Lucky Dog

My Feedback: (1)

Interesting thread. I've had an RDS8000 since they first came out. So far, no problems like the one being discussed here. I do need to send mine in anyway, as the gymbal on the right stick is cracked where the stick mounts. I probably shouldn't trust the expoxy and microballon fix that got me thru this past summer. I really like mine, and can't see the added cost of the SD-10 given I fly mostly WW1 stuff.

abufletcher

For WWI flyers (like you and I) anything over 8 channels is overkill. I really like the simplicity of the RDS8000, I like that the display is at the top (where I can more easily glance at it), I like that it's simple but not too simple.

That having been said, I find it hard to accept that I've identical failures on the same wire on 2 out of 3 Tx units that I've had. That's scary. It makes me feel like it's only a matter of time before I have another failure. And given that this failure is caused by stick movement, there's more than even odds that it will occur during flight. And worse yet is this particular failure doesn't just result in not being able to use the ailerons, it results in something like a short that suddenly sends the ailerons to their full maximum deflection, putting the model into an uncontrollable roll.

Right at the moment the trade-in option is sounding very appealing. According to the service department all I need to do is drop off my RDS8000 Tx (no battery or anything else needed) and they will sell me the SD-10GS (Tx and 10-ch Rx) for $279, so about $80 more than buying a new RDS8000 set.

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

What Thomas said, just think what you figure your Snipe is worth, not just the pieces but your investment in time (blood sweat tears) and your love for the aircraft. Get a new radio, either one of theirs that wont have this problem or some other Mfr. Id retire all Xmitters of that type TODAY. Never to be used again, put them in the bin, don't sell your troubles to someone else (trade in is ok) or keep them around for old times sake, they wont heal and repairs are obviously temporary. Your smart, you know the odds are never in your favor.
Doc

jester_s1

The SD-10 has features beyond the extra channels. Being able to pick which switches you put your rates and mixes on is really handy. The servo slow feature (they call it delay I think) is nice when you have flaps or retracts or an engine that doesn't like having the throttle slammed open. And the better overall build quality improves the value as well. I don't fly a single plane that needs more than 7 channels, but I use the features of the SD-10 on most of them.

Boomerang1

If you still like the RDS8000 why not take it to an electronics repair company
in Japan? You know, the little old guy with a shop on the corner sort of guy,
not Matsu****a!

Take him a good quality, heavy duty servo extension lead he can chop up
for the good quality, many multi strand wire. Both radios are then good to
go for many more hours.

I owned an SD-10 for just two weeks. Nothing at all wrong with it, it was a
pilot's draw prize at a scale rally & all my 2.4 Ghz gear is Futaba. I simply
sold it on to an Airtronics user.

John.

PS, any luck with your radial?

abufletcher

My plan at the moment is to upgrade to the SD-10GS with their trade-in program. The reduced price will be $279. It is perhaps no surprise that this is exactly the price of a new Futaba 8JA (from Tower). With the SD-10GS I can continue to use my four Airtronics Rx units. I find I never have more than four intact models at any given time so that number should hold me for years to come. If I bought the Futaba 8JA, I'd have one Futaba receiver and would have to spend another $100 at least on a new set.

I won't fly the Snipe, the SE5a, the big Paulistinha P56, or my CI (whenever that gets finished) with a RDS8000. This is a known problem and it's bitten me 2 out of 3 times. I did fly my cheap-o ARF today on my remaining RDS8000 but even if I don't care about losing the ARF, losing control of a flying model is never a good thing. I'll use it with the ARF until I can get a new radio in March, then I will retire it for shop uses.

abufletcher

I've been in Japan for nearly 20 years, and I don't believe I've ever seen a electronics repair shop on the corner, with or without a little old guy.

At this point I have one functioning RDS8000 (but who knows when and where THAT red wire will break) and the one that just broke. I wouldn't trust either with a good model until I had ALL the gimbal wires replaced on BOTH of them. Yes, that would be the cheapest option. But it wouldn't be free (and I honestly wouldn't trust my own work). And I really do, at this point in my RC flying, need a radio with a few more features (and better build quality).

I've given up until I can get some outside help. I'm still in touch with the EVO importer in Osaka but we haven't gotten anywhere yet.

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Don you must have snow all over your beard, it's all white!!!
Doc

abufletcher

Stress, I tell ya, stress!

I made a valiant attempt to fly today, but despite my best efforts...

TFF

Just a note. Sanwa just killed the Airtronics brand and hobby people are not the importers anymore. They will be sold in the US as Sanwa

abufletcher

Interesting but the Airtronics website is still up and Hobby People still lists Airtronics radios. Here's the SD-10GS that I bought a couple of weeks ago in the US using Airtronics' trade-in program. I turned in an old non-functioning RDS8000 and got the SD-10GS (with the new 10-channel Rx) for $272. The old radio had to be dropped off and and the new one picked up at Hobby People. Well, actually, I could have shipped it and had it shipped back but that would have added weeks to the process.

