range of a radio system

[petal2thametal]

hi guys.

i got a hitec 3d lynx radio system. iam not really impressed with the range this thing gives me. it doesn't go beyond 60 to 100 meter. havnt really messured it. but in my oppinion, it isnt really far.
is their something to keep in mind that alters or shortens the range of a radio.

and do different brands give different range. if so. whats the best.

 

[Rolex]

Check the length of the receiver wire. If it's been cut shorter, or been ripped due to a rollover, it will have a shorter range. The wire is tuned for the frequency.

 

[mr_bob]

well mine a futaba 27 mhz and its am which has a shorter range and i have over a football feild which is a good 300 feet so I'm thinking a 100 yards is good enough


why would u need to go farther then a football feild i can barly see my car when its that far away

 

[petal2thametal]

ya well.. its not even going half a football field. if it was, i would of been happy about it.

the wire isnt cut or something. but i had a hard time putting it trought the Antenne pipe. maybe its cracked or something.
if i wanna buy a new one, i need a special made one for hitec?

 

[Rolex]

Check you LHS. They should have spools of the same gauge wire. Just cut it to the right length and solder it to the board. You might have broken it due to a pinch when you installed it, and even though the antenna is there, it's only reading a very short length.

 

[petal2thametal]

hi guys..

umn. i wanted to buy an antenne wire, but my lhs didnt have one. so i bought several other things incl 4 sanyo 2300 batteries.

i tried the range with these batteries and now it goes really far. it seems the batteries did the trick.

i couldnt even ques batteries had such an impact on range of a radio system.
i ran normal philips or sony batteries b4 this but better batteries makes a real difference. servo's work a lot faster also

 

[SkyMaxx]

Things that impact radio reception range:
1. Power supply
2. Antenna height or improvements to Line of Sight
3. Obstructions or impediments to Line of Sight

The rest have to do with actual malfunctions that could limit the range, but the three things listed above are actual science based issues.

1. If you have a weak power supply, you will have a weak transmitter and the receiver might also turn out weak. Weak transmit power translates directly into shorter range.
2. Antenna height speaks to curvature of the earth and obstacles. If the car's antenna is no more than six inches off the ground and the transmitter's antenna is also very low to the ground, your range will be impacted (this is more for very long range control...say over a 100m). That is why most tracks use a driver's stand (better visibility, line of site from transmitter to receiver, and increased ranges).
3. Obstructions...anything that gets between the transmitter and receiver can impact the range.

Your solution...the batteries are a common mistake and an easy one to solve. Glad that you were able to find the solution.

 

[vbgagnon]

Save yourself some time, and headaches and get yourself a 5 cell battery pack. It will cost you about $25 and will last longer on a charge and you don't have to worry about the batts comming out when you crash, your servo's will work better too! Its worth the $$ to invest in a batt pack.