lrglnman

What about Polk's Hobby products? I've used their radios and find that you cant get any better radio for the money .

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

Don't forget that RCU has been having software problems of late, before feeling picked on.


Ed Cregger

Nitro-Tom

I agree as A Spektrum user and even worse, they shipped the Dx7 with a 4.8V battery! (Doah!)[:@]

But it is true, use 6V, check all your servos for binding and current draw, AND I recommend using a Capacitor to help stop momentary blips of high current from droping the voltage (causing brown out)

Make sure you don't have an old Rx unit without quick connect, and you are good to go....

I have just added one of these beauties to my 30% giant scale as well, since the little tiny capacitor I use in my .40 and .60 sized planes will not cut it....Called the DC-UP II from fromeco.....

1 farad capacitor! (When I was in vocational school a 1 Farad capacitor was the size of a garbage can on the side of your house....now look how small it is! Amazing!....

Nitro-Tom

Hi-tec Aurora 9 is the best if you are looking to get a rock solid 2.4 and save some money......

I fly Spektrum so I think the JR/Spektrum is a good system.

Futaba is a good system as well.....better programming menu, etc.....

If I had to buy today I would get the Hi-tec......hands down.

The above is just OPINION, not fact!

Nitro-Tom

Ed,

These post were nuked my the moderator.....he already said so.....Funny but I was posting a reply to this exact post and the forum was locked at the time[:@], so I lost my reply, then quickly realized I can't reply to a post that was deleted

from my point the moderators on RcU have been very fair, and I got a note when they nuked my post, it was my fault, I drifted too far off topic, etc.....

You have to admit they have a tough job when things get as hot n heavy as the Futaba / Spektrum debate threads go.....[X(]

I used to administer a 660 user BBS before the internet was a big thing....you had to dial in via modem to connect.....and I tell you, it was a full time job to baby sit 600 users all fighting about this, he cheated in a game, etc.etc.etc..my email doesn't work...blah blah blah

I can't imagine the workload to keep up with all the forums on RCU?

These guys put alot of time in makeing sure this site stays on track......without them it would be way too "Wild West" for me, that's for sure.....

Peace Out -

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

You are only entitled to the opinion of the moderator on these threads.

dkennedy35

I have had my Hitec Aurora forabout 11 months now. I am well pleased, and happy about my purchase.
I used in down in Georgia at SEFF last year where there was about 100 other 2.4 radios turned on. No issues.

Some Spectrums where having issues, I don't know why. Could have been low voltage or something else.

Knowing what the battery voltage is, on the plane at anytime, and I am able to set a low voltage alarm. Priceless.

Two of my flying buddies have given up their Futaba 9C with 2.4 module and new Spektrum and purchased Aurora radios.
You will need to have confidence in your radio, so buy what you have confidence in.
For me. I will stick with my Aurora for a while.

- Don

Nitro-Tom

Several guys at my field did the same, and are VERY happy......No question the A9 is a great system, my current fav.....telemitry and touch screen.....bat. alarm on both sides, everything a growing boy needs![X(]

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

There is a video that is almost an hour long that gives very detailed information on the DSM2 and DSMX systems that is well worth the time.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/horizonhobby-com

It was mostly presented by the engineering manager of their radio development, but I think he did a pretty good job at explaining things so that even a non-engineer could understand it.

Bottom line points:

DSM2 was developed at a time when there were no other RC systems out there on 2.4 G. The RF environment is much tougher now.

The direct sequence approach (a truly spread spectrum) allows multiple users on the exactly same wide band of frequencies (a channel for lack of a better term). (The 2.4 G has 80 such channels, with the radio using two at a time.) So if you happen to have two Spektrums both on the exact same two channels, both would work just fine, since the two different Pseudo codes are in use.

Problems start to happen when you have 60 or more radios operating at the same time. Generally not a problem at most fields.

All of the competitors 2.4 systems are narrow band frequency hopping systems. If they hop into a channel and have a collision, then the data is lost. If it starts happening a lot, then you suffer a lockout and lost of control. While a P-code system can operate with two or more users on the same channel, a narrow band system can not.

In essence, the DSMX is a bit like wearing a belt and suspenders.

The only downside that I heard was that DSMX does not pay any attention to what the current RF operating environment is. It just goes on it's way, jumping through 23 of the available 80 channels. The upside is that it links up much faster to the receiver than the DSM2 does.

Some people question why they are only using 23 channels of the available 80. Well, it because every Spektrum DSMX transmitter is unique from all others. Each transmitter uses a different group of 23 channels, each transmitter goes through the channels in different orders, and each transmitter spends different amounts of time on each channel. They have gone to incredible lengths here to provide the greatest possible chance of maintaining control with this scheme.

When you look at the remote receivers which give a much better chance of actually receiving the signals in the first place, it is truly an impressive engineering achievement.

RC Flier

My Feedback: (9)

Are Kraft radio even made anymore, I think NOT. My 14 year old JR 8103 works fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it....

cfircav8r

My Feedback: (1)

No as said before it was kind of a joke, but I still use mine as well as a DX7, HiTec, Airtronics, and Futaba. I agree why stop using a radio that still works? I've owned many different brands, Kraft, JR Propo, Airtronics, Futaba, and the deciding factor has always been will it do what I need, or may want, in the near future. I am slowly converting my hanger to the DX7 for no other reason than simplicity. I rarely bring more than two planes to the field at once and it's nice to be able to just grab one radio. I also need the model match feature or I will takeoff with the wrong model selected. I will however keep a few on the old systems for nostalgias sake.

