Puffin Help Page - Glitching

Glitching can be the result of a number of factors including physical attributes of your site particularly long metal fences, microwave transmitters, and some combinations of frequency transmissions in the local area. Some computer transmitters have lower power output to extend the operating life with lower capacity cells. Some receivers perform better near high power systems than others. In general we suggest using a receiver recommended by your transmitter manufacturer. The following is a list of suggestions to help with glitching problems:

1) Is any part of the receiver and servo system including cables touching any part of the power system including battery and cables?

2) Use a vertical element in the receiver aerial to improve reception of the receiver. Feeding the receiver aerial up a 100 to 150mm long clear plastic tube (or along the wing) with the remaining aerial trailing might help.
3) Are the transmitter and receiver crystals of a type recommended by your transmitter and receiver manufacturer?

3) Twist the power cables to help cancel out eddy currents on DC cables. Keep the cables straight between a brushless motor and controller.

4) A sheet of aluminium foil might help to shield the radio from the power system. Remember that the power system battery is also a source of RF.

5) OPTO controllers provide complete electrical isolation between the radio and power system, and this might help at higher power levels.

6) Is your transmitter operating with reduced power output? Try another pair of crystals, one of your old crystals could be damaged or have drifted off frequency. Measure the resistance of you transmitter aerial against the resistance of a new transmitter aerial. Transmitter aerials can collect dirt and oil that provides electrical isolation between the sections of the transmitter aerial.

7) Try replacing components of the radio and power system to see if one of the components is making a notable contribution to the glitching problem. Has any item of equipment been involved in any “incident”? Lower quality servos have been known to cause glitching problems, disconnect or replace servos to help identify the problem.

8) If you consider it necessary to return any item to us, please ensure that it is accompanied by your name, address, and telephone number, receipt for warranty claims, or payment details for possible service exchange. Please note that we could make a charge for testing, particularly where air testing is necessary.