RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Is Super Walmart good for the consumer?
Yes.

Is Super Walmart bad for super markets?
Yes.

Are super markets bad for chain groceries?
Yes.

Are chain groceries bad for mom and pop stores?
Yes.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Why not? Is it any different than any other plane? It uses Throttle, Ailerons, Elevator, Rudder, Flaps, Gear. And maybe a few other channels, I can make use of 9 channels. Range test, line of sight is at least 1-1/2 km. If I can afford to trust it with my slow-stick, J-3 cub, Cessna 182, Lingcat,Profile Edge,Exceed Concept, Mini-uproar, (Alll electrics, and one nitro trainer, why not a jet? I have had no problems whatsoever with my Turnigy, and I expect it will serve me well for quite a while to come.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

byrne1157, welcome to the hobby and I really hope you enjoy it. My question to you is to what do you compare your equipment to. I've been flying for 17 years and been using a lot of different equipment, thus have something to compare new stuff too. Been flying JR all my live and used a buddies new 18MZ a week ago,WOW!!! Compared to my JR this IS the thing. If I never had the chance to use the 18MZ, my poor JR would have still been the ultimate radio EVER!
I do believe you will have a change of heart and mind as soon as you really used proper stuff. Though, HK gave you the opportunity to enjoy our hobby, I just think it is sometimes at someone else's expense/risk.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Of course a jet is different to any other plane, a large one flies at a much greater than normal range on occasions.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Turnigy but you would have to be a brain donor to use it in a jet.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Personally have had to bad run ins with Hobby King. Customer service issues though, not product issues. Personally I prefer Hobby Partz which offers the same low prices but much better customer service

