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I think your right a solid FM. PCM 1024 was a never fail sys for me. BUT!!! any sys with out. Thinking your random box is the most important part of a build, will bit you sooner or later. You brought out a good topic. (See picks.for some ideas.) Note no servo is case mounted, switch and rcvr. Are up off floor (3\8 balsa
 

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The problem is not the cost, we have all seen many boats stuck in the bank at races & the operator holding a DSM Radio.. Now you tell me are they fixed & reliable Now?
I'm thinking what is being called out here is the fact that most run there antennas short or inside of the radio box.
When I told my buddies Doug Smock & Brad Scheiffer I was going to Huntsville they both said almost in unison "buy the 400mm antennas & run them as high outa the boat as you can"
While in Huntsville I did see a couple a boats loose radio, those boats has short antennas!!!
Just an observation.
 
A number of things have changed since the introduction of 2.4gig. I has been a steep learning curve.



MFGs brought in

2.4G

Brushless servos

HV servos

S-bus Servos

S-bus2 servos

Major changes in battery chemistry, Li-Po, Li-Fe, Li-Ion, Ni-Zin

New names for things.. “Diversity, Link, HRMode, FASST, FHSS, SFHSS, TFHSS and yes.. its been a long list.

All the MFG had some bumps along the road.. Temp issues, “binding issues” “Linking Issues” and “Paring issues” (not to leave anybody out)

In the end.. the manual for your system is the best place to start.

Then when needed feel free to ask questions.



Then.. most don’t pay much attention but.. Futaba has asked its ambassadors to list their contact information on the Futaba USA team page. Not all do BUT.. PLEASE USE that when you can, that’s what its for.

Futaba Team USA - FutabaUSA



With all thats is in front of us today.. there is no real reason for substandard performance.

Thanks for reading!

Grim
 
I would agree 90% of radio loss can be attributed to either poor installation or secondary components failing...
ie: switches, power supply, radio box sealing.
I make it a habit of replacing switches, cords, pushrod seals, every year.
Any questionable power supply gets recycled and replaced.

Radio gear needs to be inspected quite often, for the cost of our boats, it's cheap insurance.
 
I'm thinking what is being called out here is the fact that most run there antennas short or inside of the radio box.
When I told my buddies Doug Smock & Brad Scheiffer I was going to Huntsville they both said almost in unison "buy the 400mm antennas & run them as high outa the boat as you can"
While in Huntsville I did see a couple a boats loose radio, those boats has short antennas!!!
Just an observation.
 
The standard length is usually more than enough on Futaba's if you velcro the receiver to underside of the lid and run the entire length straight up the antenna tube. Only a very few installations really need the benefit from longer antennas.

The extra wire of the antenna has to be straight up in antenna tube or the length is not doing you any good. You don't want extra length laying around the box inside.

This isn't stranded FM style antenna wire but rather much more fragile coax cable. Never run it outside the box to remote antenna tube and sure as heck DO NOT push it up the tube and fold it over and cap it. Surest way to destroy a antenna and/or crash your boat.

The last inch needs to be straight up in tube under the cap.

It is the exact same antenna regardless of the length as it is only the last inch of the antenna doing anything.

If you want extra range you can put 2- standard or if you need 400mm antennas on the diversity receivers.

Interanl antenna plugs in with same connector as the external one does. You unplug it and plug in second external.
 
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Oh boy. Futaba police in the house.

They were intended to use the short antenna they came with too. Lol.
 
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Ok so ive been using a 4PLS radio for about 3 years now and i use only R324SBS Diversity receivers , and i run the antenna out of the box.........i have had ZERO issues with range or anything with this combo........am i riding on borrowed time with this set up or im i good to go?
 
I got some 1.13 coax cable 42" with 2 female ends from a company named data alliance, . I striped the end to match the 324rx and got 2 antenna for like 5 bucks. I ordered 4 so that's 8 antenna shipper for like 30 bucks. Thanks Grim for introducing me to the 324
 
Daniel. do you have anything productive to add? Or are you shooting from the hip here?

Keep racing

Grim
Oh no you didn't ask. Lol. Of course I do. Typed for two hours last night but didn't think you wanted to hear it so I erased it.

