RE: Weatronics....considering a change .is it worth the investment?
I have several models with the micro rx and a 6 channel “clever”, as per others have posted they need no more programming than the failsafe being set, so it is not complicated at all. I have a couple of the 12-22, they too can be left at default and only have the failsafe programmed, but as David G has said, they and the micros etc do allow so much more to be done if you want to. In my jets with brake parachutes I have used the rx programmability to make the chute doors servo and the chute cable release servo behave as if they are quite independent of one another despite being run from just one channel using a two-position switch from the tx.
I find the rx data log invaluable especially the frames received data, as I like metal coated scale jets which have the potential to give 2.4ghz a hard time. Without data, you may have control but don’t know how close to the edge you are, and one day may just step over the edge. I recall Ali suffering the loss of a large metal coated F-86 on Futaba FASST that he was flying for someone else at an event in the USA a few years ago, and it was attributed to signal blocking. On my F-100 the data showed that one of the aerials was often being totally blocked by a large stripe of carbon fibre nearby. I could not feel that when flying because the other aerial was still receiving ok. Without data, I would have said the system was perfect, no problems. With data I could see that on those occasions I was relying on just one aerial and thus the redundancy had been lost. If that other aerial had encountered a problem at some time in the future, control could have been lost for some amount of time. Having the data showing me that there was a problem made me do something about it until the new data proved my attempts to sort it had actually worked. Combining the frames with the GPS data lets me see that when my metal-coated models are turning at up to ½ mile away the data link is still good on both aerials. I know that the system is not near the edge and that gives me peace of mind.
David, most interested in the patch aerials, they have been in Wea’s shop for quite a long time but with no clear guidance on their performance compared to the conventional aerial. If they can be better, I would be v interested for some of my models. If you are at Wrtn tomorrow I can quiz you about them!
H.