AR7000 Rx - antenna accidentally cut-off - what to do?

[RMaia]

Yep, that's pretty much what happened. The Rx is not mine, it's from a friend. He was settting up his plane and decided to cut off the excess foam padding on the Rx. Sadly, he forgot about the antenna being in the middle of the foam as well and one of the antennas on his main Rx (not the satellite one) is about 3/8" shorter....

So, what can be done about it?
Is the Rx trashed (i.e. needs to buy another one) or can just the cutoff antenna be replaced by a another one (of course, a new "genuine" antenna)? Are there any other options?

[Julez]

Although I do not own any Spektrum gear, I am quite sure that a repair should not be too difficult.
Both antennas consist of normal wire, not exotic coax stuff.
Normally, desoldering the left over stub from the PCB, soldering on a new cable, and trimming it to the *exact* length, should do the job.

However, letting the service fix it, might also be reasonable depending on the price of the plane it is supposed to control.

[as722]

I would send it to horizon to get fixed. It is an easy fix but you are dealing with heat sensitive components and you probably don't have the equipment to do it.

[3DJIM]

One of the antennas fell off my 6200, I popped open the case and replaced both of them with silicone wire of the same length, The original antenna wire was rigid and snapped off at the solder joint, The new wire is soft and flexible, woks great, flew the inspire 60 near out of sight without any issues, loads of flights on it now.

But if your a novice at soldering send it in to be done

Jim.

[Ratt Belly]

Duct Tape!

[RMaia]

Well, after contacting Horizon to see if there's any authorized shops around here and finding out that there are none, he decided to try replacing the antenna himself.

The problem of sending it in to Horizon is not only the shipping charges (about $50 for both ways) but also the risk of the customs charging a fee when the product comes back. No point in paying import tax on something which has already been charged when it was imported the first time.... And the paperwork and fees involved in trying to prove it came from repair work (thus acquiring tax exempt status) is so overwhelming, that it'd make more sense buying another Rx NIB....

So, what would be reasonable wires to use as a replacement antenna? Does it really need to be a single filament copper wire? Or it can be those wires which have "multiple element" copper wiring inside?

[Ih82crash]

I had a wire fall off a receiver. I cut a section of wire off an old servo (same length) and soldered it to the receiver. It works great!!

[wcknight]

	Quote: Originally Posted by RMaia
	Well, So, what would be reasonable wires to use as a replacement antenna? Does it really need to be a single filament copper wire? Or it can be those wires which have "multiple element" copper wiring inside?

use a high quality stranded wire of the same gauge and you'll do fine.
Likely it is the same length ans the other antenna (If I was at home, I'd measure it for you)
use a low temp pencil type soldering iron (say 23 watts) and just be careful.

good luck

[dubd]

Send it to Horizon.

[Eury]

I've replaced antennas on numerous Spektrum receivers. It's simple, cut a length of servo wire to the right length and solder it on. Why in the world would anyone waste your time and money sending it to Horizon for something that takes less than a minute to fix? Especially something like this that is easy to verify that it works properly after the repair.

[ferocious frankie]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Eury
	I've replaced antennas on numerous Spektrum receivers. It's simple, cut a length of servo wire to the right length and solder it on. Why in the world would anyone waste your time and money sending it to Horizon for something that takes less than a minute to fix? Especially something like this that is easy to verify that it works properly after the repair.

Your warranty is voided.

[Eury]

Dear god, NO!!!! I have yet to have a receiver die on me in decades in the hobby. I couldn't care less if the warranty is voided. Also, I'd bet money that if something on the RX failed that was unrelated to the antennas, that HH would still replace it for free.