RC Newbie

[Phil Crowther]

Apologies if this is a bit simplistic but as a total rube when it comes to Radio Control I’m very much of the plug in and play user. Building the Famo, I’m now at the point of bench testing the electrics and, after a visit to a local store I bought an Exmitter EX7, 7 channel outfit. Now trying to get it to talk to the Famo’s motion pack, with a single connection to channel 1 marked THRO on the RX resulted in a relay type “clunk” when moving a stick on the tx.
The rx is labelled ‘THRO, ROLL, PITCH, YAW, AUX1, AUX2, AUX3.’ from right to left.
Can anyone offer some clues as to what I’m doing wrong? At a pinch I could give up and buy a Spectrum DX6 from EBay.

[Adrian Harris]

The manual doesn't mention anything about super whizzy technology, so I'm guessing it should be compatible with the Armortek modules.

Which modules do you have ? I'm guessing it's either the large silver brick with a blue 60A fuse in the lid or the new red ones.

Do you have a standard servo handy ? They're useful as a troubleshooting aid, as you can put it into each slot on the the receiver to confirm which stick and switch affects which channel, and by how much.

Adrian.

[Phil Crowther]

Thanks Adrian, I have the red fuse version. I’ll see if I can find a servo in the morning and report back.
Phil

[Dennis Jones]

Phil,

If you have no luck with the radio gear and you decide to buy a Spektrum DX6 be aware that the DX6 does not have any 3 way switches on the aux channels which means that sound selection will have to be from one of the sticks. Just a thought.

Dennis.

[Phil Crowther]

I have now worked out which channel does what. Thanks again Adrian. However I am unable to get either drive motor to run. Also the winch motor runs as soon as the power goes on! Just a tad annoying..
As ever any tips or advice would be gratefully received. Phil

[Armortek]

Phil,

If you have no luck with the radio gear and you decide to buy a Spektrum DX6 be aware that the DX6 does not have any 3 way switches on the aux channels which means that sound selection will have to be from one of the sticks. Just a thought.

Dennis.

Hi Dennis, we use Spektrum DX6 in the factory (with AR610 receivers). There are 4 three position switches to choose from - we map one of them to the Gear Channel for sound selection.

Do you maybe mean the DX6i ?

Kian

[Dennis Jones]

My apologies Kian and Phil, that is probably the case. As a result of which Phil if you do decide to go for a Spektrum DX6 make sure it's not a DX6i.

Dennis.

[Phil Crowther]

Kian,
Having a right ‘mare uploading photos so I’ll start with the written description. Both motors are connected to the Speed control terminals as per the manual. The winch motor is connected to Switched1. Terminal 1, marked THRO on the receiver, is connected to R/C input 1. The steering servo is connected to rx terminal 4 (YAW) though giving reversed actions. Batteries are fully charged. The Sound option pack is not connected. if I work out the photos again, I had trouble when doing the Quad and 25pdr, I’ll upload.

Cheers, Phil

[Phil Crowther]

[/img]
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Fingers crossed this works.
Phil

[Adrian Harris]

It will probably easier to upload them here than struggle with Photobucket.

There is an orange "Attachments" button under the editor.

Click on that and you get an orange button marked "Add files".

Click on that and you should get a window where you can select the file(s) you want to upload. There are some restrictions on file size.

Once the file has uploaded, click on the orange "Place inline" button and it will add a tag to your message at the cursor position.

If you upload several pictures, the get listed in reverse order, so select from the bottom when you place inline.

Adrian.

[Phil Crowther]

5120EE49-A960-4282-9B89-05290B4E3AA6.jpeg (103.66 KiB) Viewed 1909 times

B1269903-2AEE-4095-8666-1E8C06E546CA.jpeg (84.75 KiB) Viewed 1909 times

53C82934-FB7E-4CAC-A109-5F5CE560C9E3.jpeg (73.36 KiB) Viewed 1909 times

Second time lucky?
Thanks Adrian.
Phil

[Dennis Jones]

Phil,

i think you will find that the the motor controls from the receiver go in to plugs number 3 and 4 on the speed control module. Numbers 1 and 2 are used for the aux functions, that's probably why your winch motor is running as I notice you have got the receiver plugged in to number 1 socket.

Dennis.

[Phil Crowther]

I’m sorry, Dennis. Your post doesn’t make sense to me. All wiring is as described in the motion pack manual and I assumed that it would work. Reciever plug 1 is linked to the left joystick, fore and aft movement so is the obvious control for the motors.
Phil

[Adrian Harris]

There are four outputs from the Motion Control Module.

Switched 1
Switched 2
Speed Control 3
Speed Control 4

Speed Control 3 & 4 are for use with the tracks.

These outputs are controlled by the RC Inputs 1 - 4, where the 1 to 4 corresponds to the four outputs.

So to be able to control the main motors, which it looks like you have correctly wired to Speed Control 3 & 4, you need the receiver to be connected to RC Inputs 3 & 4, but it looks like you only have one connection, into RC Input 1.

Have you wired up the Audio Module to the receiver ?

If you have, then you also need to wire from the Audio Module to the Motion Control Module.

It's probably easier to start with just the THRO connection in the receiver attached to RC Input 3 on the Motion Control Module and the PITCH connection attached to RC Input 4. Wired like that, you should be able to control the speed of each motor with the two sticks, forwards and backwards.

Adrian.

[Armortek]

Here is what Adrian has just explained in graphical form.
Best to start with this set up and ignore the Audio module for now.

Get this working and then follow the next steps in the manual.