Help! Where are the Manuals or Instructions?

[ENCHANTMEN]

I wanted to get into RC planes, so I bought a Tiny Trainer with all the electronics and a transmitter/receiver from the FliteTest store and tried to follow the guides.

There's no manuals for ANY of the components. No instructions except to go watch the youtube videos. I tried googling manuals but found nothing else.

Following the connecting electronics video, they had a completely different receiver with completely different labels for the connections. Unable to find any information of any kind, I tried to hook it up like in the video, only for it to immediately catch on fire.

I feel like I'm fumbling around with alien tech here, and I just fried $60 of brand new electronics from what's supposed to be a starter kit. Are there really no manuals or instructions?

 

[hankflies03]

I wanted to get into RC planes, so I bought a Tiny Trainer with all the electronics and a transmitter/receiver from the FliteTest store and tried to follow the guides.

There's no manuals for ANY of the components. No instructions except to go watch the youtube videos. I tried googling manuals but found nothing else.

Following the connecting electronics video, they had a completely different receiver with completely different labels for the connections. Unable to find any information of any kind, I tried to hook it up like in the video, only for it to immediately catch on fire.

I feel like I'm fumbling around with alien tech here, and I just fried $60 of brand new electronics from what's supposed to be a starter kit. Are there really no manuals or instructions?

Yeah… the red plug does NOT go to the receiver. It is for led lights or dji fpv cameras. The only wire from the esc going to the receiver is the three wire one that you will plug into channel 3. (Make sure the darkest wire is facing towards the bottom of the receiver) The videos should tell you everything you need to know but it is always good to watch some YouTube videos about your specific equipment.

 

[ENCHANTMEN]

Yeah… the red plug does NOT go to the receiver. It is for led lights or dji fpv cameras. The only wire from the esc going to the receiver is the three wire one that you will plug into channel 3. (Make sure the darkest wire is facing towards the bottom of the receiver) The videos should tell you everything you need to know but it is always good to watch some YouTube videos about your specific equipment.

Right, but how do you find out this information? I scoured the FliteTest website and googled the components but found nothing but that one video. I couldn't find manuals or instructions of any kind. Are there resources to reference anywhere?

 

[hankflies03]

The build video for the tiny trainer should also include a section for electronic setup. They don’t use a flysky, but YouTube has lots of videos on it if you just search “flysky setup”.

 

[CrshNBrn]

All of us have fried at least one or two things, especially starting out. Welcome to the club, Enchantmen. I agree with the earlier posters- keep checking the internet or asking for specific help here on the forums. Learn from experience and try not to make the same mistake twice. You've got this!

 

[Flying Monkey fab]

I am sorry that you fried your electronics right off, looking at the photos I can imagine not knowing and doing just what you did.
Sadly we live in a mostly post-literate society and Flite Test has done everything in video.
The good news is people love to help, well some do anyway, so work on your Google skills and you will get there.
Here is a primer that I found in a few seconds. https://www.kmasrc.ca/Radio.html
I hope it helps.

 

[Tench745]

I wanted to get into RC planes, so I bought a Tiny Trainer with all the electronics and a transmitter/receiver from the FliteTest store and tried to follow the guides.

There's no manuals for ANY of the components. No instructions except to go watch the youtube videos. I tried googling manuals but found nothing else.

Following the connecting electronics video, they had a completely different receiver with completely different labels for the connections. Unable to find any information of any kind, I tried to hook it up like in the video, only for it to immediately catch on fire.

I feel like I'm fumbling around with alien tech here, and I just fried $60 of brand new electronics from what's supposed to be a starter kit. Are there really no manuals or instructions?

Sadly, FT only offers instructions via their YouTube videos or contacting their FT Support team.
Like with many other modern manufacturers, useful manuals for things are becoming scarce and suppliers seem to rely more and more on their users to provide support for them.
In the future, feel free to ask here in advance, or, if you have model numbers or product names, see if someone has posted a tutorial to help climb that first bit of the learning curve.

Sadly we live in a mostly post-literate society and Flite Test has done everything in video.
The good news is people love to help, well some do anyway, so work on your Google skills and you will get there.
Here is a primer that I found in a few seconds. https://www.kmasrc.ca/Radio.html
I hope it helps.

Don't we have a rule here about telling people to "Google it" (Joking.)

 

[Shurik-1960]

A bad experience is the experience of your practice. The receiver can be restored, there is an inexpensive electronic part that can burn out. Before turning new equipment on next time, I advise you to put everything on the table under the numbers and take a picture and ask a question how and what to connect. 100% you will succeed and you will have a new experience: ask for advice and do everything as advised.

 

[ENCHANTMEN]

I am sorry that you fried your electronics right off, looking at the photos I can imagine not knowing and doing just what you did.
Sadly we live in a mostly post-literate society and Flite Test has done everything in video.
The good news is people love to help, well some do anyway, so work on your Google skills and you will get there.
Here is a primer that I found in a few seconds. https://www.kmasrc.ca/Radio.html
I hope it helps.

Thanks for the link! I know what I did wrong now, and managed to get a replacement ESC and receiver working. When I went to label all the connections I covered the red battery connector with tape and labelled it "NO"

I spent maybe an hour googling looking for manuals or guides, but all I could find used different transmitters or were a bit too technical for me to understand. So eventually I figured "hey, it's only a few volts, surely I can just do trial and error". Turns out the battery can output a lot of juice into a short circuit

As it turns out, there are indeed guides to wiring that receiver, but they're all on Youtube made by channels unaffiliated with the manufacturer. I'd assumed there wouldn't be many, but I heard from Reddit that most are on there.

So, lessons learned for anyone else who's new and wants to avoid my mistakes:
1. Search the part on Youtube for guides
2. Wiring it wrong can fry your electronics, even on small planes
3. DO NOT PLUG THE RED ESC WIRE INTO THE RECEIVER