TrackerIII Radio sale $99.

[bigdave]

I have not had a

I have not had a chance to even open mine yet so I can't say. BD.

[subdude]

Well, my (ahem) third http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_redface.gif

Well, my (ahem) third Tracker arrived last week, and is just fine.

Now all I need to do is find my Tracker 2 a new home, and I'll be back to two.

[skip asay]

Warpatroller -

I'm just getting around

Warpatroller -

I'm just getting around to this thread so I'm sorry if you got it worked out already but.....

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

Nowhere in my instruction book does it say "then release set button". Notice that you've released the set button before you've turned the TX on. They can't very well talk to each other while the TX is off, can they? I'll be willing to bet that if you FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY you'll find your "jitter" goes away.

Skip Asay

[warpatroller]

Hey BD,
Do you notice

Hey BD,
Do you notice a hint of sound coming from the stock servo? It sounds like it's very sensitive and trying to compensate continually. Both my old Tracker servo and the new one do this. It's not the jitter as when not locked on frequency, just a little clicking sound. The radios do not do this with any of my other servos, just the stock one supplied. Since it's large I don't really plan on using it anyways.
Is this clicking what others are calling jitter? Noise or jitter is random and uncontrollable movement and I hope people are not confusing the two.

AHH HAA!! YES, YES... YES!!!! We have another Chatter (or Jitter as you call it) victim in the house! What you are describing seems to be identical to what I am experiencing. This is the Polk CHATTER EFFECT. It is like the servo is continually adjusting, in little increments, to find its neutral point, yet never finding it and never stopping. Though mine is more than just a "hint of sound", as I can easily hear it from 15+ feet away.

I find it of GREAT interest that you state your only experiencing this phenomenon with the POLK servos.. This gives me hope when it seemed I was to have to tolerate the evil chattering or get rid of the possessed equipment.

Sir, please state the brand of servos your using that work chatter/jitter free with your Tracker! I had been planning to use the Polk servo as a member of my boat's crew, since I will be outfitting it with standard sized servos. But it has proven to be too unstable for such duties. I didn't want to order a group of servos until I found out whether I would be keeping my Tracker or getting an entirely different radio system instead. I will have to try to pick up another servo locally, probably a Futaba, to confirm your findings.

Big Dave - I bet some people called Skip Asay a "Dreamer", when he first told people he wanted to build a radio controlled submarine.. Please let us know if you experience the same thing as Larry and I have found when using the Polk servos with your Tracker unit.

Steve

[warpatroller]

Warpatroller -

I'm just getting around

Warpatroller -

I'm just getting around to this thread so I'm sorry if you got it worked out already but.....

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

Nowhere in my instruction book does it say "then release set button". Notice that you've released the set button before you've turned the TX on. They can't very well talk to each other while the TX is off, can they? I'll be willing to bet that if you FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY you'll find your "jitter" goes away.

Skip Asay

Skip, your absolutely correct, in that no where in the instruction book does it say "then release set button". I added that instruction after hearing it verbally from John Gill on the telephone. It is my understanding that the "set button" only engages the receiver in a "searching" mode where it forgets its previous channel and looks for a TX, within its range, to sync up with on whatever channel has been programmed into that TX. I asked John if the set button should be continuously held down until the receiver has found the TX and he said, "NO. Just depress the button, then once you have powered up the receiver, release the button."

So, after releasing the set button, the Rx is actively looking for the TX (and it will keep looking for it until it is powered off or its batteries run down). Then you turn on the TX and they will find each other and be united again.

John also stated that you could turn the TX on first, then depress the reset button, switch on RX, and then release the reset button. RX first or TX first, it does not matter, was what he said. I tried it both ways and it made no difference with the servo chatter issue. For the most part, I've been able to successfully sync the Tx and Rx together (only failed to do so once, thus far, at a particular park field).

The servo chatter problem has been my primary beef with the equipment. And now Larry has shed light that it may be simply a Polk brand servo related problem.

And you don't need to be sorry for anything. I always read anything you post on here, as most of the time it is valuable information to anyone involved or wanting to be involved with this hobby.

