Installing and Mounting Your RC Receiver for Maximum Reliability

How do you maximize the reliability of your radio system? A lot to do with reliability is your radio receiver installation in to your Radio Controlled vehicle. In this video we cover the main critical factors that could effect the reliability of your transmitter to receiver connection.
One of the most common causes that could down your airplane is a brown out. A brown out is when the receiver does not have the minimum voltage to function correctly. In this case the unit shuts off and must re-link to the transmitter when the correct voltage is restored. For this reason it is very important to provide your radio system with the correct amount of power based on the servo load in your application.
Note: Some Radio Receivers will have a two antenna's on the main receiver, however one of them is actually used for telemetry information. If this is the case you can not cover an extra axis with this antenna but placing it on a different axis will not hurt anything. To confirm, refer to your receivers manual to understand the purpose of the receiver antenna.

[@wapartist]

Man I still run some crystal stuff from the early 90’s. But most I’ve converted to modern digital and it’s so much tidier and reliable

[@mikemalherbe7845]

Great info. Your videos should be essential study for all RC operators!

[@RCexplained]

Thanks for the comment!

[@baxrok2.]

Excellent info. Thanks!

[@RCexplained]

Thanks Baxrok2!

[@joshfogle5882]

The longest antenna I have had was on a toy-grade monster truck, and it was just about 2 feet long. The transmitter's antenna was a bit over 3 feet long, and doubled as a fencing foil. 27 Mhz was on its way out by then.

[@RCexplained]

Wow, that is just about as long as they come back in the day. Thanks for sharing!

[@LawrenceTimme]

RC explained: cars only have 2 dimensions Rcdude81: Am I a joke to you

[@RCexplained]

Ha, it took me a while for this to click! Luckily, when jumping, the transmitter is typically very close to the car that is jumping. I don't jump my car but would expect range to be OK. I'd only be worried about broken parts. Definitely true that there is some sort of control input that needs to make its way to the car while in the air to maintain control.

[@LawrenceTimme]

@@RCexplained true 😂😂 some people fly their cars rather than drive them. Only 200ft or so at most though.

[@colin1992]

Hey ryan great vid about antennas, heres a helpful tip. Some radios have Rssi, meaning u can see the signal strength from the transmitter its self.

[@RCexplained]

Yes, for sure and some radio's allow you to use the telemetry data with a range check. We will dig in to this in another video.

[@remkojerphanion4686]

Very interesting video - to the point and easily understood! Thank you! I'm currently building a RC tugboat, and because of the heavy construction and the materials used (very thick fiberglass, stainless steel, brass etc), I have decided to place the Rx in the highest point on the boat which is the wheelhouse. The wheelhouse itself will be made of 1/8" plywood, so that should work well. BTW, to give you some idea on what I consider heavy construction... The boat is only about 38 inches long but it will weigh around 90 lbs when finished. Yes, it does float perfectly well with that amount of weight :)

[@RCexplained]

Sounds like a great project Remko!

[@remkojerphanion4686]

@@RCexplained Thanks buddy! I enjoy building from scratch and preparations are underway for the next project... In between building, I always look forward to your informative video's!

[@RCexplained]

@@remkojerphanion4686 It's good to hear you look forward to the videos!

[@AJ-js1yw]

Awesome vid! Based on what i picked up, im surprised there arent any antennas that are folded into 3 different axis. Im not sure how to explain this but imagine one long antena folded into x, y and z axis to assume a spherical shape/ coverage

[@RCexplained]

Thanks for the comment James. What is interesting about the Antennas is that they are "tuned" at a specific length. You can't make them longer or shorter, otherwise they would be out of tune. The active part of the Antenna is also required to be straight in order to be effective. These limitations are quite significant for the design, I'm not sure how they would be able to cover all axis as is.

[@OhMySack]

Great info and very confidence inspiring to me at this point with a new build using an AR9350T w/2 remotes on a 1/5 scale Carbon Cub. 1 of my remote had lots of frame losses but no holds. It's all about orientation. In your opinion, does balsa and ultrakote have any adverse properties regarding RF signal? The 2 antennae coming out of my rx have to be mounted in an open space separate from but immediately under a 5000mAh battery. I have those on an X and Y axiis. Also, any thoughts on RF degradation if placing the antenna in shrink tube to make it stiff and offer support and protection?

[@RCexplained]

Hey Timothy, thanks for the comment! I don't see a measurable difference between balsa and foam airframes. I get great signal quality in a balsa/ply airframe. I would expect that shrink tube could have an impact in signal quality since the material is very tight to the antenna. The only way to confirm is to collect the data through testing with shrink tube and without. I have not done this test before.

[@EddieVichta]

Thanks for all informative videos. All my receivers have two antennas, no satelites, so I can not cover all 3 axes. What is better placement? Both horizontally or 1 horizontally and 1 verticaly? And what about transmitter antenna orientation, please? edit: Oh I am talking about airplane.

[@RCexplained]

Most transmitters on radios today do not allow for antenna adjustment, therefore I would say however you hold your transmitter is fine! If you have 2 of the 3 axis covered you are OK. It does not matter so much if they are both horizontal or 1 vertical and the other horizontal. You will have similar results with either way. What is more important is that you place the receiver and specifically the antenna away from other components within your airplane.

[@remkojerphanion4686]

In tight situations, perhaps a piece of carbon fibre placed between your receiver and other components will help minimize interference?

[@RCexplained]

Hey Remko, that is an interesting thought! Other components may make it more difficult for the RX to receive a signal, however, Carbon Fiber would make it even more difficult to receive a signal. My preference if I had no other choice would be to leave it. 2.4 GHz systems (having a short wavelength) are actually quite resistant to interference from a lot of the electronic used in RC. But I would not expose the system to any unnecessary risk or any extra unnecessary risk.

[@remkojerphanion4686]

@@RCexplained I agree, no unneccessary risk. Certainly for anything that flies!

[@pain_inthe_bass]

My receiver says it goes up to 5.4 V and I have a 7.4 V battery is that all right

[@jeffs7915]

I would say no.