psb667

timcat26

I've really got to say that the back and forth between the "experts" in this thread is just about the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on a Hobby based Forum. May I remind you "gentleman" of the verbiage we all see before posting...anything?

Please resist the urge to curse, flame, degrade, insult or embarrass someone in your post. We encourage the free flow of your ideas, but believe that they can be communicated (and received) much more effectively if you keep things civil. If you have to vent, take it offline. We carefully monitor posts and will ban individuals who engage in offensive conduct within the forums. Thanks.!!

Why is this so hard for the few of you to follow? Take it to a Political forum if you want to decide who's the King of Debate, huh? Most are here to share info and help people. Good grief.

glazier808

My Feedback: (1)

thank you sir.

agreed

psb667

sorry that guy rags on me and insults me whenever he sees me in a post(or so i thought it turns out hes just that way)I kinda had had enough. THank you for thinking were experts but we arnt were just trying to figure out why specs do what they do. By the tone of your post you seem to be pretty knowledgable please share your insite.

DOGG

My Feedback: (149)

You can't bind w/o the bind pin in the RX.... Are you all forgetting that....?

Xwingnut

My Feedback: (24)

A few months ago I had a R921 that would work fine throughout the day but when I would let the jet sit for more than a day and then power up the receiver the LED went solid but the controls wouldn't work. Had to rebind before each flying session. I was claiming that it lost bind but Horizon claimed it was still bound. I sent it back to Horizon and they replaced it but would give no explaination as to what was wrong with it. The new receiver works great under the same conditions as the bad one and has only gone through the bind process once. Go figure?

I personally do believe there is something we are not being told. I've been a loyal JR customer for decades but just bought a Futaba 12Z FASST for my jets. Not taking any chances with the turbines. I've had guys at the field telling me for over a year now that Futaba is more robust and now I'm starting to believe it. I can't see replacing all my Spektrum Rx's so I will continue to fly my smaller EDF jets and 3D planes with the JR.

If one stops and really thinks about this we are dealing with electronics and any electronics can act like a light bulb, hit that switch and see light but there will come a time when one hits that switch and there will be no light. I just hope that "light" doesn't go dark while I'm in the air.

Regards,
Xwing

gooseF22

DITTO.. I have seen this more times than I can count on our stands at the field... I carry a bind plug attached to my transmitter.

gooseF22

Thats a different issue. What happens is the transmitter assigns a new GUI address if the button is pushed during power up and so the model gets that signal and it doesn't match, so it never Links.

As for guys that have intermittent linking after sucessful bind, check your antenna's and make sure they are the same "version", The old rev a and b antennas dont play well with newer recievers.

Also, move the transmitter away about 10 feet and try it again. If it wont link then, there is some other problem than swamping, which I have seen several times... Its not normal, but it happens in a noisy environment.

Finally as a last resort, to make sure it isn't swamping, you can turn on the transmitter and let it stabilize for 15 sec or so, and hold the bind button for a range check and then power on the model. It should link up normal.. If not, its time to check another model or send in the receiver.

FWIW...

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

This makes the most sense as it infers that the Rx is not losing the ID of the Tx but rather the Tx now has a different ID than is stored on the Rx, thus, a ReBind is necessary.

What is your take on the occasional need to ReBind if the Rx is turned on before the Tx as you prepare for a flight? I have seen this happen more than once, but not often, and with more than one person's aircraft.

crankpin

My Feedback: (15)

As for guys that have intermittent linking after sucessful bind, check your antenna's and make sure they are the same ''version'', The old rev a and b antennas dont play well with newer recievers.

The transmitter antenna's. I have gotten a couple of the upgraded R7000 receiver's, and still using my X9303 tranmitter with them. Is this an issue ? I have the DX-7 TX, don't use it much, using the same X9303 from original 2.4 shipment's.

Vince

stoney1451

had a dx-7 that worked great for about 6 months then it started to lose bind on rx after rx. we tried everything to figure it out. finally when i lost bind on one of my profiles in a hover 10" off the ground, i said thats it.
have been flying futaba fasst for 18 months now with no probs. i have better speed and resolution ,better programming features, triple rates, and the rx's are cheaper.
at my local field, flyer after flyer is dropping the spektrum radios after experiencing loss of function and dropping channels. watched a 35% yak freeze and fall out of the air just the other day..... the pilot said he lost all function...he was runnig a spektrum system. i told him just what i'm saying now.

all i can say,,is from personal experiance...drop the spektrum asap and go futaba or airtronics before you plant one in the ground.

hope this is helpful
lawndart out>

psb667

Where are you getting the futabas cheaper? I would like some of those

reo

My Feedback: (130)

I haven't read through this whole thread so I apologize if the contents of this post are a duplication.

