2wks ago I crashed a pilotRC extra 330SC 107" with EQ6 running on a DLE111 with hitec7955's all around except the rudder having a 7980. I recently switched from a JR12x to a 14SG. After having flown it for over 6mths with this setup all of a sudden the plane locked out on me and crashed! Cause of crash:UNIDENTIFIED

I then bought and setup an Extreme Flight extra300 104" with the same equipment. On the maiden the new aircraft locked out twice for less than 3secs but fortunately recovered and landed safely. Upon discussion with my fellow fliers we decided I'd buy a new 14SG and borrowed a tried n tested smartflyEQ6 from a friend and re-setup the plane ruling out any chance of a faulty radio/receiver/power distribution system.

Hence,I test flew it again today only to see the same lockout once again n yet again it recovered within 3secs and landed safely.

Y'day a friend of mine experienced EXACTLY the same problem on a 100% identical setup and he too landed safely after it recovered within 3secs.

Everyone at the club is dumbfounded with this issue. I tried switching the telemetry feature on and flew and then I switched it off and flew yet the problem persisted.

Need help urgently. Kindly advise what could be the problem?
*

Hi

Personally I would call Futaba and Smarty Fly and tell them your experiences. The gentleman I have spoken to at Smart Fly was very helpful and explained a lot to me in great detail when I bought the Power Expander Competition 12 unit from him. The folks at Hobbico/Futaba are equally as helpful and could possibly give you some insight. Just explain to them the exact setup that you had how everything was configured

Just my 2 cents.

Scott

+1

I'll be watching closely.
I am running the 14SG with the Smartfly EQ6 in two 40% planes.
The only differance is I am running the R617FS reciever.
I do not have a lot of flights on mine, but it has been rock solid.

When I did 1st get the 14SG, I smoked the throttle servo in each plane within a few minutes while programing for reasons I can not explain.

I wonder if there's anyone out there using a setup similar to mine? If yes, then I'd like to hear what they're doing right to keep it flying?

I have an 8fg with the same rx you have with the eq6 on two planes and have had some problems out of the eq6's (both of them) but there was no lock out issues. The owner of smart fly will tell you that his product is not the problem right off the bat so be ready for that. The best rule of thumb we have came up with is to stay away from the smartfly's that have the eq built in. I realize that's not always a choice with some peoples set ups, but if you had the money to spend, you would be better off to buy a 14ch rx and a smartfly power expander without the equalizer in it and just put each servo on its own channel with that tx you have. Also if you have 4 aileron servos on the plane, use the function menu to assign them on channels 1-4, or 5-8, etc, as Futaba sends out data in blocks of 4s. You want your ailerons to all get their info at the same time.
If this is not an option for you at this time, look into this for the future builds and so forth. It really does make a difference.
As far as the locking out goes, be sure that nothing but the pigtails of the smartfly are plugged into the rx. That rx doesn't get very much voltage or amps from the 2 power legs so if you plug a servo or anything into the rx directly, it will draw the power down from the rx to where it goes into fail safe mode. Don't fly it again until you get it worked out. Hope this helps bud.

Originally Posted by n2201y

I have an 8fg with the same rx you have with the eq6 on two planes and have had some problems out of the eq6's (both of them) but there was no lock out issues. The owner of smart fly will tell you that his product is not the problem right off the bat so be ready for that. The best rule of thumb we have came up with is to stay away from the smartfly's that have the eq built in. I realize that's not always a choice with some peoples set ups, but if you had the money to spend, you would be better off to buy a 14ch rx and a smartfly power expander without the equalizer in it and just put each servo on its own channel with that tx you have. Also if you have 4 aileron servos on the plane, use the function menu to assign them on channels 1-4, or 5-8, etc, as Futaba sends out data in blocks of 4s. You want your ailerons to all get their info at the same time.
If this is not an option for you at this time, look into this for the future builds and so forth. It really does make a difference.
As far as the locking out goes, be sure that nothing but the pigtails of the smartfly are plugged into the rx. That rx doesn't get very much voltage or amps from the 2 power legs so if you plug a servo or anything into the rx directly, it will draw the power down from the rx to where it goes into fail safe mode. Don't fly it again until you get it worked out. Hope this helps bud.

