Thothtp

Hey guys, I have a real odd situation going on here that I can't figure out. I currently run at an indoor carpet off road track that uses AMB house transponders. With my rustler I have no issues at all, but with my slash I have intermittent problems with laps being dropped.

When I first started racing this year I never had any issues. I had the transponder mounted on a piece of scrap lexan attached to the front shock tower, and all was well. Then about 8 weeks in to the season, I started losing laps. I pretty consistently lose about 5-6 laps of a 22 lap pace. I changed the location of the transponder, putting it down lower on the front bumper, and that fixed the issue for one or two heats and then I was missing laps again. Now it is to the point where no matter where I put it I lose about 5-6 laps.

I have tried twisting all the wires in my truck with no luck. I have tried 5 different mounting points, no luck. I have tried every different transponder they have, and no luck. Nobody else has the problem, and I do not have the problem on my rustler.

Someone suggested that I was getting to close to the lap counter loop when in the next lane over, and that it was counting a double lap and throwing it out for being to short. This could be, but I was watching and tons of other people use the same line as me, or get even closer, and don't have the issue.

Does anyone have any ideas for me? Everyone is scratching their heads and nobody knows what to do, as it is isolated solely to me. And no its not an excuse for sucking, they have been hand counting me the last few nights :-)

The only idea I have is that my motor has worn out to the point of throwing out so much RF interference that the transponder doesn't check. I have ordered a new motor, but that seems really far fetched to me.

Thanks for the help guys, this is incredibly frustrating.

JimmyG

1:AMB told me the transponders need to be laying flat, either house or personals. Standing on end causes issues. I put mine at the base of the windshield (yes I put a hole in the body) and it works fine.

2: With all the wires in the area (computer etc) make sure the wire going from the decoder to loop wire is not close to power cords. They produce issues as well.

Thothtp

I have always mounted it flat in all the locations, and on the body was one of the places I tried. No luck. Incidentally, my Rustler has it mounted almost on end, and it has never had an issue.

Nobody else is having any issues with laps not counting, so I doubt it could be an issue with the loop itself.

Thats why this is so frustrating, why is it hitting me but nobody else? All the other stock slash drivers have the same mounting positions I have tried.

rcterp

iTrader: (35)

Maybe an obvious question, but does it happen with any transponder?

Thothtp

Yep, tried at least 10 of them.

rcterp

iTrader: (35)

I think you're definitely down to interference. Start moving stuff around; try a different motor, etc.

Ed Anderson

iTrader: (26)

You said "house transponders", you do mean the rechargable ones correct? You mentioned twisting wires.. as some tracks use personals as house or connect wires to dead house transponders... just fishin... maybe a voltage problem??

RC Dad

iTrader: (26)

Does your slash have a higher ride height? The farther the transponder is away from the loop the less hits it will register, so if your truck sits higher than others you may want to find the lowest possible place to mount it.
Is your racing line really tight to one side of the track? If so, you may be missing the very end of the loop.

If others with virtually identical trucks, lines and ride height are working fine, then it sounds like electrical interference of some kind.

Thothtp

They are the rechargable house transponders. I twisted all the wires on my truck to try to cut interference, like all the servo wires, motor, battery ect. Didn't help.


It is a higher ride height then the rustler of course, but others race the same truck with no issues. Many actually use the antenna hole to mount their transponders, which is a good 3 inches higher then I have mine. I tried that too, nothing works.

My line is pretty much centered over the loop. It does sometimes get a little close to the loop in the adjoining lane, but so does everyone else. My line is no different.

My motor is down on power and I have a replacement on the way, maybe it really is that? It just seems crazy because others have had to replace their motors but never had this problem. Could I have the one motor thats failed in such a way that it broadcasts on the same frequency as the transponder?

btw before anyone asks, the electronics have been exactly the same since day 1. Using the stock ESC/Motor/Servo, Zippy 2s lipo, and a tower hobbies (Tactic) brand cheapy 2.4ghz radio.

Ed Anderson

iTrader: (26)

When I get approched with this problem, the first thing I check is the background noise... (I doubt it this.. but I have to check things on my end). If the noise is high, it will only compound any problems on the car/truck.

This is an odd one! You've tried all the HTP's, they're laying flat.. I would check the noise... but I think others would have the problem.