mike1974

My Feedback: (1)

Again I don't know what the point is you are trying to make.
Futaba is a big brand with a huge GLOBAL market share. They are the number 1 seller in Europe and not far behind Horizon in the US. Well over half of competition pilots, those are the guys who actually fly ALOT and demnad the very best from their equipment, fly Futaba.
THat Futaba is not into BNF is because they are an Automation company specialising in control systems for industrial application and Radio Control for hobbyists. BNFis a HOrizon Hobby offering, notspektrum or JR. Horizon packages a radio with a model.
You are confusing your perception with fact.

Lots of people who talk RC and crash a lot fly Spektrum. The guys out winning and teaching usually fly Futaba.

Loose market share do to not having telemetrie at this moment.....??!! Thats a bit like Volkswagen loosing market share to Ford because Ford uses a push button start and VW still uses a key..... no ain';t gonna happen because the people who buy Futaba don;t buy into gimmicks. They're serious people and are serious about their equipment and airplanes. They don't fall for gimmicks.
[/quote]

You miss understood me. I was not saying Futaba is going to loose market share because of telemetry. I said, IMHO, they will loose market share because Spektrum offers more for less. My DX8 works as good as my Futaba radios do, so why would I spend over a hundred more on Futaba who does not offer BNF or telemetry and also has suspect customer service. It's simple economics; times are tough and people are looking for more for less.I have six aircraft; three are nitro, one 450 electric and two BNF. The BNF is worth it alone. Tons of fun for little money. Also, programming my DX8 compared to my 6X or 7C is like heaven.

br@m

Correct.

And returning to the original topic:

Fact is that Robbe has been advertising the Futaba telemetry system since january this year in leading german magazines.

Rumour at that time was that Robbe would introduce the system at the Nürnberg fair but fact is that didn't happen.

What DID happen is that Robbe gave a presentation at Nürnberg showing the highlights of the system.

The slides of that presentation can be found on the internet.

It shows that FASST EST will consist of two major technology upgrades:
1. A new bi-directional version of FASST, called FAST-EST
2. A new bi-directional version of S-BUS, called S-BUS II

Obviously the S-BUS II will be the way to connect sensors, but also ECS's and even servo's that are connected to the bus may send status info back to the Tx.

No info was provided on specific products.

Rumour now has it in Germany that Robbe may unveil FASST-EST products on the Intermodellbau fair held later this week in Dortmund.

This is the largest fair in Germany (and therefor maybe even the largest in Europe) dedicated to RC-modelling.

Rumour also has it that there will be upgrades for the high end transmitters (i.e. T12 and T14) to make them EST compatible.

So maybe we will know a lot more by saturday :-)

But it seems reasonable to assume that Futaba will introduce telemetry products this year.

rmh

They better do something -
The last time I saw a new Futaba -in use - was a few years back
These were the then new 2.4 .
Those few I saw all worked well

JEanes

My Feedback: (11)

It will be soon that someone will equip you to help you take a leak while you are flying.....get a life man...this is a HOBBY.......not a way of life.

rmh

What a lovely catch phrase - so charming -so original so well never mind

baronbrian

My Feedback: (13)

I would of thought FASST II would have been called FASSTER, saving FASSTEST for FAST III...

Anyway, If Nikon releases a new feature on a camera body, only an act of God will prevent Canon from coming out with the same feature. Futaba will have telemetry. Airtronics will have telemetry. EVERYbody will have telemetry.

cpeisher

My Feedback: (13)

I for one think it would be really neat to be able to see graphs and other data from my flights when i get home from the field.  It may be a little bit of a gimmick, but it's still cool

iflyj3

My Feedback: (7)

XPS, FrSky, Hitec and others already have telemetry. Futaba is one that doesn't have it yet.

Charlie P.

Maybe they can trade for Futaba's one-wire S.Bus technology. :-D Imagine never having to worry when you're plugging in the wing(s) whether you have the servo leads mixed up.

pilotpete2

I sure hope one of those is for Libby
Pete

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I don't see telemetry as being a bad thing at all, quite the contrary. I just like to put things in perspective.

A lot of newbies fall all over themselves over bells and whistles. If I were deciding between two radios: Brand A, which is what I have flown for years and which I am comfortable with AND has everything I need, or Brand B which is totally foreign to me but has telemetry, I would stick with Brand A.

rmh

Stay in your comfort zone - good idea.
In today's world of incredibly rapid advances in electronics , the only real problems in any of the brands of radios is simply quality control/and user problems .
The new technologies we see are all hand overs from existing ,proven uses.
User errors are still -far and away the biggest problems -as it has always been

Silent-AV8R

I love the tactic of attacking those of us who are not wetting ourselves with anticipation over telemetry as being some sort of technophobic Luddites. It's silly.