I have just converted a JR 10X to the Spektrum system (in other words I am new at this and may not understand the whole system fully)....but I was under the impression that when I do a range test with this system it is done with the 'bind' button engaged. If engaging the bind button in fact 'unbinds' the system, why would Spektrum advise range tests to be done with the bind button engaged? I guess the difference here would be if the Tx is turned on WHILE the bind button is engaged??......Ron

DoubleDD

I also have the DX7 with the ar7000 receiver and it worked flawlessly for the first year or so. Now the last couple months I also lose bind. The first time I noticed it I was tuning my plane and after initially having full bind and tinkering for a few min was adjusting and tuning on motor when suddenly plane was unresponsive. Freaked me out! Happened right at my fingertips and you don't know it. Immediately had a friend hold the plane as I tried all functions and there was no response. After shutting things down I checked all connections and all was good. Had good battery power in all and ended up rebinding and then all was good. After that, I range test every single flight and probably have to rebind 2-3 times out of 10 flights. This becoming unbound seems plausible but I don't believe I handle the radio any different than I used to and this doesn't sit well ith me knowing it comes unbound. I never let my batteries get too low either. Also during the binding process are you not suppose to walk away from the model approx 100' with the button depressed and if it works facing away from the model with button depressed then you have a secure bind? I love this radio and have bragged about it lots and also convinced 2 other pilots to switch over to them and they love them. They are not having the issues I am.

bigmacbkr

My Feedback: (2)

I've read this thread with some dismay, not just at all the comments about binding of the DX7 particularly, but rather what appears to be a conspiracy to ignore the failures of the radio and "prove" that it cannot fail, but believe me, it can fail! I flew a beautiful giant Hangar-9 SNJ into the ground on it's fourth or fifth flight and a great flying Funtana met the same fate the very next day. It took me two disasters before shifting blame to the radio because everyone at the flying field convinced me that the radio could not fail and that the SNJ crash had to be due to something I had done, or hadn't done. I shipped the radio back to Horizon and they acknowledged I had an "antennae failure" and replaced it (free of charge) and several other parts within. Of course I was still out two beautiful flying airplanes that did not get replaced. I've never quite trusted the radio after that and am convinced that I have had several "hits" subsequent to the repair, and one additional loss. I was flying a great flying Pawnee when making a left turn to come back to the runway, the plane suddenly went into a steep left bank, rolled over and went straight into the ground. Twenty minutes later a friend of mine flew his LT-40 into the ground with his DX7 and his plane took the same trajectory as mine and hit at almost excalty the same spot. Both were about 80 yards out when they lost contact with the radios. All battery checks showed no problems with batterys. Now that I've just completed building the largest and most expensive airplane in my squadron, the BH 1.20 T-28, I replaced the radio with another one. Call me stupid, but it's another DX7! I love the programmable features of the radio, and I reasoned that they probably have perfected most if not all of the problems these three years that no one ever admitted existed, and so far, I have been problem free.

rdcntrl1

i agree with[stoney1451] as i said earlyerin this thread if horizon would admit to some kind of problem for (loosing control) weather what ever you want to call it i would think different but for the future im futaba all the way !!!!
thnx.
rdcntrl1

onewasp

BMG !

Out of the frying pan into the fire.

psb667

The transmitter failures havnt really come up because noone knew about them till you guys started. Im personally working on the rx failures because i dont have a choice. I fly electric and the brown out thing is usually the culprit Ill pass the tx info along to my buddys. as one of them just dumped a really nice fw 190 and the other lost a 25 stick they will probably be very interested.

Jim Branaum

My Feedback: (3)

After wading through the entire 4 pages of ranting, someone finally mentioned what I have begun to think. Transmitter failure.

When this radio system came out, I held off purchasing it because I did not want to be on the bleeding edge while playing with potentially dangerous aircraft. I wanted to see what the results of widespread usage were and take those lessons to heart in my planning.

Once I got this system I rapidly disposed of all my trusty Airtronics stuff and made the switch. Part of the switch included making sure the receiver packs used were large enough to support the additional load and avoid known brownout issues.

