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[rogercchristie]

Radio games and not a Nicholas Parsons or a Steve Wright in sight
... I guess that should be “...in sound”, but then that doesn’t rhyme.


So I’ve got a new radio.


At least it’s new to me. I see it was first listed 15 September 2012 but I’d never heard of it until two days ago.


I was actually after another Radiolink T4EU from Giant (fish-of-the-day) but it’s not in stock. OK, maybe a couple more receivers ... no, they’re out of stock too. I looked up a few other spares as well, but - you guessed it - out of stock! In fact the only radio available is Frsky Taranis £144! (By the way, does anyone else stock Radiolink or was it specific to The Fish?)


Incidentally, I haven’t bought anything from The Fish for a long time. I did have a whizz round six weeks ago aiming to restock my spares cabinet (actually a couple of cardboard boxes). I like the Wish List feature that has appeared on several websites of late (presumably copying Amazon). Apart from keeping a list of what I fancy, it ensures that I’m not too tempted to buy on an impulse. Consequently I clicked on Add To My Wishlist with some abandon with a view to editing it down to my budget later. About an hour later (which really is a ‘quick whizz’ by my current standards!) I went to check what I’d listed and the list was empty!!!


... and broken I guess. I never went back until the other day. I may not go back again at all. Is it just me or has Giant Cod now shrunk to a small sick tadpole and gone to the dogfishes since the takeover? Shame!


Anyway, before I get entirely OT (if not OTT), “where do I go now?” I thought. Several pages into Google found me Skyartec.co.uk. Maybe I’m the last one in the modelling canon to discover it, but I searched this forum and there’s only one reference so far. I’m sure you’ll soon stop me if I’m trying to tell you what everyone already knows.

I’ve yet to bumble round their whole catalogue but it looks quite good so far. I had a few sticky moments but their Help Desk really was helpful. I didn’t want to change brands again but I’m a radio short for a model show in ten days time. So I’ve got the Sky 706 7-channel 2.4GHz scanning with matching 7-Ch receiver. A bit over the top to drive a ratty but bullet-proof two-channel chugger for the kids to bash round the pond, but it was only £45 (£50 with P&P), ordered Wednesday evening, arrived with the postman Friday morning; no complaints there then. Yes, it’s still a bit steep when the boat kit was only £8.50 plus bits out of the stock-box plus three evenings in the workshop, but boats sink, radios don’t. (Oops! Am I tempting fate here?)


How am I getting on with it? Well there are a few wrinkles worth sharing. I’ll be back shortly to continue the tale. I promise to try for more fact and less waffle.


Rog


OT = off topic
OTT = over the top

[Netleyned]

Try Howes Models for Radio link.

Ned

[rogercchristie]

First, thanks for the tip Ned. I’ll have a look at Howes when I’ve got a moment.


Well this is turning out more like a bells-and-whistles beginners guide (if you ignore – or laugh off my screw-ups that is!). That’s no bad thing per se, but you experienced modellers may prefer to skip the gory details and jump straight to the weird stuff at the end.


Part 2: Friday late evening.


I briefly checked the contents earlier. In the shipping box there’s a cardboard box with pretty pictures; in that there’s the usual white moulded EPS box; and in that there’s the transmitter, a 7-channel receiver, and a lead of some sort. Then I had to stop for a few trivial non-modelling activities like shopping and eating and going to the ... well there’s a little room upstairs for necessary purposes. So some time later...


It says here on the box:
Skyartec SKY706
2.4 GHz frequency hopping
PC Programming
7 Channel
透过电脑编程，无线遥控器设置   [ ]



It’s made by Skyartec in Shezhen in Southern China, but it was dispatched from the UK warehouse in Cambridgeshire so delivery was fast and it didn’t attract any unwelcome attention from customs. (Note that in fact Skyartec UK will deal with any customs charges even if goods have to be sent from an overseas factory.) [Note 2: maybe I was lucky; I think I may have got the last one; on Saturday the website now says waiting for stock.]


Hey, that’s odd – there’s no instructions [but see below]. OK, let’s see what I can do anyway. There’s the “featherweight” transmitter (likely mostly fresh-air inside). It has the usual two 2-way sticks on the front; an On/Off switch in the middle with three LEDs above; rubber-duck aerial on top – hey that’s good, it’s raised up on a pillar so it’s clear of the carrying handle. There are two toggle switches top front left and right; the left one is labelled Gear and the right one says Flight Mode; there was a diagram on the website – ah yes, it says Flight Mode switch is to select either Mode 1 or Mode 2.  And there are also two unlabelled swivel-type switches on the upper left and right sides.


