2.4Ghz radio control

sounds very good! Atleast that could cover people untill its legalized :)

I guess you need to give them dates for using it? If so it may be worth st5ating all the winter tour and XFM dates until november?

Need to get the pricing first... It may not be very cost effective to cover every event.

If this goes through and its implemented by November to allow these sets then I would be in favour of adding this to the list of approved frequencies.

My personal opinion is that 2.4GHz sets should be the only frequency to be used in the future. It eliminates the risk of frequency clashes and interfierence, the failsafes on the BR6000 work perfect, and you can wrap the arials arouns an astroflight and still get loads of range without any glitch! You can even run the arials inside the robot so that there is no risk of loosing the arial and loosing control. All in all they seem to be a MAJOR boost in safety for events, especially for a heavyweight.

I disagree. A lot of people have invested in proper 40Mhz tx and RXs and they have worked fine in the past. With proper transmitter control they dont need to be banned from the robot fighting circuit.

I do agree that safety wise it is a major step forward. Specialy in its price region.

Im with Leo, Tanto has no problems with range or interfernce (jus the rest of it thats crap). Id like to use a spektrum but am in no great rush all my 40 mhz is fine, if it aint broke dont fix it

Safety wise it is probably a good idea, at the champs, I had iterference for a short time when I was arming the robot, went away, Probably caused by someone on the Boating lake,but could have been a problem.
I normally dont have any problems with 40 Megs, has worked OK for all the time I have been involved with Robots, but anything that could be safer has my vote.

Dave. Leveller2.

Personally (not too much of an insult meant) I think its stupid saying that 2.4GHz is the only frequency we should use, because of safety issues. PCM was thought of as a major breakthrough and was supposed to be perfect but many people dont set the failsafes correctly (we also have been a victim of this) and so cause problems. What about those people who want to be innovative and want to make their own radio sets, 433 & 459MHz are very cheap to build, for example a 433MHz transceiver is less than £20 and you get 2 way communication, which can be made much safer if you wanted, but the fact is 40Mhz is reserved for land models only where 2.4GHz can be used by more or less anything. We should always give people choices, but that doesnt mean that we cannot recommend a preferred frequency, when (if) these sets become legal for use then we can start discussing adding it to the list. Events will always have there own sub-set of rules and like the UK Champs. They allowed users of these sets to run as a trial, even though they could have been prosecuted for doing so.

post deleted.
not worth the hassle that would follow.

My personal opinion is that PCM should be compulsery in 40mhz sets especially in heavyweights. Robots are far too dangerous to take the risk with. The DX3s are already legal, are we ok to use them at future events?

The DX3s output is 10mW and legal to use in the UK, however you should check with the event organiser before turning up at the event.

ED Said: You start with 80 channels in the 2.4Ghz spectrum - excellent I hear you say. A Tx uses two of these and isolates the two around it meaning that each Tx uses 6 channels. With 80 channels available that means you can only have 12 units at the same event live at any time

AFAIK, they do not infact take up 6 channels. The DX6 uses 2 channels (One 2.4Ghz channel per Three radio channels), because the radio is a digital radio, all the radio channels are sent via data packets, not frequency channels.

Ive tested my DX6 radio at work where we have 4 wireless networks and at least 15 clients on each and my bluetooth phone and laptop running bluetooth and I didnt have any glitches.

Its all OK down here in Oz

in theory you could have many txs on the same channel?

The Tx will only transmit on free channels.

what does it matter? Spektrum garentee that 79 transmitters will run perfectly no matter what is being used around them. It doesnt matter why, or how, it does and so there are no problems in that department. All we need is the go ahead from Ofcom.

Thats news to me Grant...

Impossible as each TX uses 2 channels and as their DPSS marketing blurb says they lock onto the channel and dont release it so thats 40 transmitters they can be sure works assuming nothing else is on the 2.4 spectrum in the area.

Until Ofcom says we can run anywhere any time event organisers will have to request permission from Ofcom for a special licence just like we did for the US teams that had planned to come to the World Champs and wanted to run wierd US frequencies ;)

XFM has already applied for licences to run at our events, and I would assume Roaming Robots would do the same ?

Ed
http://www.extremefightingmachines.comhttp://www.extremefightingmachines.com

DSSS is not marketing blurp, actually its not even new technology as sometimes claimed. However, it is something that is different from the protocol that bluetooth and wi-fi uses for example (Which is FHSS).

What it boils down to is that indeed since the DX6 transmits over 2 channels it would be logical no more then 40 transmitters will work on both channels. However, i can imagine that the DX6 will also still work with one channel, while the other keeps scanning for a free channel to lock (i know, there is a grammatic flaw in this, but i hope you get the idea). In which case there could be more than 40 TXs working at the same time.

Nice article concerning DSSS and FHSS:

http://www.arcelect.com/DSSS_FHSS-Spead_spectrum.htmhttp://www.arcelect.com/DSSS_FHSS-Spead_spectrum.htm

Kane - I have stated that before, and if you want confirmation then i suggest you contact Spektrum and find out for yourself!
Ed - I do not see how it is impossible? Unless you fully understand how these work and know what happens if 2 or more channels are not free then its all just a speculation! Spektrum garentee that these WILL work whatever with 79 transmitters, and other systems will not affect or be affected by this. I think manufacturers investing millions would have looked into it and understood it a little more than we do!

http://spektrumdx6.com/default.aspxhttp://spektrumdx6.com/default.aspx

So far the best technical explenation in the internal workings of the DX6.

