Futaba F-14 Transmitter - specs for inputs to upper channels

[mickelsen]

I have a Futaba F-14 system that I bought from Ships 'n Things. It came with the standard 4 channels, and 4 unused channels for upgrading. I would like to use a couple of PIC microcontrollers to create the inputs to those upper channels for some special function in the sub, and then have some comparable PIC's in the sub to decode them. Everything is doable except I don't know what the specs are for the actual inputs to the transmitter. There are four 3-pin connectors on the circuit board for these four channels just like the four lower channels. The four lower channels just have the 3 pins of a pot hooked onto them. Are the upper channels the same, or are they designed differently? I'd hate to ruin my transmitter by experimentation. Does anyone know what it takes to drive these four channels, or can you point me in the right direction? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Markm

[ramius-ii]

Hi Mark]http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif
It would be

Hi Mark]http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif[/img]
It would be unusual to change designs between the upper and lower. To be absolutely sure you could ask Al at shipsnthings, he has a guy who works on his electronics. Rather than directly coupling the PIC to the transmitter, you may wish to consider using an opto-isolator and an interface. You may also wish to pose the same question to Futaba's tech support and maybe they will send you the schematic, at least for the input portion or simply move the lower controls to the upper. If the inputs go through an A/D, you may wish to use a 1K as isolation.

Best, Ed