Antenna placement Eflite Viper

[Nikom]

I just maiden my Viper today and it flew just great. How ever at some point it felt like i lost control a few seconds. Wondering if i should run the antenna over the battery instead off under the battery? Some even says they put it outside the canopy. Thoughts?

[Hugh Wiedman]

I just maiden my Viper today and it flew just great. How ever at some point it felt like i lost control a few seconds. Wondering if i should run the antenna over the battery instead off under the battery? Some even says they put it outside the canopy. Thoughts?

I learned the hard way, as long as your antennae is over/under/on the side of the battery, you're sooner or later going to loose signal. Receiver antennae and LiPo batteries are not friends. You really need to run the antennae away from the battery, in the opposite direction from the battery if possible, especially the active end of the antennae. If you place your receiver behind the battery, like most set-ups, try and run the antennae to the rear. If, for some reason, that is impossible, you may want to get a satellite antennae/receiver with a long lead and place it somewhere away from the battery/ESC or any other electronics. It took almost 60 flights on my Stinger 90 to loose signal with the antennae running along side the battery, but when it did, she flew off into the Everglades. Another buddy had a similar issue with his F-14 Tomcat that he placed the antennae under the battery tray, but finally lost signal at the end of the runway after landing on his 120th flight. His luck was definitely with him that day. I only learned of this issue of antennae vs battery from posting a photo of my just completed F-18 Canadian demo jet, when several Squawkers were good enough to warn me that I was headed for potential disaster. A tech with HH later confirmed the same, so place it away from the battery now before you learn my lesson the same way. Good luck.

[Nikom]

My AR636B rx does not have a satellite antennae/receiver port so i have to settle with the antennae to the rear like you said. I wouldn’t call it a lost connetion that second it happend more like a little “jump”.
But it wouldn’t hurt to replace the antennae like you recommend:) Thank’s for your help.

[Hugh Wiedman]

My AR636B rx does not have a satellite antennae/receiver port so i have to settle with the antennae to the rear like you said. I wouldn’t call it a lost connetion that second it happend more like a little “jump”.
But it wouldn’t hurt to replace the antennae like you recommend:) Thank’s for your help.

Better safe than sorry. The same thing happened on the replacement Stinger 90 I did (and had the antennae placed along the battery like the first, which lost signal altogether), it was a momentary "brown out", came back quickly, yet was still somewhat intermittent. This all happened before I learned anything about the interference a battery may cause to an antennae. I use nothing but AR636 receivers (have over 25 of them) and they do have another port for a satellite, but have only had to put one in my F-18, Stinger and the SU-30 which I changed from a AR636B to a AR7350 so I could have flaperons and the air brake. Since learning of the potential interference and relocating the few that might be a problem, I have so far not had any issues.

Hope everything works out for you, it's hard enough dealing with our own inadequacies as pilots without having added concerns with mechanical or signal loss issues.

[Nikom]

So true my friend😜 I’m still a new pilot and will stay with the ar636A and ar636B rx with safe for a long time.
What is the difference between A an B Spektrum rx’ses?

[Hugh Wiedman]

The B are already programmed by Spektrum including SAFE and you cannot "wipe them clean" and reprogram. You can reprogram some of the gains, but that's it and it will not accept a satellite receiver. The same is true of the A (I think). If you buy a separate AR636 (no A or B) it comes with no programming and you can program whatever you want. Of course, the AR636 is now discontinued and it is replaced by the AR 637 which can be programmed right from your transmitter (the 636 needed a phone or computer app and a connection cable to program)

[Nikom]

Well some kind of programming is possible with the ar636a. I did it with one from a crashed plane using the programmer cable. Think i change som gains and could rename the plane.

Thank’s

[Nikom]

Hi just glued the antennae from the rx and carved it in behind the canopy of my Eflite Viper so it sticks out side. Guess glue over and around the long antennae doesn’t hold back the signal?

[Hugh Wiedman]

No, glue will not interrupt the signal. They claim that only the LiPo battery (and any electrical cables, not servo wires though) and possibly carbon fiber tubes (but they're narrow and you don't want to run the antennae on top of them) affect the signal. You should be good to go!

[Nikom]

So great to hear:) I’m ready for my second flight tomorrow. Wish i could put safe on other switch then flap channel. Thought i could use my throttle cut two position switch bot no! I’m gonna stick with safe till next year when i’m getting DX9:)

thank’s again.