Many of our 2.4 receivers have 2 aerials, but who knows if they both work, and how would you test them?? There are also many receivers that allow you to replace the aerials with longer ones, to allow a better position in the aircraft. Well it seems there may be a way.
Our Radio guru, Mike Ridley has come up with this simple test..
This is what you do:-
Turn your Tx on , set for range testing. (Low power out put), place it on a table or you bench. Make sure you have the failsafe set up. Power up the receiver, and plug in a servo, somewhere that the servo will move when it goes into failsafe. Throttle is easiest, if not, hold one of the sticks over with a bit of tape, such that the servo will centre when it goes into failsafe. Make a note of where you place the Tx, and the orientation, so that you can use the same position if and when you repeat the test.
Place the ends of the aerials next to the battery and servo wires, and hold them all in your closed fist. Now walk away from the transmitter. You will need to be outside for this, unless you have a very large house.
At some point your receiver will go into failsafe. Remove one of the aerials from your fist, and control should return. You may have to take a step or two towards the receiver. Walk away again until failsafe returns. You should get a little further away.
Now replace that aerial into your fist, and remove the second one, repeat the last part of the test.
The servo should go into failsafe, at virtually the same point.
I tried it, and it worked for me.
It is worth doing this test with a brand new receiver, to establish a distance to the fail safe point. Then you have a reference for future tests.
One further point worth mentioning is to take care when you are removing and refitting the plug connection. The part on the board, has a very small pin in the centre, make sure that it is central, before you plug the aerial in, and hold the plug nice and square to the circuit board, when pressing it home.
If you want a tool to check the RF output from your 2.4 Transmitter, Mike has made a gizmo for that too. See here, with lots of other fun bits and pieces.
http://www.modelradioworkshop.co.uk/products
BC