Futaba CAMPAC Clones

Home-made Memory Modules for Futaba R/C Transmitters (FC-18, FC-28)
 

Table of Contents [Toc]

Overview
Manufacturing your own CAMPAC clones
 

Overview   [Toc] [Top]

Some of the Futaba R/C transmitters have a dedicated slot to insert optional CAMPAC memory modules. These memory modules are available in various capacities, for instance 4 kB, 16 kB, and 64 kB, and enable to store configuration settings for multiple R/C models. A commercial 16 kB Futaba CAMPAC module used to cost about 90 US-$ and provides storage for additional 11 models within the Futaba FC-18V3 plus R/C transmitter.

A fruitful attempt to obtain a more cost-effective CAMPAC-based storage solution has been made with the realization of a CAMPAC clone, i.e., the ClonePac. The ClonePac described below features 1 bank of 16 kB storage, which is accessible without manual bank-switching through a DIP switch, for instance.

Well, the CAMPAC memory module is in fact quite a simple device and it is questionable, whether the exorbitant list price is justified.
So let's build our own parts...
 

Manufacturing your own CAMPAC clones   [Toc] [Top]

My ClonePacs are based on the work of Jim White, Dave Rigotti, Dave Tatosian, and Rob Crockett. The original ClonePac page used to be located at http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/1071/clonepac.htm, but this URL is no longer valid...

Therefore, here is a local HTML snapshot of Rob Crockett's initial webpage, and a PDF document for print-out.

If you want more than 16 kB of storage, e.g. for your FC-28, you may consider to order Model-Gadget's UltraPAC-II featuring storage of 64 kB (1 bank), 256 kB (4 banks), or 512 kB (8 banks) through the following dealers. In my opinion, the UltraPAC-II is a very nice solution which provides quite a reasonable price-performance ratio regarding engineering- and manufacturing-costs. One UltraPAC item costs between 32 US-$ and 90 US-$.

Last updated: 2010/12/22