TrackerIII Radio sale $99.

[Guest]

Tracker III

I just got an ad from Polk that the radio is now being sold for $140, but with two receivers instead of one.

[warpatroller]

Every time I turn on

Every time I turn on my new Tracker III Tx and Seeker II Rx, with the channel 1 stick in neutral position, the supplied servo continuously chatters slightly. It rotates correctly when I move the right hand stick left, and then right, but when in its neutral position it makes a slight chattering noise and the servo horn very slightly moves left and right.

So far, I have only tested the Tx and Rx inside my house and outside the house in my yard. Either way I get a little chattering. Is this normal for the included Polk servo? I was told that generally, a good servo will NOT do this unless there is some radio interference in the area where the unit is being operated. At this time I have no other servos to test with the Rx.

This is my first experience with the Tracker III system so I am wondering if any other Tracker owners have experienced this and if it is normal?

Steve

[Guest]

Steve,
Did you set up the

Steve,
Did you set up the receiver according to the instructions on page 23 of the instruction manual? Especially, see #2 of the set up instructions.

[warpatroller]

Steve,
Did you set up the

Steve,
Did you set up the receiver according to the instructions on page 23 of the instruction manual? Especially, see #2 of the set up instructions.

Art, yes I did set up the receiver by following the instructions on page 23:

1. Connect Seeker II as shown in diagram.

2. Hold set button, then turn on receiver power switch, then release set button.

3. Turn on transmitter with antenna fully extended and within 2 to 6 inches from the Seeker II antenna.

4. Eventually LED stops flashing and servo stops moving left and right (in the large increments as if being actived by the stick on transmitter).

After doing all these steps, the servo continuously chatters, never stopping and the horn very slightly moves left and right (though much less than the intial movement before doing the setup).

I took the Tx and Rx to 2 different locations today (a couple miles away from each other, one an elementary school park, the other an outdoor pool complex that I am considering running my sub at) and I still got the same constant chatter from the servo, so different physical locations made NO change in this respect.

I've made sure that the trim tabs are centered before I setup the Tx and Rx. The manual mentions that "dual rate" should also be at neutral, but I am confused as to what neutral is for that setting.. I think it should be 100% if I am understanding the manual correctly.

I was told by John Gill that servo chatter is normally caused by radio interference, but I seriously doubt I am getting the same amount of interference at my home, the elementary school park and the pool complex..

I am assuming that you get ZERO chatter and horn movement on your servos when your sticks are in neutral position??

Steve

[Guest]

Yes, just checked my newest

Yes, just checked my newest receiver with the new servo supplied with the Tracker III. No chatter, after set up.

[warpatroller]

Yes, just checked my newest

Yes, just checked my newest receiver with the new servo supplied with the Tracker III. No chatter, after set up.

Well, looks like there is a problem with one of the components of my Tracker III system.. I have already sent the Tx and Rx out to Polk once a few weeks ago because the Tx had not been converted to 75Mhz properly.

They re-uploaded the system software in the Tx and sent me a replacement Seeker II unit (the serial # on the Rx is different than the one I sent to them). The only thing I did not sent out to them was the included Polk Servo..

Do you do anything differently during setup than shown in the steps I typed in my previous post? When you say you get no chatter after setup, is this before or after you enter the Track 1 configuration by pressing the mode up key with the Tx powered on?

The Polk Servo has 3 wires coming out of it, BROWN, RED and ORANGE. I am assuming that the BROWN is Negative, RED is Positive and ORANGE is Signal (as this is not revealed anywhere in the manual). Is this how you have your servo connected to your Receiver? It appears the connector could be flipped and ORANGE could become Negative and BROWN Signal.

I'm not looking forward to having to send the entire system back to Polk yet again, this time including the servo..

Steve

[Guest]

On Polk servo brown= black,

On Polk servo brown= black, and goes near the back of the receiver. Back is where serial# is located. Try a standard Futaba, or other servo you have, to see if there is still a chattering problem. The Futaba brand connector will only connect with the proper polarity, because it cannot be pushed into the receiver backwards.

