RE: Analysis of Hobbyzone/Parkzone electronics
<>Regarding the servos, my point was that electronics are even now cheaper than the wires and connectors;
I agree, the 3-terminal standard is firmly entrenched and will be available for a long time. Besides, the biggest problem with reliability in electronics is usually connectors, so the fewer, the better.
But we have the technology now to do a lot more than we are doing. I have a lot of ideas re: 'smart' planes - it's fun to speculate.
But my experience with aircraft electronics is that simpler is better - fewer things to go wrong!
When the ignition system went out in my powered paraglider (I was crossing Interstate I-25 at the time), I was wishing I'd had mechanical points instead of an electronic module!
My only gripe about Hobbyzone electronics is the heat management in the motor driver circuitry for the bigger motors (Xtreme).
I'd gladly pay the extra buck or two for a bigger heat sink and better component layout.
Otherwise, the cost engineering is amazing, and the reliability much better than the knock-offs I've seen from Chinese factories.