You can enthusiastically embrace new technology in general without specifically needing to be enraptured by every single new thing that comes down the pike.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

Isn't it equally silly to keep talking about how uninterested in it you are? Disinterest is usually shown by indifference, rather than persistence.

Silent-AV8R

I am not all that interested in telemetry itself. I am very interested in why people are so fascinated by it. And that fascination is the real topic of this thread. Hence my participation. As I have said, telemetry is not new and has been available for some time, so why now, suddenly, is it a "must have"?

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

Silent - This is the original post regarding Futaba 2.4 Telemetry. The OP wants an RC Radio with Telemetry, and it is a significant enough feature, to him, that it will influence his decision as to which manufacturer's radio he upgrades to.

This is the topic of this thread.

If you find that it is not a feature you care for, then don't buy that particular radio or just don't use that feature. If it is forced upon you, at an added cost, then I can see why you might be adamant about having to to pay extra.

TimBle

But why would the OP wnat to buy a current radio with telemetry when they use cheap chip sets to keep the cost down.

the OP also wouldlike to stick to FUtaba so the best advise would be to tell the OP to sit tight for a few months till Futaba does launch their own telemetry. Its supposed to be available in the NH summer so that not long to wait.

Instead thefanboys have pounced on unsuspecting prey trying to get the OP to taste the latest toys because its here and now.
if youhave nothing to contribute about FUTABA telemetry other than "its not here" then feel free to post in another throead where they are raving about HH Service in fixing their telemetery enable radio's that seems to require constant patching or over at the Lowtech stand where a radio with less ange, higher latency less resolution and cheap chipset is being touted as the holy grail.

rmh

When it comes to simplistic rambling innuendo - you are truely without peer.
Call it a compliment

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

I have no idea who the Fan Boys are.

The OP wanted to know what other options he had if Futaba did not have Telemetry in the near future. Futaba makes quality radios, but by no means are they superior to any of the other major brands.

It is the competition between brands that helps move the development process along and keeps the prices down.

After 30 years with Futaba, I jumped to JR because the XP9303 was a superior radio to my 9CAP. When Spektrum first offered the 2.4Ghz RF Module, it was like icing on the cake. I still use that system. I have 9 proportional channels in PPM, PCM, and 2.4Ghz, Flight Modes, and Flaps on a Switch, for example. Futaba has since joined the 2.4 market as has Hitec, Airtronics, etc. Now it comes down to what features each has to offer when deciding which way to go.

Zor

So ___perhaps you want telemetry.

Do you need it ?

I endorse post #3.

Zor

MrCoffeeMax

The difference is, Futaba has been using 2.4 for about 20 years in their industrial radios, so when they decided to build a 2.4 radio for RC, they designed it from the ground-up for RC - which took a little longer than Spektrum, who used "off the shelf" technology.

Yes,Spektrum got their radio to the market sooner, but that doesn't mean Futaba "jumped on the 2.4 bandwagon" after the fact. They were alredy fully involved in building theirs - and I might add, building them right the first time.

How many versions of DMX have we had now?

And now that Spektrum has finally movedto frequency hopping, have you noticed their new receivers? Looks amazingly like Brand "F" dontcha think?

rmh

Do you need it?
Do you need a radio?
Do you need a car?
Is telemetry actually useful?
yup
Can you see how it can be of use to you?
If it is of no use to you -case closed
If you are waiting for future developements before you buy - your choice.
If you believe that those who enter the technology advances at later dates have an advantage-
welcome to yesterday
I am happy as a clam to be around at a time when all these new developments are being made available
The technology and equipment available now - works -and poo pooing it changes that fact - not a whit.

iflyj3

My Feedback: (7)

If they had it for 20 years, why did it take them so long to give it to us? They had to be shoved by the competition! If it had not been for Spektrum, we would probably still not have it.

Then what about the zero GUID problem they had?????? I guess it is right the second time?

rmh

Do you need it?
Do you need a radio?
Do you need a car?
Is telemetry actually useful?
yup
Can you see how it can be of use to you?
If it is of no use to you -case closed
If you are waiting for future developements before you buy - your choice.
If you believe that those who enter the technology advances at later dates have an advantage-
welcome to yesterday
I am happy as a clam to be around at a time when all these new developments are being made available
The technology and equipment available now - works -and poo pooing it changes that fact - not a whit.

Zor

I thought the pictures would be comparing the two.

Zor