Need help getting my WFLY FT06-A to work

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  • JohnPhilley
    Ensign
    • Jun 2014
    • 7

    Need help getting my WFLY FT06-A to work

    I'm new at this and I would really appreciate some help getting my FT06-A working. I'm sure it's probably something simple but I have no idea what to try next. I've tried all kinds of permutations with no success.

    Here's what I've got. (It's mainly a test setup)...

    The WFLY 6 channel 75 MHz FT06-A radio with the TX69 TYPE 75.570 crystal installed.
    All the dip switches are set to NOR.

    I'm using the WFLY FRP06-P receiver with the FM-RX DRX69 DUAL 75.570 crystal installed.

    An Mtroniks Viper Sub10 ESC.

    A simple 6 to 10 volt brushed motor.

    And for the battery, just a 9 volt Duracell Alkaline battery.


    Here's my setup...


    On the Mtroniks ESC...
    The YELLOW (+ VE MOTOR) wire is connected to one terminal of the motor.
    The BLUE (- VE MOTOR) wire is connected to the other terminal.
    The RED (+ VE BATT) wire is connected to the positive terminal of the battery
    The BROWN (- VE BATT) wire is connected to the negative terminal of the battery
    The 3-wire connector (Yellow wire, Orange wire, and Brown wire) from the ESC is connected to Channel number 3 of the Receiver with the Yellow wire (inside) closest to the antenna wire and the Brown wire (in the - position) farthest from the antenna wire.

    I follow the directions on the ESC for "Calibrating the ESC to your transmitter" which are...
    1. turn on the radio
    2. turn on the ESC
    3. press the setup button while the green and red LEDs are flashing. The green LED light glows steady.
    4. move the throttle control to full and back to neutral.

    At this point the red LED is supposed to light up on the ESC but it never has.
    I've tried this moving everything on the radio and the red LED never comes on after the green LED.

    Meanwhile the red light on the receiver starts of as a steady red and after a few seconds starts flashing.
    I think this has something to do with a Failsafe, but I don't know what a Failsafe is in this context or if it is interfering with the ESC setup.

    I know the motor connections work because if I don't press the setup button on the ESC, the motor starts up after the red and green LEDs stop flashing.

    So I'm dead in the water. I'm not even IN the water. So I could really use your help in getting up and running. I'm sure that it will turn out to be something simple.

    Any help you would be willing to give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
    Last edited by JohnPhilley; 06-24-2014, 08:48 AM.
  • He Who Shall Not Be Named
    Moderator
    • Aug 2008
    • 12253

    #2
    The receiver is not 'listening' to the transmitter yet. That flashing light on the receiver denotes the 'fail-safe set-up' mode. This happens when the receiver is on yet no transmitted signal is detected.

    Are the crystals marked as 'wfly'?

    M
    Last edited by He Who Shall Not Be Named; 06-24-2014, 08:59 AM.
    Who is John Galt?

    Comment

    • JohnPhilley
      Ensign
      • Jun 2014
      • 7

      #3
      Both transmitter and receiver crystals were packaged with the WFLY radio.
      Technically only the receiver crystal has WFLY on the label. The transmitter crystal does not.
      But they both came from WFLY.

      Comment

      • trout
        Admiral
        • Jul 2011
        • 3545

        #4
        Directly from China? Or from Mike Caswell's Sub-Driver.com site?
        Since you did list the crystal's frequency, I will skip say are you sure. I will see if I can find out more about the type of crystals needed - the 8 channel needs dual something or another.....Let me search. You say that not both crystals are marked WFly, which one is not? and why?
        If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

        Comment

        • JohnPhilley
          Ensign
          • Jun 2014
          • 7

          #5
          I purchased the package from Mike Caswell's Sub-Driver.com site. Both crystals came with the package.

          Comment

          • trout
            Admiral
            • Jul 2011
            • 3545

            #6
            Did you get this resolved yet?
            If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

            Comment

            • KevinMc
              Commander
              • Feb 2009
              • 305

              #7
              Hi John,

              I just noticed this one - Like Tom I'm curious to know if you're still having issues.

              When I read through the troubleshooting you've done I think there's a few too many variables at play, we need to break a few things down here.

              The part numbers and descriptions you've provided for the transmitter, receiver, and crystals are helpful - it sounds like you've got all the right stuff there.

              From the description you provided about the transmitter and receiver operation (with the red LED coming on steady then flashing several seconds after power up) I agree with David's comment above that your receiver is trying to go into failsafe setup - this also means it's not "hearing" the signal coming from your transmitter. This is problem #1 to solve.

              Although the ESC is also apparently not working I expect the problem there is that it's because it's not seeing a signal from the receiver. This gets even messier when we consider that the receiver needs to get it's power from the "not working" ESC. Further, the 9V battery you're using may not be able to deliver the necessary current to hold everything up so it's possible that this could actually be causing all your troubles.

