Back at it! + need advice

[pilgrim]

Well, first off glad to see there is a place here for an old plank flier. Been wanting to get into helis for about 12 years now and finally getting to do so but after buying the Phoenix sim I couldn't resist flying a plank or two and uh-oh I'm hooked again!

Been a few years since I've gotten to fly (job change, relocation and building a house) But a few weeks back we fininshed the garage and I was able to get all the old gear out again. That in turn made me want to fulfill the dream of flying a helicopter which led me back to the beginning (are you confused yet, I know I am!) of loving r/c airplanes.

Anyway I do have a question for you guys. My old radio gear (Airtronics Infinity 660) looks good and seems to function OK and I know that I need new ni-cads but other than that do you see any problem with using the old technology? I've invested my hobby budget in heli's (I do have a new Spektrum DX6i) so not much cash to get things going again.

So what do you guys think? Invest in new radio gear as I have the funds or run what I got?

[WayneBrown]

I'd sell the old stuff and buy new receivers for the new tx you have.

[pilgrim]

I have read that there are sometimes 'brown outs' with the Spektrum airplane receivers. Have you heard of anything like this?

[WayneBrown]

there were issues, many early on with a select batch of receivers. TO my knowledge this is rectified. I've had no issues with any of mine.

[pilgrim]

Good to hear. I love the DX6i radio and was hoping the issue was resolved. As popular as Spektrum seems to be these days I couldn't believe they would let it go for long.

Aren't there limited receivers for the DX6i? Not that it matters but I sure don't want to invest in one that wouldn't work. I've been shopping Horizon Hobbies for one - any other recommendations?

One other question - Will my old Airtronics and Futaba servos work or do you think I will need to reinvest there also.

By the way thanks for the advice and info!

[tz250w]

I have some really old Airtronics servos (80's stuff) that work fine but have different connectors. I'm using one in a touring car at the moment (with an 80's speed controller...). :o

[WayneBrown]

I don't know about the Airtronics stuff, I've always avoided their product..
if the futaba has the 'J' connector, you can use it. If it has the 'G' connector, use them in something else.
You will have to trim the J connector's blade off and sand or file a bevel to plug into the reciever, just look at a JR or spektrum servo lead and match the lighter color wires and duplicate the shape.

[Pinecone]

a) Brownout was due to Rx not receiving at least 3 - 3.5 volts of power. So it wasn't a Spektrunm probelm really ever, it was a power supply problem. Newest Rx or firmware update reduces the impact of a low voltage event, but the probelm with your power system still remains.

b) How old is your equipment? Very old equipment may no longer be legal to use due to switching to narrow band equipment in the early 90s.

[maxadventure]

I was in a similar position last year, getting back into R/C in general, picked up a few new planes and decided to go with a sim to relearn my shuttle. Oh, I'm so glad I did. I ordered the DX6i as an upgrade from my old stuff that didn't have (what I considered) adequate programming for a Heli. The factory hadn't shipped them yet so I just went 9303. Point is, DX6i is a great radio for the price, and it is DSM2, so full range.
AR6200 is a great 6ch receiver to go with that radio. Nearly all servos (that I know of) use the same signal, you just need to be sure signal wire, pos/neg plug in. I've modified my Futaba servo leads, as suggested before, to fit my JR/Spektrum receivers. Little trim with a razor blade and they slip right in. I just pay attention to the wires EVERY time I plug anything in. Airtronics specifically made a different pin-out than JR/Futaba/Hitec and to top it off, they changed and joined the club later on. They can be modified to work fine. This page discusses in detail: http://www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/servos.html
As for the brown-out, it's based on the RX, I don't have the details but I know you can find them at Spektrums page. From all my reading, the bottom line is don't wait till your RX battery is almost dead, keep a charge on it and your fine. The majority of people having problems are ones running high-end digital servos that really demand high current, hence voltage regulators are so popular now with big nitro machines to keep a regulated 5.3v/6v or whatever.

hope that helps some, -da

[pilgrim]

Great info! Thanks guys for the posts.

I did change out to the narrow band electronics back in the 90's so I'm in the game there. One of the advantages I have that I have been considering is that the field I am going to fly at basically has only one other flier at this time. We are about 7 miles from the border of Canada and very few people live here. Even at that I'm going to try and find the cash to upgrade to a new reciever so I can use all the goodies on the DX6i.

I am also going to take a close look at the servos and see exactly what I have. I know that the majority of my equipment was Futaba but I cannot remember the type. As an R/C racer I am used to changing the plugs on the speed controllers as well as using different receivers made by Tekin and such so I can work with that pretty well. I'll do a careful check on things before any attempts at actual flying.

Good to hear what the cause of the brown outs were. One of the things I am always watching is the receiver batteries as I know how important that is. I used to have a discharge system to check the drain time and voltage but I cannot for the life of me find it.

Anyway good info and I'll keep an eye here for all of your thoughts.

Thanks again!