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

When using Fuataba or Spektrum what has made the difference for me is the Model Match that Spektrum offers. I do like the strong solid feel of the Futaba especially the older units. After I started flying the lighter radios i have gotten used to them now and have found I really like them lighter. It took some getting used to. So many radios have that plastic "cheesy" feel to them.

I had serveral glitches a couple years back with the JR stuff and was quick to blame the radio like others have only to find out after inspection that it was loose connectors.

I think if there is one thing to learn about the digital radios of today is to make sure you do not have a quivering/vibrating connector because it could result in disaster.

One factor that will usually dictate a certain brand of radio purchase is how many receivers one has lying around for them. Those can be quite expensive.

Ben Lanterman

Hi All,

I used Futaba 72mhz gear for years with many brands of receivers and only had crashes when "I" tried to fly an airplane with the wrong airplane picked in the transmitter. If you take out a dozen big/little airplanes and it's hot and all that you will eventually make a mistake (at least I did). When Spektrum came out with the Model Match feature I saw an answer to my problems. I have since gone through a couple of DX7 transmitters which I sold because I ran out of model storage space. I have bought a JR 12x 2.4 and JRX905 to get the total storage I needed and, of course, work with the existing Spektrum/JR 2.4ghz receivers that I already had at the time.

I like the way the JR programs and love the roller/click input process. I do find the binding is a pain if I have to dig a receiver out of a foamy and rebind it to the other transmitter. But once done it seems to hold.

I have always flown the 2.4ghz receivers of all sizes, whether JR or Spektrum, powered by using a BEC of some sort - whether from the speed control or a separate device. This has eliminated any problem of brownout due to a low battery, etc. I don't have to worry about receiver battery voltages - it is nice.

Having said that I have had one (1) crash back when I flew the Spektrum transmitters. I had flown an all electric power (.60 equivalent), Hangar 9, Miss America P-51 for several years. I then decided that the landing gears were protuding down a bit toooo much from the wing's lower surface. So I adjusted it to really fit the wheel well covers tight (but not too tight I thought). It worked fine on the bench.

So I was at the field and flying the P-51 for the first time after the change. After a nice takeoff I did my usual smooth come back around over the field, flipped the retract switch, and when I tried to turn I found I had lost all control. The P-51 made a large descending turn from 50 feet and buried itself into freshly plowed dirt next to the field. At the scene of the crash I took out the flight battery and carried Miss America back to the car.

Miracles happen - nothing was broken and since the wheels were up the landing gear stayed in the airplane. I took the airplane home, cleaned out the dirt and when I plugged in the flight battery - everything worked - the BEC, the receiver, the servos, everything. So I changed the receiver of course.

The next time out with the P-51 was an exact repeat of the above - the airplane just hit in another part of the plowed field. Still nothing was busted - I loved that airplane. But at home everything worked fine! Whimper!

I was at a total loss. I simply didn't know what was going on. I actually put the receiver in a stick type airplane and flew it as high as I could see with no loss of control that I could detect.

Yes the third flight ended up as did the first two, except Miss America hit on the hard road by the field. Broken into dozens of pieces - sob. But all of the radio gear still worked fine!

I am getting close to the end of this story - bear with me. At home watching the radio gear work on the bench and flipping the landing gear up and down and watching the retract servo (still connected to the mechanism) wiggle it suddenly hit me. When I tried to stall the retract servo wheel the system quit working!!

Every time I had retracted the servo in flight it had overloaded the BEC - caused the receiver to brownout - which stopped everything from working from then on. Since the servo wouldn't/couldn't reverse at that time the brownout would remain. Of course remove the flight battery immediately after the crash and the BEC recovered. Before turning on the system at home I would switch the landing gear to the down position and when the flight battery was plugged in, down would come the landing gear and everything would work!

Why didn't I notice that the crash was associated with the retract in the first place - you asked?

Because the P-51 was smooth. I would retract the gear before I came over the centerline of the field and didn't start to turn until many seconds and several hundred feet away from that event later.

However none of the crashing was due to the radio or the BEC or anything - except me. I created a situation (trying to get the gear covers up tight with the wing) which caused the retract servo to overload the BEC. Oh yes, why didn't I notice the retract problem on my bench tests after the first and second crash. I would flip the gear up and then immediately down and I simply didn't leave the gear in the up condition long enough to let the brownout occur.

All parts of the radio are presently being used today in various airplanes with no problem. Do I blame the Spektrum receiver for brown-out? No. I doubt any brand would have managed to survive those conditions.

I was lucky enough to be able to trace the exact cause of of my crash - me. Folks who do crash while using a particular brand of equipment should always be very careful before they start blaming their radios.

But as far as which radio is the best? I have over 50 airplane models from micro indoor to .90 equivalent electric sized airplanes, using the JR/Spektrum radios, that have been flawless for several years. My screw up has been the only hiccup in the bunch.

Would Futaba work just as well - no doubt. Being a Ham for years I do feel comfortable with the satellite receivers. The more the better :-)

Thanks for reading this long posting - I hope it was of some use.

Ben Lanterman