Transmitters and receivers.

[wrench567]

These are some newbie questions for sure.
Is there a list of brands or receivers that go with different transmitters? For example if I owned a Devo (Walkeara) or Turnigy TX could they bind to a BNF Blade with Spectrum receiver? Can you mix brands of receivers and transmitters? Should I stick with one brand of TX and RX or is one TX better than another and one brand RX better than the other type thing?
I know it takes a minimum of six channels to fly a CP heli. So I was thinking 7, 8, or 9 channels would give me room for expansion later on for such things as landing gear, lighting, cameras and other such options. So my final questions on this post are. Is a $900 nine channel radio 800 times better than a $100 nine channel radio? Do I really need to remortgage the house for a decent well built radio?
Thanks for putting up with me.
Pete

[ArchmageAU]

Pretty safe to assume most radios do not cross brand.
- Futaba TX -> Futaba RX
- Spectrum TX -> DSM RX (Spektrum, Orange, older JR)
- JR TX -> JR RX (older also do DSM so).
- FrSky (Taranis) TX -> FrSky RX.
- Devo TX -> Walkera RX (unless deviation firmware)
- Jeti TX -> Jeti RX

If a module can be added to the TX, then the module does the cross branding.

A $900 TX is not 9x better than a $100 TX. There are tradeoffs. You pay for component quality, major name brands, customer support and ease of programming.

A $400 DX9 is in some ways 2x better than a $200 Taranis, but in other ways the $200 Taranis is 10x better than the DX9. You need to compare the features you need.

Look also at TCO (total cost of ownership). Not only RX costs, but RX costs (as you build you own models, or buy others). Include features you may want (telemetry, voice alerts, programming options/difficulty, support/eturns/servicing/at-field knowledge, cross model capability, etc...)

No one TX is best overall. You need to do your research.

[heliinwy]

this is kind of self serving but check out the for sale forums here, you can get some good deals for the guys here. As far as radios some are easier than others to program, i started out with a futaba radio and hated it because the programming menus didnt always make sense and some were hard to find. I went with a higher end spektrum radio and it was like night and day when I started learning how to program it. Other people find it just the opposite and prefer futaba or others. If you can play with some or find some videos to watch on the models you have in mind. Buy the best you can afford and only buy once.

[crashjack]

All the computerized radios pretty much work. Like others have said, it is really all about personal preferences. I like Spektrum radios because they are easy to program and work with my Blade micro stuff. My DX8's throttle stick started feeling a little "sticky", so I performed a mod which makes it feel smooth as silk. The mod made the "feel" of my radio much better. Some folks like certain radios because they are so versatile with programming. Other folks like certain radios because they really like the feel or maybe the radio enables special features when used with its counterparts (Vbar). I do recommend a minimum of 7 channels as 6 channels can force you into workarounds right off the bat depending on which FBL you use and what features you want to use.

Try to figure out what might be important to you and/or talk to some local guys or guys on HF and see what is important to them.

[wrench567]

Thank you guys.
I have a lot to ponder. From what I have researched so far is that Turnigy and some others can use different modules to communicate with different brands of receivers. The Devo 10 can be loaded with deviation to talk with most receivers. I just can't get past the cost of JR and Futaba. They may be great radios but I can rebuild a Spectrum, Turnigy and Devo several times for the price. From what I gather, the Spectrum can only talk to Spectrum or Orange receivers. Am I correct so far?
Since this is the main user interface with the flying object I would love to hold each one in my hands to get the feel but my LHS only stocks Futaba and Spectrum.
The Devo 10 and the Turnigy 9XR or 9XR pro and Tyranus 9xr all look promising. Although the Turnigy 9XR has the better cost to own and modules are around $20.
Pete

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by wrench567

Thank you guys.
I have a lot to ponder. From what I have researched so far is that Turnigy and some others can use different modules to communicate with different brands of receivers. The Devo 10 can be loaded with deviation to talk with most receivers. I just can't get past the cost of JR and Futaba. They may be great radios but I can rebuild a Spectrum, Turnigy and Devo several times for the price. From what I gather, the Spectrum can only talk to Spectrum or Orange receivers. Am I correct so far?
Since this is the main user interface with the flying object I would love to hold each one in my hands to get the feel but my LHS only stocks Futaba and Spectrum.
The Devo 10 and the Turnigy 9XR or 9XR pro and Tyranus 9xr all look promising. Although the Turnigy 9XR has the better cost to own and modules are around $20.
Pete

Some reviews of the Turnigy 9XR pro vs the Taranis seem to come out in favor of the Taranis.



Turnigy 9XR does not come with any internal module.

What are your requirements for a Transmitter?
- Budget
- Features
- Models you want to fly with
- Support requirements
- What transmitters have you used
- What do those you know of (local club) use - so if you get stuck, you can get help.

