airtronics sanwa M8 2.4 conversion
 

Well I finally finished my 2.4 Mod on my M8. I got the idea from another person off RCgroups. I had to do some digging to get all the details so this is quite a bit of effort on my part to get to this point. Seeing that there is no one making a Module for the M8 that can come under 50 for all the needed parts I went after this. I bought the a XP3-ss Tx and rx for 30 shipped and went to work. The steps are pretty easy.
1 open both tx up
2 remove antenna from both
3 remove module from both
4 cut base of antenna of XP3 off .. take car not to nick the antenna wire
5 pull the antenna apart at seem on XP3 antenna by twisting and pulling
6 install upper half of Xp3 antenna in M8
7 install lower half of Xp3 antenna in M8
8 snap together and feed wire behind antenna
9 hot glue antenna inplace or some other way to keep in place
10 drill hole in M8 top right corner of module bay
11 put M8 back together feeding wire into hole
12 diassemble M8 module
13 drill hole in top right corner
14 feed wire into and snap am/fm M8 module into radio
15 at this point you have a few options
you can install Xp3 module and be done but you can't program other recievers because the bind button is on the inside
you can bind a few recievers with the XP3 tx / rx system before disassembly so you won't need to do the next step.
16 remove and install a bind button on oposite side of module
17 install Xp3 module into M8 module bay ....
18 test system
if all goes well cut the back of the Xp3 out and make a cover for the M8 module bay ...if yo do this correctly it will all snap in and be fully removable.
One note .. the rx needs a power cap for most RC applications

I would input from those that have read this or tried this. thanks ...98 views and no comments yet?

I had the idea of converting my m8 to 2.4ghz after I managed to find it after all these years buried in my store room.....your instructions on doing this really helps..thanks a lot. ..now i will start to look for the module. I saw someone using frsky needs to solder...your seems easier..

the frsky is a good way to go but quality can be an issue .. the AE radios are easier to get and are cheaper ..you can also get them from you LHS or find a used one on EBAY or ask around at the local RC club someone usually has one from an RTR car also the frsky is not designed for ground, it works but the recievers are not pin up

If you have questions feel free to ask. I check this most evenings.

well I have some more news ... not good news at not for me .. this modification is not working like the peron I got it from told me it would .. the AE module is over heating and shutting down .. my guess is ... it is getting too much voltage and then it looses signal .. so I am not sure what the deal is .. the originator of this information used it on a M11 so I figured it would work on a M8 it does for about 10 minutes and then it shuts down.

I have done a couple of conversions, but I always used an frsky kit. I never did one on that radio either. Good luck in getting your issue sorted out.

Good luck with the mods. I am very interested in the results as I have an M8 that I would love to convert to 2.4 but the only out of the box solution seems to be the RadioPost modules but everything I've read says stay away from them. So if there is an alternate way of modernizing my M8, I'd love to know how it works out. Keep us posted.

I'd like to convert my m8 but see several choices on the market. Any new updated info on this? Which of the brands are more reliable?