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[KNO3]

Hi all,
If you, like me, have a trusty old radio transmitter with some features you wouldn't want to miss, you might be interested updating it a little bit. I had a Futaba FC 16 with a navy twin stick, a feature that, to my knowledge is unavailable in any modern radio. That's why I have kept it and looked for a solution for quite some time. Recently I've made myself courage and started to dig into the old radio's innards.

I have successfully converted my Futaba FC 16 to 2,4 GHz, with the ability to use the original 40 MHz as well with the flick of a switch. I have used the rather inexpensive FrSky DHT 8 channel receiver.Installing it wasn't too difficult but of course involved a bit of soldering. The DHT module has enough room between the gimbals. The white panels seen below are just home-made covers for the unused switch holes of the transmitter case. I know they might not appeal to many but my idea was to be able to easily label the switches with a marker on the white surface (which I didn't do yet).I have added switches for all previously unoccupied channels. Two proportional on the left hand white panel and two 3-way switches on the 2 white panels in the middle.The right hand panel is dedicated to the DHT module. The switch between the old (silver) antenna and the new (black) one is used to switch between 40 MHz and 2,4 GHz. Made it point to either antenna, so using it should be self-explanatory. The switch to the right changes between 1 and 2 way (telemetry) communication modes, with the 3rd position being for firmware update. The small black push button is used for binding to the receiver, to its left is the led showing module status.

The FC 16 before:


The innards, showing the new DHT module:


The FC 16 after conversion: