I've been having trouble with both of my transmitters for the past month or so. One being a Futaba 3prka and an AE XP3-SS. Now I understand both are entry level and thats fine with me. I may in the near future be upgrading but...

I was getting glitching randomly, I could be racing at the track or blasting thru a parking lot and i would just lose signal. Not for long though, just enough time to, ya know, smash a curb, take out a spectator. The usual...

Obviously I got sick of it real fast until i figured something out. Both Rx's at some point had the antenna trimmed back slightly. (I'm not talking .250" from the base more like .250" off the top) No big deal right? i read all over that it's no biggie to trim back.

I NEVER PULLED BACK THE SHIELDING/COATING TO EXPOSE THE ANTENNA ITSELF.

As stupid as it sounds I had no idea, all the googling, searching, resulted nothing. Needless to say everything works fine now and I'm not looking at an unneeded upgrade. I really just thought they got damp or something. I just hope this helps someone out that has a glitching issue.

Any input or experiences welcomed.

The antenna is often just the exposed wire portion of the wire. The wire inside the insulation is just wire. If you trim an antenna wire, you are likely trimming the antenna portion itself...not a good thing. I am not familiar with either of your systems, but this is the case with most currently available receivers I've seen.

Often, loosing signal for a moment is actually a sign of a receiver brown out (or glitch). Some servos can draw so much power through the receiver that there will not be enough current left to power the receiver itself. You can install either a glitch buster or a BEC system to help with this problem.

Where did you read all over that it's no biggie to trim the antenna back some?

Certainly a worthwhile post if that advice is being given. Antenna lengths are a tuned item and shouldn't be messed with without proper knowledge and test equipment. Can't help but wonder if there is a connection between this and many of the poor range and glitching problems some seem to have.

I wouldn't think that trimming the antenna is a good idea at all. They are made that way for a reason and making them shorter can only reduce performance.

Glitch busters are a great idea and I use them on all of my receivers.