victionone

My 3pk's battery pack is starting to turn into crap, either that or I jsut want a longer lasting abttery for my radio. Looking to order a custom pack from cheapbatterpacks.com with higher capacity cells. Has anyone here done this? What other choices of battery packs do I have? Also, if i get the custom pack, what plug do i need?

Lastly, is this Spectrum stuff. Been doing some reading on the forums and it looked good. Wanted to go synthesized, also need a new receiver for my truck, so I might just get spectrum. My question is, do I still get the failsafe feature I get when I use the Futaba receiver?

rockdragon

I got my new Tx pack for my T3PK last month. It's a pack of 9 cell Sanyo 2500mAH NiMH. I was recommented from the LHS guy who is one of the Pro RC car racer.
This pack is come with standard Futaba plug that fits direct to the 3PK.

Here are couple of pics.





About The Spektrum DSM System is not yet available for the Futaba 3PK. I'm also waiting for a set for myself.
So far I've known, this thing is hot. They come in a pair of DSM module and 3ch receiver.
Here is one of the functions that you are looking for.

"Built-in failsafe drives the servos to a preset position (usually full brakes) in the unlikely event of radio interference"

Details can be seen here..

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByC...ProdID=SPM1004

.

victionone

Thanks fo the reply. It has been days and not a single post.

Where did you get that battery pack from and how much? As for the spectrem, looks like it has its own failsafe. Thanks for pointing that out.

rockdragon

I got the pack from where I am here in Hong Kong, sorry to say that it's not the states. I paid for HK$190.-
You could probably get it from cheapbatterpacks.com, but I don't know about the cost.
For this type of the batteries, you have to fully discharge it before charging it in order to get the pack to full charged.
For the charger, I use the Futaba CR-2000. http://www.futaba-rc.com/radioaccys/futm4160.html It seems to be the best charger for Tx pack I've found.

..

Galifrey

Got a GP2500 9 cell pack from RC-Mushroom for my 3PK

I am also awaiting a new spektrum system

kctay

I wouldn't rush in on the spektrum. If you go to their site, you can see there is some problems with the unit. Losing binding, trim, etc.

It would be better to get a second run I would think.

I'm thinking about buying the radio you guys have, what is the differance between the LXCML5, and the LXCML6?

And is it true that you can't just change the crystals out of the radio, you have to buy the complete module?

Also, will the 310 JR reciever (synth) work with the Futaba LXHKT0?

Thanks

gerwen

From what i've gathered, no. It seems Futaba and Hitek Tx's and Rx's work together, and JR, Airtronics and Multiplex work together. The groups don't mix.

kctay

I just bought the Futaba 3PK sythesized yesterday. The only receiver they had that was synth, was the novak, and it is 5 channel. Seems odd that Futaba would turn out a Synthesized radio, and not offer anything but a nine channel receiver?

Anyone know of any 3 channel, or two channel synthesized receivers that are compatible with the 3PK?

gerwen

That's bizarre. Both Futaba and Hitec produce 3 channel Synth radios, but don't seem to make a 3 channel synth receiver. There's a mysterious reference to a R303FS receiver in the 3PM manual, but it doesn't seem to exist.

I guess your best bet is that 5 channel novak rx. It's not much more money than other synth receivers. Either that or go Spektrum when it's available (if it isn't already)

I came close to getting the 3PM Synth radio. This makes me glad that i ended up with the JR synth. I can choose from JR, Airtronics and Novak synth receivers.

Galifrey

The 3pk spektrum system is now shipping, to use a normal futaba rx you have to switch back to the futaba TX module... then you get failsafe on the futaba rx, as well as the spektrum system..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

Mines ordered

ronz

My Feedback: (1)

got my spektrum module. Doesnt completly fit into the slot on the radio. You have to push the lid on real hard. I can see some of the little legs on the lid breaking off if you take lid on and off alot. So far so good. The fail safe feature is kewl and it is very tiny. Now what to do with synth modules I had??


As for battery power, try going with a lipo 3 cell. It will last alot longer than any other nimh pack out there.

Galifrey

The synth receivers are too large when trying to scale them down for 2 channels...

