DX18's still browning out or is this a valid choice for our jets now?
03-26-2015, 05:54 PM
#27
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Greg
03-26-2015, 06:37 PM
#29
I am of the opinion that the advent of 2.4 couple with the use of Nimh batteries in the beginning, led to a lot of issues. When powered properly, 2.4 seems to have very few problems. All of mine have stemmed from this anyway. A123 seems to have completely eliminated any problems I had in the past.
03-26-2015, 08:06 PM
#31
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Just as the title says. I've currently got a DC-16 from Jeti and while it's a fantastic radio, I just prefer the Spectrum programming. I've been wanting to purchase a DX18 but there was a fair bit of negativity for the connection quality and loss of models. Can those pro's on here who use the DX18 give some comments or should I avoid? Thanks!
- State-of-the-art, upgradable firmware which gives you full freedom and complete control.- Solid aluminum, CNC cut transmitter case with fully integrated antenna and oversized LCD display.
- Mini USB port for firmware upgrades and PC download of telemetry data.
- Integrated speaker and 3.5mm headset jack. You can play back music and create custom voice alarms.
- Fully integrated digital telemetry. View, process and store all your telemetry data and even wirelessly program any of the Duplex EX sensors.
- Create, manage and program all alarms. Enhance safety for both yourself and your model. Monitor your temperature, speed, battery voltage, receiver battery capacity and much more.
- All switches and channels are completely moveable and assignable. Want to move throttle to the right slider or switch several functions to just one stick? With the Jeti radio system, yes you can. Basically, you can program any stick, dial, switch or slider to generate any output you choose.
Jeti programming is simply ADD on, no Inhibit. You simply create your menus and ADD functionality as needed.
Zb/Jeti USA
Jeti Programming: Basic Programming Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Robb...LsSjh&index=14
Jeti Programming: Basic Programming Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDFH...LsSjh&index=13
Jeti Programming: Jeti Trim Setup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbXT...JLsSjh&index=1
Last edited by Jeti USA; 03-26-2015 at 08:09 PM.
03-26-2015, 08:29 PM
#32
The bottom line with any radio is to confirm you are getting solid data before you fly. I fly Spektrum because of the data logging and love the redundancy of the satellite RX's with powersafe.
I sold off my 12x and 9503 and replaced them with 2 DX-18 gen2's. The first thing I do when installing a new radio is do a thorough range check with data logging (if you don't do this before hand then the loss is your fault!!). With my first DX-18 I noticed the frame losses were much higher than normal. I called Horizon mentioned the data they said send it in, low and behold it had a bad rf board. They replaced it and I had the Radio back in a week! Went and checked the data and spot on!! Now I would bet that most the guys that lost jets with a DX18 or any radio never used the logger and did a thorough range check confirming minimal frame losses..... Since the replacement they have worked like clock work! I look at the data after every flight making sure it is staying on track!
If you don't check the data and confirm the radio is functioning correctly and the orientation of the RX is correct that's your fault! My radio with the bad board flew the foamies just fine but I didn't just assume it would work in my jets so I did my duel diligence and probably saved a jet. I will never own a radio system that you can't check the data....
I sold off my 12x and 9503 and replaced them with 2 DX-18 gen2's. The first thing I do when installing a new radio is do a thorough range check with data logging (if you don't do this before hand then the loss is your fault!!). With my first DX-18 I noticed the frame losses were much higher than normal. I called Horizon mentioned the data they said send it in, low and behold it had a bad rf board. They replaced it and I had the Radio back in a week! Went and checked the data and spot on!! Now I would bet that most the guys that lost jets with a DX18 or any radio never used the logger and did a thorough range check confirming minimal frame losses..... Since the replacement they have worked like clock work! I look at the data after every flight making sure it is staying on track!
If you don't check the data and confirm the radio is functioning correctly and the orientation of the RX is correct that's your fault! My radio with the bad board flew the foamies just fine but I didn't just assume it would work in my jets so I did my duel diligence and probably saved a jet. I will never own a radio system that you can't check the data....
03-26-2015, 08:52 PM
#33
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Jeti it's not that I don't like the radio (DC-16). It's that I don't like the difficulty with some of the operation (Head Tracking Setup etc etc). You guys have been great with advice but this one issue nobody has been able to properly help me and I'm a bit fed up. A friend with a DX18 is up and running in seconds and the programming is so simple even someone like me can manage it. I'm far from stupid but sometimes the Jeti drives me nuts trying to do simple things that most other brands have already built in. I even went so far as to get the PPM cable and install it but it still won't work. Nobody including Jeti seems to be able to help me out so I'm frustrated as hell.