Yeah, it says SANWA at the top, but Airtronics is all over the menu system (and the manual).

Incidentally, I have NEVER seen a Sanwa Tx during my 10 years of doing RC in Japan (it's all Futaba and JR). I don't think you can even order one through the major online RC shops here. I've never seen a listing.

abufletcher

One option with the trade-in program is only to get the Tx (and Tx battery pack and charger). In this case, you only pay $100 (if I heard correctly) for the SD-10GS. After the simplicity of the RDS8000 the SD-10GS does take a little learning (and re-learning). But there are plenty of features that should appeal to a WWI flyer. I'll never need all the toggles and switches or all the flexibility but knowing the gimbal wires aren't going to break is all by itself worth a $100 upgrade.

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

Plenty of Airtronics radios on the Hobby People site.
Doc

Lucky Dog

My Feedback: (1)

I don't seem to find anything about the trade in program at Hobby People. Suppose it's over? I am a bit concerned about service going forward.

TFF

http://www.modelairplanenews.com/blo...end-of-an-era/
it will probably take a while the deplete stock. There has been a couple of threads on rcu

BelAirBob

There is more in RC Groups. Hobby People will service as long as they have parts.

abufletcher

Information on the trade-in program is (was?) on the Airtronics website. I recommend calling Airtronics directly:

Global Services
Attn: Airtronics
18480 Bandilier Circle
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
TEL: 1-714-963-0329
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 714-964-6236

Here is the email I received when I asked the service department about the trade-in.

"Hi,

If you wanted to use the Airtronics trade-in program, you would need to go to our online web site and print-out the service forms. On the first page, you want to note "Request Airtronics trade-in program instead of repair." and list the replacement system you want. On the second page, you can list your billing information, and note if you want us to have the new system sent to the Fountain Valley Hobby People store instead of shipping it to your address. If we have it sent to the Fountain Valley Hobby People store for will-call, it will save you the shipping fees.

We have to process the Airtronics service requests through our computer systems, so when we receive the unit from the store, it may take a few days before the new replacement unit would be available at the Fountain Valley store for pick-up.
Thank you,
Airtronics Service

Airtronics Service Dept.
18480 Bandilier Cir
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
714-964-0827 ext 1327
M-F 7:00am to 11:00am Pacific time"

abufletcher

Hobby People doesn't "service" anything. They don't have any parts. They just turn it over to Airtronics who does the repair. It's just that Airtronics doesn't do any direct face-to-face contact with customers. When I dropped off my old RDS8000 at the Fountain Valley Hobby People a young guy behind the counter told me "You just missed the truck." I assumed this meant there was perhaps something like a weekly pickup. But later I called Airtronics and they said "what truck?" The Airtronics repair facility is LITERALLY attached to the same building!!!

But I wouldn't have been allowed to step around to the other door and hand it to the Airtronics guys directly. I had to fill out a "request for trade-in" form and submit it (with the Tx) to the Hobby People staff.

abufletcher

I dropped off my old Tx on March 17 and pick up the new SD-10GS a couple of days later.

abufletcher

According to that, it sounds like Sanwa/Airtronics "co-branded" products will continue to be produced and sold but just not distributed via Global Hobbies any more. As the photo I posted above shows, my recently purchased SD-10 is branded prominently at SANWA on the top, but with an Airtronics sticker and also Airtronics using in the LCD window.

TFF

No one said Sanwa was going away. Airtronics brought the Sanwa brand to the US. Probably for the same reason Datsun was used instead of Nissan. When Tower locked Futaba from the MRC, everyone grabbed a brand and Global got Airtronics. Airtronics was way more than radios, great kits. In this day of Walmart hooking brands, its important to have the lock on brands. Loose it and you are out. America's Hobby, World Engines, Hobby Lobby( not the chain), Circus Circus; absorbed or left to die. Hopefully the new guys can handle it.

abufletcher

I notice that the manual that came with my new SD-10GS has a slicker slapped on it that says "SANWA SD-10GS BLACK VERSION" (and indeed my Tx is black vs. the silver version normally seen). And the Airtronics label on the top of the Tx has been replaced with Sanwa. So they were already beginning the "re-branding/co-branding" even for radios being sold through Hobby People.

avionette

Hi abufletcher sorry my english limited.

Sorry about your problem with radio and the beautifull Puppeteer crashed. I have the same radio rds8000 2.4GHz, i have not had any problem until now, but i'm afraid will break some electric wire, what control can i do.?.........replace wire?

best regards!

abufletcher

Your English is certainly much better than my Italian!

I was lucky. This time I discovered the problem on the ground BEFORE the flight.

Can you send it in for repairs? It is ALWAYS exactly the same wire: The RED WIRE on the AILERON gimbal. You can print out and include the photo of the problem in my RDS8000. They are aware of this problem.

abufletcher

I'm still learning how to use the SD-10. It's a much better Tx, but also a lot more complicated.