KO Esprit 3 Universe and KO SS 2.4Ghz Module/Reciever

[jo90]

Hi

Has anyone had an issue where the above 'un-bound' itself at all ? Yesterday after a great day of qualifying, got to the first final, turned on and the TX&Rx wouldnt see each other. Tried to re-bind and it still failed.

Once the last leg of the finals was run i then rebound the two and it worked fine. Next final I turned on a bit before hand, it found itself, bound and I could race.

I have searched the net for similar issues, but didn't find anything. I have heard from a few of similar issues with the KO 2.4GHz module or knowing of these issues.

Has anyone had this and found a solution, or have had to had their unit repaired to cure this ?

Thanks for any feedback

John

[/tobys]

I've had something similar a couple of times; reseating the TX module has corrected the issue each time.

Hope this helps.

[jo90]

Cheers Toby. I have the slight mode where tape is used to make the pod sit tighter into the module bay. Had checked though by giving it a push to make sure it was in fully.

[/tobys]

I had to remove and replace when mine did this - just pushing it didn't do the trick for me either. HTH

[adam_u]

Is it the RF901S module? I had issues with this being very slow to bind when there are a lot of transmitters fired up at once - i.e. at the start of a heat or final when there are probably 15-20 turned on...especially bad indoors. If you read up on the KO threads on rctech.net forums (100s of pages) it seems lots of 901s were returned early on for re-calibration or some such, but it seems there has always been the issue with it. I couldn't hack it any more so went for the RF903 FHSS module which thankfully has been faultless so far, binds very quickly whenever, bad times that it means new rxr's too

[Jason A]

Also take the module out the transmitter and check all the pins that come out transmitter are straight and making a good connection I found with mine over time they had moved a bit.

Had exactly the same symptoms of cutting out and not working.

[jo90]

Thanks guys, yeh is it the 901 module. I'll just make sure I turn it on alot earlier than everyone else haha

I might see if i can get hold of the 903 unit off ebay...shame as I bought this at a steal too!

[danmurphy]

I have a similar issue where the rx does not pair with the tx. Sometimes switching off/on cures it and other times reseating the tx module is needed. Need to sort this out as it is getting worse.

Has anyone converted their Universe to use the FrSky module?

[smarkham]

You will get the same issue with most modules mine did it the the ko and spektrum module. Try cleaning the pins with a pencil rubber worked every time on mine

[MattW]

Originally Posted by jo90

I might see if i can get hold of the 903 unit off ebay...shame as I bought this at a steal too!

I can't help thinking that there is a message in the latter half of this sentance

I have seen this a few times from others, and what smarkham says is very true. However, I think it is a fairly known issue even without that, and I believe KO are fully aware

[danmurphy]

Originally Posted by smarkham

You will get the same issue with most modules mine did it the the ko and spektrum module. Try cleaning the pins with a pencil rubber worked every time on mine

Yeah I also tried cleaning the pins with solvent on a cotton bud which seemed to make it go away... for a while..

So is it a binding issue or the module connector pins?

[MattW]

Dan, I think it's both actually.

[fidspeed]

my good racing buddy julianB had similiar issue returnedmodule to RCdisco for upgrade/repair/replacemnt (not sure which exactly) hes not had issue since

regards fid

[passy]

Mine went back to KO Japan for replacement/upgrade and unfortunately this didn't fix the unbinding trouble I was having.

The modules would work fine at home; however at the race track the tx would not see the rx unless I walked away from the track and other racers, into the car park and then switched on. I could then walk back to the race track and drive fine without interference.

My local track is a baptism of fire for 2.4GHz systems. We have two tracks next to each other, one for IC racing, the other electric. Both rostrums are enormous and can quite easily accommodate 20 drivers on each rostrum. The tracks can be run simultaneously, quite often during practice you can get around 35-40 drivers with transmitters on at the same time.

I've been through three different sets of 2.4GHz systems and this is what I've found.

KO RF_901S + KR-408S - problems as described above.

Spektrum Pro Module + SR3500 receiver - works fine 99.9% of the time but would occasionally glitch (usually at full throttle coming down the straight).

Sanwa Exzes-X + RX451 - no problems as of yet.

Talking to other drivers I got the following opinions, please take these with a pinch of salt as they are only opinions and not from my personal experience.

Spektrum DSM2 systems seem okay for most drivers, however a couple still complained of occasional glitches. A lot of drivers like the Green labelled FHSS, frequency hopping spread spektrum, modules from KO. The Sanwa 2.4 system also seems to be liked, and widely used without problems.

[jo90]

Thanks again for all the input.

Matt - Can assure you the equipment is cosha....not into buying hooky gear

Last night used the system without any problems again. Effectively im going to just make sure i turn the lot on in advance of my run, or just as I see people turning off.

On investigating this further is does seem likely that the unit cannot locate a free channel, which seems daft concidering how many there are on 2.4ghz, and as such it trips over the other channels in use in the area...hence why they wont bind.

A few people noted they sent units back and got new units...so far no complaints from them. However as this is second hand sending back isnt an option (cost etc)

Likewise a few have had fault with the spectrum stuff too. Just feels like as much as the 2.4ghz stuff was engineered to fit, it isnt as perfect as the 27/40mhz modules ever where in the Esprit3.

I will soldier on and see if i can find a sure fire way to make it bind each time.

Also, as a matter of curiousity, those who did have the same binding issues, what speedo where you using at the time ?

[MattW]

I read your post as you'd bought it cheap - and was suggesting there was a reason for that!!

You're quite right, the radio was ultimately never designed for this, and that's why I never ran it when I ran KO. I was aware of the connection issue, as I also suffered this with my 27mHz module.

I believe (although don't quote me on this) that the reason it can't find a channel, is that some of the other systems effectively "reserve" a b ank of channels.

A couple of years ago you would generally see very few issues with the KO system in the UK, however at foregn races there were allways issues. The general view was that this was because of the popularity of sanwa / Futaba in other countries - and they were the ones reserving the channels!! Now over here, Sanwa is very popular, and KO users (at least the old gear) are suffering problems.

[jo90]

I think your probably right there Matt. If I turn on the gear early i dont get issues, it's bound correctly. I guess getting into the practice of doing this will be the done thing for me, which wont hurt.

Shame as I prefer the KO to the Sanwa in the feel of it, sits in my hands nice. I've also improved by nearly a lap on most tracks I go to now too.

Cheers for all the input everyone !

[Naushad]

Just out of interest try something fairly simple like a power capacitor in the spare receiver channel. This has sorted out my unbindimg issues between ko propo radios and spektrum receiver when using a Novak speedo and 10.5 t combo

[ianjoyner]

Hey Jo, I really like the feel of the KO too, I was put off by the issues with their SS 2.4GHz system. But when the green label KO FHSS module/receivers came out I decided to give it a go and it's been great so far. They're expensive, but after trying Futaba for a few years it really felt like coming home holding a KO again!