Originally Posted by
skillet92
well let me give an opinion that is based in observation. In the last two years at my field I have never seen a single futaba have to be rebinded with the transmitter where as at least once a month I see a JR have to be rebinded. And I have seen a jr rebinded flown act funny and after the plane is down the light is flashing like the bind is not right.
But for me it all comes down to one small thing. One reciever. That is all. No running a separate satalite receiver or two just one receiver that works every time. Simple.
Ok, I'll jump In at this point.
I have several Futaba, Spektrum and JR radios and use them all frequently. All my radios have performed flawlessly in over 3 years and more than 10,000 flights in over 60 different planes and Helicopters.
So I have no bias towards any brand and can comment objectively.
I have over 40 planes / helicopters using Spektrum and not once have I ever had to rebind a receiver, and some have been bound for over 3 years and flown over 1000 times.
I am not disputing your claim about others having to rebind their systems, but it has not been my personal experience at all.
With respect, your comment "
and after the plane is down the light is flashing like the bind is not right. " tells me that you perhaps do not understand what the flashing lights actually mean.
If it was an orange flashing light it means, 1. the Receiver is in DSM2 mode, and 2, The receiver has sensed a drop in power below its "brown out" level
If it was a RED flashing light it means there was a 'temporary" loss in connection between the TX and the RX.
Now, there is a third possibility that I see all the time with Spektrum users.. if the aircraft lands, and you turn off the receiver then turn it on again, or change flight battery in an electric aircraft with an ESC / BEC WITHOUT turning off the Transmitter, you will get a flashing orange light on a receiver operating in DSM2 mode.. This happens 100% of the time and is completely to be expected.
I have seen several pilots do this and they don't notice the receiver lights flashing until the second landing then scratch their heads wondering what happened.
Watch my video here for a full explanation of the flashing lights, what causes them and what they mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Tbes9f1_c
I don't know the reason why Spektrum use satellites and Futaba do not.. but I know they perform equally well in the air and the real world range is almost identical.
From my own testing, only one of the two antenna on a Futaba receiver needs to see a signal from the Transmitter and the whole system will work.
Likewise, only one of the 3 or 4 antenna in a Spektrum / JR receiver / Satellite arrangement needs to see the TX signal and again, the entire system works..
Spektrum has up to 3 or 4 ears listening for a signal.. Futaba has 2... I'm not saying one is better than the other, because in my experience they all work great.
I have done extensive personal range checks with every transmitter / receiver I own and the best range (by about 15%) was a Spektrum Receiver with a JR11X transmitter.
I have plenty of videos of these range checks If you want to see them
click here.
Spektrum do make several receivers in the same form factor as the Futaba Receivers, IE, one single receiver with two antenna,
See here
Regardless of brand, you should ensure your airborne power supply to the receiver and Servos is sufficient to provide correct operating voltage under any expected flight situation. Any brand receiver will have problems if the supplied voltage drops too low.
My radios, though this photo is missing a new JR 9503 and another DX6i.
