Repost: V8R4 receiver - detached aerial fix
Posted: 21 Jun 2018, 18:40
Reposted from 2012, prompted by an article in this months RCM&E:
Maybe I'm one of the few with one-way gear but I've been using it since helping with beta testing and the V8 stuff has been supremely reliable.
I've seen a few posts from people who had detached V8R4 antennas, but never paid much attention until I received my last order from the big fish, which included a V8R4 with no aerial at all.
I've fixed it, thoroughly tested it and its 100% so I wondered if the fix might be of interest to others. Unfortunately I didnt take any photos, if it happens again I'll take some.
What I did was to first clean off all the 'goo' by warming it and gently picking at it. The pcb land to which the aerial should have been soldered appeared to be missing - probably came a way with the aerial - leaving nowhere to resolder a new aerial.
To find the aerial input I set the tx module to low power, set the tx to sweep, got the rx linked up & a servo sweeping, then moved the tx well out of range, way beyond where the rx stopped working (still with no rx aerial).
I then took a 30mm pin, pushed it through some 1/4 square balsa, and under a bench magnifier and with the rx powered up and holding the balsa, touched the point all around the original aerial position. Next to the missing aerial connection I found that at the junction of two SMT components, touching the pin gave an instant link, removing it dropped the link.
I switched off, soldered a 33mm length of servo wire to the junction of the two components, & switched the rx back on again. Got an instant link, and a low-power range test proved all was back to normal. Checked the solder was a good mechanical joint and applied a good blob of evo-stick to support it. Did a range test on full tx power and ran out of space at half a mile, with rx still working fine at that range. I'm not suggesting all breakages can be as easily fixed but this worked for me. Wish I'd taken photos, too late now but next time I will.
Cheers
Phil
Edit 21st June 2018 - this particular receiver has been in regular use in my Tomboy since the repair in 2012, in 6 years its never missed a beat
Maybe I'm one of the few with one-way gear but I've been using it since helping with beta testing and the V8 stuff has been supremely reliable.
I've seen a few posts from people who had detached V8R4 antennas, but never paid much attention until I received my last order from the big fish, which included a V8R4 with no aerial at all.
I've fixed it, thoroughly tested it and its 100% so I wondered if the fix might be of interest to others. Unfortunately I didnt take any photos, if it happens again I'll take some.
What I did was to first clean off all the 'goo' by warming it and gently picking at it. The pcb land to which the aerial should have been soldered appeared to be missing - probably came a way with the aerial - leaving nowhere to resolder a new aerial.
To find the aerial input I set the tx module to low power, set the tx to sweep, got the rx linked up & a servo sweeping, then moved the tx well out of range, way beyond where the rx stopped working (still with no rx aerial).
I then took a 30mm pin, pushed it through some 1/4 square balsa, and under a bench magnifier and with the rx powered up and holding the balsa, touched the point all around the original aerial position. Next to the missing aerial connection I found that at the junction of two SMT components, touching the pin gave an instant link, removing it dropped the link.
I switched off, soldered a 33mm length of servo wire to the junction of the two components, & switched the rx back on again. Got an instant link, and a low-power range test proved all was back to normal. Checked the solder was a good mechanical joint and applied a good blob of evo-stick to support it. Did a range test on full tx power and ran out of space at half a mile, with rx still working fine at that range. I'm not suggesting all breakages can be as easily fixed but this worked for me. Wish I'd taken photos, too late now but next time I will.
Cheers
Phil
Edit 21st June 2018 - this particular receiver has been in regular use in my Tomboy since the repair in 2012, in 6 years its never missed a beat