All Draxxus Pulse loaders have the option of using a wireless radio transmitter to synchronize the loader with your marker. After proper installation, the RF transmitter in your marker will activate when it fires, sending a radio signal to a companion transmitter that's pre-installed in your Pulse loader, telling it to load another ball. This is known as a type of advanced intellifeed and essentially links the loader electronics with those in the marker, making the loader load when the marker fires.
The main benefit of this is conserved battery power (since the loader won't have to continuously "pulse" the drivecone). There is also a slight speed increase, since the Pulse's unsynchronized mode uses a gap to tell the empty ball stack. The speed increase isn't drastic, though.
Electronics Installation:
The RF transmitter must be wired up to the marker's solenoid circuit. You won't be able to attach the transmitter to any other part of the marker due to its power requirements. The only exception is for those boards out there that have dedicated attachments for the transmitter (APE Shocker boards, various Tadao boards, possibly others in the future). The transmitter is wired up in "parallel" with the solenoid, as in the wires split off and lead to both the solenoid and the transmitter. This is described in the following diagram:
You have two options for RF transmitter installation in your particular marker.
1. "Solenoid splice" method - this involves soldering the RF transmitter pigtail to the solenoid wires in your marker. This can be done to any marker that has a solenoid, however requires soldering. If you don't know how to solder yourself then your local proshop can probably help. If not then you may have to send the parts off to have them professionally installed.
2. Solderless method - this is available for the markers out there that use a common solenoid connector, and as a result have a wire adapter that can be used. THis requires no soldering however only works on some markers, not all.
Solenoid Splice Method:
This modification involves cutting your solenoid's wires and soldering the RF transmitter wires directly to them. This is a relatively simple soldering job so it shouldn't be too hard (anybody with soldering experience should be able to do this). Again as mentioned, if you can't do it yourself then check with your local proshop.
The first step is to locate and cut the two solenoid wires. Be sure to leave enough space so the wires can be stripped. After they're cut, strip all four exposed wires.
After the wires are stripped, take your RF transmitter harness and solder one of its wires to one of the wires leading from the solenoid. Then, solder the other transmitter wire to the remaining solenoid wire. Once these are connected, solder the solenoid's connector back onto the new pairs. If you're using heat-shrink wrap (recommended) be sure to put it on before soldering the connector's wires.
If all the connections are sturdy, shrink the heat-shrink wrap and you're done. If you're not using heat-shrink wrap, you'll have to wrap the exposed solder joint with electrical tape.
In some markers, you can avoid splicing the solenoid wires by instead soldering directly to the circuit board. However, this can't be dont on all markers. You can also solder the transmitter wires directly to the solenoid terminals on the board, but this isn't required (it depends on the board).
Solderless Method:
Some markers have a drop-in "solderless" adapter available, which can be used if you don't wish to permanently attach the transmitter's wires, or if you can't solder yourself. These are only available for markers that use a dedicated pair of wires to lead to the solenoid, so not all markers can take advantage of this.
Seen above is a harness suited for the following markers: Dye DM4/5, Dye Ultralite board, Proto Matrix, Ego, Cyborg, and Angel; all these use the same solenoid connector type.
The other main solderless connector is available for marker using a "pico-blade" type connector, which include the following: Intimidator, Onyx, Viking/Excaliber, Quest, and Invert Mini.
Markers that don't use a dedicated pair of solenoid wires (such as Shocker, Nerve, Ion, some others) will have to be installed differently; these markers require you to solder directly to the circuit board. Even though the Shocker/Nerve use a wire harness, you can't attach the transmitter wires to it due to how the upper board functions.
Installation in Shocker/Nerve Boards:
With Shocker/Nerve boards, your only option is to solder directly to the solenoid terminals on the upper board, near the back where the LED is located. This can be tricky because the clear powerswitch actuator might snag the wires, so you have to be careful with the angles. You can't solder the transmitter wires to any spot on the lower board unless the board is specifically designed for it (APE board or Tadao M7 only).
The solder points are the two terminals sticking up through the board, near the back between the LED and the powerswitch. Solder one wire to each terminal so they lead toward the front of the gun. Tuck the wires such that they bend around the powerswitch, not over it. If you don't align the wires correctly, the clear powerswitch actuator button will get in the way and there'll be problems. Check these pictures:
The RF transmitter is best kept above the battery. Tuck it in there and make sure no wires are sticking out from the grips.
Installation in Ion Boards:
With Ion boards, you'll have to solder directly to the solenoid terminals. The wires will wrap around the capacitor and the RF transmitter be placed above it (read below for details).
The soldering points on the board are the silver terminals where the solenoid attaches to the board. There are four total, you need to solder to the bottom two. They are marked in these pictures:
I suggest soldering to the front of the board. You can attach wires to the rear, however they will have to be longer and this may allow them to interfere with the trigger microswitch, so I suggest you avoid that.
I find that the RF transmitter is best positioned in front of the mainboard, above the capacitor (the large cylinder sticking out the front of the board). The exact position doesn't really matter as long as it fits without pinching the eye wires or hoses.
The wires will wrap around the front or sides of the capacitor then attach to the transmitter above it. Be careful not to snag the wires upon reassembly of the board with the frame.
Pulse Tech:
Here is some technical information about the transmitter and its operation. Thanks to Jim Amos of APE and William Roberson of Tadao for some of the data (and other experimentation).
· Different transmitters will operate with different optimal ranges. Ideally the transmitter will operate over a range of several feet.
· The solenoid voltage and dwell time is used to determine the operational range and intensity, but it doesn't have much effect. A minimal dwell setting of 10-ms is generally required.
· While it is true that the RF transmitter doesn't drain much additional battery power, there are some limits still in play. Most 9v batteries are charged to between 9 and 9.5 volts when "new" out of the box. Most solenoids out there will function until 7.5 to 8 volts, however the RF transmitter has a shorter lifespan; it tends to act less and less reliable as the battery power approaches 8 to 8.5 volts. As a result, this means your batteries will effectively be useful for a shorter period. The battery can still be used in a marker not equipped with the transmitter, since the solenoid will continue to work until the battery drains further, but the same battery shouldn't be used in another marker equipped with a transmitter.
· The loader controller works on a shot buffering principal when feeding bursts of rounds at once. However, the controller's reception depends on the active state of the loader's motor. For instance, the controller will only accept new shots while the drivecone is idle, or if it's firing then it will accept new shots while there isn't a lot of tension on the ball stack. In other words, during the short time the drivecone is advancing, any intercepted RF signals are often disregarded if the ball stack appears to be stationary ("appears" from the Pulse controller's point of view, as in it thinks the balls aren't moving). If this happens, the shot goes unnoticed; this is an anti-jam feature for the Pulse controller. The only time this really comes into play is during a jam, or possibly during a series of quick burst shots (especially when the hopper batteries get low).
· If the loader randomly ceases to function in "green" RF mode, it may be due to the RF synchronization setting having been reset or otherwise changed. If this happens you'll have to re-synch the transmitter in your marker for your Pulse loader.