The last three flights taken with this transmitter resulted in dangerous crashes due to the lack of control over the aircraft. Two of those crashes were 1/3 scale Pitts biplanes with gas engines that no longer work. The common thread seems to be an uncommanded and unstoppable roll about the time the plane exceeds about 150 feet of distance from the transmitter. The problem appears to be transmitter related.

The first time this occurred, I carefully tested the debris trying to figure out what went wrong because I did not understand. I thought I had made a stupid switch error with the AR9000 receiver in my Pitts when I discovered the auxiliary aileron circuit had a switch that put the ailerons full up or down, but not locked there. The second time the symptoms were similar but the incident was with a different receiver. The plane was recovered from tall grass substantially undamaged. Imagine my surprise when testing showed every single channel reversed. I thought it was a receiver problem.

While building up a new Pitts, I noticed that the transmitter voltage seemed to drop off precipitously, so the battery was replaced by a lipo transmitter pack with a diode to prevent over voltage. The third incident was on an initial flight of a new Pitts with the AR9000 receiver.

I set the radio up with all ailerons on the aileron circuit to avoid the problem I thought I had earlier. I had done a fairly long range check at home and took the new bird to the field. Before the engine was started, all voltages were checked and the values were excellent. Shortly after the plane broke ground the slow roll began and was unstoppable. The plane was destroyed, the second gas engine substantially damaged, and it appears the receiver was also damaged.

I miss my trusty Airtronics where the ONLY problem I ever had to deal with were shoot downs. My friends and I are beginning to think I should have just waited and bought an Airtronics system.

The common thread in all three incidents is the TRANSMITTER. The transmitter and both recievers were sent to Horizon for repair and I am grounded until they come back. I guess the question is do I replace it with something else or gamble another giant scale bird, they aren't free you know.[&o]

psb667

This is pretty interesting for the last year or so most of the guys at the lhs I go to have been moving away from the spektrums due to these issues. most of us fly electric so the brownout and delink problems have been getting the blame for what is essentially exactly what you just described. in fact both of the most recent crashs were almost word for wowrd what you describe and in fact the one before that was much the same only with a heli. I will deffinately share this with the guys. I would recomend the futaba faast it works well and has all the programing features(not as much model memory yet )The 8 series is due to come out soon itll have unlimited model memory as it use the same sort of memory as a camera

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

In my case, my DX7 lost it's link with the Rx because I set it on a wooden flight stand and accidentally leaned it against a piece of wood which pushed in the Bind Button, on the back of the Tx. When I turned on the Tx without knowing the Bind Button was depressed, and then turned on the Rx, the Tx was no longer Bound to the Rx. This did not allow me to fly until I figured out what I had done wrong and went through the Bind process again. If I were doing a Range Check, I would turn on the Tx and then the Rx, check to see that they were Linked, Depress and Hold the Bind Button, and walk back to see how much Range I had.

This is just a Procedural issue and not a Flaw or Safety issue with the Spektrum system.
This just points out the fact that the DX7 was designed with a large Bind Button.

This issue has nothing to do with Failsafe Events or crashing of aircraft.

Now that I know how it can be prevented, I will be more careful where I lay the Tx down.

In the two years I have owned Spektrum products, I have not lost an aircraft nor has anyone in my RC club of 115 members.

I would not hesitate to purchase a 2.4 system from JR/Spektrum or any other 2.4 mfg for that matter.

ddaveb

It is a fact that a bind can be lost if the bind button is depressed whilst the TX is switched on . bind is not lost when doing a range check because depressing the bind button when the TX is on only puts the TX in low RF output mode

rdcntrl1

jim branaum, i wish you luck with horizon, my tx has been there twice as well as 4 rx, same answer(nothing wrong)altho they never return your rx's they send you new ones????i lost only 1 plane but my son has lost 3 a local feild member has lost 4, all 3 tx's(no problems)?????? go figure, like i said good luck & go futaba
thnx
rd
[&o]

onewasp

I hate to see a plane lost for any reason. Sorry.

However, to place a 'K" factor on your comments and recommendations is only fair.
You have one year's total experience (per your personal file input)

rdcntrl1

yes i do only have 1 year of flying, but what does that have to do with flying large ovels at my feild & at the far right im banking left (alerons,elevator)and it just stops responding to any input ???&does the death dive ??i was at my feild and watched from about 300ft when a club member screamed (ive lost it) we all watched it go down ??spektrum has been around for what ?? 3 yrs, futaba has been around before i got started in rd cars&trucks in 1979