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Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
Getting back to the discussion the main problem on the day was having ensured as few people as possible were on the same frequencies adjacent channels were not allowed to be used. Is this normal certainly in the ants we use all channels and when I was flying model aircraft we used adjacent channels simultaneously. As far as I could tell there was no one else on my frequency it was just that I could not use it if the channel above or below was in use. Modern FM systems are designed to operate at 10kHz spacing so why not use all the available channels.
Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
Event report and some photos of this event and Preston the previous week will be up on my web site tomorrow. Just go to the events page and you should find it.
Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
Peter -
This is due to safety.
Yes Radio Equipment is made to run in 10Khz spacing, BUT radios in bigger robots where their are parts causing interfearence, also some people dont use top quality servos - it makes it a problem with bots going out of control or not staying stil when being armed.
When robots are in the arena, the 10kHz gap does not matter, but in your case, a robot needed to be tech checked - which meant the robot is OUT SIDE the arena, more safety is needed- this is where the 10Khz rule came into play.
Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
A robot like a featherweight should failsafe if there is interference from above or below. Is that not why the failsafes are there?
I have tested this with antweights i had three running on 665, 675 and 685 all with the jeti rex 4s (know for suffering interference as it runs on 35mhz and 40mhz). I turned off the tx for the ant on 675 and it stoped dead! I turned the tx back on and drove away again.
Also for tech checks are the robots not ment to be armed while on a stand and while havign all locking pins in place?
I dont see why it should be a problem to use frequencies at a 10Khz gap.
Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
Please remember, a tech check, is a check, and is in most cases the most dangerous activity at an event.
This is where we find out if a robot does or does not comply to the rules.
A robot is not forced to work, including failsafes until it is passed, and even then things go wrong.
To have a 100kg robot on a cradle wheels spinning in all directions, locking pins being tested is not the best idea. And has happened in the past due to interference.
And so for safety reasons, we will always run frequencies 2 apart while tech checking, to minimise any risks.
Feather Weight Smash 2004 - March 6th / FeatherWeights.org
So there you have it Ian - its safety mate.
Like Jonno said, we dont know if this robot will fail safe or not. Even with fail safes in place, some people dont set them up right etc, so how do we know if they work? We dont - hence the tech check - and hence the gap between radio freqs.
And also - it might not be radio interfeance you get, it might be a valid signal but from another TX. It may happen and HAS happen with Old radio kits, or with people using the wrong Crystals in the wrong radio kits.
Mr Stu
PS - We are in talks with poeple from the area where this event took place, and they want us to do it again, but at a bigger venue - meeting going to be held soon.
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