[warpatroller]

According to what you said,

According to what you said, I did have the servo correctly connected.

I don't have another servo to test with the receiver.. This is my first and only radio and my first and only servo. I'd have to buy another servo first before I can attempt to test with one other than the included Polk servo.

Do you run Futaba servos with your Seeker II and if so are they standard size units or micro servos? If they are standard, what model number do you use?

Under the Track 1 setup options which PPM Mode do you use with the Polk servo? The choices are NEG (-) = Futaba, Hitec or POS (+) = Jr, Airtronics, Multiplex.

Thanks,

Steve

[Guest]

Negative shift for Polk, Futaba

Negative shift for Polk, Futaba and most systems. Listed positive shift radios are Jr., Airtronics, and Multiplex, which I have not used.

[greenman407]

I just got a call

I just got a call from John Gill telling me that the radios are ready for shipment. At that time I asked him what was the future for the Polk radios in 75 mhz.? He said that the company plans to continue production and warranty service for the forseeable future. That was one of the things holding me back from the purchase was owning a radio that is technically obsolete because the manufacturing of them was shut down. So thats a good thing. He can be contacted at (973) 351-9800

[warpatroller]

I just got a call

I just got a call from John Gill telling me that the radios are ready for shipment. At that time I asked him what was the future for the Polk radios in 75 mhz.? He said that the company plans to continue production and warranty service for the forseeable future. That was one of the things holding me back from the purchase was owning a radio that is technically obsolete because the manufacturing of them was shut down. So thats a good thing. He can be contacted at (973) 351-9800

Thats just great news, though I'm more interested in owning a radio that functions properly, let alone worrying about whether it is technically obsolete or not.. Unfortunately, the one I got a hold of appears to be a lemon. Perhaps I should have listened to what Aqua Deep Dave said last May.. and got a normal 75Mhz crystal-based Futaba radio.

I'll have to get another servo and try it out, and if that one doesn't work correctly, off to Polk the radio goes for repair service, yet a second time. Nice track record for a radio that hasn't even been used with a model yet.

[raalst]

you said something about assuming

you said something about assuming that neutral = 100%. try 50% as a setting to test if the chatter disappeares.

[warpatroller]

you said something about assuming

you said something about assuming that neutral = 100%. try 50% as a setting to test if the chatter disappeares.

That was for the "dual rate adjustment". Today I tried setting that at various percentages within its range of 0% to 125%, which made no difference at all to the chattering.

Again checked that all trim tabs are centered before setup.

Tried manually setting the Tx and Rx up for operation on Channel 61, 66 and 71 today, and again no change.

Tried plugging the servo into the receiver on Channel 1, 2 and 4 still no difference.

When I perform the setup routine to bind the Rx to the Tx, the servo goes silent for about one second after they successfully communicate with each other, then the chattering starts and never stops. Its like the Chatterer from Hellraiser.. Maybe my radio is the Lament Configuration ("Box of Sorrows") Only way to stop the chatter is to switch either the Tx or Rx off.

If another servo does the same thing, then its going to have to go back to Polk, I don't know what else to do with it after that..

[raalst]

one more thing you might

one more thing you might want to check : check the battery voltage when the whole thing is chattering. it should read a bit over 5 volts (say 6) at least. I do not know the polk but almost all R/C equipment runs on 5 volts. the "overvoltage" is required by the
voltage stabilisator in your RX (and I assume the same goes for an TX.)

if the battery delivers too low a voltage, chatter can occur. check both TX and RX
battery. there might be a short somewhere, causing the voltage to drop.

another one : is there a choice about modulation in the setup ? is it possible you are
using the wrong modulation ? I use PPM, there is also PCM and possibly digital
this feature should match between RX and TX. check the documentation if that is the case.

[Guest]

Out of curiosity, are there

Out of curiosity, are there any other folks who may have recently purchased the Tracker III radio from POLK been experiencing similar issues as reported by warpatroller ?