Bad radio reception, help please

[MelvinsArmy]

I'm getting my buggy ready for the vintage nationals. During my test runs on the street behind my building, I've been getting horrible reception. I don't think the car will go past 40 feet until it just goes dead. I think it gets decent reception on the way out, but when I turn it around is when I seem to have the most problems. But, even going out it gets squirrelly at a distance. I'm running a Airtronics MX-3 FM radio, a Novak XXL receiver, a Futaba MC330CR ESC and the motor is a brand new Reedy StockStar 27T. I've run this combo (with other motors, not this one) many, many times. Reedy's website says it has surface capacitors on the can. I thought maybe it was a capacitor problem, but it shouldn't be if they're already on there right? Also, my radio antenna's top section is kind of loose, in that it can easily slide back down in the antenna, but I wouldn't think that would effect the car in such a small range. Could it be that I need to solder some different capacitors to this motor?

There are no overhead power lines on my street either. I'm fresh out of ideas on this one. Here's a pic of the car with the problems, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated:

Also, the antenna is not touching the cf.

[littleVETTE]

try mounting the receiver on the other side of the chassis. rather than mounting it on the tower. keep the speed control receiver wires away from the motor wires. i didn't see your motor, but if there are no capacitors mount some. it's worth the headache.

[MelvinsArmy]

I had the receiver on the chassis, opposite of the ESC and it was even worse over there. I know the power wires are kind of close to the receiver, but there are nowhere near as close as they were when I ran this set up on an F1 car, or a mini cooper. I think it's got to be a capacitor issue, no? (I hope)

Here is the Reedy page that has it's specs and talks about it's pre-mounted capacitors. It says they prevent interference. Interference doesn't seem to be the problem at all, it's range. Past 40 or so feet, the car just drops dead.

http://rc10.com/reedy/new/motor_stockstar.htm

[Bugle]

Maybe the antenna wire is broken somewhere?

[littleVETTE]

or, it could just be the area your in. sometimes interference could come from all types of things (with the technology we have nowadays, practically everything is wireless). try the car somewhere else if possible. if it continues, try a different receiver. if it clears the problem than you know it was the other receiver. if not try trouble shooting a different motor, servo?, and another speed control til you get the problem fix. it's best you figure it out now before the race. it would be embarrassing to bring this problem with you.


also try changing the crystals in your radio.

[aconsola]

I would range test it again with another motor as you stated that you had used the setup successfully before with a different one.
If all else fails, put it in a losi and it won't glitch
Seriously though, if you don't get it sorted I have a spare spektrum setup I'll be bringing along as backups that you could try.

[call-911]

I'm sure you have enough components from other cars to start swapping parts out one at a time to see what the culprit is. Try the receiver first, transmitter, then motor w/ caps, etc... one by one until the problem goes away. As was mentioned before, try another set of crystals on the other end of the frequency spectrum to maybe distance yourself from any environmenta interference you may be getting. I would also mount the receiver and antenna as far forward as possible away from that arching motor.

[MelvinsArmy]

Yeah, my first thought after the capacitor thing was to try another receiver. I'll start switching things around tomorrow morning. I went through all the radio glitch steps I have hard-wired in my head from all these years. Hard to believe I've been into r/c over 20 years now and I'm having such an elementary problem like this. I guess I'm getting old.

You know, since I moved to my new apartment, my cell phone reception has been horrible in the building too. Maybe there is something around here.

I'll let you know if I have any success tomorrow, after I change the car up a bit.

[call-911]

It may be just using vintage radio equipment... My old stuff is nothing more than for showcasing. Let us know how it goes!

[Mr. ED]

have you tried the radio with another receiver? or this receiver with another radio?

If you think it's the motor, just unplug it walk the distance and see if the servo still responds.
Or, disconnect the ESC and use a 4cell battery pack to power the receiver and servo only.

A little more drastic: take everything of the car and lay it out well spread, then try again: that way you're sure the graphite isn't the bad boy.

[MelvinsArmy]

have you tried the radio with another receiver? or this receiver with another radio?

If you think it's the motor, just unplug it walk the distance and see if the servo still responds.
Or, disconnect the ESC and use a 4cell battery pack to power the receiver and servo only.

A little more drastic: take everything of the car and lay it out well spread, then try again: that way you're sure the graphite isn't the bad boy.

More good ideas to add to the list for tomorrow. Thanks Ed.

[MelvinsArmy]

Well, I swapped the Novak receiver out for the stock Airtronics receiver, and the problem is gone. Not sure why, but it is. Now I'm not sure about using the Novak receiver in anything again.

[Mr. ED]

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6771&p=64892
make sure they test it at long range though.

[markt311]

open the novak rx and blow any dirt out of it, I lived in Tucson, not quite brooklyn I know. But if any sand or dirt got into my mercury or xxl they wouldn't work. I run a 8 year old xxl in my gt and it never glitches. I love spectrum, it makes running my old stuff easier, no channels to worry about most of the time