buddy box question
 

Hello all, I know ive already asked similar whestions but im trying to learn but i dont have 2 compatible transmitters. For this reason i need to buy another transmitter. Ive been considering a dx8 and 8fg super. Ive been leaning torward the 8fg because it has more channels. However can i use it with my dx6i as a buddy box?
Im guessing that the dx8 does work but im not sure about the 8fg being compatible.
Thanks, Hubert.

They aren't

"They aren't" because Futaba will not work with Spectrum and vice versa. You must have a Spectrum radio to use as buddy box with another Spectrum radio, AND you have to have a SPECTRUM cable to connect them.
Likewise you can only use a Futaba Radio as a buddy box to a Futaba. THEN you have to have the correct Futaba cable. You CAN use an old 72 mHz round plug Futaba transmitter as a buddy box to the new 8FG, with the right cable.

Have you considered buying a "Buddy Box" to work with your choise of radio? Here's one for Futaba, not sure if there is one for Spectrum or not
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...CH=trainer+box

Well no since i have a dx6i. I would buy a cheap transmitter but id rather upgrade and have a backup aswell as a buddy box

Also i really dont understand how the buddy box works, If that is a compatible buddy box to the 8fg then my s400 should be compatible with my dx6i. It seems like both transmitters must be bound. If thats true then it has to be 2.4 ghx as a fm aill not bind. If it doesnt bind then how does the whole thing work?!?!?

This guy is into boats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who's into boats?

A standard buddy box will use a cable to talk from the "student" TX the Buddy Box to the "Master" Tx. The Master TX is the radio that is bound to the Receiver in the RC vehicle. There are wireless buddy box setups but these are a little different than the more traditional setup as I describe.

Ok then since the slave does not need to be bound then how come my jr s400 does not work with the dx6i?

It is hard to armchair diagnose why one radio will not talk to the other radio. So JR and Spektrum usually work together but the JR radio listed maybe too old???? You would be best served to find a local mentor that can help you. The only other thing that is simple but easy to confuse is that if you are using spectrum. They use a 3.5 mini "MONO" cable not a 3.5 "STEREO" cable. A mono cable passes the signal and the stereo cable will ground it. If you have a True spectrum cable it will be a 3.5 mini MONO cable. If you went to radio shack and bought what ever you could find then you might have gotten the wrong type of cable. The Master radio the DX-6i in your case? must be powered on by the switch then the training plug put in the JR may or may not get a power on from the cable. The spektrum radios will usually power on they use the internal battery but there is a switch in the 3.5 mini that turns the radio on. the JR may not do the same thing you may have to have a charged battery and turn it on by the switch to have it pass the signal over the wire to the DX-6i.

Please though find an in person mentor to help you. They may be able to sort this out much faster and explain it easier than over the internet.

Ok i have gone to the local club and the jr was actually borowed. I will talk to the members and see what they recomend. I would think its too old as the guy who borrowed it said it worked with his dx7 dx8 and dx18. Thanks for fhe help!!

Undoubtedly, I'll get some of what I'm about to mention a bit wrong... but hopefully my thoughts/words will point you in the right direction and help you target a bit more google searching/reading on the subject to help you learn for yourself. So... with that disclaimer out of the way, here goes an attempt at explaining what I *think* I know about this stuff....

Most (all??) radios send and receive data through their trainer ports using ppm (pulse position modulation). One place to read up a little might be here: http://flyingeinstein.com/index.php/...-ppm-explained

You should be able to connect any two radios that both send/receive ppm data through their trainer ports to each other. I'm out on a bit of a limb here, but pretty sure this is true. Most certainly the frequency of the transmitter in either radio doesn't matter and neither does the trade-name on the front of the radio(s). (i.e. you don't have to have Spektrum to go with Spektrum).

Now.... just because the odds are high that you can hook them up, a quick scan of a few google search results suggest that there may be some "stuff" that you'd have to take care of in the radio configs to get it to work. Things like Ch1 being throttle on the spectrum and something else on the 8fg. You'd need to make certain the channels were mapped correctly,which is usually quite doable with a computer radio but it does require more than just plugging in the cable. You may also need to worry about channel count.

I'll just leave you with the suggestions that.... odds are pretty good that you can do it. Certainly you'll find lots of folks that answer that it can't be done.

Oh... and if you are radio shopping... have a look at the Frsky Taranis! It's my favorite radio and you'll find plenty of folks (and internet videos/guides) have used it with other radios (Spektrum) for buddy boxing. Have done so myself actually.

You are, check what you posted in the past.

ALL WRONG!!!
Simply in 72MHz a buddy box bypasses the control board in the transmitter as long as the trainer holds the trainer switch. The buddy box doesn't even need a battery and shouldn't even have one. The buddy box MUST talk on the same internal scheme as the transmitter and that can be quite a bit different between transmitter manufacturers. One of the major differences is the channel usage - you wouldn't want your buddy box throttle control tied to your airplane elevator now would you? Never used a buddy box on 2.4GHz so I can't speak for it.
Your best bet is to call Horizon.

No i am not into boats. I was considering buying one to bave fun in the snow. However i was already into planes before that!

Vice just accepting advice over the internet please get a person you trust face to face to help you sort this out. Following advice from people not actually looking at your equipment could be bad.

Yes i will ne boing to my club very soon. This way i can get good advice face to face.

Are you suggesting that some radios don't use ppm through the trainer port? I believe that all my spectrum radios use ppm, my taranis does as well, don't own a turnigy but a buddy does and my understanding is that it uses ppm through the trainer port. I'd be curious to know which currently available radio's don't use ppm through their trainer ports. If you have a link to one please share.

As for the channel usage, as I said... if you have a computer radio remapping the channels appropriately is something you'd need to make sure is done correctly

I'm tempted to ramble on, but I think I'll just stick with my original suggestion and hope .... that if you truly want to understand what is possible and how this all works, you need to do some reading. And don't just accept it as truth when someone says "it can't be done" even if that person is telling you it face to face. Quite often it just means "I don't know how to do it."

As for understanding trainer ports, a bit of google searching revealed this site which seems to be geared towards helping understand some of this...

http://users.belgacom.net/TX2TX/tx2t...h/tx2txgb1.htm

And, of course, google even gives lots of hits even on rcuniverse of folks buddy boxing futaba and spectrum radios (with appropriate cables and channel reassignments) if you look deep enough.

One thing I will absolutely concede/agree with... if you want to avoid having to research and think about it, the most certain way to be sure it will work is to stick with one manufacturer and even an exact same radio. Of course, that takes all the fun out of learning and the hobby (at least for some of us)...

Flyswamper: U fly at Boomer Field? Just curious.

No I haven't been out there. Maybe someday...

Ok well horizon sells a jr spektrum to futaba cord so i think ill take the risk and buy the 8fg super.

Krokodyl If you do get the 8FG then you may be eligible for Futaba's cordless buddy system. Don,t laugh yes cordless. Although I cannot speak for the futaba/Spectrum connection. But it would behoove you to research just a little bit more. It is a far superior and successful system that at our field we only use the futaba system or for the Hitec users and since Hitec screwed the pooch by not competing with Futaba and providing there own system we developed a home made system for Hitec.

I little further reading for you:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/begi...me-coming.html

John:cool: