best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

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cipoll717
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best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by cipoll717 »

I'm looking to get a new transmitter, and want to learn what is the best one out there for combat planes. Need to take into account the needs for high model memory and cheap recievers to outfit the entire fleet. I am looking at the spectrum series, maybe a 6 or 7 channel model. Would like to hear opinions, stories, reccomendations from the community.

Mark C.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by boiler »

The new Xtream Power Systems 2.4 transmitter was shown at the Toledo show. Should be out in a couple of months. Sixteen channel transmitter with a lot of model memory. Telemetry capable. Wide selection of receivers including a little 6 channel for $29.99. I have outfitted my SSC planew with this receiver and have had no problems with them. I have one of their transmitter modules that plugs into my transmitter $99. The little receiver has long range and will operate on low voltage where many others will brown out. They are made in the USA in Arizona by a company that makes the units for the Military Drones.. All boards are x-rayed for flaws. The transmitter was previewed in Model Aviation prior to the Toledo show. One of the guys showing it at Toledo said he used the little 6 channel receiver on his turbo heli. One of the pilots in Detroit has been using them for 2 years in his large scale gas planes. Ron Morgan of the AMA put me onto them when I told him we needed small reliable cheap receivers if we ever migrated from 72mhz. Rick Fraley showed us one he had in a sport plane while we were at the NATS two years ago.

http://xtremepowersystems.net/proddetai ... PS-CPF1-6n

Oh, I forgot to mention the target price for the 16 channel transmitter. $250.!!! I'm sold!
Bob (Longhaul) Loescher
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by lightning »

Mark,
That XPS transmitter Bob mentioned looks pretty darned good, but $30 a receiver is still a bit of a hurdle for me for 30 airplanes!
So I picked up a Spektrum DX7 on Ebay for $100. 7 channel, 20 model memory. (In fact I got two of 'em - eventually I plan to use one for SSC/2948 and one for Lim and Open B. They also back each other up.)

Been flying SSC 'planes with the $7.95 Orange receiver from Hobby-King. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... duct=11965. Got six, six more on order.
The price certainly makes migration an economic proposition!
So far so good.
May migrate my Lim-B 'planes later this year once I'm totally sold on the Orange Rxs.

Chris Gunter (Blue-Note) has done some extensive checking on them plus some of the CA crowd are flying them.
Chris' observations are in this thread: http://rccombat.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=13662
All positive reports so far.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by cipoll717 »

Wow- i's in a perdickermint.......

The XPS sounds almost too good to be true!

I'm not in love with JR after having unresolved problems with an expensive model 378 JR radio, but the Spektrum DX7 looks like it might work, and whats not to LOVE about $8 recievers!!! Do you think these $8 receivers would work with the XPS product?

The XPS is not expected to be available until July, and the DX7 is backordered everywhere, so it looks like I'm waiting eitherway. I just had my old trusty Tracker II rained on, and I lost the LCD display and had a brand new SSSC plane get stuck (permanantly it appears) about 100' up in a big ash tree. Maybe the Tracker will dry out and give me another few months of service....

Thanks Keith and Bob for excellent feedback.

Hope to cut, er. see you soon on the combat circuit,
Mark C.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by lightning »

cipoll717 wrote: I'm not in love with JR after having unresolved problems with an expensive model 378 JR radio, but the Spektrum DX7 looks like it might work, and what's not to LOVE about $8 receivers!!! Do you think these $8 receivers would work with the XPS product?
Unfortunately 2.4 is a lot more complex than the old "negative shift" vs "positive shift" discussion!
Most 2.4 setups are proprietary; ie. their receivers will only work with their transmitters. So the quick answer is..... no those $8 Rxs won't work with the XPS transmitter.
The exception is JR/Spektrum who share the technology. I also got a 2.4module for my JR9303 which I use for non-combat stuff. I fly one of those $8 receivers in a .46 size electric. Not a glitch yet!
You have a tough decision to make............................. but there's an awful lot of 72Mhz stuff out there going cheap!
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by Blue Note »

I've been flying with a Spektrum DX7 for about 3 years. Overall, I really like the radio. It is easy to program, comfortable to hold, the gimbals have a very nice feel to me, the system has been widely tested, and it is pretty cheap. I recently picked up a 2nd one after much debate to have a dedicated combat radio and something I could use for a buddy box. With a 20 model memory, I figured that would allow me 5 planes for each combat class, which is probably all I will have going at one time. ( Note : I picked up the transmitter ONLY version that you can find at some of the helicopter oriented merchants. That worked for me because I did not want the big receiver and junky servos that come with it...not to mention that I prefer the heli mode transmitter and smooth throttle gimbal. ) I debated long and hard about upgrading to something like the JR11X, but where I am a fan of the Spektrum transmitter, I am NOT a fan of Spektrum receivers! I think they have a problem with brown outs that is NOT being addressed by Spektrum, and since JR is in bed with them with regards to receivers, I will be staying away from both for my "nice" transmitter. That does bring up a point, it seems that at an event you may be forced to fly in some pretty bad weather...weather you might not normally fly in such as between rains...and we all know some times the rains return before you land. I do not wish to risk a high dollar transmitter to such conditions. Not to mention, you really don't need that many bells and whistles for combat planes. I am certainly wanting to keep an eye on the XPS system, but I consider that to be for more upper end stuff...when it becomes available. So far, I have not had any issues with the hard cased 6 channel Orange receivers. I did, however, have an issue with one of the 4 channel park flyer receivers...but that particular plane has been cursed and through many receiver/motor/battery/ESC combinations...all of which have failed me...but that's another story.

