VEX controller not recieving wireless commands

[JoeXIII'007]

I searched for solutions to this to no avail on the forums, so if I missed something, please point me in the right direction.

I turn on my vex bot and controller and there is no signal between them on channel one. Everything is hooked up correctly, ports and channels match, have tried reloading the default code, and recharging the batteries, no good. The tether does work however, it just seems to be the wireless that is having a problem.

So, what solutions have there been to fixing this problem and various problems like it, not in the FVC but just typical home use? Thanks.

[irishninja]

Well first of all, in your programming did you have a while loop? I made the mistake of not including while 1 == 1 in my code so it didn't work.

2) All the motors correspond and are plugged into the right ports?

3) Battery and RC are all plugged in?

4) You have the correct crystal for the controller?

5) Nothing happened to it?

6) The rx ports are correct?

Can you post a pic of your bot so I can see it? Just how the motors are setup, etc. Make sure the battery and all that fun stuff is plugged in right. How long have you had the kit? Try switching it to a different channel (5 or 6) because I know my controller joysticks wasn't giving full power to the motors, but the buttons were.

[JoeXIII'007]

Originally Posted by irishninja

Well first of all, in your programming did you have a while loop? I made the mistake of not including while 1 == 1 in my code so it didn't work.

2) All the motors correspond and are plugged into the right ports?

3) Battery and RC are all plugged in?

4) You have the correct crystal for the controller?

5) Nothing happened to it?

6) The rx ports are correct?

Can you post a pic of your bot so I can see it? Just how the motors are setup, etc. Make sure the battery and all that fun stuff is plugged in right. How long have you had the kit? Try switching it to a different channel (5 or 6) because I know my controller joysticks wasn't giving full power to the motors, but the buttons were.

1. I'm running off of the default code for now. No programming.
2. For single joystick control, I do have both motors in ports 1 and 2. As I said, it did work with the tether, its just the wireless communication that's going haywire.
3. Yup
4. Both original crystals are in their respective locations
5. It was working just fine yesterday until this problem occured. Nothing happened to it for this to be a consequence. In short, it did it to itself.
6. Rx ports are correct indeed.
Did try changing channels, nothing happened.
pic attached is of the controlloer. You may not see the antenna module because I placed it under the robot. Remember, it did work with the tether, its just the radio control that's becoming problematic. Thanks

[UnderDark]

Is it possible you damaged the RC itself?

Try asking for help on http://www.vexlabs.com too. They make this after all.

[JoeXIII'007]

Originally Posted by UnderDark

Is it possible you damaged the RC itself?

Try asking for help on http://www.vexlabs.com too. They make this after all.

I doubt that very much.

You think I should try to replace the crystal???

[Edit] OK... the wireless starts to work again, and I did nothing to it....

*SIGH*

Perhaps I should ask this: is it normal for VEX bots to have occasional radio transmission problems??? What is the fix to make sure it doesn't happen again???

[team222badbrad]

Try taking your crystals out and putting them back in perhaps they are loose.

Maybe your next door neighbors or something in your house is causing radio interference, try moving your robot to a different location.

[irishninja]

This probably sounds super condescending but it isn't, are you extending the antenna on the controller all the way? I've had my vex kit for three weeks, and I still sometimes forget to extend it.

[colin340]

it may be a wireless thermostat, in our team room we have very hit and miss reception because of that

[Donut]

Make sure to extend the radio antenna when using the Vex robot, and also make sure that the antenna from your controller is PARALLEL to the antenna on the RC. If you point the antenna directly at the RC, or perpendicular to the antenna, the RC antenna will not receive the transmission (yes, this is a problem that occurs, we've had it happen during testing).

Antenna placement can also affect it. I did notice that when we had our robot with the back facing away from us, we did not transmit as well (the antenna was on the back behind a metal plate, conveyor belt, and a few motors).

[irishninja]

Also, did you check the batteries? Is it just weight of robot? Lift up the robot and try to move around. I've built a couple robots where when they were on the ground they just didn't move because there was too much stress, but after lifting it up it moved.

It looks like you cut the RC to make room for the motor in the picture. Can you explain that?

[JoeXIII'007]

Originally Posted by irishninja

Also, did you check the batteries? Is it just weight of robot? Lift up the robot and try to move around. I've built a couple robots where when they were on the ground they just didn't move because there was too much stress, but after lifting it up it moved.

It looks like you cut the RC to make room for the motor in the picture. Can you explain that?

Update, I did buy up some new crystals, and now its working fine. I probably got a bad one in the starter kit. Either that or it went bad after a few days.

As far as the motor is concerned, have a look at the attached photo (close up) and you will see I came within < 1mm of the top of the RC. How that worked out, beats me, but that's why I tinker more than plan most of the time.

[jeffmorris]

Try resetting the RC transmitter by by clearing the configuration data following the instructions on page 6-16 of the "Inventor's Guide".