Frequently Asked Questions

Q-94: I have a Hitec Electron-6 RC receiver and found that the instruction sheet does not indicate the polarity of the servo connectors. Do you know if the black or the signal wire should go closest to the crystal?

A-94: First of all, questions such as this should really be directed to the manufacturer who built and sold you this receiver. I do own an Electron-6 (it is in my SCRATCH-ONE design). I looked up my instruction manual and our reader was correct, it does not show the connector polarity. Likewise, there is no decal on the receiver case that indicates the polarity. I did communicate this slight problem with the people at Hitec RCD and they indicated that the polarity would be included on all new instruction sheets.

For the record, the wire closest to the crystal is the yellow or signal lead (that’s yellow when using a Hitec servo). The middle wire is red for battery positive, while the third wire is black for battery negative. That black wire is furthest away from the crystal location. In all honesty, with the battery positive wire in the center there are only two situation that will occur. You either have the servo and battery connector plugged in correctly and everything works, or if plugged in opposite, nothing will work. Either way you will never blow out a receiver or servo. To my knowledge all current RC systems use the same polarity configuration, but some do resort to different color coding.

—Bob Aberle