Radio Glitching
My brand new E-MAXX 3905 is having radio glitching issues. It's running on 27.195Mhz (green) crystals. The battery packs were fully charged and the transmitter batteries are all brand new and tested at a good 1.46V a piece.

It works fine as long as the antenna from the transmitter is within a foot of the truck's antenna. Anything further than that and it'll glitch and get worse as I get further away.

I had a spare TQ-2 transmitter which I know worked fine from my old Jato, so I swapped the crystal from the E-MAXX transmitter and had the exact same outcome with no improvement. I also re-calibrated the ESC verifying that the throttle and steering trims were set at 0 on the transmitter.

I called Traxxas support and he suggested taking the truck to a different location first to rule out interference. I don't think it is interference because I can turn the transmitter off and it'll immediately stop glitching and sit there with the green light on the ESC shining solid green. It is only glitching when the transmitter is powered on.

I'm leaning towards a bad crystal or a bad receiver since the other transmitter (which I know works) had the same issues when I put the crystal from the E-MAXX transmitter in it and tried using it.

Does anyone have any input?

Sounds like you've eliminated the radio as a poss cause by swapping. If its doing this out of the box, that eliminates the wear and tear related causes.

Is there anyone you can borrow a rx from to test that out? I've never had a bad crystal, so I'd lean toward the rx as next suspect.

I had interference issues with my TQ2, but thats cause I run under overhead powerlines.

Unforunately I don't know anyone around that has a spare receiver. I'm going to go down to the local hobby shop this week and see if they have an extra pair of crystals I can test with or have a set I can buy and return if they don't solve the problem.

If things still don't work it has to be the receiver. Hopefully the local hobby shop will have one I can test with. I may have to cut my losses and put in a 2.4GHz system if I wind up chasing the problem too long. I run 2.4GHz on my Losi Speed-T and that is the way they should all come in my opinion. Hassle free...

Still think its mo relikely the rx, but thats only because I've never had prob with crystals and thats mainly what I run.

2.4Ghz is not trouble free (see posts in this forum) either, it may be less so, but there are still ocassional probs.

GL at the lhs, hope thay can help.

Thanks for the responses guys. It ended up being an interference issue in and around my home. The truck runs perfectly when taken to another location. I tested it at my cousin's and friend's houses tonight with zero problems.

I have placed my order for the Traxxas 2.4 GHz system. I guess it's not all bad. I run 2.4 GHz in my Losi and my heli and they're excellent setups.

Any idea what it was at your house that was generating that kind of interference??

Glad you got it solved.

swap the crystals between the RX and TX.... sometimes they get labeled wrong..

Nope I'm not sure what it is. This is a new neighborhood, so it could be quite a few different things I suppose.

The new 2.4 GHz radio will solve it. I run 2.4 GHz on my Losi and my Blade heli and those run flawlessly here.

i have the same kind of problem with my emaxx run it about 40-50ft away and it completely loses signal i would also appreciate suggestions and it is 27mhz stock radio in truck