Futaba R603FF 2.4 GHz FASST Receiver

[david condon]

thanks stein and time bandit,and every body else on this site for the help, saved me alot of frustration [iv lost the manual for the system]

its great to know i wont have to mount the entena outside the box, i had not evan got to that stage of the excersize to mount the erial so that is going to be a huge relief.

thanks again for all the help its been great

 

[Jim Caldwell]

Anyone running this system in a carbon hull?

 

[dwb2620]

thanks stein and time bandit,and every body else on this site for the help, saved me alot of frustration [iv lost the manual for the system] its great to know i wont have to mount the entena outside the box, i had not evan got to that stage of the excersize to mount the erial so that is going to be a huge relief.

thanks again for all the help its been great

Use this link if you need a manual:

http://manuals.hobbico.com/fut/3pm-2_4ghz-manual.pdf

David

 

[Don Ferrette]

If you are running analog servos with the Fasst system make sure the radio is set to PPM, not HRS. HRS will only work with digital servos. You will also loose the fail safe functionality by switching to PPM.

And this disappoints me big time about the Futaba FASST system, the fact that if you do not use digital servos you have no failsafe. I am a huge fan of Futaba & have been using their stuff for a long time but this part sucks, I don't want to be force fed into running digital if I want to run failsafe as digital servos are a huge waste of money in the boats. <_<

 

[dwb2620]

I run Futaba radio's and servo's. I just purchased the Futaba R603FF 2.4 GHz FASST Radio and receiver.

Here is a dumb question: How can you tell if you have Digital servos verses Analog? Is it as simple as looking at the top of the servo? I am not at home , so I can't look at mine right now.

David

 

[Ian Inverarity]

If you are running analog servos with the Fasst system make sure the radio is set to PPM, not HRS. HRS will only work with digital servos. You will also loose the fail safe functionality by switching to PPM.

And this disappoints me big time about the Futaba FASST system, the fact that if you do not use digital servos you have no failsafe. I am a huge fan of Futaba & have been using their stuff for a long time but this part sucks, I don't want to be force fed into running digital if I want to run failsafe as digital servos are a huge waste of money in the boats. <_<

WRONG! :angry:

I am using PPM mode with the FASST system and have failsafe. Simply press the SW button on the TX module after you turn it on with the throttle at the position you want for failsafe, the led on the TX module will flash, failsafe is working in PPM mode. B)

Ian.

 

[topfuel443]

~James

 

[Don Ferrette]

WRONG! :angry:
I am using PPM mode with the FASST system and have failsafe. Simply press the SW button on the TX module after you turn it on with the throttle at the position you want for failsafe, the led on the TX module will flash, failsafe is working in PPM mode. B)

Ian.

Yeah, well even if that is true EVERY TIME you turn the radio on you have to reset the failsafe is still BS. Not to mention the link to the owners manual provided previously by David clearly states that the failsafe is for HRS mode-

Fail Safe Function/FAIL SAFE (HRS mode)

(This function can only be used with HRS system receivers.)

Fail safe function

This function moves the steering, throttle and channel 3 servos to a preset position

when the receiver cannot receive the ... etc., etc.

I mean really, would it be that difficult to change on Futaba's end? I'll tell you no it would not but this helps push the high end digitals. Don't think it's true? Well how about the Nomadio 2.4 system for example, it let's you mix digital & analog if you want to & the failsafe works on everything. But hey, they don't make servos, only radio gear. Sorry dead horse or not I'm one rather disappointed long time loyal Futaba customer.

 

[rigger chaser]

hahahahahahahah...dead horse :lol:

 

[impba3548]

I am in full agreement Don, kind of like the programmer went to lunch early and never came back! the throttle trim does not go far enough either and no model match.

The new spektrum has all this and a failsafe that stays set but I am gunshy from the earlier model.

mike sr

 

[Bob Morton]

I am in full agreement Don, kind of like the programmer went to lunch early and never came back! the throttle trim does not go far enough either and no model match.The new spektrum has all this and a failsafe that stays set but I am gunshy from the earlier model.

mike sr

Hi Mike,

Still running the Spektrum DX3 works for me. Using six volts at the reciever.

