Flying a 500 with 1 satellite.

[Lynx.1677]

I know it's said that you need 2 x sats to fly a 500 or bigger but why is this?

I mean, I had my 450 pro and mounted the sat on the outside of the frame. What would happen if you did this on a 500 and mounted it in the same place?

Is there a valid reason or is it just a ploy to get you to buy more sats? I know there is something about carbon and radio signals but is this valid now with 2.4Ghz and DSMX etc etc (I am only using DSM2).

Maybe on a 700 size leccie I can see why but I can't imagine it being a problem at all on a 500.

Dan

[FlyingMouse]

I'm flying my 500 pro with a AR7200BX with one satellite on the outside, it flying OK, on loss of signal so far!

[Mark_T]

I'm flying my 500 pro with a AR7200BX with one satellite on the outside, it flying OK, on loss of signal so far!

AR7200BX has two antennas (antennae ?) already, so with a satellite added you have 3 which is plenty of coverage if you have them positioned right.

On the other hand, if we are talking about adding a single satellite to a BeastX for example, then you have precisely one antenna.

Position it badly on the larger carbon frames of a 500 and you'll get an early chance to find out how well fail-safe works

Spektrum radios are designed to make use of antenna diversity to deliver a strong link, personally I'm all in favour of giving them at least the minimum of two that they need.

[dillwhacker]

My 500s fly fine with one RX and one sat.
I think the two wires are an opposing pair, making up a single 'dipole' antenna.
Anyway, if the RX and sat are on opposite sides of the frame and mounted with the wires in different directions, and not shrouded, I have had no probs.
Do a low power range check (30 paces with Spekkie) with the heli in lots of different orientations to be sure.

[rasman2k]

Sort of on topic, one of the ariels isn't actually active apparently....info from this link

Did you know that?!?!? (for Spektrum/JR users mainly) - HeliFreak

So I think it's about potential shielding material reducing satellite visibility. Having said that, I fly my 500 with 1 satellite.

[Lynx.1677]

Interesting so far how many fly with only 1. I had a think and for the sake of £20 I figured it wasn't worth risking the £100+ potential repair bill. Still interesting to see people's responses though. Never knew only one aerial was active. Kinda pointless having two?

[Mark_T]

We do need to be careful to ensure we are all talking about the same thing though.

One base receiver + one satellite is just fine, that gives you at least 2 active antenna

The risk is when you have a FBL unit (other than AR7200BX) with only one satellite.

As for the one active antenna, but two pieces of wire; it is not that one is worthless, think of it more like needing the wire to be that long but splitting it and having it go out both sides of the satellite for convenience

[Dave Rand]

I'm only using one sat with the vbar, mounted under the belly, not had any loss of signal or anything.
Flying big air at times also.
Will put another on it at some point.

[Jamin_00]

Interesting so far how many fly with only 1. I had a think and for the sake of £20 I figured it wasn't worth risking the £100+ potential repair bill. Still interesting to see people's responses though. Never knew only one aerial was active. Kinda pointless having two?

If it does go in when using only 1 sat then you will not only kick yourself but continue kicking yourself until you are black and blue no?

Get a second! I got a spare here you can have if you are desperate for one Dan.

[dillwhacker]

How do you connect two satellites to a Spektrum receiver?
The RX only has one sat socket, and the sat only has one socket...
Do you use a 'Y' lead or something? I've never seen it done?
I'm confused now..

[Stanley Speel]

With a receiver only one sat is needed, as the receiver itself has an antenna built in (for example an AR6200). The same goes for the AR7200BX.

However, with the FBL controllers that can also act as receivers, you should plug in two sats as the FBL controller doesn't have any antennas in it, so all reception from the TX is done from the sat.

There are some really expensive spektrum receivers that allow for more than one sat but I think they are meant more for planes.

I used to use 1 sat on my 500s, but thinking back it was stupid and now I use two

[Lynx.1677]

I'm only using one sat with the vbar, mounted under the belly, not had any loss of signal or anything.
Flying big air at times also.
Will put another on it at some point.

I bought one today Ben but was curious as I only ever used one with the Vbar on the 450 and thought surely it's not that much bigger. Cheers though.

[pug907]

I was talking to the chap that bought my 450 pro last week, who had 2 failures within a couple of hours of each other. The first, he put down to a brown out, until it did it again. The first time he was in his normal flying field, but fortunately only 6-8 feet high, when it dropped. Blades were the only collateral damage it sustained. The second time he was just taking off about 20 feet away when it cut out, so no damage. He has not had the problem before, with the AR6300(If memory serves) and 1 sat, both were newish. He has put it down to the fact that he had put some fuel tube over the antennae, to "protect" them. Whether it makes a difference, or not, we don't know, but the tubing was the orange "solid colour" tube as opposed to the normal "clear" tube.

Since removing the tubing, he has had no further problems. I have now taken the tubing off my Rx's and sats(I'm only running 1 sat with an AR8000), just in case this was the cause of the "brown outs".

Has anyone else come across this problem shortly after fitting the tubing?

Roll on the good weather.
Cheers,

[Mark_T]

With a receiver only one sat is needed, as the receiver itself has an antenna built in (for example an AR6200). The same goes for the AR7200BX.

Just to avoid any confusion, the AR7200BX does not actually 'need' a satellite, it comes equipped with two antenna which should be routed at 90 degrees to each other. Sure can't hurt to add a satellite, but not as vital as it would be with a receiver that only had one antenna (AR7000/7010 or AR8000 for example)

Reason why we need to be clear on what type of antenna is fitted is it affects how we should orient the bits of wire.

So on a satellite, or an AR7000/7010 the two wires must remain in line with each other pointing straight out from the body or they will not function correctly.