Scott_S.

I'm looking at buying 4 servos for my H9 Saratoga and was pretty much just looking at Ebay to grab 4 of them, and still may.

Until I found these: HS-5485HB Servo at: http://www.servocity.com/html/hs-5485hb_servo.html

I can't see why these won't doom the DS821, cheaper and with Karbonite gears,

any real world experiences with either would be appreciated, I kind of wanted an upgrade to the DS821 without a weight gain.

Gringo Flyer

My Feedback: (18)

They are comparable servos at about the same price. Folks who like JR will go with those, folks who like Hitec will buy Hitec. I have run the standard 475 servos and they are good. I have some 821s as well and theres nothing wrong with them either. Nothing particular special about either servo they are just standard $25 servos good for 90-1.20 sized planes. I have lots of hitec servos but the fact they have karbonite gears has not been the reason I have bought them (I think that is a big marketing tool more than anything). So I wouldn't let that be the determining factor. However, Hitec makes good servos and generally do beat futaba at price with comparable servos and thats why I generally buy them.

You can find the DS821 really cheap if you look around. They come standard with a lot of JR radios and lots of folks don't use them and sell the flight pack cheap when they buy the radio. I bought 4 of them with the switch and battery for about $70 a couple of years ago.

airbusdrvr

Why not order them from Tower? They are the same list price as servo city. However, at Tower you get the discount($10/$15) from the price and orders of $99 or more are free right now.

Scott_S.

Thanks guys, I will indeed buy from Tower. Servo City has the best "specs" on servos though to study the differences.

The one thing I can't find out is DS821 claim to have composite gears, is that not nylon? I don't know.

The 5485HB has Karbonite which is 4 times stronger than nylon.

I've been under the impression for the last couple of years that the 821 was a nylon gear train, but maybe not.

A.T.

Both have clear warnings regardingnon use inpetrolpoweredmodels andabove .30 Helicopters for the JR and say .50 for the Hitecasboth forms of gear material will shear under shock loads=
DS821 is a standard non programmable servo with standard composite resin (nylon) gears JR DS821 details .
HS-5485HB is a standard programmable digital servo with Karbonite gears = HS-5485HB details which offers more uses, e.g: easy reversing for dual elevators,deadband etc.
Digital Servo Programming FAQ - Centre & End Point to match TX
<dt>Hitec - Digital Servo Programme Instruction for HS-50XX & HS-7XXX series. </dt><dt>Hitec - Programmers - Download Station for HPP-21, HPP-21+ & HPP-22. </dt><dt>Hitec - HFP-20, HPP-21, HPP-21+, HMI = Servo Tester_Programmers for Hitec G2, digital and other servos. </dt><dt>Hitec - HPP-21 & HP-21+ Download Manual .pdf and Software .zip
Much more info under "Servo - Alterations, Calculators, Databases, Leads, Repairs," at
Alan's Hobby, Model & RC FAQ Web Links

Regards
Alan T.

</dt>

airbusdrvr

If you search RCU, you'll find some people who say Karbonite is brittle. I and may others have used them for years without any problems. Perhaps they are less strong than metal gear servos but certainly better than nylon. Generally the issues with breakage were in crashes or some other type impact to the gear train. I've seen some of the Karbonite discussions go just like some of the Futaba/Hitec/JR discussions. Most people, though, are happy with their Hitec servos.

As usual, Alan gave you a lot of good info. I didn't mention the vibration issue as your plane was neither a Heli nor Gas.

Iflyglow

My Feedback: (79)

I am happy with the centering on DS821's but was not with the higher priced Hitec 5645 & 5625's. I hope the centering is better on the cheaper Digitals from Hitec.