HobbyZone Sport Cub S problem

[JDawgRC]

Hi all!
I have been using my HobbyZone Sport Cub S for three weeks now, and it has developed a strange problem.
When the cub gets 30 feet or more from me, it starts to act funny. Every so often, the motor shuts off, and all the control surfaces go straight. This pushes the plane into a free-fall, and it takes a second to recover. It gets worse the farther it is away from me.
All the batteries are fully charged and everything is connected and powered up.
On the manual, it says you can fly it up to 300 feet away from you, so it's not a distance/signal thing.
It's also not a stall thing, because it does this even when it's level.
Does anyone else have this problem, and can anyone help me?
I'm interested in getting more into the hobby, but I can't if my only rc plane is broken.
Thanks,

JDRC

 

[kacknor]

That sounds like a classic brown-out, or loss of signal. Could be that the transmitter batteries going weak. Could be interference from outside sources like power lines. Could be a faulty radio. I've seen it happen when the servos pull more current than the ESC can provide, but it's unlikely in this case. Is it occurring everywhere you fly or is it always in the same location? The stock RTF transmitter is not the greatest radio out there, but should be more than enough close up.

Insure there are fresh batteries. With the help of a friend, do a range check. Power it all up and walk away till the radio no longer controls the plane. That will give you a baseline range. Try to hold the radio somewhat side ways too. The weakest part of the signal is right off the end of the antenna. So if you point it at the plane, it wont go as far. Be sure you don't fly near high voltage power lines.

Good luck!

JD

 

[JDawgRC]

That sounds like a classic brown-out, or loss of signal. Could be that the transmitter batteries going weak. Could be interference from outside sources like power lines. Could be a faulty radio. I've seen it happen when the servos pull more current than the ESC can provide, but it's unlikely in this case. Is it occurring everywhere you fly or is it always in the same location? The stock RTF transmitter is not the greatest radio out there, but should be more than enough close up.

Insure there are fresh batteries. With the help of a friend, do a range check. Power it all up and walk away till the radio no longer controls the plane. That will give you a baseline range. Try to hold the radio somewhat side ways too. The weakest part of the signal is right off the end of the antenna. So if you point it at the plane, it wont go as far. Be sure you don't fly near high voltage power lines.

Good luck!

JD

Oh.
The batteries are fully charged, but I didnt know about the antenna thing.
I will also try a range check.
Thank you for your help!

JDRC

 

[kacknor]

Oh.
The batteries are fully charged, but I didnt know about the antenna thing.
I will also try a range check.
Thank you for your help!

JDRC

Welcome! Hope that is enough to help find the issue.

Any other suggestions out there?

JD

 

[Montiey]

Can you look inside the plane and see if there is an antenna? You won't be able to check for proper continuity, but you could at least check to make sure that it's pointed straight, and not curved.

 

[Tipstall]

That sounds like a classic brown-out, or loss of signal. Could be that the transmitter batteries going weak. Could be interference from outside sources like power lines. Could be a faulty radio. I've seen it happen when the servos pull more current than the ESC can provide, but it's unlikely in this case. Is it occurring everywhere you fly or is it always in the same location? The stock RTF transmitter is not the greatest radio out there, but should be more than enough close up.

Insure there are fresh batteries. With the help of a friend, do a range check. Power it all up and walk away till the radio no longer controls the plane. That will give you a baseline range. Try to hold the radio somewhat side ways too. The weakest part of the signal is right off the end of the antenna. So if you point it at the plane, it wont go as far. Be sure you don't fly near high voltage power lines.

Good luck!

JD

And if you take a exacto knife and open up the fuse a little you will see the copper tiny rx antenna, Whstvi did was poke it from the inside of the fuse to the outside of the fuse, then soldered more cooper wire same gage to the end of the antenna and give this little bird much better connection and no more dive to the earth and smash issues after that hack. I enclose a photo you can see the extended antenna under the clear tape

 

[Piotrsko]

30 ft away sounds like the null point of the signal, so perhaps you aren't holding the transmitter upright and the antenna is pointed directly at the plane.

 

[Tipstall]

Yes I agree but I solved my issue by extending rx antenna with more cooper wire. And protruding the extension through the fuse.

 

[Bricks]

How many batteries do you have it could also be your batteries getting weak. Just because they are charged does not mean the battery can output the amount of energy needed. Charge your batteries put on the bench hold the plane and run the motor wide open and use the controls and see how long it will run and if it quits in a short period of time then the battery is your problem, if it continues with out any loss of control then there are other issues.