best 2.4 Ghz technology/products

[cipoll717]

Keith,
Any thoughts on the Hitec Aurora 9 radio? Will this one work with the $8 recievers?
Mark

[lightning]

Keith,
Any thoughts on the Hitec Aurora 9 radio? Will this one work with the $8 recievers?
Mark

Mark, the Aurora looks like a great radio, but I think the XPS one is better. Doesn't help your timing though does it!!
I don't know if it will work with the Orange receivers as I don't know which 2.4 technology the Aurora is using.
If it's NOT using JR/Spektrum DSM2 then the answer is probably no.

[cipoll717]

thanks-

I think the Hitec system is probably a great radio. But, I'd go broke buying receivers for combat, so scratch that one.

Futaba probably is another great radio- But, I'd go broke buying receivers for combat, so scratch that one.

I love the XPS concept, but there is no certainty in a product that at this point is just 'vapor'. Interestingly, I tried to go back and look at the transmitter, using Bob's original link which worked, and I can find NO mention of the product on the webpage, so scratch that one.

I have a ill feeling about buying another Horizon product, plus there are a bunch of 'trash' comments from alleged disgruntled users on the web. Nonetheless, it seems like the DX8 may be the best choice if I buy at this time, albeit not an ideal one.

So, what to do?
Absolutely nothing for now. I dried out my trusty polk and will continue to use that if it works.

Mark

[boiler]

Get it up here for my meet Memorial Day Weekend. If it don't work, I'll loan you one of mine. I (we) want your tail!

[draftman1]

I would love to have an aurora but for combat, thats just a major overkill. I did use the Hitec 2.4 system for a while but the cost of the recievers was pretty high. I still use my eclipse 7 but I use the "Fly Dream" module based system in it
http://rc-modules.com/

Sheepdog and I have been using this system in combat for the last year. it has been flawless, both of us flew over 100 rounds last year each. not a single problem with the system. This system has very high ratings and excellent customer service. The owner is here in the US and checks every module and reciever before it leaves his shop, shipping is fast and cheap. The module and reciever package is less than 50 bucks and the recievers are 21 bucks each. they have modules for the Futaba/Hitec format and the JR format.

[boiler]

I bought a Spectrum 6i from the local hobby shop on sale without RX. I bought a bunch (20) orange rx's from Hobby King. I found they had a 6ch orange TX for $65 and got one of those. I plan on using the orange TX with all my electrics and the Spectrum with all my nitro planes. I will have a back up tx if needed. I loved the xps stuff but it became unavailable for over a year and I couldn't wait to expand. Don Grissom told me about Hobby King LiFe receiver packs. You get 700mah for less than $3.00. I can't make a 4.8 volt NiMh pack for twice that. I don't have a model memory for every single model. I try to use all the same servos in all the same locations so the throws are all the same. I use a servo tester to zero all the control surfaces. All I need is a short trim flight for all SSC and B planes. I have a slightly different setting for Scale due to different servos and mountings. After that I have 8 model memories for my electric stuff.

[Dr. Kamakaze]

I am slowly buying the orange receivers as well, but still have my stuff on 72 MHz for now...they still work. Are people using the satellites with them? I had a guy at the field where I fly seem surprised I wasn't using life packs for my receiver packs. I don't know a thing about them. I would assume you need a special charger and they are just as volatile as the lipo packs? I am close to making a battery purchase to replace all my packs and was going to go with the 5 cell NiMh packs, but perhaps life packs are the way to go now with flying 2.4 receivers?
Andy Runte aka "Dr. K"
-TEAM KAMAKAZE-
AMA #273119
RCCA #876

[boiler]

The LiFe packs are supposed to be much more friendly. Yes you should get a charger from HK as well.

[gsjames]

For you Futaba FASST guys, I have found that the FrSky receiver from Hobby King works GREAT! I have 10 of them and use them in my pylon racers, so you know that I am putting a lot of faith in them. Here is the link to the 7 channel version:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... tible.html

I also modified my old Hitec Eclipse 7 (72mHz) with the ASSAN X8 module/system to convert it to 2.4 gHz. I had one transmitter module go bad on me. It was apparently overheating after about 2-3 minutes of operating time. Everything was fine and then, WAM! no control at all. I swapped out the transmitter module for a new one, re-bound the receivers and have not had any problems since. ASSAN also makes modules for Futaba and JR as well as Hitec. Here is the link to the ASSAN stuff:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor ... Assan.html

The 700 mAh LiFe batteries are da bomb! I bought a bunch of them. So far, they work great too. My only problem with them is getting my charger to recognize the balance leads. It's a charger/operator problem, not a battery problem

[Blue Note]

Ditto

[Blue Note]

I have been playing with the balancing problem on these 2S LiFe and LiPo batteries for a little while now and it finally came to me. ( FYI, I use a Turnigy Accucell-6 charger. I have 3 of these...all with the same defect. ) I made an adapter to bypass the problem in the charger so I can plug into the 3S balance port to get the job done. I have 3 of these chargers, all of which suffer the same problem. The order is the important part, not the color. Just use the last 3 wires of you plug starting with the black one. You can use any of your charging ports in this manner with lower cell batteries, depending on which plug you may have available to make the adapter. Just a couple pictures to show the connections and after the shrink to clean it up. The short red wire is just tucked in to the shrink tubing in case I need it later in life.

[boiler]

I had a major damage to my Rx year before at the NATS due to extreme rain and wind. Got stuff dried out in rice. After about a year I started to get failure in those RX. I found the orange ones that I had been using were no longer available and the new ones were larger in size and price. I took a chance and got a couple of the LEMON DSMX receivers at the Toledo show last year. Like my first 2.4 receivers from extreme power systems, they had no hard case. I love them. No more trouble getting the servos into a hard case that had bent pins etc. Like the xps receivers you just have a piece of sticky tape over the Rx. I got a length of shrink tubing to fit over the receiver which works much better. Don Grissom told me I could order a 5 pack of DSM2 Lemon Rx for about $5.25 each on line. After a full season of use, I am very happy with them.

[mlapacz]

Bob,
What's the website for the 5 pack of receivers you mentioned?
Thanks,

Mike

[davidturner]

Found these... have a couple of different choices on where the pins are sideways or straight.

http://www.lemon-rx.com/index.php?route ... ry&path=59

[mlapacz]

Thanks for the link David.
Mike