Thanks for all the information guys. It seems it's almost split right down the middle for the DX18 and I have to admit those odds aren't all that great. I may have to keep my DC-16 for my jet as I know it works perfectly for that and go DX18 for my other RC hobbies. I just really get annoyed having to have multiple radio's when the 18 SHOULD be the one that fixes everything.
Thanks for all the information guys. It seems it's almost split right down the middle for the DX18 and I have to admit those odds aren't all that great. I may have to keep my DC-16 for my jet as I know it works perfectly for that and go DX18 for my other RC hobbies. I just really get annoyed having to have multiple radio's when the 18 SHOULD be the one that fixes everything.
03-27-2015, 12:31 AM
#36
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03-27-2015, 01:46 AM
#37
Pete just go to any jet rally and see what everyone is flying. Its DX18 hands down you only see a few other radios on the flight line.
Jeti it's not that I don't like the radio (DC-16). It's that I don't like the difficulty with some of the operation (Head Tracking Setup etc etc). You guys have been great with advice but this one issue nobody has been able to properly help me and I'm a bit fed up. A friend with a DX18 is up and running in seconds and the programming is so simple even someone like me can manage it. I'm far from stupid but sometimes the Jeti drives me nuts trying to do simple things that most other brands have already built in. I even went so far as to get the PPM cable and install it but it still won't work. Nobody including Jeti seems to be able to help me out so I'm frustrated as hell.
Thanks for all the information guys. It seems it's almost split right down the middle for the DX18 and I have to admit those odds aren't all that great. I may have to keep my DC-16 for my jet as I know it works perfectly for that and go DX18 for my other RC hobbies. I just really get annoyed having to have multiple radio's when the 18 SHOULD be the one that fixes everything.
Thanks for all the information guys. It seems it's almost split right down the middle for the DX18 and I have to admit those odds aren't all that great. I may have to keep my DC-16 for my jet as I know it works perfectly for that and go DX18 for my other RC hobbies. I just really get annoyed having to have multiple radio's when the 18 SHOULD be the one that fixes everything.
03-27-2015, 03:26 AM
#39
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I also thought that was a good idea until a friend of mine gave me his plane to fly..Just after take off the plane went full nose down..so hard that is completed a full inside loop and crash with very little damage (note this plane was flying all day). We went to check the radio gear..rx light on but no movement from the servo...I start to jiggle the wires to one of the satellite and everything came back on..jiggle again and full down elevator. My friend said to me.."that was always like that " I say to him...I thought with you having multiple sat, the system would skip the bad one and go to the other two good ones, he thought so too..In my mind I'm saying never again I will fly someone elses plane without knowing the history.
P.S Not sure if that problem was fix also
Last edited by basimpsn; 03-27-2015 at 04:09 AM.
03-27-2015, 04:44 AM
#41
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The issues I had with my DX8 were not "brownouts" and these tend to be confused with something called a "hold". A brownout is when the RX voltage drops and while this was an issue several years ago, I don't think it is anymore. The HOLD issue is pretty well known and its when the Spektrum gets out of Sync with the radio for whatever reason, and it holds the last inputs for a second or two before resetting. this can be about 3 seconds total if it resets and more than enough time to lose a jet for sure.
I use a cheapy 14SG futuba and haven't had any issues at all. Got to have a thousand turbine flights alone, with a thousand other flights on other aircraft across 10-15 different RX of various versions.
Not once have I had an issue except the time I actually ran the RX lipo too low. The RX didn't brownout, there was just not enough juice to move the servos!
BTW to prove my point, I had issues with my DX8 but I have 4 DX6 I have been using for years and have several of the small heli RX with short antennas they sell. 0 issues there either and I have taken planes nearly out of sight and never lost connection.
Its just too hit and miss with Spektrum for me to trust it.
I use a cheapy 14SG futuba and haven't had any issues at all. Got to have a thousand turbine flights alone, with a thousand other flights on other aircraft across 10-15 different RX of various versions.
Not once have I had an issue except the time I actually ran the RX lipo too low. The RX didn't brownout, there was just not enough juice to move the servos!
BTW to prove my point, I had issues with my DX8 but I have 4 DX6 I have been using for years and have several of the small heli RX with short antennas they sell. 0 issues there either and I have taken planes nearly out of sight and never lost connection.
Its just too hit and miss with Spektrum for me to trust it.