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Thank you for the welcome,Maritza! Well, I must say, we all have our opinions, and they are just that. Opinions, I've been taught, are neither right,nor wrong, just someone's belief based on either thought, or experience. Now down to facts. I will repeat myself so that you will understand what I am basing my OPINION on. My experience has shown me that if I had said I would use a futaba radio in a jet, nobody would have a problem with that. I said in my earlier post that I own a Futaba 6ex. So I guess, Maritza you might say that I have used "proper equipment". I trained using my friends Hitec radio. My Turnigy has an excellent "high quality" feel to it. The gimbals are smooth and tight. The programming is easy, and has all the mixes I need to fly any aircraft. It also can be programmed for Helis. The range checks I have done show me that the system is good for AT LEAST 1.500 METERS. I have NEVER experienced a loss of control. That cannot be claimed by *pektrum. It is NOT a cheap little toy store radio. Have you ever used one? Sounds like you haven't. In 5years, or maybe 10, maybe you guys will accept it. These are made (figuratively) just up the road a little way from where yours are. If you want to find out, spend the price, and test one. You might be surprised.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">One way to start a real heated debate is to mention the name Hobby King!</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">WARNING, this is a long post!</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">byrne1157 &ndash; No matter how you pose the question or explain your preferences there are some that are not going to be swayed period. For someone to compare an 18MZ to a Turnigy 9X is like comparing a Maybach to a Fiesta, they both get the job done, both are reliable but the guy driving the Fiesta probably can't afford the Maybach and even if he could he's probably more financially savvy than the Maybach driver anyway.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">So, I have already been kicked out of one forum because I for one like Hobby King and am not afraid to admit it. I was kicked out because I called someone out who absolutely slams HK every chance he gets but has never owned any of the stuff or most likely never even seen it in person. He drinks the Carden/DA koolaid and anyone with a different opinion is not welcome at that forum. (I guess I didn't make it perfectly clear that besides all of the Hobby King stuff I have I also have the Cardens, DA's and all the rest of the cult required equipment to be a part of that group.)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I'm not going to try and count how many HK orders I have placed over the past couple of years but I started buying from them back when they were Hobby City and I'm now a Platinum Elite customer. Initially I just purchased hardware like screws, hinges, latches, connectors, wire etc. I never stepped over the line into electronics, engines or airframes till one day &ndash; I was out at our local club and a couple of the guys there had foamies that are manufactured locally. I called the guy making them and went to pick one up. He had everything in stock except the battery so I bought the complete package which included a Hobby King motor, speed controller, servo's and 8 channel Orange Futaba receiver.. On the way home I stopped at the LHS and picked up a battery from E-Flight (which cost almost as much as all the rest of the stuff combined) I put it together and flew the snot out of it but needing more batteries and not having the ability to charge LiPo's and not wanting to spend a fortune on a charger and batteries I ordered a couple of batteries and a charger from Hobby King. 8 days later I had them in my hands and now I could fly without borrowing a charger. One thing I noticed immediately was that the Hobby King (Turnigy) batteries which are the exact same size and C rating as the E-Flight had a heck of a lot more power and after flying them to the &frac12; charge point I had figured out for the E-Flight they were only about 1/3 discharged. So I set about some experiments and ran the motor on a test stand for exactly equal times on both batteries and after several times the HK batteries always had more capacity left in them and provided almost 4 oz more static pull than the E-Flight. I have now run Turnigy batteries against E-Flight, Thunder Power and many others and the Turnigy's have always performed as good or better than the name brands. I now have Turnigy 2s batteries in everything for the receivers and ignitions and have not had a single battery failure yet except for 1 E-Flight battery that puffed and died on charge number 23 and no I never ever take a LiPo below 50%. And FWIW all the rest of the electronics in that plane have been going strong for over two years and even spent a night in a tree with very heavy dew and I can't count the number of times that plane has been crashed and rebuilt.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I have since been equipping all of my planes with HK stuff from the servos to the receivers and the one and only crashed plane since that time was a scratch built Waco that went in because the MPI (American Company) receiver battery failed on the second flight. It was a brand new battery with the brand new Gold Peak cells that I had propperly cycled 3 times. All the rest of the electronics in that plane were HK stuff and they are in another plane now that has had well over 100 flights since then without a glitch.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I have had a few issues with HK stuff, I had a 100 amp speed controller smoke on the bench while setting up the plane. Still not sure if it was defective from the factory or if we did something wrong when installing it. I have had one Corona servo that would not return to center at the same rate as all the rest when released from full deflection. It traveled out to the end the same speed but was slow coming back so I took it out and placed it in my dead servo box (which BTW has several Futaba, Hitech and a few JR servo's in it.).</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">So, is Hobby King good for the hobby? They're good for me and the members of the club I fly at who aren't drinking the big brand koolaid have had exceptional results with HK stuff.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Would I recommend them? Well that depends, is the person asking one who has to have instant gratification, probably not, I'll send them to the LHS but is the person asking someone who will not call me tomorrow because the order they placed this afternoon hasn't arrived and they can be patient and fly something else for a few days, then yes.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">One thing to remember, Hobby King is basically a wholesaler to the public and therefore they do not have a 50% margin in their merchandise to support a large call center in Illinois to provide customer service or technical support. If you want to pick up the phone and call someone to hold your hand so you can feel all warm and fuzzy then do not order from Hobby King, you won't get that kind of service. If you can figure out how to replace a spark plug and tune a gas engine without calling Technical support in Illinois then IMHO the gas engines they sell are an excellent value but if you need someone to hold your hand so you can get the aforementioned warm and fuzzy feeling again then do not use HK stuff. Same goes with posting questions on forums, if you say that you DA is running poorly and need some advise on setting the needles you will have plenty of people offering help but if you say your HK motor is running poorly you will have to wade through a hundred negative posts chiding you for buying a motor from HK to find one person willing to help. A poorly tuned motor will not run right regardless of whether is was made in Arizona or China.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I'm not brand loyal, I have a new GP Waco with an OS33GT gasser, all Futaba digital servo's and Turnigy batteries and I also have a KMP eBay reject Yak with a RCG (Hobby King) 55cc engine, Corona servo's, Orange receiver and all HK hardware that up till this past Sunday has been flow at least a dozen times a week without a hickup. Sunday on flight 4 I had my first dead-stick which after further examination was a result of not having tuned the high-speed needle and running too lean. I tore the motor down, it's perfect inside, put it back in the plane and was just running it this morning. 3 20 minute runs and it's not had a hickup yet but it was way out of tune. Was that the fault of Hobby King &ndash; I think not, it was my responsibility to check the tune which I did not but then again if I had been flying my $2200 Edge with the $700 DA motor maybe it would have tuned itself and I wouldn't have had a deadstick. Oh but wait, I have had over 6 deadsticks with the OS gasser so I guess that theory doesn't hold up either.</p>

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

i sent a gas engine in for repairs flipped it 3 times and it frooze> still no answer after 20 emails to them

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Great post Scott.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

AAAAAAAAAAAA+++++++++++ scott i have been trying to say what you just said for a long time you hit it 100% on the button amen you just made my day

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

sorry wrong quote but you get the idea

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

I did not buy as many as you for sure, but of all the packs I purchased one arrived dead last October. And I mean 0000000, they asked a picture of the sticker, and one of voltmeter showing the voltage (000000).

They asked me to return it, 2 weeks later I got a good pack. Also last year, one pack arrived (I had ordered 2). I presented the claim on line, that same day they sent the missing one (US warehouse).

You log on their site, and do the claim on line, no need to talk to anybody. that was my experience, I purchased things from them for years.

At the beginning I purchased only 3 packs at the time (min) thinking if one is bad, or even 2 I am still ahead. Well, it never happened. Their packs are going strong.

SAID THAT, if the difference (savings) is not big, I would not buy from them. Of course, now I try to buy stuff they have in the local warehouse. A shame they do not have too many controllers in stock in the US.

