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Greetings all,
As we all know, from 1st January 2011 all featherweights must be run on 2.4GHz transmitters and for some of us, that means our 40MHz units becoming pretty redundant. This was something that sat a bit uneasy with me because, as I have mentioned before, I'm quite partial to my Skysport 6 transmitter that I've had since getting into robotics. I also have a good quality Field Force 6 that I was contemplating putting on eBay as it wouldn't be able to be used.
There was the argument that switching to 2.4GHz shouldn't be too much of a problem as you can pick up sets for as low as £25. Fair enough, but that gets you a simple 4-channel no frills handset. If you wanted to replace your spiffy 6 channel set with built in mixing, model memory etc you'd have to fork out significantly more.
But not anymore...
For those of you who are already aware of this, the following won't really be a surprise but I only discovered this a few days ago so I'm still quite excited about it
I'm talking about a 2.4GHz conversion kit that you can wire into your existing FM transmitter so that it operates on 2.4GHz. I was sceptical when I first read about it but having watched a few Youtube clips and read several forums it seemed relatively easy and pretty reliable; as reliable at least as the £25 budget 2.4GHz sets.
The set I'm using is a Corona 2.4GHz DIY module conversion kit from GiantCod RC: http://www.giantcod.co.uk/corona-24ghz- ... 04735.html
I've just finished converting my Field Force 6 and so far with a servo bench test, it works a treat! I was going to do a bit of a write-up but I've not taken the best pictures and I'd probably write waaay more than is needed, so here are the links to a couple of forum threads I found quite useful. They're not all about the Corona make (some mentions are made of a more expensive equivalent, Assan) but there's enough essential information contained within them all:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878096
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... hlight=ff6
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost ... ostcount=8 (the one I've just followed)
http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/topic,72702.30.html
Here are the pictures from my conversion:
Contents:
Main module with bind button/LED. The three tinned wires at the top get connected to the positive, ground and PPM wires in the transmitter. The easiest point of contact to find these is the trainer board:
The three wires soldered on to the back of the trainer board. I've fitted a small switch in between the PPM line so that I can switch the unit between 2.4GHz and 40MHz (should I need it):
The co-axial cable fitted to the black stubby aerial, which has been mounted in place of the original metal telescopic aerial. The co-ax cable needs to be soldered on to the module board at two points (the inner conductive cable and the conductive cable that runs over the insulation of the inner cable. A bit confusing but it is explained more clearly in the above forum threads):
The transmitter bind button and LED mounted in place below the trainer port, along with the rather crudely hot-glue mounted switch above it:
And the completed unit:
Unbelievably easy, and you still retain all the functions of your radio as features such as mixing and dual rates are done in the transmitter before the signal is sent to the receiver.
Notes: to use on 2.4GHz, the crystals must be removed from the transmitter. The bind procedure is a bit long-winded but explained moderately clearly in the instructions. You have to press a button on both the transmitter and receiver, unlike the Radio Link units, so this may prove to be a more solid connection as a result and might not get drowned out when other 2.4GHz units are being activated (only time will tell). The receiver does have a failsafe function but some reports say that it 'forgets' the failsafe positions after it has been turned off and on again. This is something that I will need to play about with. If I don't use the failsafe feature in the receiver, I am hoping that the receiver outputs nothing on signal loss so that external failsafes can be fitted.
I'll pop up another post when I've tested that and given it a run out in a robot to test its range. Unless there are any major problems with those aspects, this could be a very cheap way to re-use radio systems that could otherwise have been getting relegated to a cupboard or eBay.
Any questions, I'll do my best to answer them based on what I know/learn.
As we all know, from 1st January 2011 all featherweights must be run on 2.4GHz transmitters and for some of us, that means our 40MHz units becoming pretty redundant. This was something that sat a bit uneasy with me because, as I have mentioned before, I'm quite partial to my Skysport 6 transmitter that I've had since getting into robotics. I also have a good quality Field Force 6 that I was contemplating putting on eBay as it wouldn't be able to be used.
There was the argument that switching to 2.4GHz shouldn't be too much of a problem as you can pick up sets for as low as £25. Fair enough, but that gets you a simple 4-channel no frills handset. If you wanted to replace your spiffy 6 channel set with built in mixing, model memory etc you'd have to fork out significantly more.
But not anymore...
For those of you who are already aware of this, the following won't really be a surprise but I only discovered this a few days ago so I'm still quite excited about it
I'm talking about a 2.4GHz conversion kit that you can wire into your existing FM transmitter so that it operates on 2.4GHz. I was sceptical when I first read about it but having watched a few Youtube clips and read several forums it seemed relatively easy and pretty reliable; as reliable at least as the £25 budget 2.4GHz sets.
The set I'm using is a Corona 2.4GHz DIY module conversion kit from GiantCod RC: http://www.giantcod.co.uk/corona-24ghz- ... 04735.html
I've just finished converting my Field Force 6 and so far with a servo bench test, it works a treat! I was going to do a bit of a write-up but I've not taken the best pictures and I'd probably write waaay more than is needed, so here are the links to a couple of forum threads I found quite useful. They're not all about the Corona make (some mentions are made of a more expensive equivalent, Assan) but there's enough essential information contained within them all:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878096
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... hlight=ff6
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost ... ostcount=8 (the one I've just followed)
http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/topic,72702.30.html
Here are the pictures from my conversion:
Contents:
Main module with bind button/LED. The three tinned wires at the top get connected to the positive, ground and PPM wires in the transmitter. The easiest point of contact to find these is the trainer board:
The three wires soldered on to the back of the trainer board. I've fitted a small switch in between the PPM line so that I can switch the unit between 2.4GHz and 40MHz (should I need it):
The co-axial cable fitted to the black stubby aerial, which has been mounted in place of the original metal telescopic aerial. The co-ax cable needs to be soldered on to the module board at two points (the inner conductive cable and the conductive cable that runs over the insulation of the inner cable. A bit confusing but it is explained more clearly in the above forum threads):
The transmitter bind button and LED mounted in place below the trainer port, along with the rather crudely hot-glue mounted switch above it:
And the completed unit:
Unbelievably easy, and you still retain all the functions of your radio as features such as mixing and dual rates are done in the transmitter before the signal is sent to the receiver.
Notes: to use on 2.4GHz, the crystals must be removed from the transmitter. The bind procedure is a bit long-winded but explained moderately clearly in the instructions. You have to press a button on both the transmitter and receiver, unlike the Radio Link units, so this may prove to be a more solid connection as a result and might not get drowned out when other 2.4GHz units are being activated (only time will tell). The receiver does have a failsafe function but some reports say that it 'forgets' the failsafe positions after it has been turned off and on again. This is something that I will need to play about with. If I don't use the failsafe feature in the receiver, I am hoping that the receiver outputs nothing on signal loss so that external failsafes can be fitted.
I'll pop up another post when I've tested that and given it a run out in a robot to test its range. Unless there are any major problems with those aspects, this could be a very cheap way to re-use radio systems that could otherwise have been getting relegated to a cupboard or eBay.
Any questions, I'll do my best to answer them based on what I know/learn.
do you think it would make a differnce if there was a buddy box installed?
Jamie, you should test a bit more, maybe it had some interference in the place where u tried to bind it or whatever?
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