Transmitters, Receivers
Transmitters and Receivers.
Planet 5 Tips 30/04/2015 Jack Stanley
Watching one of our members CLUB 500 doing uncontrolled full speed reverse pirouettes on Sunday made me remember some of the drawbacks I faced with the Planet 5 radio which I hope are worth passing on.
First of all let me say that this is an excellent set, I have 2 transmitters powering several receivers and have had no complaints re performance or reliability.
Remember however that as purchased it is set up for electric flight and this can lead to problems in boat use, some of these I list below.
1 When you switch on the receiver a built in safety device on the throttle channel instantly sets the throttle to zero, this on an aircraft is the same as pulling the throttle stick fully back. If however you have set up your speed controller to a centre off stick position this is now full astern and this is exactly what you get!
2 As supplied the left (throttle) stick is not self centering, an inexpensive spring kit is available to change this but it does involve taking the back off the transmitter to fit. An alternative of course is to use the right hand stick for both speed and direction control which may feel a little strange to people used to using both hands, this also solves problem 1 because as far as the radio is concerned you are no longer using the throttle channel.
3 If you are a yacht person you may have noticed the sail servo slamming over to full deflection at switch on, this is the safety device on the throttle again doing its stuff. To get round this and keep the sail control on the left stick change the transmitter mode to put the throttle on the right hand stick, this again requires the “back off” to access a switch.
4 The spring contacts in the battery compartment can become flattened, especially if you have dropped the transmitter or tried to force some of the higher capacity rechargeable cells in, worth checking/adjusting/cleaning at regular intervals.
Planet 5 Tips 30/04/2015 Jack Stanley
Watching one of our members CLUB 500 doing uncontrolled full speed reverse pirouettes on Sunday made me remember some of the drawbacks I faced with the Planet 5 radio which I hope are worth passing on.
First of all let me say that this is an excellent set, I have 2 transmitters powering several receivers and have had no complaints re performance or reliability.
Remember however that as purchased it is set up for electric flight and this can lead to problems in boat use, some of these I list below.
1 When you switch on the receiver a built in safety device on the throttle channel instantly sets the throttle to zero, this on an aircraft is the same as pulling the throttle stick fully back. If however you have set up your speed controller to a centre off stick position this is now full astern and this is exactly what you get!
2 As supplied the left (throttle) stick is not self centering, an inexpensive spring kit is available to change this but it does involve taking the back off the transmitter to fit. An alternative of course is to use the right hand stick for both speed and direction control which may feel a little strange to people used to using both hands, this also solves problem 1 because as far as the radio is concerned you are no longer using the throttle channel.
3 If you are a yacht person you may have noticed the sail servo slamming over to full deflection at switch on, this is the safety device on the throttle again doing its stuff. To get round this and keep the sail control on the left stick change the transmitter mode to put the throttle on the right hand stick, this again requires the “back off” to access a switch.
4 The spring contacts in the battery compartment can become flattened, especially if you have dropped the transmitter or tried to force some of the higher capacity rechargeable cells in, worth checking/adjusting/cleaning at regular intervals.