Good for the hobby? Of course. Is all their stuff good? Nobody has only good stuff:-) You just have to be careful what you buy.

Gerry

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

I have their 1.6 electric motor ($47) and it is a beast. The vertical takeoffs with the giant stick are amazing. I liked it so much I just purchased another one for a 1/4 scale Fokker... Way more power than the Z-26 it replaces (on 8 cell), on 10 cell, the thing is crazy powerful (19-10 prop)

Gerry

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

So at this point the old HK are generally getting a thumbs up as good for the hobby

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

We have to accept globalization since is here to STAY , not only in our hobby but bussiness to.

We are used to thinking only in our countries physical boundries, but there are bussiness as Hobby king thinking GLOBALLY.

They are making the hobby afordable for a lot of cunsumers Globally.

Quality yes and no depends on category.

Price: Great.

</p>

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Hobbyking is the BEST thing that ever happened for this hobby..

I have over 120 orders all with NO problem. Even back ordered items are shipped when back in stock - no problems.

I have ordered over 50 different Lipo batteries from them.. to be honest 1 had a bad cell on arrival but all the rest were Perfect..and I even managed to restore this one bad battery after a few cycles and it is still going strong in a Parkzone Corsair

I have many Hobbyking Helicopters and some have over 500 flights and are every bit as reliable as the name brands.. for a fraction of the cost..

Check these vids..

The Hobbyking Spitfire - $69 - and the most fun RC aircraft I have ever owned.. 500 plus flights and going strong..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUr81q8hqpg[/youtube]

And tell me what is wrong with this Hobbyking Helicopter? Its awesome..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytj9DslxIqk[/youtube]

and this video was made after I overhead someone criticising Hobbyking Helicopters...

This helicopter cost me $10 from Hobbyking... Yes, $10 for the kit.. It has over 600 flights now.. NO issues whatsover...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV-JuDImubU[/youtube]

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

I think he would and so would I. If it works use it.

Why would you not

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Rob2160, you've been caught not using the "proper equipment"!! LOL!!! Now all I need to do is wait till spring, do some range checks on video, post a couple of vids showing that HK equipment is just as good as "proper equipment". Nah, I'm just going to fly high, fast, and enjoy the hobby. That will be the best thing I can do. And whenever I hear a noob asking where to purchase equipment, you know what I will say. Hobby King!!!

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

The Hobby King model (type of distribution) has nothing to do with why Kraft went out of business. Kraft and all the other US radio manufactures closed in 1983. US manufactures were charged about 300% more for components that could only be purchased from Japan at that time compared to domestic Japanese producers cost. Add the component cost to much higher labor costs and there was no way to compete at that time. There were approx. 1000 people directly employed by US radio manufactures in the early 1980's. Just one small contribution to our unemployment numbers.

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Here you go &pound;35 looks ok to me

<font color="#0000ff">http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8992__Turnigy_9X_9Ch_Transmitter_w_Module_8ch_Re ceiver_Mode_2_v2_Firmware_.html</font>

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

I was recently approached by a new club member who wanted help setting up his new Turnigy 9X. I wasn't looking forward to it as here's me with my 2 x JR12x's, who generally considers anything less to be junk.

After playing with it, I was genuinely surprised at how capable his 9 channel $53 radio was! It had a fairly solid feel to it as well.

I have no idea what or how reliable its 2.4gig radio link is, would never consider it myself( I like my $1500 toys) but, i could see that it could probably satisfy most modellers needs. Quite surprised.

Mike

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Does that mean that the components in the US made radios were the same as the components in the China made radios. If so basically the same product just very different prices.

Whether we like it or not I think nowChina has the upper hand. 3 Billion of them after all cant be stopped in my book

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Interesting and honest comment. I was wondering if I bought a HK radio peeled off the sticker and put on a different one would you give me $1,500 for it and be happy http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...eeth_smile.gif

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

Golden rule with HK, don't buy anything you are not prepared throw away if it is no good.

Is HK good for the hobby? Yes if you are a modeller, No if you are an LHS or importer

RE: HobbyKing - Good or Bad
 

I have over 150 orders from them, not one single problem so far. They are great, and they are the sole reason I can afford all the stuff I have in my rc-workshop.

Edit: I see radios are much discussed in this thread. I converted my Hitec Optic6 35mhz to 2.4ghz with the cheap Assan module kit from HK and I have been flying everything with it for 3-4 years now. I also own a Futaba FASST 2.4 radio and it is no better in any way, only the recievers are 4x the cost of those for my Assan system.

For my boats and cars I use the ultra cheap HK 2.4 2 channel radio and all I know is when my buddies run out of range on the water with their Spektrum radios I blow past them and continue to race my boat:D Never again will I spend high dollars for any sort of radio[8D]