Steve

[Larry Kuntz]

Hi Steve,
I have an

Hi Steve,
I have an assortment of servos, cheap small ones and some Airtronics small ones. None of these hunt. It seems that the internal amplifier deadband, as they call it, on the Tracker servo is set too small. I also noticed that if I move the servo off center with the transmitter it stops the hunting. Try any normal servo you have around or borrow one from someone and see if that works.
For setting the frequency I use a magnetic reed switch inside the WTC and at power up just have a magnet close to the reed switch inside the WTC. It may look like there are 3 wires for the set switch, but take a ohm meter and you will discover that only 2 wires are used. These are the 2 you want the N.O. (normally open) reed switch connected to. Works great.
BTW- It is real obvious when these Seekers don't lock as the servo(s) go crazy and move all over the place like the receiver is possessed. That's when you may think it's time for a exorcist. or John Gill.

[warpatroller]

I have determined that my

I have determined that my Seeker II receiver is faulty and has been the source of my problems! As of today, the Seeker would no longer even operate the connected Servo at ALL.. No Chatter, no movement, like it was totally dead. At least before it would work, just with constant chatter. Now it will no longer move the servo period.

You might be thinking, and may have assumed, that I simply just don't know what I am doing or am not as smart as the rest of the Tracker III owners...well, read on..

I tested my Tracker III at a local RC 1/16 Tank Battle this evening (and I don't even own a tank lol). I was able to drive a couple different Tamiya Shermans that had Futaba 75Mhz receivers installed in them. I was able to successfully control both tanks with my Tracker III transmitter. One tank driver was using a 75Mhz Futaba system that was set up on channel 80. When I tried to run a Sherman on channel 79, we had conflicts....perhaps 79 and 80 are just too close together, as his transmitter started to take control of my tank.

The highlight of the evening for me, was knocking out a King Tiger with my lowly Sherman . Got into position behind it on a narrow bridge and hammered it in the rear repeatedly haha. I later joined up with another Sherman and we took out a second King Tiger...unfortunately though, the Allied team ultimately lost all the battles to the Axis tanks All Axis team tanks were heavies, where the Allied team was mostly mediums.

My Polk brand servo that constantly chattered with the Seeker II, turned out to be just fine! When I connected this servo to a Futaba receiver, it worked FLAWLESSLY when plugged into any channel on the receiver. NO CHATTER at all! Matter of fact, I was so impressed with the Futaba receiver's performance, that I bought it from the owner tonight (it was a spare receiver he had laying around and he gave me a good deal on it). It is a 7-channel receiver, so at least I now can actually use may Tracker for its intended purpose...first time in over 2 months. I will be sending the Seeker II back to Polk to have it replaced (a second time) as it no longer will do anything.

[Larry Kuntz]

Steve,
Congratulations, it sounds like

Steve,
Congratulations, it sounds like you figured it out. I know one of our SubRon8 members has a tracker seeker receiver that seems fine for ~20 minutes then goes crazy and refuses to lock any longer. His will also be sent back to Polk to have John Gill look it over.

[dhffr]

Called John Gill today and

Called John Gill today and asked when the radios will be in. He said, "They came in and were sent to everyone. I have been on the list since day 1 and contacted him about 7 times. Each time he said, "I was on the list and will be contacted when they finally come in." Now, I'm out of the deal like nothing ever happened.

Time to make some calls.

DH

[warpatroller]

I was on the list

I was on the list since early May of 2008 and I was never called either lol. But I had already obtained one elsewhere, so I was just going to decline the order if they had contacted me.

My second replacement Seeker II receiver just arrived a few days ago. It took one month to get the replacement unit. I now need to test it out. Hopefully this one will work correctly! Strangely, the unit they sent me this time around has no serial number on the back of it..

Steve

[thor]

Darrin,

The very same thing happened

Darrin,

The very same thing happened to me. I was on the waiting list for 2 complete systems. I contacted John several times and he confirmed that I was on the waiting list. I was never notified when the systems arrived. Now I am out all together. I am not very happy with them right now. I will find a new source for my radios in the future.

[tommydeen]

Hey Matt.. have you looked

Hey Matt.. have you looked at the F-14? I had one then sold it (bad move)
I liked the expandability they offer. i was considering a tracker but after reading about the "problems" with them i dont know..
Tom

[PaulC]

Yep, I was "on the

Yep, I was "on the list" as well but missed the boat.

[thor]

Never tried the F14. The

Never tried the F14. The complexity always worried me a bit. I like the simplicity of the old 4-6 channel radios. I guess I am stuck in the early 1980s!

Matt

[JWLaRue]

I missed out a well.

I'm

I missed out a well.

I'm definitely going to stick with the Multiplex Evo. Matt, I've got an extra one if you are interested....

-Jeff