Hey you DX7 users out there... can you answer this rather simplistic question:

What does that horizontal bar on the top of the LCD screen represent? It's obviously some kind of % full gauge but I can't find out what it's displaying a % of in the manual. Any thoughts?

- K

It's a visual representation of the remaining current in the NiMH or NiCd.
Next to the bar there is the corresponding voltage. So if the voltage drops, the bar does too.

I guess I find it not useful because the bar never drops all the way, which would correspond to a more realistic fuel gauge in a car for example. I understand that the DX7 has a warning system and starts beeping like mad before rock bottom but the graph isn't that helpful is my impression. Do you use it for any useful application?

- K

It's just a voltage indicator, that's all. If I recall correctly, you do not want to fly with your DX7 battery at anything less than 8.5 volts. Under that, and you may have range issues, or so I am told.

Funny - I've flown my Raptor 50 for a week straight, and had to recharge the heli a couple times whereas my DX7 worked the whole time on a single charge - I don't think my voltage ever went below 10V. If you're able to get your DX7 voltage below that in a week then you gotta be doing a whole lot of flying with it. Typically, I don't even worry about my DX7 Voltage - It stays strong for long for me.

That's good to hear. The only thing I have flown with it so far is the CX2. I think one night I burned 4 packs and the voltage was still upwards of 10.5 volts.

I use my DX7 with FS One so that's why it's continuously on for a lot longer than a couple battery-flight equivalents at the park. : ) When the low voltage indicator comes on around 6.9V or something, the screen starts blinking and the beeper starts going off. It actually accelerates until it's really low too, kinda neat. Long after it hits 6.4V, the beeping continues but the screen powers off and it still transmits... although I can't tell you the range since my FS One receiver sits 3.5 feet away -- hardly a realistic data point.

- K