Spektrum Bug?

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Spektrum Bug?

Postby Bingo » Thu May 13, 2010 3:07 am

I have a question I hope someone can shed some light on.

When a Spektrum receiver loses more than a certain amount of frames in a given period it goes into a lockout mode where it takes several seconds to come back again (in very rare occasions they dont come back up at all!! - It is this that is making me want to ditch my Spektrum gear)
The question is: what happens during that process and why???

I have tested with a multitude of receivers, they all do it.
AR7000, AR6100, AR6110 and AR6200

Thanks
Bingo
 
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby peso » Sat May 15, 2010 7:57 am

Could you give us some more details. I would like to repeat the test myself. I have not had any problem with Spektrum but there has been some unexplained crashes in my area.
Thanks
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby hakank » Sat May 15, 2010 7:37 pm

Sounds like a major defect in the firmaware if that's the case. Where did you get that info from?

/Håkan

(Have had no problems with any of my Spekrum gear....yet)
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby Bingo » Sun May 16, 2010 2:26 am

Well it is very easy to reproduce.
You have to "simulate" a "lost" connection.
Have both receiver and transmitter antenna's point at each other at about 10-15 meters apart and both at ground level. (The idea here is to create a weak link)
Simulate a loss in signal by holding in range check button for say 4 seconds, now release range check button.
The receiver does not re sync immediately - it takes anywhere between 1-7 seconds.
If this is unclear I will make a video.

I have known about this for a long time through testing the system - simulating connection failures, etc... (Very strange that I am the only one that knows about it)

ps. I am done with Spektrum, - Ordered Hitec Aurora as replacement.
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby Bingo » Sun May 16, 2010 7:53 am

The only explanation I have to this is that the transmitter chooses channels too close to each other (or maybe both channels are occupied by other 2,4ghz devices)
If that is the case, range will be severely decreased and when you do lose signal it will take longer than usual to re link.

Any thoughts?
Last edited by Bingo on Fri May 21, 2010 3:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby kneedrag » Sun May 16, 2010 9:29 am

I was demoing the FrSky on the slope showing someone with a DX7 and if I recall a AR6100 the rebind times by on the ground switching off my tx and turning it back on and the model responded immediately.

He then did the same on the Spektrum and it did not recover. He had to turn off the rx and tx and start everything up again to get control. So if for some reason signal was lost for a second or two that would have been a lost model.

I know from my Spektrum days I would normally have expected a 4-5second reboot time however not to recover was a bit surprising for both of us.
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby peso » Sun May 16, 2010 11:45 am

You seem to be right. I did a similar test with a 6100 and it took up to 5 seconds for the receiver to reconnect after having lost the signal. I did the test by lowering the plane behind a shield to loose control. After that I moved it up quickly above the shield and control came back after a time between 1 to 5 seconds. However it always came back.
I have the receiver in a foam pakrflyer and I have never had any problem with it in the air. Maybe the signal is strong enough at the distances I fly.
I repeated the test with an AR7000. In this case the reconnection time was shorter. It never exceeded 2 seconds.
I have always wondered why Spectrum need all these sattelites. Maybe this is the reason.
Now I am just waiting for someone to write that I have bad batteries…………..
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby Bingo » Sun May 16, 2010 10:48 pm

peso wrote:You seem to be right. I did a similar test with a 6100 and it took up to 5 seconds for the receiver to reconnect after having lost the signal. I did the test by lowering the plane behind a shield to loose control. After that I moved it up quickly above the shield and control came back after a time between 1 to 5 seconds. However it always came back.
I have the receiver in a foam pakrflyer and I have never had any problem with it in the air. Maybe the signal is strong enough at the distances I fly.
I repeated the test with an AR7000. In this case the reconnection time was shorter. It never exceeded 2 seconds.
I have always wondered why Spectrum need all these sattelites. Maybe this is the reason.
Now I am just waiting for someone to write that I have bad batteries…………..


Yeah the full range receivers re link quicker as you said, but the problem gets worse in a RF noisy environment.
I had 2 planes fall out of the sky not even 30meters away from me. (Parkflyer rx's AR6100 and AR6110)
At this specific field my range test fails with full range receivers and re link times go up to 7 seconds some days.
I have lost confidence in the Spektrum stuff and have decided to abandon it for more a resilient system.
ps. I flew Spektrum for 2 years and never had any problems.
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby errsemr » Wed May 26, 2010 1:30 pm

kneedrag wrote:switching off my tx and turning it back on

That is not the proper way to do the test. Do you ever do that when flying?

Look at what peso does! He creates an artificial loss of connection without manipulating transmitter or receiver in an abnormal way. His observations are interesting. I'd appreciate it if peso could make a video to demonstrate.
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Re: Spektrum Bug?

Postby ransideous » Wed May 26, 2010 4:16 pm

That is not the proper way to do the test. Do you ever do that when flying?

yes, once. stupid, probably(especially over a protected reserve), but regained almost instantaneously on dx5e and ar500.
would i do it again now after seeing(1) and reading about many failures, probably not.
felt pretty crazy doin it though!!! :twisted:

ps. either way simulates no signal to receiver does it not?
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