Mode Zero

Help please

I have acquired a working Futaba FT-5E transmitter and am trying to find out more info about it. It seems to be a single channel TX with a proportional ?? stick but also a push button and a toggle switch marked N-S. I am intrigued to find out what the switches and button were for and if the stick really was proportional.
My intention is to convert it to 2.4 so it can be used but keeping the original functions....if I can find out what they are!!

Any help would be appreciated.

John

Hi John

Welcome to the forum.

The Futaba FT-5E is a single channel "coder" transmitter and would have been used with an escapement or a S/C motorised actuator such as the Futaba Ergamo or Ergamite actuators. The joystick automated the once for right, twice for left operation of a normal single-channel transmitter, so it wasn't proportional and it wasn't a reed bang-bang like your Graupner Variophon either. But it was considered one of the best single-channel sets ever produced. I'm certain it would have been more popular, but it was quite late to market (1967-1970 I think from the top of my head) and cost nearly as much as some early S/C proportional sets. The push was used for throttle control or kick-up elevator if using the Ergamite actuators (there were separate actuators for rudder and throttle).

I've got a boxed FT-5E with the instructions somewhere, I'll dig them out and scan them unless somebody else has already scanned a copy. But all my transmitters are in storage at the moment, while we finish our house extension, so it will be a few weeks (or months if things keep going as they are), so don't hold your breath.

But they would be a lovely transmitter to convert and use.

Cheers

Mike

Thanks Mike

A conversion is the plan and alan will be doing the work....so expect contact from him !!!?
If you ever fininsh your extension It would be great to have a copy of the original instructions.

AEB