[wrench567]

What are your requirements for a Transmitter?
- Budget
- Features
- Models you want to fly with
- Support requirements
- What transmitters have you used
- What do those you know of (local club) use - so if you get stuck, you can get help.[/QUOTE]

Budget is a consideration. I am brand new to the hobby and do not have any hobby quality bird yet. I have a WL toys V912 four channel fly bar heli that came with nice radio for the money. http://www.banggood.com/WLtoys-V912-...n-p-82901.html
A friend of mine who does stunt planes has a 14 channel Futaba that he uses. He has flown my toy and loved it so much he bought one too.
The local club (1/2 hour drive) does not have any heli guys in it and don't take kindly to rotary aircraft. My friend is in his fifties and is one of the youngest members. Even stunt planes are bound by rules such as minimum and maximum altitudes.
I would like a radio that can grow with me in the hobby and will not be obsolete in a year or two. Nine or ten channels would allow for expansion. I plan on building helicopters starting with a 450 size and maybe grow to 600 electric or nitro bird. The mechanics is my favorite part.
Pete.

[crashjack]

A "better" radio is not likely to make you a better pilot. It is all about features. For instance with my DX8, I might have like 3 options as to which switch I want to use for IU, TH, gain, etc. I think I have 3 or 4 Mixes, and have 1 momentary/spring loaded switch. By contrast, another transmitter might allow you to set IU, TH, gain, etc. on any switch. It might also allow for more Mixes and have more momentary/spring loaded switches or even allow you to easily put a momentary switch where you want. The open transmitter software like the Taranis has allows for a lot of robust programming but the beauty of that is really in the eye of the beholder (my opinion). There are other features like voice response, though that seems to now be somewhat standard on radios that have come out over the last couple of years.

All radios like what you are talking about have a lot of features, can store more models than you'll ever own, have all the basic adjustments to modify DR/Expo, set tail gain, have at least 2 IU settings (probably 3), are compatible with telemetry modules, and other basic stuff. For me, I like to fly, build/repair, and somewhat like tweaking FBL parameters, analyzing ESC logs, and things like that. I don't care about spending a lot of time messing with my transmitter. When I need to adjust something, I like to flip the switch, spin the wheel, make a few clicks, and I'm done. Other folks want more freedom as to which switch does what and some like to get into detailed programming to do things I never would have thought to do in the first place.

In a nutshell, all of these transmitters will fly any heli with any FBL. They will also utilize all of any FBL's functionality as it relates to flying, self-level/bailout, auto bailout, etc. Some are heavier, some might have more comfortable gimbals, one might fit one person's hands better than another, but all of that is personal preference stuff. You really need to decide where your interests lie and what your priorities are. Buying twice because 2 or 3 years later you decide you want certain capabilities or features is one thing. Buying twice because you hate the radio you just bought last week is another.

[cycled]

For what it's worth, I find my Graupner MZ-12 a great entry radio. Programming took a bit of effort to understand and is for sure not as flexible as the Taranis, but is far far better than the DX6i I bought cheap. Receivers have telemetry support and SUMD output and aren't too badly priced. The only thing is that to fly bind-n-fly models like the MCPX you'll need a Spektrum transmitter or module, so Taranis + module may be better if you're so inclined. A cheap DX6i could be used to fly bigger helicopters, but I'd never be happy trusting mine with my 450s.

Channels: eight would be ideal for setting gains on my SK540 fbls, but it's easy enough getting by with six. Less is not an option if you ever need to set gyro gains.

[oliver1071]

You have a lot of research to do everyone loves their radio.
I'd say decide on a maximum price range and go for one with the features and flexibility you're looking for.

Spektrum radio's are a real good value overall if you're on a budget they will let you progress through any of the prebuilt bind and fly models and then still allow you to grow in to any size heli/plane.

I prefer Hitec radio's for the price they are packed full of features and really flexible and super easy to use the A9 and 9X are packed with features for a great price $300-$400. http://hitecrcd.com/products/aircraf...-radio-systems
And the gimbals on them are terrific. Built in battery telemetry on the Optima Rx's and powering the RX directly off of the flight pack is great. You never have to worry about brownouts. Or the SBUS Rx's with the 9x where you can connect a single wire to the rx from your fbl unit.

It's really hard though to pick the correct one when you're starting out because you don't know what you want yet . I did Spektrum myself and while I think it's probably the most flexible one out there I just don't like any of the radios

I'm currently converting to the VControl and it has to be the most restricted radio I've ever used. I'm locked in to only Vbar FBL systems but it feels good and has all of the features I could want. And some no other radio has. So I will always need a second radio for goofing off with Bind and fly heli's and planes.