airtronics rd8000 problems

[1985 kenworth]

hello i need some help here ,i am stumped .i have a tractor that has the rd 8000 radio on it .everything was working fine 2 weeks ago .i turned the radio on a few days ago to run the truck and i got nothing.the mfu unit is centered for the function to operate as this was never touched.i turn the truck on and at first the steering would go to the left and thats all that would happen.no functions at all.so i tried plugging another mfu unit in ,just thinking the mfu was the problem but i still get nothing ,no lights no mfu unit starting up .can anyone shed some light on this.obviously it is not the mfu unit but could it be that the radio is unbinded itself from the receiver possibly.not sure how to bind this radio ,any and all help or suggestions taken..thanks...at my wits end with this:mad:

[1985 kenworth]

btw the truck has the smoke generator on it and lights using the 12 battery pack with battle switches...yes its COLOSSUS that is not working at all !!:(

[TRUCKMAKER]

I have the same radio and the OEM transmitter battery is a very small capacity. If I even think about looking at that radio I plug it in and charge it. I think I charge it more than the truck battery. It's just a thought but if you didn't, you might check it. ;)

[1985 kenworth]

Thanks Truckmaker i replaced the small capacity radio battery with a larger one
.i think its a 2200 .when i turn on the radio and the mfu i hear the blower in the smoker unit

[1985 kenworth]

I have absolutely no functions at all ,not even.lights which are on a battle switch on one of the channels. Could it be that the receiver has gone bad

[1985 kenworth]

When i turn the radio on it showing 10.4 volts

[TRUCKMAKER]

Did you try rebinding the transmitter to the receiver? I think it said in the manual that if it sets for a while you might have to rebind it.

[1985 kenworth]

Will any bind plug work or does it have to be the original

[Supermario]

You have a MFU so I assume the reciever is powered by that. Maybe it's not?
Is there power at the RX ? Any lights on it?

Oh, and never put external power to the reciever when connected to a MFU !

[1985 kenworth]

yes it has the mfu unit in it .the receiver does not appear to have any lights on it anywhere .i just turned on the radio and using another battery i plugged into the mfu unit and when i turned on the mfu the front wheels flickered for a split second like the servo was having a spas attack,that was it nothing else .the mfu light is on the radio says 10.4 volts but nothing,will any bind plug work ..i have a gut feeling it has to do with this receiver .i had a problem with the radio and receiver in my Blue Mule tractor ..it worked fine for about a year then one day it went screwey..the front wheels were shaking the truck would surge forward for no reason so to be safe i changed out the electronics from the futaba to the spektrum..i had no problems since .before i go buying and changing out all the electronics i really would like to have exhausted any and all probable causes first

[TRUCKMAKER]

If I read you right, your using an Airtronics transmitter and a different brand receiver? If that's the case I don't know how you would bind the, I don't mix those components I have always used matching brands. It does still sound like your transmitter and receiver are not communicating.

[ihbuilder]

Dwayne , If your using an airtronics Rx , when powered up and radio on , blue light should be on (solid blue ) on the Rx . There is no bind plug on airtronics Rx . You plug A Rx batt in to the Rx with nothing else attached . I'll post a pic out of mySD-10G manual when it uploads . Don't trust after market Rx even though they say they'll werk . I never played with the MFU so I can't help there :o .

(edit)
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/ihbuilder/F3C5F204-0335-495F-980A-FA11EB0A9BF9_zpspx5dagva.jpg

[1985 kenworth]

The receiver is an airtronics Dual Conversion Narrow Band Receiver on a 72 band which is what the radio is. It looks like the original one that came with the radio.i bought the truck used from rod (stepside) and i was texting him on the weekend and even he was stumped why it is not working. I do not have the actual manual for it. I downloaded and printed a copy of it off of the internet somewhere. In the manual i printed it says how to bind but it says i need a bind plug. Since i bought it used i do not have a bind plug fir it but i have a bind plug from a spektrum radio which is why i asked can you use ant plug.

[1985 kenworth]

When i get home i will post a picture of the setup on the truck with a picture of the receiver etc.i really appreciate everyones help here and i am taking all of it and trying everyones suggestion.:)

[1985 kenworth]

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j436/1985kenworth/2014-07-03_22-54-45_910_zps2059ddae.jpg (http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/1985kenworth/media/2014-07-03_22-54-45_910_zps2059ddae.jpg.html)
http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j436/1985kenworth/2014-07-03_23-56-16_404_zps65e208b9.jpg (http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/1985kenworth/media/2014-07-03_23-56-16_404_zps65e208b9.jpg.html)
http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j436/1985kenworth/2014-07-03_23-56-00_779_zps097c74d6.jpg (http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/1985kenworth/media/2014-07-03_23-56-00_779_zps097c74d6.jpg.html)

[1985 kenworth]

there is no button on the receiver at all and the 2 battle switches are plugged into the receiver and they run the smoker and the l.e.d. lights they are activated on aux 1 and aux 2 here is a pic of the radio:confused:
http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j436/1985kenworth/2014-07-05_21-21-22_208_zps70ba816a.jpg (http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/1985kenworth/media/2014-07-05_21-21-22_208_zps70ba816a.jpg.html)

[ihbuilder]

Dwayne , I did some reading a bit and dug up this thread, http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-radios-transmitters-receivers-servos-gyros/858877-airtronics-stylus-pcm-fm-print.html In it I came across this post " There is an additional problem with the 92185 PCM RX. The voltage where the rx shuts down is 4.7 volts rather than 4.1 volts (as all the other rxs made by airtronics) For this reason, 92185 rxs need to be run on 5 cell packs if they are in a plane with high current loads from servos. Airtronics does not easily give this information but I was able to get it out of them after a couple of bench observations under high current loads a couple of years back. " see what voltage you have at your RX . The MFU may be drawing too much (IDK) that might be a starting point .

[rc_farmer]

Dwayne, you are using the RD8000 not the RDS8000, thus you will not have any binding functions between the rx/tx. It is bound by the crystals.

What basic voltage are you using to power the MFU, i.e. 7.4 or 9.6 You can safely run an MFU up to 9.6 although 11.1 will work, the MFU is sensistive to that high voltage. (a fully charged 11.1 is 12.+ voltage) The MFU will then drop the voltage down for the RX.

1. Remove all the connections to the RX
2. Get an external power source for the RX and plug it into the RX
(You can safely put 6.0v into the RX if you do not know the correct input
......most older TX run off between 4.0-6.0 volts)
3. Plug an extra servo into the any port on the RX
4. Turn radio on then RX and watch for any motion at all

***if you get any motion from the RX, then the RX/TX is talking
1. plug one item in at a time, starting with the MFU

***if you do not get any motion from the RX, turn the RX, disconnect the battery, and turn off the radio.

1. with the radio off, plug the extra servo into the RX and then the extra power source.....switch on the power to the RX and listen/watch for any motion. If you get any motion or noise, then you RX is good but not talking to you radio.

Also, to piggyback off Mario, DO NOT run dual voltage to your RX. You can, however, run dual power so you can power your individual components. You have to remove the positive power lead going to the rx from the extra power source. All that component will need is the signal from the RX

Hope this helps some.

[1985 kenworth]

I appreciate everyones help with this. I went out today and bought a Spektrum dx6i with a new receiver and viola hooked up a few plugs and the mfu started up.i got power to the steering and throttle. Just have to set the rest of the truck up with the extra channels and i am good to go... i will be selling the radio with the receiver simply because i cannot readily get parts for it up here in Canada.it probably needs a set of crystals as you said that the binding is done through the cystals. It will be up for sale in the buy and sell section....Radio only for sale,not the truck