This is the first I've ever heard about the sending data in 4's. I'm setting up four aileron servo's on two rx's. I'm going to have to take a second look at my setup. Thanks for the info.

Ive been using a 6014 on my eq6 but have not had any problems. This is my first 2.4 reciever as my 12z came in 72mhz and I just switched over in March of this year. I thought I saw somewhere in smart fly instructions that some futaba recievers were not recommended.

Hi Guys!

I am from the same flying club where rcfreek flies. Almost complete club switched to Futaba recently from JR due to JR constant development habit and changing technologies all the time leaving one in the dark with their older products. So I was no exception and had my 18MZ in February with R7008Sb receivers. I am flying all of my models on the same receivers without any issues. Its the most strongest link I ever flown with. However, recently when I used R7008 with PowerBox competition SRS in a jet, the PB used to display 900+ frame losses while telemetry ON & below 25 frame losses while Telemetry OFF! So I test flew the jet while telemetry OFF. No problems faced in flight whatsoever.

Last Friday, when I was doing my break-in flights of 100cc Bird with Smart-Fly EQ6 Turbo + 18MZ / R7008SB (Telemetry ON) (Results are same with Telemetry OFF Or with increased delay). The airplane started to lock for less than a second duration in one particular area and altitude. I kept flying till it locked for more than 2 or 3 seconds. I landed safely and now looking forward to Smart-Fly for the solution. No question to ask Futaba guys since their product is working perfectly with us since the date of purchase. I wonder why Smart-Fly sold me this product without mentioning that it shall not work perfectly with Bla Bla receivers. After having their reply I shall request them for a full refund and return this product being sold without any warning on it!! I am looking forward to replace this Smart-Fly EQ6 Turbo with Power Box Competition SRS. Let's see how it turns out~

Regards,

Haisan J.
Miniature Aircraft Association Lahore
Pakistan

Hi,*We have planes flying with the R7008SB here with no issues at all.** Planes have been flying with this*receiver for over a year in the USA with zero reported problems.* I am sorry for your loss but it has*nothing to do with the combination and we feel we are compatible with all* receivers so no warning*is necessary.

SMART-FLY Support

Those of us familiar with SF and Futaba would probably want to see pics of how the OP and his fellow flyers have their planes setup.

Additionally, as has been mentioned, there is no need for using an EQ series SF board when the flyers have the 8fg and 14sg radios...Thats the wrong SF board to use in this case. Not saying you should NOT use it, but if buying new..its the wrong board.

Most definitely want to know if they had any device plugged directly into the receiver...

I have dealt with smart fly over the phone. I have found them to be very knowledgable and above board. I doubt smart fly would steer you wrong.

Sorry for the OP's loss, but it doesn't sound like a SF issue to me. He mentions changing to a different receiver and SF board, but nothing about batteries, switches, and other electrical items. There are too many unknowns here to point the finger at one item.

If you can provide a detailed description of your setup, I'm sure the folks at Smart Fly can help you diagnose the issue. I have four of their EQ6's in different planes; the oldest one is currently almost 4 years old with no problems at all (I fly with JR receivers, but I've never heard of any incompatibility issues with Futaba). Smart Fly provides excellent customer service.

Pete

Pete

Hopefully someone can run with this because im not 100% sure of all the details but I though the EQ series of boards have a refresh rate or specific speed rate. Is it possible that this is causing some sort of interference with the Futaba receivers? Maybe they are faster and somehow monitor the circuits???

Amazing the responses you get from people that don't even own a freagan Futaba RX. I think the original poster just wants answers but it is strange all of your set ups JR and Futaba have had issues..

I am about to run the Power Box with Futaba and opted for the RXs without telemetry (Fasst). Although there are no reported crashes with the Fasstest/PB setup fades are reported. What seems to be happening though is it is how the PB is reading telemetry. Good luck getting an answer from Futaba and the Fanboys get their underwear in a bind because they think you are blaming the RX for this. It would be nice just to see what is happening and if these fades actually even matter.

Just as above I wouldn't be shocked if the telemetry (signal back and forth) was possibly messing with the SF unit but maybe it actually causes issues unlike the PB. I believe there are some Futaba RXs that you can't run it in HS mode as well.

One way to be certain would be to put a Fasst RX in the exact same set up instead of a Fasstest and see if you have the same issues. Problem is if it still happens you may crash your plane.