Their synth rx's are designed for planes and helis really...

kctay

I just got the spektrum for my Futaba. Just tried to bind tonight and no go. The receiver light flashes, but no the transmitter light. I'm doing the entire procedure by the book and no luck. Hold down the bind button on the receiver, then turn the power on to it, light starts flashing. Leave the power on. Go to the transmitter, hold the bind button down, push the brake, and turn the power on. The light flashes once, and that is it.

Any ideas?

kctay

figured it out, I had the receiver in PCM mode, and it needed to be in PPM mode

Booyah

Hey, Im trying to decide between radios! A M8 or the 3PK. how many of you converted from an M8 if any! I know they are both top notch radios just cant decide.

whatever I do it will have the spektrum
Can you buy the 3PK just by itself since I wont need the rcvr or module?

Balact Man

My Feedback: (6)

i have been using a PK3 for over 5 months now and the one thing which stands out for me is the anti-lock braking system........MAN, talk about a great ideal. i'm still having problems remembering how to setup without using the book.

R_man_5k

My Feedback: (14)

We'll I have steped up to the 3PK and added the spektrum system. So far all is smooth. I really like all the functions the radio has... way more than I know what to do with. And the Spektrum was very easy to bind and set up the fail safe... we'll as soon as I realized I needed to switch to PPM mode... kctay I feel your pain on that one... hehe
I am going to look for a second battery for it also... since it wont work after the battery runs down to a certain limit...

About how long are you all getting out of your batteries in it?

rockdragon

With my Sanyo 2500 mA pack, it's last for the whole day of use. Afetr the end of the day I always refresh the pack and get it back up to full charged again. I never know how long exactly the pack last.
BTW when you put the spektrum on the 3PK, can you put back the module cover? I had to cut out some part of the cover that is around the antenna of the spectrum to be able to put back the cover on.

R_man_5k

My Feedback: (14)

I did the same... I used my Dremel and cut out a notch for the Spektrum antena...

sensei87

My Feedback: (14)

I bought some rechargeable energizer batteries. I have a JR R-1 and it wont tun on with them in it. Any ideas??

rockdragon

I don't know much about the JR Tx. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Tx requires 8 AA batteries. That is the total of 12 volts (1.5 volt x 8 = 12 volts). The rechargeable battery is 1.2 volt, therefore, 1.2 x 8 = 9.6 volts.
That might be the point that the Tx is not operating due to too low voltage power from the batteries.

For my Futaba T3PK Tx, there are 9 pcs rechargeable battery in the pack, the total of 10.8 volts.
The answer to your question is the battery pack need to be 9 pcs.

** If there is someone who has the solid answer for this problem, please post at here ....

Engrose

Normally when a rechargeable 1.2 V battery is fully charged it has something like 1.4 V and it takes some time before it goes under 1.25 V.
A reason could be that not all the batteries are charged, but more likely they are not all positioned correctly. Or one or more is defective.
I would think that even though the voltage is to low, the tx would turn on and give a warning signal or something...

Minibichus

My Feedback: (1)

I use a 3PK with the Spektrum for both my cars. It seems to work fine. The 3PK is got a lot of useful features like programmable mixes so you can drive a lot of different land based vehicles, not just cars.
As for the batteries, I also have an older 3DPF radio which came with the dry cell 8-battery holder so I took it out of the old 3DPF and used in the 3PK with Energizer 2500 mah batteries. No problems so far. I've had the radio turned ON for over 3 hours straight and the voltage still was over 10 volts. ( 10.1 volts if I remeber correctly

MB.

Tigger N. Bennie

MB,
Long time. Hope everything is going well.

Anyway, I'm still using the NiCD pack that shipped with my Futaba T3PK. One night we ran Zs almost non-stop from 7PM to 5AM; however, somewhere in the middle I did end up charging the Transmitter NiCd pack. Either way, I had to have ran close to 4 or 5 hours straight. Of course, NiCD's work differently from NiMH and my NiCD was getting a lot of cycling in the day. Now, my Nomadio Sensor and JR XS3 are getting more of a work out, as well as the Mugen mbX5 and Kyosho Mini-Inferno. I've thought about changing over the M-I to the Futaba, but I'll be getting another Nomadio Sensor transceiver soon. By the way, MB, the Sensor has a "tank" mix so you can operate a tank-type track R/C with the wheel radio.