Spektrum DX6 Modifications and Upgrades

by  Rich Upton
letter  by  Willy Loewer
contributions  by  Lester Leong
                    and  roll_n_steel

Here is information that I have pertaining to Spektrum upgrades. (It is a good start) The contents of this (post) file in in the following order:

  1. Source for the radio and, of course, extra BR6000 Rx.
  2. Link to voltage regulator upgrade info
  3. Photo of firing switches
  4. Wiring changes for buttons. You will have to pick which function you want for each button.
    (I don't recall on mine as it can vary for each tank depending how you have setup your tank)
  5. Photo of Dean's plugs connections for convenience.
  6. This VR upgrade vastly increases battery life.
  7. Willy's post on the Spektrum and his prices for his Kill switches.

That should keep you busy!
Rich

Source for radio and BR6000 Rx
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/marketplace_rc_radioDX6.html

Voltage regulator upgrade
http://www.dimensionengineering.com/appnotes/spektrum_mod/spektrum_mod.htm

RC Switch
http://www.rc-flysoft.com/

The DX6 Spektrum system is for sure a cool way to go ...
I wrote several posts about these DX6 radios in the past, and will combine them all and post all that with some setup-instructions and the newest findings on my website.

My kill-switch's work great and could be also used for old style radio's which would give the advantage to shut a tank down, but leaving the transmitter on, which would cut down on these run-away tank's. Buy the DX6 radios with the BR6000 receiver, if it comes with the older AR6000, just contact Horizon Hobbies, they will exchange them. The difference between the AR and BR receiver is the fail-safe function.


On the AR receiver only the throttle-channel has a fail-safe setup. The other channels remember their last setting, means turret-rotation, gun-elevation would keep running after a loss of signal, or if you have your throttle on a channel other then the throttle channel, your tank would keep on running. The BR receiver has now fail-safe on all channels.

The DX6 transmitter comes with a ratchet throttle on the left stick (mode 2). If you want a spring-loaded left stick, buy the radio from Horizon Hobbies. But place the order by phone and tell them you want a spring-loaded throttle. They do not sell just the parts for you to install it yourself. I had to send my 2x DX6 transmitter's back to them, since I wanted the spring-loaded throttle sticks. If you need a spring-loaded throttle on the left, but don't care about the right stick as ratchet, you just can swoop the parts around. if you want to safe yourself the hassle of returning the transmitter to Horizon. Even though they did the spring-loaded throttle-setup for me free of charge, I even didn't had to pay any shipping.

   

Setup is simple, just read the manual to get familiar with it before you start messing around. Make sure you have it in airplane mode (which will deactivate the preset mixing functions from the Helicopter mode) ... All servo-travel-settings by default are on 100%. After binding the receiver (binding is explained in the DX6 manual) make sure you have your left stick (in case you have the ratchet left stick) in the center (otherwise you will have a run-away-tank with the older AR600 receiver), go over the regular DMD setup as explained in every Tamiya tank manual.

The DX6 transmitter has digital trims, therefore I recommend to change some servo-travel-settings to get around thumbing the trims for firing or engaging the drive-function (Pershing).

After the initial DMD setup, change the servo-travel for the firing/gun-elevation channel to 125-130%. This will allow you to fire without changing any trim-settings. Same for the reverse on the Pershing ... set it also to 125-130%. This way you push the throttle-stick fully in reverse, move it back to the center and then just slightly in reverse again and your Pershing will be engaged for driving.

My kill-switch is a small transistor-type switch (It is about the same size as that small DX6 receiver) which plugs in to an open channel, like the gear or aux channel on the DX6, and has 2 more servo-plugs to be connected to the receiver and DMD unit. For the ones want to do a little soldering yourself (soldering of the servo-cables), I can supply these switches for $25,- plus $10,- for 2x 12 inch servo-cable-extensions
(male and female plug on each side, which you can cut to your personal layout ), or for $10,- more I send you a plug-and-play unit.
$5,- shipping, priority-mail, tracking and insured.

More details and how to"s are be posted soon on my website.

Willy
CustomRCmodels
ACE


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