn't receiving a strong enough reply signal, and may "yell' over the top of the other helo's transmitter / receiver signal. It's like a party at the U.N, it might be loud and noisy, but each set of conversation partners are talking in there own language, that no body else understands. The way they focus on the commands is by using a specific "quieter" frequency.

Pretty simple really...

Anyway, good luck with it and let me know how you go.

Mick.