Hi Kevin,
Thanks for posting the details here. I don't spend a lot of time on the
RC
forums as a general rule and hadn't seen this before. Futaba does have a
service bulletin link on their 2.4gigahertz.com web site. It's under the
"Module/Receiver
Sets" link. They only acknowledge one incident in the US. They don't say
anything about a problem in the UK but they do indicate that the systems
were incorrectly programmed at the factory.
As I stated in a previous post, we've been flying a couple of 6EX's on a
camera ****p (one for the helicopter and one for the camera turret) without
problem for the past 6 months or so. I have emailed Futaba here in the US
on this issue but haven't received and answer from them yet. I've also
got
a TM-14 FASST module on my 12Z which is functioning cleanly too. Then
again, come to think of it, I haven't flown with any other Futaba FASST
systems either so I'll "definitely" be keeping an eye out.
Fly Safe,
Steve R.
"The OTHER Kevin in San Diego" <skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net> wrote in
message news:vdn9p3pjan3eqk8puccordj51io7n1b2k7@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:33:05 -0600, "Steve R." <srhodes13@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>
>
>>Yeah, Futaba has taken quite a bit of time getting their FASST systems
on
>>the market. Seems like they got caught with their pants down on the 2.4
>>GHz
>>stuff. Hopefully, they'll get caught up in the not too distant future.
>
> I just got tired of waiting.. I had all intentions of buying a 14MZ
> or 12FG with the FASST system but got impatient. :)
>
>>What kind of issues have you been hearing about the Futaba FASST
systems?
>>Without knowing any specific complaints, I'd tend to disregard comments
>>about "potential problems." The reason I say that is, I bought a new 9Z
>>synthesized system back around 1995. I still have that radio and it has
>>worked perfectly for me the entire time I've had it. I heard all the BS
>>that went around in the beginning, folks calling it a "Dial a Crash,"
but
>>I've never had any problems with mine and have met many others that
>>haven't
>>either.
>
> http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=798002#post8886544
>
> Evidently something is happening to the GUID in the receivers and
> allowing one Tx to control multiple receivers.
>
> Here's a small snippet from that thread:
>
> ORIGINAL: GrayUK
>
> This post is one that I hoped I would not have to post.
>
> On its own, it was a local anomaly that was restricted to 3 units, I
> felt that there was no reason to ring alarm bells until we had got to
> the bottom of the problem.
>
> I am posting it now for safety reasons as I have just found out from
> this thread.
> That there has been another occurrence.
>
>
> Also rumours and false truths are out in the UK, so here is the truth,
> please act on it sensibly.
>
>
> Below is a copy of an email I sent to Ripmax in the UK around 1 week
> ago.
> Ripmax are the UK distributors for Futaba and I know they have taken
> immediate action. I will list actions and recommendations after the
> email copy.
>
>
> I have to re****t to you a very serious problem with the Futaba FASST 6
> channel system.
> As you know I am a great sup****ter of Futaba, always have been.
> I also believe that the FASST system is far better than any of the
> competition systems.
> I have been flying the FASST for some months now and have been totally
> satisfied until now.
> In our club there is maybe 6 sets in operation, all of which have
> worked perfectly on their own or with each other.
> No interference issues at all.
> Today I had a new member to teach to fly; he has 2 Futaba FASST 6 TXs
> and a trainer with 1 RX in it.
> We were using the 2 TXs together on a buddy lead.
> All seemed fine, I taxied the model to the take off area and was
> waiting for someone to land, and he was also on Futaba 6 FASST. I was
> standing next to him; the model was in front of me to the left, so my
> TX was between the model and his TX.
> Suddenly the throttle opened on the trainer and it was off, I had no
> control, it swung around to the left and shot off into long grass
> (luckily), this stopped the motor.
> When we returned to the bench we did a test.
> On the trainer we turned off the matching TX and then the TX of the
> guy next to me on the flight line (we will call him man A) was
> switched on, and guess what? It had control of the model! We then
> turned on the models TX, it failed to operate or interfere with the
> model. We then turned off man A's TX, the RX went to failsafe, and
> then 4 seconds later locked on to its own TX! We then switched on man
> A's TX, it again failed to interfere with the signal. We switched off
> the trainers own TX and the RX went to failsafe, 4 seconds later it
> reconnected with man A's TX.
> The RX would connect to 2 TX's! We then tried the second TX (belonging
> to the man with the trainer) the one that was used on buddy lead. Well
> guess what! The RX worked with this one as well! We repeated the above
> test with switching on the other TX's and every time we switched off
> the controlling TX, 4 seconds later it would bond with one of the
> other TX's
> So to sum up; at this point we had a RX that would work with 3 TX's
> Next we tried other TX's on the field (mine included) and these would
> NOT operate the RX, it was just the 3 (2 belonging to the trainer and
> man A's TX.)
> We then rebound the RX in the trainer to one of the 3 TX's that would
> operate it, well, nothing changed, and all three could operate it.
> Man A had 2 models, both with 6 FASST RX' in them.
> We turned on one of the original trainer TX's and, well you have
> guessed it, it could control BOTH of his models.
> We tried other TX's (including mine) none of them would do the same.
> So in summary at this point we now have 3 TX's and 3 RX' that will
> work any or all of the others!
> To further complicate things we tried the following.
> I took my TX (no problem with it and no interference on my RX from the
> other TX's). We bound the RX in the trainer to my TX and ..no problem,
> it would only work on my TX!
> We were very lucky today, someone could have been badly hurt or worse,
> this is a very serious issue.
> We now have a ban on any 2.4 systems flying with any other, so, just
> like superegen.
> This needs urgent attention as many sets are out there.
>
> This news will have to be made public soon for safety reasons.
>
> Paul Gray
>
> Ripmax immediately responded to by asking for the return of the sets
> TX's involved for checking, this has been done.
>
> My understanding is that has tested all of the 6 channel units in
> stock and discovered at least 2 more with the problem.
> The problem has been identified as the TX@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
having the same code.namely
> 0000000. As if they have not been blown/programmed.
> Ripmax are obviously in constant communication with Futaba and I am
> sure a solution/announcement is imminent.
>
> I would make the following recommendations.
>
> Get all 2.4 FASST systems in your club together and carry out the
> following test.
>
> Switch on your TX and all other RX's, see if any other system will
> respond, if not then repeat with all other TX's one at a time.
> Remember, only 1 TX at a time.
> What this will do will show that all the TX's in your club are not
> interfering with each others rx, therefore you do not have more than
> ONE faulty TX present. However if a new TX or module turns up then you
> MUST repeat the test, because one of your TX's may have been faulty
> but it would not show unless 2 or more are present. (Bit of a pain but
> you can at least continue with safety until Futaba give a heads up on
> this and resolve/replace the faulty TX's.
> We have done this in our club now and are back flying as normal.
>
> Sorry to be the bearer of this news but for safety's sake you should
> know, and with a little checking (as indicated) you can still fly
> non-faulty units with each other perfectly safely.
>
> Paul
>
>
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