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[waverunner]

My Rivarama was supplied with a Planet T5 transmitter and receiver already installed. All summer it's been working fine but over the past few weeks they seem to have fallen out with each other. More often than not when you switch everything on they refuse to communicate. If you have the patience to keep switching on and off eventually they will talk but as time is going on it's taking longer and longer. Something obviously isn't quite right but how do I tell whether it's the transmitter or receiver that's giving grief.

Cheers in advance.

[john44]

hi waverunner, have you tried to re-bind the Rx & Tx if not. with the transmitter switched off, switch on the receiver power switch
the led should flash inside the receiver, press the little binding button on the side of the receiver, then switch on the transmitter.
When the led on the receiver stops flashing they are bound together again. ( use fully charged batteries ).

If that does,nt work, have you checked the battery connections, I dropped my T5 out of the car boot and the knock bent the
negative tags and made a intermittent fault when used.

hope this helps

john

[waverunner]

Hi John,

Thanks for the info. I moved recently and somehow I've mislaid the paperwork for the T5 so I'll try re-binding and see what happens.

I have checked the connections and all are ok. Nothing has been dropped or mishandled so I've discounted that.

Cheers
Jim

[waverunner]

Finally got around to looking at this yesterday. Removed the receiver and on the side where the binding button should be is just a hole. The button is nowhere to be seen. So I'm back to square one now I think in not knowing whether the problem lies with the Tx or the Rx.

Any suggestions or is it going to be easier in the long run just to buy another pre-bound Planet 5?

Thanks
Jim

[cuppa]

Hi Jim

If you do not a very small rectangular 'binding button' inside the rectangular hole on the side of the receiver then it has probably gone AWOL.

It would be worth purchasing a new receiver to verify where the fault is (Planet receivers are really cheap).

You can download the Planet 5 manual by clicking on this link: http://www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk/downloads/7710150c.pdf

Hope this helps

Cheers
          Jon

[waverunner]

Cheers Jon. I'll pop into my local model shop on the way home today. I've also downloaded the manual. At least if it's on my laptop I know where it is.

Jim

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

These receivers come apart quite easy.  Use a Stanley knife to cut the tape edge and it slides out. The switch might have been removed if it was a matched pair to the transmitter. I should image, as Jon says, that another receiver would bind OK.

By the way, it might be a good idea to put your location into your Profile as it might assist you in getting local help.

cheers

Ken
 

[dodgy geezer]

I wonder whether the PCB inside has come adrift a bit, and the button has moved away from the hole. If it is pressing against the side of the case, that would explain the occasional connection and bind failures you have been having...

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Good reply.

Have you opened it up yet ?


ken

[triumphjon]

not all of the planet receivers have the binding button on the side , i have at least one r4m which has the binding button on the end near to the ariel !

[waverunner]

The receiver is a R6M and the hole where the button should be is halfway down the side. I've opened up the end but there's nothing inside near the hole. Certainly no sign of a button. The insides won't slide out as the circuit board is glued to the inside of the case.

Easiest option is going to be a replacement but many thanks for the help/suggestions.

Profile updated including avatar as the Exige is no more. Thanks for reminding me 

Jim

[dodgy geezer]

If the button fell off that might well have the same effect as a mis-positioned one.. 

Seriously, buying cheap Chinese kit does mean that 'extras' like quality control are left out - that's one of the things that enables them to be so cheap. Most of the time the product is fine - and when it's not the price of a replacement is so low that that's the obvious course to take. 

The only advice I would give is use cheap kit by all means, but it's a good idea to disassemble it before use and give it a check-over....

[waverunner]

Being a newbie to all this radio malarky I asked the shop to supply the boat RTR. Planet 5 was their choice although I have to say it does generally get good reviews here. The new fail safe feature mentioned elsewhere is a bit of a concern but I'll mention that to the shop when I pop in. I'm not averse to buying a new Tx and Rx if in the long run I'll have fewer issues. To be honest I've had more problems with the boat etc than I ever expected, especially given the price I paid for what I thought was quality kit, but most of that was due to the shop who supplied it (not my local shop I hasten to add). In short these models seem far more troublesome that my full size one 

[waverunner]

Bought a new Rx over the weekend. Binding it to the Tx went ok but channel 1 won't work. Back to the original problem of not knowing whether it's the TX or Rx at fault. Now running on channels 3 and 4 which means the throttle and rudder are swopped over. Will have to get used to my hands doing things the other way round.

I think the fail safe change went ok but how can you test to make sure? The boat is often run in a marina and I'm a bit concerned if it goes into full throttle fail safe mode I could do some serious damage to a full size boat.

Thanks
Jim

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

It does sound as if the Transmitter is faulty.  Do you know anyone who has a Planet 5 one that you can test on your boat ? You could take the opportunity of testing both R/X.

I was wondering if switching the T/X off whilst the boat was running  (somewhere safe !!) would test the fails-safe idea you are worried about.  My boat just stops in the water when I switch off my T/X.

ken

[triumphjon]

as a test the could you not run the model on its stand ? that way when the tx is switched off you will be able to know what happens without the risk of damaging another persons craft .

[dodgy geezer]

With ALL the cheap Chinese kit, it is a good idea to open up the Transmitter box and check basic things like the soldering. They save money by not doing quality control, so if one of the wires was badly soldered and has now fallen off - all you need to do is solder it back on again.

I can't guarantee that that's what the problem is - but if it is you will have saved a lot of time and trouble....