I'm looking for an upgrade. I currently have the JR X2610 transmitter. I have been snooping around and I have my eye on the DSX7. Is this a decent radio and is it worth going to Ghz? I almost never fly at a club really, but I intend to. We fly on a farm and there's usually only 2 of us. I want to get to clubs more.

I don't know about the DSX7, did'nt know they make one, I have the DSX9 2.4 and it is a great radio. Had no problem with 2.4 and the way the manifactures are going you may not be able to buy any thing else in the future.

Cheers

It is an excellent radio and you will like the 2.4gh better. I only had one problem with the receiver it kept unbinding but Horizons replaced it. Good luck

It should be fine. Also consider the other brands such as Airtronics and Futaba. With a new TX on 2.4 you will need new RX's for each intended plane as well. About all any of them have that will work with ANY system is the battery and servos. So pick the brand you prefer.

To try to clarify the above post...

In the 2.4 realm, you are stuck purchasing receivers from the manufacturer who makes the transmitter.

JR and Spektrum are basically the same company, so you can use Spektrum and JR receivers interchangeably.

If you purchase a Futaba 2.4gHz TX, you'll need to purchase only Futaba receivers, likewise with Airtronics, etc.

The DSX7 is basically a Spektrum DX-7 WITHOUT the timer feature. You may want to consider the Spektrum unit instead.

My actual point was that he need not buy JR just because he has JR stuff now because his ancillary gear will work with ANY system.

Thanx guys. The reason for asking about, "Is it worth it", is because I've read about people having trouble with 2.4 a lot. Loosing signal to the plane etc etc. Don't know if this is a common thing. On the point of keeping the same manufacturers gear together with 2.4 - it would then be better for me to go JR or, as opjose pointed out, Spektrum - since these two I can get locally. Futaba and Airtronics I have to drive quite a distance to get at this stage.

Korps, all the ones where I have seen people having problems with 2.4 "dropping out" have been using 4cell battery packs and I believe that the battery voltage is dropping below the threshold of the reciever and then the reciever resets. This voltage drop only needs to be for a split second and the reciever will reset. I fly with 5 cell or Lipo's and voltage reg and have been flying with 2.4 for over 18 months without a problem. One of my models now has over 150 hrs on it 9mins at a time. All models have a Volt spy in them to keep an eye on the reciever pack, not so much the voltage but the state of charge.

Cheers

This would certainly be a point to consider in your case. For others it may not be such a factor. Your LHS might also be able/willing to order the others for you but this could be bad if the need occurred for a spontaneous purchase.
Keep all options open and make the choice best for YOU.

Thanx Ghost and your reasoning makes a lot of sense. Yes Bruce I think you have a point there - I'll go speak to the LHS and ask them what my options are. I'm currently using 4 cell batteries. I'll just buy myself a new battery pack and rather play it safe.

The non JR/Spektrum radios seem to work fine on 4 cells but you should get 5 cells or A123 batteries for JR/Spektrum. The others have much lower reset voltages but JR/Spektrum MAY have addressed this in their most recent production. Something worth investigating further. Digital servos also deserve better batteries as they seem to consume more power.

Spektrum/JR came out with a simple capacitor to address low voltage...

However it is far better just to use a higher voltage pack of higher capacity.

Newer Spektrum/JR units ship with adecuate 6v packs.

There are many options... e.g. LiPo's with regulators, A123's, 5 cell NiMH and 5 cell NiCD's.

I primarily use LiPo's with regulators or 5 cell NiMH packs as both can be had inexpensively if you look.

Their capacitor is NOT, by their own ad, intended for that purpose. It is meant to absorb the "noise" caused in electric carpet racers or small electric planes. It is not big enough to prevent brown-outs. This was discussed several times in the JR radio forum with their representative Dan Snyder. In a typical "glow" plane it is little more than ballast weight.

Yeah I saw that discussion and agree.

But I've also seen LHS's, some advertizing and many others recommending it to help deal with momentary voltage drops and the reboot issue.

As such it would only be of minimal help.



Here is JR/Spektrums "official" wording on the advertizing...

"This is the Spektrum voltage protector capacitor. In order to make sure your Spektrum receiver always has the correct voltage, you can use this power capacitor to smooth out the voltage to the receiver. This will help avoid spikes in the receiver battery voltage due to your servos needing large pulses of current. "

I'd have to agree with Bruce on that one Korps that you might want to go with what you can get local. I don't mind mail order and even order a lot of stuff from Hong Kong and just wait, but it's nice to be able to pick up something you need at the LHS when you need it. Plus with something like a radio if you need help, they'll be there to help you with it. I've got a Spektrum DX7 but it was just because the guys at my local club recommended it. If not for that I probably would have gone with Futaba just because that was what I had used 12 or 13 years ago. I doubt you'll have any problems with either. Oh for what it's worth, I fly all my electric foamies with a $35 2.4Ghz radio from Hobby King. Never had the first problem with it.
<br type="_moz" />

You know, I was wondering why everyone said to use 6V packs when I received a 4.8V 1100mah battery with my DX7, AR7000 combo. Should I swap that out you think? I've built a couple planes with AR500 RX but put Hydrimax 6V 2000mah packs in them.
<br type="_moz" />

Well I bought the DSX7 now. I am however sitting with another problem now. I fly Mode 1, if I'm correct now (throttle on the right stick). The radio they gave me (only one in stock) was a Mode 2 (throttle on the left stick) - they swapped the spring around so that I can use the stick on the right side as throttle.

However this has become an issue now with the setup, since I need to plug the throttle servo into the elevator slot on the Rx and the elevator into the throttle. Now this works, but of course I can't setup rates etc on the radio. Is there another way on overcoming this issue? Can one swap channels on a radio or not? Is it safe to fly this way - throttle into the elevator and visa versa?

Ignore that question - I found it. Can select between modes with my radio.

Looking through the manual I would say NO. My JR DSX9 has the ability to be able to switch between the modes electrcally, but I don't see that in the DXS7. Some one who has one may be able to give more info.

Cheers

There you go - that's one feature the DSX7 has that the Spektrum DX7 doesn't. I wonder what else there is? If that's all there is, I'd rather have an integrated timer and just buy the mode I want.