Red 5

My Feedback: (13)

Have had the DX-8 for a few years, and just recently have lost a few planes. Each plane had a different receiver, so the only items in common is myself and the transmitter. The last crash, was holding in up elevator and left aileron and the plane went down to the right. Controls were connected correctly. It is always a bit difficult to rule out pilot error vs loss signal. Did an internet search for DX-8 and Loss of Signal and found many comments. Looked like the factory people in the threads completely discounted the possibility of loss of signal. The threads did not indicate any loss of signal issues with the DX-7 or the DX-9.

What seems funny to me, is that the DX-7 is still available new, and the DX-8 seems to be discontinued.

Am wondering if I should spend the money to send the DX-8 into Horizon for servicing, or just call it a loss and go for a DX-9. Any insight and info on prior experience would be greatly appreciated. It would be serviced out of warranty at $40 per hour, which is a reasonable rate, but don't know how many hours it would take to complete the servicing.

Aerocal

There is also electricity in common. There are a number of reasons a problem can occur. Do the models pass a low power/range check on the first flight of the day?
What steps have you taken to determine that it is actually a signal related problem and not power in the model itself?
If you have reason to believe it is a Tx problem then Yes it is worth sending it in for inspection/repair.
The cost of doing repairs is more than reasonable if any. Usually not more than the cost of shipping it to them.
The DX7S and DX8 are discontinued. The DX7 G2 is part of the newest series of radios and is lightyears ahead of the DX7S.

Red 5

My Feedback: (13)

Thanks for the input, will send in the DX8 for servicing.
Each of the three planes had completely separate flight packs, including receiver and 6 volt nicad batteries which were charged the night before each flying day. All had on-board battery meters that showed the batteries were fine. One plane was lost on the first flight of the day and the other was on its second or third flight, say 6 to 7 minutes per flight.

Checklst

Its been my experience(34)years. No matter what system you fly it usually the Battery's that power the system is at fault most times. On board volt meters are not vary accrete..........a load meter with NiCad is the only meter I would trust. A little more info is needed for the guys out hear way smarter than me would be helpful. Second what switch do you have, is it a single switch?, servo types?, how many servo? ........I have had several switches over the years show VOLTS on a non loaded meter but could not pass amps (the part of the system that moves the servos) Also have you been careful to set servo end points......... a servo binding can cause a vary high amp drain...pull the batt down to far and a 2.4 system will give you a lockout.

I fly duel switches, duel batts since 1985 and for any of my larger GAS planes 30cc and my 55cc I use deans arming plugs(NO switches at all) I like the simplicity of deans arming plugs) I had 2 switches fail on my 55cc at different times due to vibration I think..........at lease the second switch got her back on the runway. I switch to Deans after that.

Hope this helps a little.

Aerocal

Thanks Red. No huge glaring voltage problems.Thats a start. You dont say which Rxs you are using.Do you check your Flightlog data or use it during low power checks?
Having a connection problem on multiple models within the same period of time does kind of point to Tx.
Good time to think about telemetry also. Ive had a few Rx/antenna issues.Usually the remote cable.I found that if you have a marginal signal issue the Rx will start having momentary Holds with no noticable loss of control long before an extended Hold and loss of control.
Having it Monitor and log Rx voltage at the bus in realtime with a decent sample rate is another huge plus.
Ive said it many times but in my experience Ive seen most problems develop. They dont just fail out of the blue.A liitle bit more preliminary warning than instantaneous total loss of control is a big plus to me.It has saved me more than once.

Red 5

My Feedback: (13)

Sent in the DX8 to Horizon service center and received an email that it has been serviced. The antenna assembly has been replaced, they updated the programming ware and all else now checks out fine. The invoice also showed that all work was done without charge. The name and direct phone number to the tech was also given in case I have any further questions.

I'm very happy with Horizon Service Centers' support.

Thanks to Aerocal and Checklst for the input. I'll be adding your info to my preflights.