New guy with a tx/rx question

[kvrc68]

Just joined the forum. Lots of great info here. Ive been lookin at diff radios and transmitters since I may just upgrade to somethin anyways. Ive had my aquacraft lucas oil FE boat for almost a yr now. Last few times Ive had it out, when I get out aways from shore it would lose communication with my radio. Id have to hold it up in the air and try to get closer to the boat and then it would come back to life. Now I did snap the antennae off of my radio but the wire was ok. Just the plastic where it hinges broke. I glued it back together. My question is is there something simple I need to check out before I go buy a new rx/tx?? I'm runnin the stock tactic stuff that came with the boat. I've got a lot of rc stuff like a slash 4x4, axial scx10, losi mini sct and a blade drone and none of them have given me probs with the radio like my boat has. Any help would be great.

[tlandauer]

Welcome!!
Does your hull have any CF reinforcement done as an upgrade or modification? The Tactic rx has extremely short antenna inside the case and if you have some CF inside your hull, it may reduce range and for that reason externally protruding antenna tubes on the hull is better but you won't be able to use the Tactic system any more.
It is known that sometimes the water wave interferes with the radio signal so it is completely normal that you would have experienced the situation you just described. The Tactic is almost flawless on land provided you don't encounter some weird underground grid that can freak the rx.
Here is what I learned from using Tactic: on earlier units ( 5 years ago) I was very happy with them in my boats, as I progressed and found newer ponds with larger area to run, I began to experience what you had, but I can always re-established the link and proceed. In the last two years my newer units ( tx and rx) have acted more strangely : once it loses communications the fail safe would not kick in ( I pre-checked by turning off the tx while squeezing the throttle trigger and the motor did stop). The boat keeps going ( I did not know because the boat is going) and the rudder is completely dead, straight to the shore line she went.
I don't know if I had some less than steller later units from the factory or because my range was a bit further, so it is inconclusive, mind you my distance is not that much more than typical off shore style racing, but compared to 5 years ago when I was just doing circles it is further.
My solution was to use Spektrum's MR series rx, it was really good, never once did I have problem, but I can't advice you on their current line of radios as I am still using my stocked up units and they have moved on to different specs and so on, but in general they are very good.
If you are serious about this hobby and don't mind to invest a bit of money in a good system, Futaba is excellent.
People have gotten away with cheap radio as well, the Flysky is such a unit that have served well to some and terrible to others, I have had a good experience with this brand so far both on land and on water, but on an expensive boat I would not recommend it.
Blade's drone uses their Spekreum line of radio and are very reliable. I have their 200QX, 350QX and a Chroma BnF all with my DX6 plus a couple drones I built using the AR 610 sport receiver. I have liked them very much and knock on wood, so far so good.
Lastly, you are right, if the wire is not damaged , gluing back the plastic antenna casing should not have been a problem.
Buying a new system is a personal preferrence and you don't really find it out the complete "personalities" of the newly acquired system till you have used it a bit, always do a range test before sailing but it is what is: just a range test on dry land.
Good luck!

[zooma]

Welcome!!
.............................
Here is what I learned from using Tactic: on earlier units ( 5 years ago) I was very happy with them in my boats, as I progressed and found newer ponds with larger area to run, I began to experience what you had, but I can always re-established the link and proceed. In the last two years my newer units ( tx and rx) have acted more strangely : once it loses communications the fail safe would not kick in ( I pre-checked by turning off the tx while squeezing the throttle trigger and the motor did stop). The boat keeps going ( I did not know because the boat is going) and the rudder is completely dead, straight to the shore line she went
.....................................
My solution was to use Spektrum's MR series rx, it was really good, never once did I have problem, but I can't advice you on their current line of radios as I am still using my stocked up units and they have moved on to different specs and so on, but in general they are very good.
Good luck!

Sounds like you substituted a Spektrum rx for Tactic rx with Tactic transmitter. You could not have gotten that to work, right?

[tlandauer]

Sounds like you substituted a Spektrum rx for Tactic rx with Tactic transmitter. You could not have gotten that to work, right?

I ditched the Tactic altogether and bought Spektrum system, sorry , I was not being clear about that.

[zooma]

Just joined the forum. Lots of great info here. Ive been lookin at diff radios and transmitters since I may just upgrade to somethin anyways. Ive had my aquacraft lucas oil FE boat for almost a yr now. Last few times Ive had it out, when I get out aways from shore it would lose communication with my radio. Id have to hold it up in the air and try to get closer to the boat and then it would come back to life. Now I did snap the antennae off of my radio but the wire was ok. Just the plastic where it hinges broke. I glued it back together. My question is is there something simple I need to check out before I go buy a new rx/tx?? I'm runnin the stock tactic stuff that came with the boat. I've got a lot of rc stuff like a slash 4x4, axial scx10, losi mini sct and a blade drone and none of them have given me probs with the radio like my boat has. Any help would be great.

