PaulP I have both versions and I can notice no difference. That's not to say some of the specs and features aren't different, just that operational wise they are identical.

I have run the 2018s for years now. Great unit, however, I have one HUGE concern when using them for SBUS and with a Powerbox Igyro SRS.

Forgive some of my explanations as I'm not as electronically clever as some of you.

Using the 2018 without a gyro, the receivers go directly to the 2018. You get an accurate % readout on the 2018 screen as to the signal strength for both receivers. There is no other device between the receiver and the 2018. Enter the Igyro SRS. This unit is placed between the receivers and the 2018. Regardless of what the signal strength is it reads 100% on the 2018 screen for both receivers which is a false reading.

Now the big problem. Recently I was taxing back to the pits with my F16. I shut the turbine down and the 2018 was yelling at me. Looking at the 2018 screen it said RX1 fail. Seconds later it said RX2 fail and the plane went into failsafe. If it happened 1 min earlier I was gone. Turned out there was corrosion on the circuit board of the Igyro which failed and took both receiver signals out with it. Scary stuff.

Now I'm not blaming Powerbox as it was an isolated incident and could even have something to do with the coastal climate I live in. I'm not blaming Robbe, Futaba or Emcotech either. It was a freak thing that hopefully won't happen again. It did scare me though so I did some experiments.

I installed two Igyros on board. One for each receiver. I set them up identical and turned them both on. For testing I moved the control surfaces and while doing that I pulled out the active receiver promoting the change to receiver 2. The change worked well except there was a 1 second failsafe delay between the change. Not acceptable.

Long story short I still haven't solved the redundancy issue of having an SBUS set up with a gyro. I guess any gyro failure SBUS or not could take a plane down though. I am a big fan of gyros. But is it worth introducing another potential failure point?

Keen to hear your thoughts.

Cheers
Levi