Veteran seeks Help for Newbie Boater

[RaceCraftBearings]

Hey guys, its been along time since I delt with a Futaba Magnum Jr. and I have a range problem I cant get to go away on this newbie's boat/radio.

The thing is that I have a new boater that has an older boat and radio combo that we are trying to get to go for some laps. He had several problems with setup which I have rectified and the next thing is to fix the range problem with his radio equipment. We dont want to spend alot to get this going so he can get on the water and have some fun with what he has.

My question is can the old AM systems be re-crystaled away from the frequency they came with? His system is on 90 and he handed it to me on 62. I have some old crystals for AM but nothing on 90 and nothing I have has helped.

I just dont remember if you can go that far away if at all like our newer FM/PCM radio's.

I put my FM/PCM in it and away she goes but I really dont want to tell him "hey buy this radio and your set"

Any help appreciated!

Ron

 

[Tim Kish]

Hi Ron

I have an old Magnum AM that I use in a truck.

It originally used #82 and I run #64 in it with no problems.

Maybe he has a bad crystal.

I have a couple sets of AM crystals that I dont use and I would be glad to give him if you want to try them.

# 72 and # 70 .

Just give me an adress to send them to and they are his.

Tim K

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Tim, I really appreciate your gesture however I have tried some of my old sets of AM crystals and it has not helped. I can only get 25 feet with the antenae down before I loose signal. It must be his Transmitter that may be out of tune??? Fresh batteries and corret reciever antenae length so it points to the Transmitter it appears to me.

Any help Guys?

Ron

 

[Plan D]

are you runnin nicd's or alkaline batteries in the transmitter?

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

are you runnin nicd's or alkaline batteries in the transmitter?

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Not sure where this one is going but Alkies.

Ron

 

[EatMyShortsRacing]

Get the set tuned.... both TX and RX. They will test the TX output as well.

 

[EatMyShortsRacing]

are you runnin nicd's or alkaline batteries in the transmitter?

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Not sure where this one is going but Alkies.

Ron

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Well NiCd TX packs put out less power than Alkalines... But you also need to check that you dont have one low cell in your batteries. Always a lot less likely to fail when you have a NiCd pack with all the batteries soldered together. And you may just have a high resistance contact between batteries or bwetweena battery and the battery holder and there goes your power.... same in the RX pack....

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Get the set tuned....  both TX and RX.  They will test the TX output as well.

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That was a thought that crosseed my mind, however I wanted to eliminate anything that may be wrong before being shipped away for a few weeks and spending money on the radio to be re-tuned. If all else fails short of shipping it off, he will get to use my PCM equipment for now.

As far as the batteries go I have used Nicads in all my systems for most all the years I have been into RC (30 + Years) and never had a problem with power output as long as the voltage is there when checked with a meter and under load then your good to go. We dont have battery problem so my guess is that the system needs re-tuned.

Thanks to those of you that have had some thoughts to throw my way!

Ron

 

[Tim Kish]

Could be a break in the receiver antenna or possibly

a bad connection were the transmiter antenna wire is joined to the antenna.

I have had both of theese happen before.

Tim k

 

[EatMyShortsRacing]

Get the set tuned....  both TX and RX.  They will test the TX output as well.

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That was a thought that crosseed my mind, however I wanted to eliminate anything that may be wrong before being shipped away for a few weeks and spending money on the radio to be re-tuned. If all else fails short of shipping it off, he will get to use my PCM equipment for now.

Ron

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You able to find a radio tech locally??? Any decent radio tech should be able to do RC stuff.... no extra black magic in them

 

[TimD]

Ron,

Have a look at the arial wire in the RX and see if it has "black rot" or copper corrosion in the wire. I've seen this on futaba AM receivers before. It might also pay to have a look at the solder joins on both the TX and RX boards for cold joins.

These things are more likely to cause a range fault than a crystal change, but you never know....

Tim.

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Radio South is in Florida but not local.

Tim D and Tim K the Rx ant is not broken or worn at all the Tx ant is in good shape as well but could be inside the transmitter. I might check that one!

Thanks!

Ron

 

[Don Riek]

Ron,

I have a magnum jr. which you are welcome to try. You would at least be able to pinpoint the problem as in either the transmitter or receiver. I'll be at Dover this Sunday. Don

 

[Al Waters]

Ron,

I still have a few Futaba AM Magnum Juniors that I use today on my grandsons boats. I will admit that the radios were narrow banded after 1991. As time went by I did have some problems and switched out the old wide band receivers to narrow banded receivers. To this day I have not had any problems. That includes a radio on 77 with a receiver tagged on 88 using crystals on 62.

A new HiTec FM system will probably be cheaper than a service call.

Al Waters

NAMBA Vice President

NAMBA Scale Unlimited Chairman

 

[Foolwitools]

Hi Ron,

Open the transmitter and see if the wire from the electronics board to the antenna mounting lug is intact. My grandson got a little carried away tightening the TX antenna and twisted the wire to the antenna mount off.

If that's no help. I've got several working systems I'll sell cheap...........

Bob the Fool :blink:

 

[Don Ferrette]

Get the set tuned....  both TX and RX.  They will test the TX output as well.

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Spending the money on shipping & cost of tuning old AM stuff is a waste in my opinion. With the low cost of a new basic FM set now out there I'd go that route if you can't find anything obviously wrong. Futaba also does not recommend going more than 3 places up or down from original tuned freq. I know lots do it, just that they don't recommend it.

 

[RaceCraftBearings]

Hey Guys I just love being able to get all these thoughts from everywhere around the globe sitting in the comfort of my home!

Thanks Tom for keeping this place alive and well!

Al you are exactly correct and I completely forgot about the narrow banding of AM's as I was away from AM before that came about so it was never drilled into my memory bank.

After having inspected Tx and Rx inside out I have determined that the system is out of commision without sending it off to be checked. Which quite frankly in my eyes is not worth it. I have installed my old PCM 1024 into the boat and have no problems.

Don R Thanks for the offer but I cant get away to Bandon this weekend. I will just let him use my PCM equipment for now until we see where he wants to go with RC Boating! Gotta get him out there having fun first and without expense if I can. All my labor is Free because its all worth it to me to get him hooked

Don F. You are exactly right on paying for AM stuff to be repaired or Re-tuned and thats why I will suggest he forget about that system. I have the old PCM 1024 radio that I dont use and just kept around in case the multi model radios didnt work out LOL! Well after all these years I forgot I had two of those so he gets one for free. The only thing is I have to give up a module and a Rx, the module wont hurt to much as I have 4 but the Rx will be missed even if I do sell that to him. He would get a good PCM 1024 for about $90.00 if he chooses to do so. I will let him use it for now and see how he progresses before asking if he would like to buy the Rx for his free Tx.

Thanks everyone!

Ron

 

[Propjockey]

A little late posting this but...I sent a set in to Futaba to be retuned and for a few dollars more, I could have bought a new FM set. (I needed a four channel surface radio at the time. You should see my lawnmower! )

 

[Watercadet]

Ron,I still have a few Futaba AM Magnum Juniors that I use today on my grandsons boats. I will admit that the radios were narrow banded after 1991. As time went by I did have some problems and switched out the old wide band receivers to narrow banded receivers. To this day I have not had any problems. That includes a radio on 77 with a receiver tagged on 88 using crystals on 62.

A new HiTec FM system will probably be cheaper than a service call.

Al Waters

NAMBA Vice President

NAMBA Scale Unlimited Chairman

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Hey Al just make sure that you don't forget the radio on the work bench h34r:

Adam