We had a terrific time at the Ten Rater Rankings – pretty breezy!! My goodness, those boats look amazing under power, especially downwind. Might have never before seen RW running along the shore quite so fast to keep up!!

A few minutes after I took this photo of RC holding his transmitter aloft to get control of his boat back… the rudder dropped off and his boat drifted ashore!!

We were not racing far offshore at all, so it did get me wondering about transmitter-receiver connection strength again. Most of the fleet were on Futabas that day. Nobody was really having radio issues at all, including RC as it turns out. We had one or two Radiomaster and Spektrum fans – no problems at all there either. Phone signal was a bit depleted way down in the reservoir bowl though. Our water is maybe down 60 feet beneath normal depth.

We have written some articles previously along the lines of “we all blame the transmitter… but it could be the receiver, the receiver position, the receiver antennae, the carbon versus glass fibre…” etc….. A complex situation.

Then, today, on a radio pilots internet forum, I discovered someone who had a theory that his signal strength to his receiver was weakest if he pointed his antenna directly at his plane – I guess 45-90 degrees above him. Remember, our boats will be roughly horizontal from us so the 45-90 degrees above” comment needs translation into the sailing context.

I tried reading a pile of Futaba manuals, and for the T16 model (with a waggly adjustable antenna) I found this….

They very clearly say for flying, that the optimum is that the antenna is “horizontal” and basically at right angles to the line between the transmitter and the plane.

So with my Spektrum, whose antenna swivels about 60 degrees but pointing straight ahead (at the boat most of the time) … it probably needs to have the antenna pulled upwards to the maximum?

Then for the majority in our fleet who use Futaba T6 transmitters, the manufacturer has decided the answer for us – and the antenna in our T6 models is horizontal, built into the handle. Same for my Radiomaster really, whose antenna is horizontal but on a little hinge.

So if you have a Futaba/Radiomaster and think your boat is out of range, directly face the boat and do not stand at 90 degrees to the boat ?? Is that correct??

(Suddenly remembering a story from our Commodore who says that with a Futaba – mind you, possibly several years ago – he regained signal contact by tilting the transmitter on its side and holding it above his head… so not at all what Futaba says in the T16 manual !! ….Or is it??!! Draw an imaginary line between skipper and boat and then hold the antenna at right angles to it….?)

Did I get that correct?? Someone will hopefully write in and tell me. If you know the answer, please use the comment facility on this website entry !!