Solved a strange binding problem with a Spektrum AR636A Receiver.

I recently bought an E-flight NightVisionAire off a club member. It's one of these fancy 3D models that light up for night flying and also have all sorts of stabilizer functions, including a "panic" button which will return the model to level flight should you get into any trouble.
Obviously I had to bind it to my transmitter and this is where my problems started.
It has a specially made Spektrum Rx which is one of the few that only work on Spekkies new DSMX system, not their old DSM2 protocol.
I had 2 Spektrum transmitters, a DX6i, a DX7 and also a Macgregor / JR DSX9 which is the one I like and it works on the old Spekky DSM2 system.
Without thinking I gave away the DX6i which was the only one that could do DSMX. .... Well I went on ebay and bought a more modern Spektrum DX7 which should work with this model. .... errrr, NO! ... the b**ger just refused to bind! :evil:
I also bought a "Spares or repair" DX6i which though faulty, should still be able to bind with this AR636A receiver. ..... Errrrr NO! :evil: :S
I started wondering if I'd damaged the Rx when prizing it out of the model in order to insert the bind plug. I took it apart and checked for any broken solder joints but I couldn't see anything wrong.
I arranged to go to a club members at 8.00pm tonight and try it with his transmitter, I was just getting ready to leave when I decided to have one last look on google...... Guess what I found, the receiver has to be lying flat and level with the top facing downwards before it will bind. Obviously this is something to do with being specially made for a model that can tell which way up it is. :silly:
I had to place it on a level glass plate and watch the flashing LED from underneath, but sure enough it bound straight away and I almost bust a gut with relief!!!!! :woohoo:
At least I can now get back to my next electronic project, one reason I bought the "spares or repair" DX6i is to take it apart and see if I can figure out a way to upgrade my old DX7, and more importantly, my JR DSX9, so that they'll work with DSMX.
Horizon Hobby won't sell me an RF module for any of their transmitters, they recommend that I send the transmitter in for repair and pay stupid labour charges. .... They actually say that they can't upgrade the old DX7 :huh: .... and they no longer touch JR equipment. I spoke to the guy who is the official repair man for JR gear and even he said he can't get hold of Spektrum RF modules, even though they are as good as identical because the two companies used to be one.
I had a very good technical chat with him and he wants me to let him know if I can come up with a solution, there's a load of much loved JR gear out there that people don't want to part with just because things are changing to DSMX !!!!!
Wish me luck. :lol:

Pol.

With so many protocol changes it just goes to show the Spektrum system was potentially flawed from the get go but I'm pleased you found a solution Phil.

Spectrum, bah humbug
The planes I lost flying Spectrum you could not count on both hands
Since I switched to FUTABA only three, my spot on was a flat battery, a new one as well
No. 2 was a jet, i pulled the wrong stick :sick:
No. 3 the most painful was the
Su 27 which at the time was a nothing but a mystery, but since I have fond that one of the eleron servos had burnt out and jammed
It did not have ailerons )
I now think it was this that caused it to roll over into the dive to terra Ferma and not radio problems
So not another Hitec servo allowed
In my models

Not that i am defending Spektrum particularly but interesting it is still considered 'faulty' when the problem was due to the needs of a 'panic' function in a gyro system! Without a 'panic' option a gyro Rx will bind in any position.

Given that we build and maintain our planes personally without external scrutiny (and long may it remain so!) it could be argued that 99% of crashes are due to 'human error' of one sort or another.

While we are on the topic of receivers not binding to the tx - I'm having a similar problem with my Taranis.
Up until now, it has happily and almost instantly bound to each new model/X series receiver I've introduced to it (about 15, I think!)
BUT
Frsky released a new rx a couple of years back, with 3 axis stability built in.
As I sometimes use my Filip glider for carrying a camera, (and you have seen the results) I decided to try one of these S6R's. (In the Fox, I had an external plug-in box for the roll and pitch damping, but there is no room for that in the Filip).
I checked compatibility, on the website. My tx was listed. So I sent for one. It duly arrived, and I set it up using the USB dongle 'toolkit' thingy.
Came to bind it - nothing! Multiple repeated tries - nothing.
After a lot of dredging, googling and unanswered appeals to Frsky, I found that the rx will not bind to older X9D model tx's, but it will to the later model, the visually identical X9D plus, and later tx's.

When I got in tonight, there was an email waiting for me, saying that SOMETIMES, using an even-numbered memory number would by-pass the bug.
I've not tried that yet.
Watch this space!
:S

What's with the big downer on Spektrum guys ? I'm asking because I started with Spectrum & haven't used anything else.
I am currently using a DX6e & can honestly say I haven't had any issues with it at all, or the receivers for that matter !
I await to be enlightened by them that's wiser than I. :S

Crash, others know far more than I, this subject almost always descends into an argument and if this thread starts to go that way I will close it! In a nutshell when 2.4gig was first introduced most manufacturers went for channel hopping. There are 40 channels available but bear in mind that it's a public band. Each TX/RX combo uses 2 channels and if interference is detected they change the pair on the fly. Spectrum went the route of selecting 2 channels at switch on and sticking with them, ie no hopping. If you are flying near an urban area and the aircraft flies into an of 2.4gig interference, goodbye plane! Bear in mind that most alarm systems,cameras etc also use 2.4gig. Then there was the problem of brown out where, if the battery voltage dropped below a certain level the RX could take 3 or 4 seconds to re-link. In the beginning I believe Spectrum refused even to acknowledge that there were problems but I do know that Spectrum have introduced many changes, not always downwardly compatible over the years.
Blackbird flies from a salt pan very close to an airbase with, I presume, lots of local 2.4gig interference. If there is little or no interference (population density) near your flying site you shouldn't have a problem.
Also remember the FPV people use 2.4 gig extensively although many have now moved to the 5gig band.

Okay I get the picture, thanks for that. Incidentally the receiver in the Apprentice goes into "fail-safe" & gently spirals the aircraft down until it regains signal, apparently.