On the back: bottom right a 5-pin DIN socket to match the included DIN to USB lead (clearly to attach to the computer); bottom left a standard charging socket; between these the battery compartment cover. Now that’s unexpected – that looks like a module plugged into the back. Ah no, it’s just a dummy one to fill in the hole; I guess they just use a multi-purpose case. It could be a useful spare though; I’ve had the retaining clips break before.


No batteries included but I’ve got eight spare AA rechargeables. There’s a removable 2×2×2 battery-holder which then plugs in via a lead. The socket is awkward to access but it’s only to plug in once because I can recharge via the socket on the outside. Don’t break the battery cover; it’s a little tight with the batteries in place but it does fit. It’s certainly not featherweight any more but comfortable.


OK, I’ve got a spare Rx power pack (6v) and four spare HiTec HS81 mini servos. Good, the lightweight 7-channel receiver has the pins on the end (it doesn’t matter as much for boats, but I find it’s a better fit for planes, especially gliders). There are no guide-slots (Futaba style) to ensure plugging in the right way up, but there’s an S + - label on the side. On the other end of the Rx there’s a single aerial and the expected binding button.


So, plug servos in 1 to 4; switch on Tx; hold Rx binding button while plugging Rx battery in spare socket; waggle the sticks. Hey, it works! It isn’t often that easy. There’s something not right though.


The upper right front toggle switch (labelled Flight Mode) is set to N which should be Mode 2. Throttle (left stick, up/down) is Channel 2 (but shouldn’t that be 3?), and Rudder (left stick, left/right) is Channel 4. Then the right stick, left right is Channel 1 (aileron on Mode 2 aircraft) as expected, but right stick, up/down does nothing. By swapping the servos round I establish what all the Channels do (or don’t). Then, changing to Mode 1 (upper right front toggle switch set to 1), I go through a similar exercise and get an equally unexpected response.


This is getting confusing. I’ll try to make a table:




   

 
Flight Mode N (switch up):Channel
Flight Mode 1 (switch down):Channel Right Stick left/right
 
1
1 Right Stick up/down
 
Nothing
Nothing Left Stick left/right
 
4
4 Left Stick up/down
 
2
2 Switch front left (labelled GEAR)
 
3
3 Switch side right
 
Nothing
6 Switch side left
 
7
7

   



... and that’s weird [meaning not compliant with the Mode 1 and Mode 2 standards as I understand them; might it be set to run some sort of helicopter?].


About now I’m wondering where I get the software so I can use the computer to change the programming. I had put the gear in and out of the box several times. This time I don’t know quite what thought makes me turn the EPS box upside-down – and there’s the CD, taped into a shallow recess on the bottom!


But it’s past my bedtime. And I’ve still to find time to fix up some models for next Saturday’s show. OK, OK! You don’t need to tell me: “If at first you don’t succeed, then read the instructions”, and now I’ve found them I will. Actually the radio seems fit enough to drive one of the two-channel boats next weekend, so maybe I shouldn’t risk breaking it. On the other hand it’s going to bother the hell out of me until I fix it. I may get back on it Sunday or Monday. I’ll return with Part 3 soon.


Rog

[Stavros]

Din Plug on the rear will be for a Buddy lead ...in other words If you are a begginner at the flying mularky then you can be connected to a profficientflyer who will be able to get you out of trouble.
 
Dave

[rogercchristie]

PS The table looked OK in the Preview. I hope it still makes sense.


PPS I may cross-post this elsewhere, but according to SECURITY Apollo did not take men to the Moon, and RMS Titanic was not sunk by an iceberg in 1912. I just had to keep putting in the "wrong" answers until I got alternative questions.


Rog

[rogercchristie]

Thanks Stavros (wow! that was quick!)


Actually I was saving that for Part 3. Since Friday I have had a quick whizz through the instructions. (Although a rather hammy translation into English they are reasonably clear.)


The DIN socket does indeed serve a buddy box; it also connects to the computer for programming; and it operates some flight sims.


Rog

[rogercchristie]

   [font='times new roman']Late Monday evening, 7/4/14 – then completed Tuesday afternoon:


If there’s a lag between the time of the story and the time of posting it’s because I’m taking notes and then editing them down to size (and ensuring they make sense). Believe me, garrulous doesn’t hack it if I write “live”.