I had plenty but it wasn't worth going on about so I erased it and left a simple appropriate reply..

I read what you post on equipment all the time. Some is good advice and some times it is just BS. Recommending everyone switch to 400mm antenna is one of those BS times. Very few need or will benefit from the long antenna. For many it is a outright mistake.

When you said to only run Futaba servo's with Futaba radio's or you may have problems was when I knew you had too much Futaba coolaid. Lol. Nice plug though.

The 3PV being recommended daily as a good marine radio for people to buy is BS. It doesn't have steering speed. If it doesn't have steering speed then it is almost completely worthless as a marine radio to most any fast boat anyone has. Then you suggest using Futaba programmable servos as the fix to slow the speed down. Nice try but nobody wants a budget radio so they can buy programmable servos although they are getting cheaper it just is not smart decision to go that route at all.

That is not great advice IMO at all. Just buy a radio that has steering speed. Everyone uses steering speed and they sure as heck should not need to buy Futaba programmable servos to do it.

Almost no one runs Futaba servos and almost no one has problems related to their choice of quality made servo. A poll would put Futaba servo use at less than 5% I would guess.

So 95% are NOT running Futaba servos and none are actually having any issues related to using another quality brand of servo.

The long antenna are rarely ever really needed for any reason at all. Many people successfully run the short antenna left in the radio box. I don't really suggest that but if you just put the short one up a tube you have way more than enough up above to get the job done. The long wire is usually just more loose delicate coax for it to get damaged is my expirience watching and seeing what others have been doing with them for 15 years or more.

If you just simply velcro the receiver to the underside of the lid not only does it get the internal antenna vertically polarized but up as high as it can be in the box and out of any water that may sneak in then the entire short wire can all go straight up the tube and be protected and plenty high for 99% of the boats we build.

Suggesting everyone install these long antennas on their receivers is crazy(not as crazy as having to run Futaba servos though). Very very few people actually need them and for most it is just leaving them with extra wire in the box. I take notice of everything when I go to races. I definitely have seen what is going on with them and it isn't all that good in most cases.

What I stated about the second external can replace a internal is 100% accurate. All 2.4ghz antenna have the same tune. Some may work better than others but all tuned for 2.4GHZ. Of course I didn't mean everyone to do that. If you needed some extra range it could give you that especially if the internal is already corroded like they often do. It wasn't even a recomendation but rather just something that you can do and it works fine. It sure fixes a corroded out internal one.

The internal antenna is these is made of thin bare tin foil. It doesn't take long for a receiver that got damp to start corroding the foil. I am pretty sure when the tin foil is a white and corroded it is no longer functioning. Most would never know because they have never even seen the inside of their receivers and they function just fine with the one external working. That is why I did a couple of mine with second external and just left it in the box so at least both were working. I am pretty sure if you ran it up it could work better than the original internal one and especially if it has corrosion already.

Of course most don't realize their internal antenna is corroded because they never see it and because the receiver will work with just the one external just like the thousands of 3PM and 3PM-X that were sold with the R603FF single external antenna receivers that no one had range issues with unless the thing was just defective. Yes NON diversity receivers working flawlessly for thousands of users, imagine that. The range was identical as far as I ever saw with them.

You can also waterproof these receivers so they will literally function under water even after soaking it under the water for days. Not going to post how to do that though as I don't want to suggest another violation to the Futaba laws.

Jonathan Demaria said:
I got some 1.13 coax cable 42" with 2 female ends from a company named data alliance, . I striped the end to match the 324rx and got 2 antenna for like 5 bucks. I ordered 4 so that's 8 antenna shipper for like 30 bucks. Thanks Grim for introducing me to the 324

Yes sir. Another good source is old used Wifi routers. They have the same exact connector and wire in them. Those really common Linksys blue ones you used to be able to find boxes of at the Goodwill for few dollars each and you get two out of each one. Some cordless phone base stations have them too.

Check with Grim first to see if he is ok using aftermarket antennas with Futaba receivers. Pretty sure that is not his recommended way to do it. Lol.

On a lighter note I definitely do applause the time and effort you (Grim) have put into sharing what you know with others to help them understand things they otherwise may not ever understand. Keep up the good work with that. Most of the time you are right on the money. We are all just trying to share some things we know, right ?
 
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