By the way, it is my understanding that the DX7 has been discontinued to make way for the new, more expensive DX8. Lack of availability tends to support that rumor.

BNC
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by boiler »

I bought a HiTech Eclipse 7 for $50 at a swap meet and can plug my $99 module in the back. I figure that gives me 3 simple HiTech TX units for my 2.4module with the two Optic 6 I already have. If I want to get fancy and get a super sport plane with all the bells and whistles, I can get the XPS transmitter. I'm perfectly happy with the plug-in molule for combat. The incredable small size of the 6 channel receiver lets me mount it inside the phencepost where I can tape over the hole and make it "rainproof". A plastic bag over the TX can make that pretty rainproof as well. Of course you can't fly crepe in those conditions. :lol: I have used the 2.4 unit for a full year now in SSC and have had no faults at all. I soldered two more antennas on my 72 mhz receivers yesterday and tossed a bad crystal. It's nice to not have to do that kind of stuff for SSC.
Bob (Longhaul) Loescher
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by lightning »

Mark, what were the issues with your JR378? If they would be solved with a module you could add one for $109 with one Spektrum AR7100 receiver (which is what I did for my 9303). Works fine with the orange Rx.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by Dr. Kamakaze »

I too am toying with the idea of a plug-in module to go to 2.4. Any word on having the "brown-outs" with the orange receivers from Hobby King? I know a lot of guys are saying to go to a 5 cell back for the spektrum receivers. A guy at my LHS says that AMA will not cover any problem with the orange receivers resulting in damage...I'm not sure if this is true or not. The extreme power system set-up than Bob's using looks good though too...if I do switch I want to go with a company that I know will be around for a while.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by lightning »

Dr. Kamakaze wrote: A guy at my LHS says that AMA will not cover any problem with the orange receivers resulting in damage...I'm not sure if this is true or not.
I think you need to double-check that statement. Plus you need to ask yourself - what motivation would a LHS guy have to say that? HMMMMM!
The only comment I have seen is that Horizon will not help with any troubleshooting with Koko receivers. I don't know if they are the same as the Orange ones.
Their statement is:-
"Attention: Horizon Hobby has confirmed that all Spektrum Products being sold by KoKo Technology are counterfeit. We consider it a danger to use these products, waive all liability and will not support any warranty or service in regards to them."

Having said that I don't see a "CE" sticker on the Orange receivers. Does that mean they are not FCC approved?
As for AMA - their insurance is secondary, your own personal/homeowners liability insurance will be the first to pay.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by cipoll717 »

lightning wrote:Mark, what were the issues with your JR378? If they would be solved with a module you could add one for $109 with one Spektrum AR7100 receiver (which is what I did for my 9303). Works fine with the orange Rx.
The 378 'blacks-out' at various times during flight. It lasts a few seconds, just long enough to crash. I struggled with this a few years ago on the combat circuit. it was difficult to diagnose b/c it is intermittent, but through trial & error, changing all sorts of things and crashing a lot of airplanes, I eventually found my problems went away with different transmitters. I tried to get JR to fix it, but they said they could not find a problem. I will not sell it to anyone knowing it is faulty, so I'm stuck with it. I don't know if a module will fix it. I don't want to risk the $109 to find out. The Spektrum DX7 looks identical to my 378- same layout, case, and button placement- so I do like this design. The DX8 looks a little 'over the top' for my needs. But then again, if I'm only spending $8 on recievers, that savings goes a long way to cancel out the extra costs of the DX8. Are you confident the $8 receivers will work with the DX8?
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by lightning »

cipoll717 wrote:Are you confident the $8 receivers will work with the DX8?
They work just fine with a Spektrum module on my 9303 AND with my DX7s. They are a DSM2 receiver so should work OK with the DX8. That or Spektrum just obsoleted all the receivers out there already!
But first hand knowledge - no, I don't have that with a DX8.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by gsjames »

cipoll717 wrote:
The 378 'blacks-out' at various times during flight. It lasts a few seconds, just long enough to crash.
I had a bizarre problem with loss of signal that took me 2 years to figure out. I was/am using the ASSAN module in a Hitec Eclipse 7 transmitter with ASSAN X8R7 receivers ($23.95). For no obvious reason I was losing airplanes frequently. I thought it was a receiver drop out and so I went to a large 5-cell battery in the airplane (heavy). However it turned out to be a bad battery connection in the transmitter. I discovered the cause accidentally but since taking care of the connection I haven't had any recent problems. Just something to consider if you are having dropouts.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by Dr. Kamakaze »

With 2.4 systems, specifically the spektrum or orange receivers are guys using 5 cell receiver packs to avoid the "brown outs"? According to Extreme Power Systems site, their receivers work down to a ridiculously low voltage...2 V or something like that! Doesn't sound like you'd need a 5 cell pack with that.
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Re: best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

Post by lightning »

Andy, yes, The XPS receivers are rated to work as low as 2.7volts so probably do not NEED 6 volts.
Whether the Orange receivers actually NEED 6V packs is a good question. Their low voltage threshold is 3.7V, comparable to the JR/Spektrum receivers. BUT their recovery is instantaneous - none of this 5 second reboot stuff.
BUT, I've been using 6V packs anyway, and as I recall Chris Gunter saying, the servo speed is so much faster that I don't want to go back to 4.8V.
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