Antenna in the box

 

[Don Ferrette]

I am in full agreement Don, kind of like the programmer went to lunch early and never came back! the throttle trim does not go far enough either and no model match.The new spektrum has all this and a failsafe that stays set but I am gunshy from the earlier model.

mike sr

I have been a loyal Futaba customer for years, I still only buy Futaba PCM RX's & servos & currently own four 3PJS radios. The sad part is if Futaba had just offered failsafe in all 2.4 modes (not having to reset the failsafe every #@*#ing time you turn on the radio in PPM mode) and made the RX antenna longer (like the 9.5" Nomadio 2.4 RX's) to make it easier to retrofit into hulls previously set up for 75mhz I would already be running the FASST system. I know that there are those who keep barking about how they leave the antenna in the box & it works but I am not prepared to take that kind of a "leap of faith" especially when the manufacturer says to have the antenna end out of the box. The longer antenna wire would be so easy as unlike 75mhz it does not change the tuning of the RX, only the last one inch is the actual antenna, everything else is just a shielded leader.

 

[Bill-SOCAL]

What you see on the Futaba FASST receivers is not all antenna. The antenna itself is ONLY the small bare wire looking portion at the end. The rest is coaxial cable that is designed to allow you to get the antenna out and away. The Spektrum RXs have very short antennas on them and they are ALL antenna.

The problem with using a longer run of coax cable is that at 2.4 GHz it is very lossy. Signal attenuation is a physics problem that cannot be easily dealt with.

And I know this may sound odd, but with SS you are far less likely to ever need failsafe since the signal integrity is so much better. SS is far less likely to have a problem with RF generated inside the model and is essentially immune to outside interference. The biggest problem for SS is keeping the TX and RX antennas in line of sight contact. JR/Spektrum addresses this issue with multiple antennas and satellite receivers (one new airplane model has THREE satellites plus the main one giving you EIGHT antennas!!). Futaba does it by making it easy to get the antenna up and out. Longer would be nicer, but as I said, it has a limit based on the signal loss caused by longer runs of coax.

 

[Don Ferrette]

What you see on the Futaba FASST receivers is not all antenna. The antenna itself is ONLY the small bare wire looking portion at the end. The rest is coaxial cable that is designed to allow you to get the antenna out and away. The Spektrum RXs have very short antennas on them and they are ALL antenna.
The problem with using a longer run of coax cable is that at 2.4 GHz it is very lossy. Signal attenuation is a physics problem that cannot be easily dealt with.

And I know this may sound odd, but with SS you are far less likely to ever need failsafe since the signal integrity is so much better. SS is far less likely to have a problem with RF generated inside the model and is essentially immune to outside interference. The biggest problem for SS is keeping the TX and RX antennas in line of sight contact. JR/Spektrum addresses this issue with multiple antennas and satellite receivers (one new airplane model has THREE satellites plus the main one giving you EIGHT antennas!!). Futaba does it by making it easy to get the antenna up and out. Longer would be nicer, but as I said, it has a limit based on the signal loss caused by longer runs of coax.