03-27-2015, 06:06 AM
#45
Multiple remote Rxers is an advantage. It allows you to ensure that you have at least one receiver antenna polarized the same as your transmitter's antenna at all times. If the antennas are cross-polarized you loose ~ 97% of your signal strength. Also multiple Rxers provide redundancy that eliminates a single failure mechanism that would result in a crash, should your single Rxer Fail.
Brownouts occur because of an inadequate power source to a receiver. Some folks do not realize how much current load they put on the power source, make a couple flights and then wonder why the plane crashes. They typically blame it on a Rxer brownout, when actually it was an inadequate power source. A couple us did a lot of experimenting with various batteries last year. On paper we would have plenty of Mah left to go for another couple flights. But frequently we could not even get past the starts with what calculated to be at least a 1/2 available charge remaining. Also some folks have trouble realizing that digital servos can operate in parallel while analog servos are operated sequentially. Digital servos' current use can be cumulative. Some of these servos can use 5 amps peak. Start making a lot of turns and there can be significant voltage drops, which can cause the Rxer to stop working.
Brownouts occur because of an inadequate power source to a receiver. Some folks do not realize how much current load they put on the power source, make a couple flights and then wonder why the plane crashes. They typically blame it on a Rxer brownout, when actually it was an inadequate power source. A couple us did a lot of experimenting with various batteries last year. On paper we would have plenty of Mah left to go for another couple flights. But frequently we could not even get past the starts with what calculated to be at least a 1/2 available charge remaining. Also some folks have trouble realizing that digital servos can operate in parallel while analog servos are operated sequentially. Digital servos' current use can be cumulative. Some of these servos can use 5 amps peak. Start making a lot of turns and there can be significant voltage drops, which can cause the Rxer to stop working.
03-27-2015, 07:54 AM
#46
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In our club all brand trasmitters (futaba first and hitec , multiplex and graupner) was replaced by spektrum dx-18 and dx-18qq first , and dx18g2 and stealth today (dx9 also)
all used to fly with jets model...all with telemtery tm1000 and now with AS3X receivers...
we have
n.2 dx18qq
n.2 dx18 g1
n.3 dx18g2
n.1 dx18 stealth
n.3 dx9
all used to fly with jets model...all with telemtery tm1000 and now with AS3X receivers...
we have
n.2 dx18qq
n.2 dx18 g1
n.3 dx18g2
n.1 dx18 stealth
n.3 dx9
03-27-2015, 08:35 AM
#47
BTW, not that it really matters but, Dx-18 is not made in China either.
Mike
03-27-2015, 09:56 AM
#48
I am just setting up a 15ch jet on my DX18 now but I have future plans that will take it to 17ch. If Spektrum release a DX-whatever with more channels I will be glad to move up to it.
DX36 anyone?
DX36 anyone?
03-27-2015, 11:52 AM
#49
Radio tech is so good these days in fact the only plane I have had a radio issue with was not mine. I hate to admit it but it was an older radio with the fishing pole antenna I forgot to extend! So used to 2.4 we took off after all checks and we both forgot to extend the antenna! Lol, no damage but dumb mistake.
I have not had one radio problem since 2.4 was released and I had to use the module on the back of my JR 9303. The orange Rx from Hobby King was another issue but no crash, never used them again.
I have flown all kinds of stuff big and small I think if the features and feel are good for you then get your DX18 and enjoy.
My only complaint on the DX18 is its not as ergonomic as the 11X for my hands, kind of boxy for my liking and a little cheap on the finish.
I have not had one radio problem since 2.4 was released and I had to use the module on the back of my JR 9303. The orange Rx from Hobby King was another issue but no crash, never used them again.
I have flown all kinds of stuff big and small I think if the features and feel are good for you then get your DX18 and enjoy.
My only complaint on the DX18 is its not as ergonomic as the 11X for my hands, kind of boxy for my liking and a little cheap on the finish.
03-27-2015, 12:17 PM
#50
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I currently own and fly a Futaba 18MZ, a Jeti Duplex DS-16, two Spektrum DX18s (one gen 1 and one gen 2), a JR 9503, a JR 12x, and a JR 28x and I like each and every one of these transmitters for different reasons. There is not one of them that I would call “far more superior”. Each transmitter is matched with the job I need it to do, nothing more.
Now to Pepperpete, I have been using the DX 18 gen 1&2 for quite a while now and have not had any trouble with them at all. If you do a quality install of your radio gear in your aircraft, your problems will be very few to none. Of course this statement applies to just about all of the current offerings today.