spektrum receiver wiring

[flipnap]

Hi Guys, was wondering if anyone could help me out with a dumb question. I have a spektrum ar6100e reciever and im doing a DIY lighting setup for it. I have all the elctronic specs for the lighting figured out (boards,LEDs, caps, etc) but what im wondering is this. I know i can draw power from the "batt" channel but it has four leads and im not sure what is what there. Also, im going to use another regular channel with three leads for a switchable light string. I can see identified on the side of the reciever indicating a + pin, a - pin, and an icon like a stair step. Im assuming that pin is the "switch".. Im not sure how to wire that if thats the case.. guess what im saying is when i hit the swith on the TX for that channel is it turning on and off power completely for that channel or is is somehow switching the power on and off from that third pin.. anyhelp would be much appreciated. Ive looked a lot of places for this info and cant seem to find it.. thanks guys, you rock :noteworthy

[WayneBrown]

the stair step is the signal wire. I applies voltage when you give a command, although I'm not certain how to go about wiring in a relay.
The + and - are power from the bus, with all the issues with brown outs I think it best if you plan on a seperate power source.

[flipnap]

Hi wayne, thanks for the quick reply..Yeah that was my main concern when i started doing research.. just using a seperate 9v battery.. but the specs on the power for the lights is only 60ma draw from a 36a max continuous power source.. thats not really a lot. im still not clear though what the switch on the Tx actually does in terms of powering on and off a channel. so lets say i wanted to power the lights from the battery but trigger the switch from the TX.. would i hook up the light leads to the battery and hook the third lead to the signal post on the receiver? hmm.. thanks again

[WayneBrown]

There are a few relay switches on the market already, you can double-tap your battery, one leg to the ESC, the other to your switch and on to the lights.
If you are using glow wire, I'd think the converter would impart some noise as it converts DC input to AC for the glow wire. I know the brushless motors are AC as well, but the ESC does a good job of filtering the noise, I doubt the converter manufacturer would concern himself...
My concern is that on the output side of the RX you would add noise and lockout or glitch. Double tapping the battery will at least filter any noise through the regulator.

[Pinecone]

The stair step is the Signal pin. The Rx outputs a pulse between 1 and 2 ms. 1,5 ms is center stick. For switches, one switch position is 1ms, the other is 2ms, just like full stick in each direction.

This pulse is sent once each time the Rx receives a string from the Tx, which occurs every 20 - 50 ms (IIRC).

You cannot just plug into the Rx and operate things like lights. You have to use a siwtching device that will translate the pulse length into an on or off using a relay or solid state switch.

[flipnap]

Wayne and pinecone, thanks so much, you guys made it crystal clear. The setup im doing is simple. Im running a simple series of LEDs that i want to trigger with the Tx. Im installing this onto a trojan t-28 foamie (which will surely hold the weight of an extra little 9v battery im sure). so im planning on running the + and - leads off the 9v battery and use the signal pin on the Rx to trigger a transitor that ill add to the circuit.You guys think that would be cool and not cause any problems with brown outs since the main power will be from the 9v? thanks again for your help :)

[Pinecone]

Remember the signal pin is ALWAYS transmitting a pulse. Just the length of the pulse varies. So you need to build a circuit to time the pulse and turn the switch on or off based on the length of the pulse.

Easier to just buy one. :) Here: http://www.trossenrobotics.com/store/p/3206-Electronic-R-C-PWM-Switch-RC-110-.aspx

Complete lighting system with the switch: http://www.ncweb.com/biz/dan/RCLights.html

Another one: http://www.rc-lights.com/products/3300.htm

But if you want to roll your own, here is a circuit diagram: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/gadgets/rc-sw.htm

Google is your friend.