Grant I dont think you read my post properly.

All I said was...

- The information supplied states there are 79 channels available
- It also states that a unit requires 2 channels

Thus surley it would be logical to derive from that data that you can use a maximum of 39 transmitters at once rather than 79 ? Or can transmitters share a channel - the Spektrum data says no as it makes great reference to how it will only lock to a free channel.

If the DX6 will work with only one channel then yes you could run more, but weve already seen in the text - the DX6 will only lock onto a free channe. So once youve turned on 39 transmitters there are no more free channels to lock onto.

Grant, Ive simply worked this out going through Spektrums own technical data, Im sure a manufacturer investing millions would have looked into their technical documentation and made sure its correct ;)

It can either share frequencies, or it locks onto a free frequency - or theres some marketing jigger-pokery going on !

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

PS Leo - thanks for the link. Am glad an expert evaluating the unit agrees that the unit doesnt eliminate interference unlike our admittedly enthusiastic youngsters

Indeed it doesnt, but it is way less sensitive for interference, and that for me is a good thing.

For me its main selling point is that the receiver will only respond to the TX with the bound GUID, and discards the others as noise.

And since the amount of data being transmitted is not that much, you can cover a great distance.

In the UK they held RC boat races not so long ago, and loads of people there use spektrums. Most have said they wouldnt want to go back to their old systems, but there are known issues with very dry weather for instance. Now that is something both the UK and Holland usually have no problem with. :)

Even so, in robotic competitions i dont see us use more then 20 robots at the same time, so in my opinion how many TXs you can use at the same time seems a bit of a mute point to me.

I would however recommend turning the transmitters in with Transmitter control, so we keep the amount of active TXs in check. No sense in using more channels then is absolutely necessary.

http://www.rc-car-online.de/3pk_2.4_modulset.jpghttp://www.rc-car-online.de/3pk_2.4_modulset.jpg

For the people that alredy have a Robbe/Hitec/JR set with interchangable RF module, this might be a nice solution too.

http://www.xtremepowersystems.net/xtremelink.phphttp://www.xtremepowersystems.net/xtremelink.php

Found this little gem on the Aussie forum...

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/appnotes/spektrum_mod/spektrum_mod.htmhttp://www.dimensionengineering.com/...ektrum_mod.htm

Nice find Geoff!

Damned if I can find those regulators over here Kane, Nothing from RS / Farnell at least.
If you find any please let me know.

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/DE-SW0XX.htmhttp://www.dimensionengineering.com/DE-SW0XX.htm

They do international shipping apparently

Thanks Gary..one ordered!

Will mention this on the dutch forum. I see a new job for Bugs or A-man.

We already know this. Was posted a while back from the same source Geoff had it, our Aussie cousins.


(Message edited by leo-rcc on September 09, 2006)

Think you guys should read this first:-

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slyp091/slyp091.pdfhttp://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slyp091/slyp091.pdf

Extract of first paragraph says it all:

The evolution of battery-powered, handheld RF equipment has demanded ever-increasing battery life, which translates into higher efficiency requirements in the power supply. In some designs these efficiency improvements have been achieved by migrating from linear to switching supplies. Highly efficient stateof-the-art modulation schemes place stringent requirements on distortion and adjacent channel interference, which mandates that careful attention be paid to all noise sources, particularly those that are conducted throughout the power-supply system. This topic discusses noise generation and suppression in switched-mode and linear regulators as well as techniques to manage noise in portable battery-powered RF systems.

Basically if anyone does this they should be banned from using them at FRA Events, as it will invalidate the approvals for this set and has a high risk off causing interrferance outside the allocated band, There is usually a good reason for doing what they do and its not just about cost saving.

Thank you for the warning Mark, i didnt know this.

Geoff/Kane/John, the powerplug on your DX6, is it the same configuration as the ones for your other transmitters? In short, can i use my normal charger for my DX6? This one came with an american one.

Leo,
You can use your normal charger if you do the following....

(credit to Kane Aston)

Right,

Ive finally got round to putting the transmitter on charge.

Being from the US, the supplied power adapter is 120v input US type plug... To make things difficult, the barrel plug is centre pin negative. You can use a futaba power supply providing you do the following:

1. Open Tx casing (six screws)
2. Locate charging socket
3. desolder 2 wires from charging socket
4. resolder 2 wires to charging socket in reverse

And now its charging...

I saw the diagram on the charger and immediatly i suspected something like that, but i wasnt sure. Thank you.

or to save any rouble with the transmitter, swap round the wires in the charger!

That is bound or me to make a mistake since i will keep on using my Robbe TXs also.

For now i indeed swapped the charger wires, but i think i will have to redo them in the TX.

also from kane

the 2 switches on either side if u just get a button switch on a lead and you can have a budy FIRE button very easy :)

Maybe its because im so used to nimh, but the standard TX battery seems to drop in voltage quite quickly. Is there a better batterypack available as a direct swap?

Anyone had any troubles setting up the mixing? Been looking through the manual and it sais find mix WNG from the menue after pressing scroll and increase simultaniously.

Carnt see mix WNG in the menue...

If anyone knows what im doing wrong let me know.