              Do you have, or can you make up a 4-cell (4.8V) battery pack to directly power the receiver? This would help greatly because it would allow just the Tx/Rx to be tested without the ESC and the 9V battery being in the equation.
              Kevin McLeod - Oscar II driver
              KMc Designs

              Comment

              • JohnPhilley
                Ensign
                • Jun 2014
                • 7

                #8
                Yes, I did do the test that you suggested. The results were that the receiver light came on and stayed on. I repeated the test several times.
                As I understand it, this means that the receiver is not getting the signal from the radio, either because...

                1. The radio is not transmitting
                2. The receiver is not receiving or
                3. One of both of the crystals may be bad (?)

                That's where things stand at the moment. I'm not sure what the next step is.
                I guess the bottom line is that something is not working correctly and needs to be repaired or replaced.

                Do you know of a way that I can determine if it's the radio or the receiver that is malfunctioning?

                Thanks,
                John

                Comment

                • trout
                  Admiral
                  • Jul 2011
                  • 3545

                  #9
                  Did the Caswell employee email that I posted on another site help?
                  Mike Caswell, can you help this man?
                  If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                  Comment

                  • KevinMc
                    Commander
                    • Feb 2009
                    • 305

                    #10
                    Originally posted by JohnPhilley
                    Do you know of a way that I can determine if it's the radio or the receiver that is malfunctioning?
                    Hi John,

                    Thanks for your patience and for testing what you've done so far.

                    I think I may have figured out your problem. I was just digging through the manual for your receiver, I didn't notice before that the FRP06 is a single-conversion type. By it's part number your Rx crystal would appear to be a dual-conversion type. These aren't interchangeable. I'll shoot Mike an email, but you should contact him again as well.

                    KMc
                    Kevin McLeod - Oscar II driver
                    KMc Designs

                    Comment

                    • trout
                      Admiral
                      • Jul 2011
                      • 3545

                      #11
                      Kevin, that is brilliant. I thought it had to be crystals, but too lazy or ignorant to do what you did! Great work there sir.
                      If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                      Comment

                      • JohnPhilley
                        Ensign
                        • Jun 2014
                        • 7

                        #12
                        Thanks very much Kevin and thank you too trout. I have no idea what single-conversion and double-conversion mean yet, but it makes sense that they should match up.
                        But those were the only crystals that came with the package that were marked as 75 mHz. The only pair of crystals that are not marked DRX are both 72.490 mHz. But as I understand it, that's not a legal frequency in the US.

                        Perhaps the wrong packet of crystals was included in the package. Should I be able to obtain the correct WFLY crystals?

                        Thanks very much for your help Kevin and Trout. I appreciate it very much.

                        Comment

                        • JohnPhilley
                          Ensign
                          • Jun 2014
                          • 7

                          #13
                          It finally occurred to me that I could verify whether the problem was due to the crystals or to the radio or receiver.
                          The only single-conversion crystals in the package were the pair of 72.490 MHz, so just as a test, I inserted them into the radio and receiver and repeated the test you suggested Kevin. This time, the red light came on briefly and went out, proving that both radio and receiver are fine and confirming what you said Kevin, that the double-conversion crystals do not work in the WFLY FT06-A. So all I need to do is get the 75 MHz single-conversion crystals and I should be good to go.

                          Thanks again Kevin. That was a brilliant piece of detective work.

                          Comment

                          • KevinMc
                            Commander
                            • Feb 2009
                            • 305

                            #14
                            Hah, that's great news! I didn't realize you had another set of crystals to cross-check with.

                            Now one thing to note is that only the RECEIVER crystal is actually "dual conversion", there is no difference in the transmitter crystal when you buy a crystal set that's single or dual conversion. I thought I should point this out so if get another receiver that is dual conversion, you'll know that you won't have to change transmitter crystals to drive it. (Assuming they're all on the same channel.) Just make sure each receiver has the right type of crystal and you're good to go!
                            Kevin McLeod - Oscar II driver
                            KMc Designs

                            Comment

                            • JohnPhilley
                              Ensign
                              • Jun 2014
                              • 7

                              #15
                              Since my last post, I purchased some 75 MHz single-conversion crystals from GWS; one channel 69 receiver crystal and a pair of channel 65 receiver/transmitter crystals. I tried both sets and neither worked. Then thinking I might have been mistaken about the 72 MHz crystals having worked before, I retried the 72 MHz crystals again. This time I even hooked up the speed controller as well and magically everything worked perfectly. That's when I noticed that there was an oval sticker on the side of the WFly receiver that read "72 MHz". Mere coincidence? I wonder.

                              That brings me to my question. Is there a different flavor of WFly receiver that is marked as "75 MHz" instead of "72 MHz"? Does anyone know if the 72 MHz label matters? Or do people think I should order another pair of 75 MHz from another vendor, and if so, can you recommend one?

                              Thanks very much for your help. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

                              Comment

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