Help, loss of signal.

[Thomas Braile]

This is my first post. I recently got in to rc and have had tons of fun, recently got a simple scout. I have been flying it now for over a month no problem. On one of my earlier planes I had brownouts and since have always flown with a receiver battery for redundancy. A couple days ago I decided to paint my scout and had to take some of the electronics out. My first flight after paint I noticed delayed response and sometimes none at all. On the second flight thinking maybe it was just wind I lost all control and crashed. Nothing terrible but I was stumped until I got home and realized the reciver antenna was in the plane wedged between the esc and battery, certainly that was the problem so after fixing it I went out again today did two range tests, one with the antenna in the wedged position and one taped on the underside where I had it before I painted and had no issues. The test with wedged I. The esc has it loss signal and outside it was fine. I decided to fly thinking the problem was solved only for it to loss signal and crash again. I have no idea what could be wrong, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ketchup]

This is my first post. I recently got in to rc and have had tons of fun, recently got a simple scout. I have been flying it now for over a month no problem. On one of my earlier planes I had brownouts and since have always flown with a receiver battery for redundancy. A couple days ago I decided to paint my scout and had to take some of the electronics out. My first flight after paint I noticed delayed response and sometimes none at all. On the second flight thinking maybe it was just wind I lost all control and crashed. Nothing terrible but I was stumped until I got home and realized the reciver antenna was in the plane wedged between the esc and battery, certainly that was the problem so after fixing it I went out again today did two range tests, one with the antenna in the wedged position and one taped on the underside where I had it before I painted and had no issues. The test with wedged I. The esc has it loss signal and outside it was fine. I decided to fly thinking the problem was solved only for it to loss signal and crash again. I have no idea what could be wrong, any help would be greatly appreciated.

How are you setting up your radio gear and what gear are you using? I have only had a couple brownouts in 5 years of flying, so if this is happening then my guess is either an incorrect setup or a radio problem.

 

[Thomas Braile]

How are you setting up your radio gear and what gear are you using? I have only had a couple brownouts in 5 years of flying, so if this is happening then my guess is either an incorrect setup or a radio problem.

How are you setting up your radio gear and what gear are you using? I have only had a couple brownouts in 5 years of flying, so if this is happening then my guess is either an incorrect setup or a radio problem.

I’m using a 6 channel microzone transmitter and receiver. All my gear is off of amazon except the battery’s, the main battery is a 1300 mah 3s tattu and the receiver battery is a 300 mah spectrum LiFe.

 

[Ketchup]

I’m using a 6 channel microzone transmitter and receiver. All my gear is off of amazon except the battery’s, the main battery is a 1300 mah 3s tattu and the receiver battery is a 300 mah spectrum LiFe.

I doubt you are losing power to the receiver. I'm wondering if maybe the antennas are placed incorrectly. With a diversity receiver, the antennas should be placed 90 degrees from each other for optimum performance.
This video should explain it in more depth and will contain some generally good info.

Also, I have never heard of microzone so I don't know about their reliability or reputation, so we shouldn't rule out failure of the tx or rx either.

 

[Thomas Braile]

I doubt you are losing power to the receiver. I'm wondering if maybe the antennas are placed incorrectly. With a diversity receiver, the antennas should be placed 90 degrees from each other for optimum performance.
This video should explain it in more depth and will contain some generally good info.

Also, I have never heard of microzone so I don't know about their reliability or reputation, so we shouldn't rule out failure of the tx or rx either.

The receiver only has one antenna. I have noticed I small kink in the antenna where it plugs in, could this be losing its signal?

 

[Ketchup]

The receiver only has one antenna. I have noticed I small kink in the antenna where it plugs in, could this be losing its signal?

I’m no expert on antennas so I’m not really sure if that is the problem or not. At this point I’m really starting to suspect the reliability of your radio system though. There are a few well known and reliable brands for transmitters, and microzone isn’t one of them, there may be a reason for that...

 

[Thomas Braile]

I’m no expert on antennas so I’m not really sure if that is the problem or not. At this point I’m really starting to suspect the reliability of your radio system though. There are a few well known and reliable brands for transmitters, and microzone isn’t one of them, there may be a reason for that...

Starting to think the same thing, gonna borrow a friends transmitter and see if that’s fix’s it.

 

[Merv]

This is my first post.......I got home and realized the reciver antenna was in the plane wedged between the esc and battery.......

Welcome to the forums.
Wedging the antenna between the ESC & battery is not good. Both the ESC & battery block RF signal, carbon fiber and anything metallic also blocks the signal.

Your active element is the white looking wire is the middle photo, yours also has a ground plane, the fat part just below the active element. The active element needs to be a specific length, if it gets cut short, your range will suffer. The rest is the antenna lead, it can be any length. The lead can pass through metal, carbon fiber, tie it in a knot, we don’t care. But the active element & ground plane (the white wire & fat part) need to be fairly straight and away from anything that blocks signal. If you put a 90 degree bend in the active element, your range will suffer.

Hard to tell from the pictures, it looks like your antenna lead is damaged, right where it passes through the case. If the lead is damaged, it will allow interference, and reduce your range. This damage can easily occur in a crash. All brands of receivers are subject to this damage. I’d replace the antenna and install it away from the ESC & battery.

 

[Piotrsko]

Actually the kink increases the local impedance at high frequencies to the point it acts like a broken wire, but macht nix you need a new antenna, that one looks like you broke the sheild mesh.