Radio sos

[Kettering]

I know this is very vague, but our robot is having issues recieving a signal from the control board through the radio, though it works just fine through the tether. The wiring seems correct, so would anyone know what the problem might be with the hardware (including settings)?

[Tytus Gerrish]

The 2007 radios are notorious for working poorly

[Tottanka]

try workin with the 2006 radios...they are great...

[Jack Jones]

#1: make sure the radios match. EG.. both 2007 or both 2006
#2: try new/different cables
#3: call IFI - be ready to tell them the color and state of the No Data/Radio LED

[ebarker]

A common problem is really simple to solve.

Make sure the RC radio is on the RC, and the OI radio is on the OI.

Sometimes they get swapped and nothing work.

[Alan Anderson]

Can you be more specific about what "having issues" means?

In addition to the obvious metal antenna, the 2007 radios have another antenna hidden inside the case. Make sure that antenna isn't buried behind a chunk of metal.

Have you checked for radio interference? Some cell phones (the GSM variety, I think) have shown the ability to mess with robot communication if they're too close to the OI. If you have a 900 MHz cordless phone, wireless security system, or audio/video extender system, that might be causing problems. Try setting your radio to channel 04 or 13 instead of 40.

[Chief Samwize]

If this is the same as the OCCRA forum the radio bieng used is a 2004 I believe.

[Kettering]

To be more specific, our controls work properly when the bot is tethered. When we try to control it through radio transmission there is no signal. The obvious answer is that our transmitters arent working properly. But we have tried several transmitters and nothing has worked. Also the rc says that the radio transmission is working fine yet the actual transmitors remain on standby

[MWTrek]

Something like this happened to us at Bash at the Beach. We were out two matches. We worked properly for about 5 secs and then lost radio signal. The on hand FIRST rep took a look at it. No one could figure out what the problem was. We took the robot out onto the field to diagnose the problem after the quals and it seemed to work fine. It was strange.

[Kettering]

How can I be sure if we have the correct transmitter? Like, how do I know if they are the same year and which goes to the OI and which goes to the RC?

[Alan Anderson]

When we try to control it through radio transmission there is no signal. The obvious answer is that our transmitters arent working properly.

How are you determining that "there is no signal"? What makes it obvious that the fault lies in the transmitters rather than in a receiver?

What year's OI, RC, and radios are you using? What version of the RC master code is loaded?

Please describe for us exactly what you have plugged in to each 9-pin connector, including the cables in the detailed description. Tell us what switches you're flipping, and in what order. Let us know what indicators are lit on the OI, both radio modems, and the RC. Try not to gloss over anything in an attempt to make it easier for us to understand. Without the actual specifics of what's happening, it's very hard to tease out what might be the problem just by reading your interpretation of the situation.

[Dan Petrovic]

We had a problem like this very recently.

All it took was switching out a serial cable. Our OI and both radios said there was no signal.

You mentioned that the RC says it's working. I may be wrong on this part, but working would mean that all lights are lit green. Is this the case? When we had radio issues (which turned out to be a serial cable issue) the "Radio Modem" light was orange.

[Mike Martus]

I am closing this thread as this is a OCCRA (Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association) issue using older IFI controls.