Yes I know only roughly the last inch or so is antenna but I have a hard time agreeing on the signal attenuation as the Nomadio 2.4 system that I mentioned earlier has a 9.5" overall antenna lead length and lists a minimum range of 1000ft. as well as 2 way telemetry feedback and failsafe that works with all servos. I have heard great things about the Nomadio system from people who use it- awesome range, PC programmable, US made, rather competitive pricing, etc. Also they do not make servos, only radios so there is no "force feeding" a person to use digitals. The problem with Nomadio is they also do extensive work for the US military and often (like right now) the hobby end products become quite difficult to get. As far as signal integrity being so much better you might be mistaken here as my inquiries to Futaba and others is that the 2.4 is critical of direct line linking, in other words, as they put it, you need to be above potential interference items like pipes & carbon cowls. I have had numerous conversations with Futaba techs & the one thing they stress is to have the last inch of the antenna be the highest point & unobstructed in which the system will function quite well. Easy to do in the cars (the target market) not so easy to do in boats. The FASST system has not been perfect in the boats either as there have been a couple reported signal failures resulting in crashes. In that regard I will not trust one of my twins or 1/8th scales to this "leap of faith" some keep preaching, especially when the manufacturer says something different. I want to continue using failsafes but do not want to be forced into buying $1,000 worth of digital servos which are a total waste of money in boats. I really don't want to re-engineer my boats to get the shorter Futaba antenna where it is recommended to be either not to mention it's just not feasible in a couple of them without total reworking. I guess with the boating community being such a small & insignificant part of the R/C world in manufacturers eyes that we must "take what we can get". That's too bad as if the Nomadio stuff becomes available anytime soon my long time loyalty to Futaba may very well end, something I'd rather not do.

 

[Joe_Knesek]

Can we please just forward this thread to the Whitehouse so the entire world can know how loyal Don is to Futaba?

 

[Rigged]

I am in full agreement Don, kind of like the programmer went to lunch early and never came back! the throttle trim does not go far enough either and no model match.The new spektrum has all this and a failsafe that stays set but I am gunshy from the earlier model.

mike sr

I talked to one of the tech's at Spektrum and they told me even with the new Pro system, they do not recommend using them in a boat since they still have the range issues.

Reading the FASST manual...it says to set the failsafe everytime anyways? And if you dont like having to set the failsafe, you could always just use an external failsafe...like you'd have to with other radios.

 

[Will Gallagher]

Bill,

I don’t know what your background is and I am certainly not trying to offend you, but the statements you made in the above post regarding Spread Spectrum (SS) are not factual or accurate. I would recommend that you check you data source or do some better research then edit your post.

Best regards,

Will

 

[Don Ferrette]

Can we please just forward this thread to the Whitehouse so the entire world can know how loyal Don is to Futaba?

Hey Joe .... stow it. I'm a bit agitated at the path Futaba has chosen & know it could easily have been different. I'm also know I'm not alone in my feelings and if it gets people to speak up about it then so be it. :angry:

 

[Bill-SOCAL]

Bill,I don’t know what your background is and I am certainly not trying to offend you, but the statements you made in the above post regarding Spread Spectrum (SS) are not factual or accurate. I would recommend that you check you data source or do some better research then edit your post.

Best regards,

Will

No offense taken. My whole world is about being questioned when you say something and then being able to back it up with verifiable references.

I don't know your background either, but since you question my statements please detail what I said that was either not factual or accurate and provide the the basis for your assertion.

I will then gladly provide a reference to my sources and if necessary a summary of my background.

But first you need to be a bit more specific about what, in your view, was either not factual or inaccurate.

Thank you.

 

[DaveMarles]

Don, I'm using the Futaba Fasst 607FS receivers in all my gas and nitro boats and I can tell you that

the aerial problem and line of sight problem (so called) is not a problem. On my 7.5 mono and gas mono I'm using a carbon fibre radio box with about inch and a half of aerial sticking out of the top and thats under a carbon/kevlar engine/pipe cover and the radio is rock solid. The receiver aerial is in a shortened tube type aerial, the other aerial is just laying inside the radio box. In my FSRV boats which are carbon/kevlar I just have the same amount of aerial out of the radio compartment and those boats are expensive and very time consuming to build and no way would I risk them with something that I consider is even slightly chancy.

Although I feel uneasy about actually running the boats without any aerial out of the radio box I did a range test which went like this. I put both aerials inside the radio compartment under the edge of the deck on a carbon boat, put on a carbon radio cover (seated on foam strip) put the boat in the back of my minivan and walked away about 250 feet and it still worked. Thats good enough for me.

I don't like to race with a failsafe although my Futaba 12FG stick transmitter has failsafe facility on analogue or digital servos without having to switch it on separately.