gary132

Recently i lost 3 models in flight,

one saturday i was flying at a show in mildenhall. i had flown all 6 of my models i had taken on the day.
towards the end of the day i flew my new built lavochkin 7. it was on it's 7th flight. tested and proven.
during it's flight it became unresponsive to radio...lowered it's wheels and crashed. luckily i'm a builder and it's not beyond repair.

the following thursday evening i flew my spitfire and puppeteer at my local club. all ok.

the following sunday i turned up at my club with a brand new built model a pylon racer with everything new on board.
while flying htis model it lost all contact with radio and slammed in....sadly a black bag job nothing left to repair.
i then flew my 12ft span glider and my 1/4 precedent stampe. all was ok.

next i took up my spitfire which i built and has been flying at shows over the last year.....and hey ho here we go again. total loss of radio and she too slammed in.
nothing left to repair and a dead sc91 four stroke to boot.

obviously now im convinced my tx is having intermittent issues so i hault flying.

the radio went off to horizon hobbys.

they tell me no fault found after a days bench testing. then tell me they flew it 2 times in a model and no fault.
they say they reprogramed it.

here is my dilema the spit was valued at £500
the russian LA was worth £500
the pylon racer stood me in £200

thats a total of £1200 pounds worth of aircraft and compenents lost.
apparantly my radio is on it's was back to me. no fault found.
How the hell can i trust this radio.
i know all the questions are going to come was it brown out ? 3 models ?
all moedls had new batterys. all models tested before flight commenced with battery load tester.
all models registered 90% power....and all batterys were tested after crash's all read 90% ?
all models were fitted out with new servos rx's etc etc switch's the lott.

do i take a chance with this radio and risk loseing more models. ?
my trust in the dx7 or any spectrum radio is 0%.

im now selling a valuable model to raise funds to go out and replace my radio system with a futaba. i think it is the only way to go. Gary132.

airbusdrvr

Why not just buy the DX8 as you already have the JR/Spektrum receivers? As with any product, it is possible there is an issue with that particular transmitter. Some years ago I had a Hitec Optic 6 that crashed several airplanes. I bought the Hitec Eclilpse 7 to replace it. Never an issue with the new transmitter.

gary132

thinking of that option airbrush, but i have been reading up on the dx8 and the feedback of failures and returns scares me away from it. although it would be the cheaper route to take.
i know that they recalled a load of dx8's and the problem with them is techically sorted but is it. ? .

MrCoffeeMax

Cut your losses and buy a brand of radio that works ALL the time, not just MOST of the time.

rmh

Apparantly the actual cause of the crashes has not been established
No info posted reveals enough info to suggest the tx -or rx - was at fault
However
If you have no faith in a system - change to another -

fizzwater2

My Feedback: (61)

I doubt there's a brand of radio out there that has NEVER had issues or random failures..

airbusdrvr

"Non Impediti Ratione Cogitationis" I'm not implying this is the fact in this case, but when discussing radio systems, often this saying applies.

fizzwater2

My Feedback: (61)

I'll admit, Latin isn't my strong suit.. but when I looked this up, I can relate!

airbusdrvr

Year after year of the same(Futaba, JR, Spektrum, Hitec, etc.). "I just had a wreck in my ______(Ford, Chev, Chrysler, etc.) and I'm never going to drive a _____(Ford, Chev, Chrysler, etc.) again." And then someone chimes in and agrees. There certainly can be an individual lemon in any brand, but that doesn't mean the whole lot are lemons.

rmh

The insane part of many of these rants is that the user does not know why the problem occurs -yet repeats the sequence over and over.
That's the def of insanity - repeating the same sequence and expecting different results
In reading the original complaint- -it appears to me the power supply faulted - ( gear lowered then crashed )
It has been my experience that 2.4 rx properly installed and working at takeoff , only fail when power supply fails or signal is blocked
I have never seen an intermittant rx or vibration failure in the 2.4 rx.
Electric powered models on 2.4 have many more potential failure points -such as esc-bec.-and the extra connections
The use of good diagnostic equipment suitable for the non technically oriented modeler-is certainly worth having.

The reason many diagnosis of crashes zero in on power related issues - is because - 99% of the time they are the issue - connections are part of all this. a undersized -loose connection is as deadly as a poor rx or tx.

aussiesteve

The problem is right there in the original post.

The radio just wanted a holiday too - maybe it doesn't like working on weekends. It got a nice vacation back at Horizon and is now all refreshed.


I made a change fmo one brand of 2.4 to another for similar reasons as the OP. Once you don't trust a radio, it is hard to be happy flying as every single twitch or change of a plane makes you feel uneasy. I am sure many people out there are very happy with whatever brand they are using whiel there are others out there who have expereinced problems with each brand. Fact is, whilst 2.4 systems may be more stable from radio intereference due to the technology used in them, they are known to be more finicky regarding power supply.

pilotpete2

Quote from OP "during it's flight it became unresponsive to radio...lowered it's wheels and crashed."
I read that line as. It became unresponsive to radio, then lowered the wheels and crashed. If the F/S were set with the gear down, then this crash was clearly not a power related issue, but rather an RF related issue.
While I would probably have stopped using the transmitter after loosing the first two planes, suspecting a problem with the transmitter and sending it in to be checked, I hardly consider his actions as "insane". I consider your response to the OP as insulting, and in poor taste.
Pete

rmh

I don't agree -I have bench tested power failures and wwas able to cause full ,rapid servo excursions - -Do you know which retracts were used ?
air electric ?
Insulted?
Really ?
I did not call anybody insane - just repeated old definition of insane action.
I am taking your response as simply one of emotion - without objectivity.

pilotpete2

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I still maintain that it was a F/S event in the first plane lost
Unless the Op is a total klutz (I doubt it) in regard to his setups, and it can be proven that batteries, or other electrical issues were at fault, as far as I'm concerned it most likely is an intermittent problem in the transmitter, even though HH did not find a problem, I would have hoped that they would have replaced the RF deck to be on the safe side.
Pete

rmh

The man said the glider and the Stampe worked - - why would one suspect the tx was sensitive to the model flown- that simply does not compute -in my book.

AirmanBob

My Feedback: (14)

Do the right thing Gary....

Switch to Futaba...

Bob

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

Futaba is no better or worse than any other brand.

Rob2160

Hey Gary

Read your post and all the subsequent responses...

Sorry for your loss..

have you conducted a Full Range test with this transmitter? with each of the RX involived in the crashes?

I don't mean the power down range check as specified in the manual, I mean a real range check to determin actual line of site range>

It might be something as simple as the antenna connection has come loose in your radio (yes I saw it happen in a friends radio - it range checked perfectly on the ground in power down mode but had severely reduced range)

I have Spektrum DX6is, DX8s and a number of Futabas and they have all been equally reliable. IE zero issues ever..

Like anything mechanical, or electrical, things just stop working sometimes, its a fact of life.

As for your concerns about the DX8, my first one develeoped the gimbal problem and was repaired free of charge as a recall.. it is now perfect..

My 2nd DX8 is just flawless.. If you buy a recent DSMX version then it will be fine. all the issues are sorted..

Just range check your new radio fully before trusting in the air..

pilotpete2

Intermittent problem
I made my living dealing with those types of issues. Works fine, until it doesn't[]
Pete