Incidentally, I forgot to mention that the Skyartec receiver aerial plugs on to the PCB (like the Frsky ones) rather than being directly soldered to it. (It has proved a useful feature before as it was easier to repair the rather brittle aerials on the Frsky Rx’s when they broke off; those aerials now have a little extra support where they exit the case courtesy of a blob of silicon sealant.)


So, I had hoped to furnish an update to my ramblings before now. The intention proved to be too optimistic.


I spent three evenings and two afternoons getting the models ready for the Saturday model show. Time stretches more every time I go through this exercise. (I don’t remember Einstein mentioning that phenomenon in his relativity theories!) Note to my modelling colleagues (if they read this stuff): please contribute to our fund for some new 2.4GHz radios. I’m really getting sick of fiddling around for hours with these old crystal-driven 27MHz sets to put together four that will work!


Then I was tied up most of last Friday when I helped to coach a hundred or so 9 and 10 year olds in “engineering/technology”. They were making hovercrafts from ballons, cotton reels, and old CDs, and folding and testing paper darts. And I enjoyed it almost as much as they did. (I’m sure they are all well ahead of me with respect to controlling computer games, what with Wii’s and X-boxes and so on, but half of them couldn’t fold a paper aeroplane to fly a flea without a lot of help. They can now!)


Then on Friday evening I spent four hours putting up the boating pool (although most of that time was waiting for the water supply). The pool is actually four bolted-together scaffolding planks and an old tarpaulin - I guess that should be plastic-paulin. Would you believe that the space allocated was on a slope? I borrowed some building bricks to raise one side by four inches (over just two metres). Then, when the hoses finally arrived, I had an hour to half-fill the pool.


What a waste of time that last bit was! Sadly the old “plastic-paulin” is getting a bit too old. Despite the careful patching up we did on Thursday afternoon, the water had all leaked away by Saturday morning; and it’s three linked-up hosepipes away from the nearest tap. I only needed eight inches of water for the little electric chuggers, but 3 by 2 metres times 10 inches (remember, it’s 12 inches on the downhill side; do keep up!) equals around 1500 litres via 150 metres of hose with leaky joints. There was enough water to get started after an hour.


The “Saturday job” extended to Sunday as well. I had plenty of satisfied customers (who didn’t want to be dragged away by their mums and dads) despite the steady throughflow of south-westerly squalls hurtling in from the Irish Sea all day. Cold, wet and muddy, I started dismantling the pool about four o’clock ... and only then did the sun decide to make a re-appearance!


It was getting on for five o’clock before I’d rolled up the tarp (with “help” from the wind!), and unbolted and hauled the planks back onto the roof rack. Wood swells when it gets wet and every bolt  was tight and needed some “encouragement” with a big hammer. And it was almost seven o’ clock by the time I’d unloaded all the gear and opened up the boats and transmitters on my pal’s workshop benches to dry out.


Dear dentist: I’m sorry I missed my appoinment on Monday. It’s a few years since I was persuaded that being paid not to work had become the preferable option. I hadn’t entirely factored in the option of working without pay, although I do get to choose and wouldn’t if I didn’t enjoy it (albeit that it sometimes seems a tad masochistic). Anyway, I’m no longer accustomed to several days “work” (with overtime) in a row, so I was rather knackered (with a capital KN) by Monday. That is why I dozed off and slept through the time of my appointment, even though it was at 2:30 in the afternoon! (Dear computer: please remind me next time ... now where’s that “big annoying gong” alarm?)


But so much for the preamble. In the end I didn’t need the new radio. I still haven’t fathomed out why it doesn’t work as expected. Correction to my earlier comment about the instructions (ie Although a rather hammy translation into English they are reasonably clear.): Well they’re not! I thought I could load up the programming application and try out the settings using the included FMS flight sim. It crashed the sim-plane once, then crashed the computer four times, then I gave up, so I’m no wiser.


Note: when it says “PC Programming” it means Windows-type PC. Don’t bother if you’re using a Mac; it doesn’t work.


I won’t give up; I will try again and I’ll be back to let you know how – and whether I get on, but now (Tuesday evening) I’m off to set up some boats and I’m going sailing tomorrow – for no-one’s benefit but my own!


Rog


PS Thanks to Trevor and all his colleagues at Maryport Model Club for all your hard work ... and for the pie, sandwiches and gallon of coffee.


PPS I haven’t time now to shrink-fit this stuff so you’re getting it all in a lump.[/font]