I am a newbie and just finishing my first ant, disobediANT . I have a major problem. When I turn it and the transmitter on, if I do not point the fully extended arial at the ant, it goes mad and judders about so I cannot control it very well. I have been advised to put a layer of foil covered with sticky tape between the receiver and the battery but it does not help at all . Anyone got any ideas? I would really appreciate it.
Hi alasdair and welcome to the world of antweights.
To understand a solution to this problem we will probably need answers to the following questions:
What materials are you using as a shell?
What radio gear are you using?
How far does the arial sticking out of the body?
It may be just that the arial needs to stick out a little more, but it is better to be safe than sorry. just in case you face a spinner and you suddenly loose control of your ant.
Fortune cookie says: Pain is meerly a feeling;
unless its PERMANANT FOREVER.
Fortune cookie no.2 says: Take heed of
Last cookie
There are a few things you can do, move the reciever (RX) as far away from the motors/servos as you can. Try to have the extend the ariel on the rx as much as you can as it will improve reception.
Other things that could be causing a problem is battery power, make sure that the transmitter (TX) and robot battery are fully charged. Also check the frequencies of the tx and rx match.
The base and sides are 0.5 mm thick carbon fibre and the top and back are 1mm thick polythene plastic.
Hitec laser 4 TX and a HFS05MS RX
I am trying to keep the arial inside the body to avoid damage, what do you recommend?
Your problem is probably interference caused either by the motors or by the wires leading to the motors.
1. Try to shield the receiver from the motors, by alu foil wrapped in tape (to insulate it)
2. Shorten the wires from the controller to the wire as much as possible, or shield them.
3. Put a capacitor between the poles of the motors.
If you're using servos then 2 and 3 will be a bit more tricky. Do you have the budget to go to 2.4 GHz? There's no interference at that frequency (I know that's not technically true, but you know what I mean).
I think the only way to solve it is by putting the arial on the outside .Has anyone got any ideas of how to sheild it from attacks if it is on the the outside?
Hi Alasdair if you are using servo's, it is less likley to be interference from them, as they are designed to work together. If hanging the receiver arial outside improves things it is probably that. Carbon fibre is a conductor and as such will act as shield that stops the signal getting to your reciever arial. Also if the reciver arial is layed close to a conductor it can act like a ground plane and cause problems. The safest place for the arial if it has to be outside is normally on top of the robot as most spinners nibble around the outside. The other possibility is to check the crystals. Different manufacturers receivers use different IF frequencies so it is important that the crystal in the receiver is the same make as the receiver itself or at least the same IF spacing which is often difficult to check. The main problems usually come when mixing Futaba and Hitec receivers and crystals. The Tx crystal are all the same so they can be mixed.
Thanks peter.
I do not think that it is because of the rx and crystal because they are both hitec so it is most likely the armour. Do you think I could cut a oblong shaped hole in the top, and fill it with a plastic mesh. I could then wrap the rx arial around that .
Hello and welcome.
There may be a more simple explanation for this. Some of my older robots ran on SD200's with a hitech radio system, and they used to jitter a bit in my bedroom because I have a lot of electrical equipment (PC, TV ect) in quite a small space.
Maybe this is the same with you, maybe just try running it in a different room, it might work.
If not, it sounds like an aerial issue. I have the aerial on the outside of 90% of the robots I've build and I've never had it cut or anything in battle. My way has always been to ball it up into as small a ball as possible and then stick it to the outside in a place that is unlikely to be hit. Other techniques I've used before are sticking it down, and then sticking some sponge over the top to avoid impact.
I don't think it's your armour because plastic and CF wouldn't cause any interference.
. I have a major problem. When I turn it and the transmitter on, if I do not point the fully extended arial at the ant, it goes mad and judders about so I cannot control it very well. I have been advised to put a layer of foil covered with sticky tape between the receiver and the battery but it does not help at all 
. Anyone got any ideas? I would really appreciate it.
.Has anyone got any ideas of how to sheild it from attacks if it is on the the outside?