New from Futaba, who will be the first?
10-14-2011, 05:46 AM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
The checklist could be a wav file that you start and stop with the momentary switch on the transmitter.
Steve
FWIW, two features I'd like to see on high-end TXs:
1) a function that could be told the correct switch and knob configurations for a complex airplane, ''memorize'' them .. and then confirm everything is in the right position, e.g before start or before takeoff. The 14MZ has a very limited version of this that checks for certain channels in predefined positions (e.g. throttle to low) before starting up.
2) a way to store a checklist into the TX and display it on request. The 14MZ has the ability to store music (which mystifies me!) .. I'd rather have it store small text files with checklists that would be displayed on request
Dave
10-14-2011, 01:50 PM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
Sorry, pet peeve.........
I do really like the idea of being able to put a text file on the screen with check lists or other pertinent info on the selected model.
I got my 14MZ from the very first batch of five 14MZs that Tower got in.
As I remember the price of the 14 never changed over all of the years that it was available, I doubt that the 18 price will change much if any over time.
This entire hobby is useless expenditure of cash and serves no useful purpose other than entertainment. What one spends on personal entertainment is controlled only by a persons taste in their chosen entertainment and by their financial abilities. There is no "need" for anything more than a piece of paper to fold up to be in this hobby everything after that sheet of paper is just bling.
10-15-2011, 05:16 AM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
When this string first started I though people were joking about it somehow being improper for such an expensive transmitter to be marketed, and I joined in with the joke about me having bought one only for the bling and not knowing how it worked. Later I realized how serious they actually were, so I maybe ought to correct that.
I bought the 14 MZ so that I could use all the features; such as assigning almost any channel to any control, for example I had a biplane with 4 aileron servos, each assigned a separate channel and then I could set up sub trim quickly. Or using two retract servos on a helicopter instead of one with a complex lever and pushrod system. Or seeing on the screen the graph of how you have set up exponential and variable rates.
Also the higher cost is associated with higher quality systems. I never had a Futaba servo fail in decades, but in the last year I had 5 of another very popular servo makes, fail. So I am sticking with the high end Futaba.
Same with the higher cost OS engines, I never had an OS engine let me down, I had some that simply wore out from so much use. But I just wrecked a $500 Great planes Waco when the Chinese engine failed straight after takeoff. Also I have had to take out and throw away the engines that came with popular helicopters and replace them with OS, because the supplied engines overheated run in high temperature environments.
I am not in the model industry so I have no commercial axe to grind, but I am a reliability engineer and I see the true cost of buying the cheaper stuff in all arenas (hobby or industry) is more than the cost of buying the good stuff first off. Buy cheap and buy twice is the maxim. But anyway it is up to me to buy what I want and I suppose up to others to tell me they think I am dumb. At least we are free to do that.
10-15-2011, 08:35 AM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
Well, yeah ok. But if you set them reversed, as with any other radio, you'll take off with 'em reversed
Dont you preflight?
10-15-2011, 11:09 AM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
10-15-2011, 01:45 PM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
Well, yeah ok. But if you set them reversed, as with any other radio, you'll take off with 'em reversed
Dont you preflight?
AFWIW, in 25 years of flying, I have never had a model setup with anything reversed or lost a model due to the way I set things up or with the wrong model memory........
10-21-2011, 05:13 AM
RE: New from Futaba, who will be the first?
When this string first started I though people were joking about it somehow being improper for such an expensive transmitter to be marketed, and I joined in with the joke about me having bought one only for the bling and not knowing how it worked. Later I realized how serious they actually were, so I maybe ought to correct that.
I bought the 14 MZ so that I could use all the features; such as assigning almost any channel to any control, for example I had a biplane with 4 aileron servos, each assigned a separate channel and then I could set up sub trim quickly. Or using two retract servos on a helicopter instead of one with a complex lever and pushrod system. Or seeing on the screen the graph of how you have set up exponential and variable rates.
Also the higher cost is associated with higher quality systems. I never had a Futaba servo fail in decades, but in the last year I had 5 of another very popular servo makes, fail. So I am sticking with the high end Futaba.
Same with the higher cost OS engines, I never had an OS engine let me down, I had some that simply wore out from so much use. But I just wrecked a $500 Great planes Waco when the Chinese engine failed straight after takeoff. Also I have had to take out and throw away the engines that came with popular helicopters and replace them with OS, because the supplied engines overheated run in high temperature environments.
I am not in the model industry so I have no commercial axe to grind, but I am a reliability engineer and I see the true cost of buying the cheaper stuff in all arenas (hobby or industry) is more than the cost of buying the good stuff first off. Buy cheap and buy twice is the maxim. But anyway it is up to me to buy what I want and I suppose up to others to tell me they think I am dumb. At least we are free to do that.
It goes into much more than that...
Not sure who would call you dumb?...
Most guys flying giant scale aerobatic planes buy all high quality
Gear, because they understand the exact point you were trying to make.