Assuming no other degradation in the equipment. Could be weak tx signal from old batteries. Could be rx voltage brownout from run-down lipo batts. Could be ESC low voltage cutoff. Typically, after a brownout or LV cutoff, the batt recovers a little, and the ESC rearms, so you can drive back gently. So, possibly the lipos can't handle the current draw any more.

[tlandauer]

Assuming no other degradation in the equipment. Could be weak tx signal from old batteries. Could be rx voltage brownout from run-down lipo batts. Could be ESC low voltage cutoff. Typically, after a brownout or LV cutoff, the batt recovers a little, and the ESC rearms, so you can drive back gently. So, possibly the lipos can't handle the current draw any more.

I agree with everything you said.
for further clarification, in my case the lipo was fresh and fully charged and the batteries in the tx was also fresh. About a year ago some other people had similar experiences like mine and others would vouch for the Tactic, I am not here to bash or berate Tactic so I am just relating my story. I also found that there are disagreements on the Spektrum system, about the only brand that nobody would challenge is the Futaba brand.

[kvrc68]

Thanks for all the info! Well I'm the one that would upgrade a part or system when it starts failing me. I don't like buying new stock parts. Ive looked all over forums on the net on which radio systems to buy. Its kinda like buying tires for your vehicle, everyone has an opinion and preference. Some have issues with one over the other. Seems as long as I stick to a good name brand I will be good and I don't mind spendin some cash on a good system. Love my FE boat! I'm ready to use it once it gets warm but want to do the dual cooling mod on the cooling system and I need to buy the better flex cable and collet. I have a good prop on it and don't want to lose it. Already replaced one stock flex cable with another one. Whats CF reinforcement?? Do I need to buy a RX that's meant for marine applications? Ive never bought a different transmitter or radio for any of my electric stuff. Just havnt had any probs like this with any of my electric stuff.

[tlandauer]

Thanks for all the info! Well I'm the one that would upgrade a part or system when it starts failing me. I don't like buying new stock parts. Ive looked all over forums on the net on which radio systems to buy. Its kinda like buying tires for your vehicle, everyone has an opinion and preference. Some have issues with one over the other. Seems as long as I stick to a good name brand I will be good and I don't mind spendin some cash on a good system. Love my FE boat! I'm ready to use it once it gets warm but want to do the dual cooling mod on the cooling system and I need to buy the better flex cable and collet. I have a good prop on it and don't want to lose it. Already replaced one stock flex cable with another one. Whats CF reinforcement?? Do I need to buy a RX that's meant for marine applications? Ive never bought a different transmitter or radio for any of my electric stuff. Just havnt had any probs like this with any of my electric stuff.

I am terribly sorry that I missed your reply.
CF reinforcement is when guys want to make the hull stronger and they use CF weaved cloth and expoxy it to the hull, when you see black interior that is woven, that is what I meant, quite popular these days, even with OEM hulls such as Aeromarine ( http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...prod=Aero-MM-2 ) and certain Chinese hull makers. The CF blocks the transmission of radio frequency especially if the woven cloth goes up to the side of the hull as well as on the hatch itself thus effectively "sealing the hull" and is not just on the floor. Therefore the Tactic rx would not be a good candidate for that type of hull, rx with longer external antenna would be the choice.
When Spektrem first came out with their DSM protocol some didn't work well on the water, later they made the MR (marine series rx) 200 and 3000 which performed very well, I use them on the majority of my boats.
You do not need to buy MR series rx, they are discontinued anyway and current DSMR protocol rx works well on water, they just don't feel the need to put a special label as "Marine series" , that's all.
As I said earlier, I feel reluctant to say anything negative about the Tactic because it is something which worked so well for so many people including myself for a long time. If I were you and can see that in the future I will be really into boats, I would consider a different radio. I am confident that you will be happy with any major name brand such as Futaba or Spektrum.

[SD Eracer]

I've used Tactic for years without issues, but over time things can happen, such as water getting in receiver and negatively effecting the circuit board for example.

Assuming you have fresh batters in the transmitter, I would snap open your receiver and inspect the circuit board for any corrosion. Just take a small screw driver and push in the side clips on the receiver box, it will come apart and you can pull out the circuit board for inspection.

You can give it a nice spray of CorrosionX just in case. It will clean any corrosion on the circuit board and protect it from water in the future. I spray CorrosionX on all my receivers before I use them for the first time. I actually had one submerged in seawater for 30 minutes and after a quick cleaning it worked perfectly.

Also, as mentioned, it could be brownouts. Just buy a glitch buster capacitor and attach it to the spare channel. They are like $5 and could help you out.

I not sure if OSE sells them, but on this link: http://kintecracing.com/Electrical.html, scroll down to "Voltage Protector". Use some double sided tape or Velcro and attach it to the hull close to the receiver.