Extreme or T-Rex 800 Trekker:

[Tristin]

Hi All,

I really don’t want to start a war hear but just want some good information on these two 800 helis. I have not found many articles comparing these to 800 helis and hence decided to start this thread.

I have only owned a 50N for about 4 years and only recently purchased my first electric, a Trex 600 FBL, and really enjoying this heli. I’m keen to go for my third heli but debating to and fro, battling to decide if I should go for a cheaper 3D trainer, something like a 500 or use my 600 as a trainer and get something special in the 700 or even 800 class.

I have this gut sort of feel that the logo is the better heli, I mean Logs are known for the great quality and I have rarely heard of a Logo pilot complaining about quality or flying issues. I personally have had no issues with my 600 Trex but have to date only done approximately 30 flights. Yes I fly hard 3D! I am not personally married to any specific brand, for me it’s all about fun, reliability, and performance. I like a solid build and prefer not experiencing too many problems during the build. The only issues I had with the T600 was the 3GX that nexer lasted too long. I now fly V-bar, which has put my 600 into a class of its own.

The biggest difficulty I have in deciding which 800 to go for is price. Is SA I can get a Trex 800 for about R10,000.00 (that would equate to about $1142.00) less than the Logo and that includes servos. The Logo comes with ESC, V-Bar, blades and motor, and excluding servos. That effectively means that the Trex would cost me two thirds of the cost of a Logo. I find it hard to justify a Logo at this huge price difference, is the Logo really worth it?

I also notice when watching "You Tube" videos that 3D flight time on the Trekker is about a minute shorter than most Extreme flights, is this because of the Trekker arte fitted with 12cell setup's while Logos are generally 14cell setup's?

All help and guidance would be really appreciated.

Happy flying!

[Surfrjeff]

With out a doubt the Logo XXtreme is a superior heli, But the price is steep and you still have to add servos. I have a buddy that is running the stock setup on the align 800 Trekker and it flies very well. for the price you cant beat the align 800, its a good reliable platform that has parts that will be available to most local hobby shops. Here is a vid of my friend flying his around.

[henniepretorius]

Where can I get one for R10 000?

[jtjohn1]

Interesting that the price differance is that much (On RH's website the differance is ~$650 between the two kits. Unless your including the cost of the servos??)

The price differance may not be as bad as you think since you like the V-Bar better than the 3GX (That adds an additional ~$300 to the cost of the Trekker)

The XXtreme is a much more robust design and will have the capability to grow with the powersystems as they get more powerfull year after year (The thing is a friken tank)

If the Trekker is like almost all other aligns that I have owned (Or that friends have owned) you would also need to include the cost (And agrevation) of the inevitable upgrades that usually come along fairly quick (To get the T-Rex to fly like you want it to) This isn't a knock on the brand btw it's just the way it is.

The XXtreme doesn't have any upgrades out for it (Other than differant motors/ESCs but there isn't anything wrong with what comes on it)

The XXtreme also comes with a fully 3d capable set of main blades if your really laying smack down (I don't know how well Align tested the 3d capability of the Trekker but I can assure you that Kyle Dahl and Mikado pounded the CRAP out of the XXtreme and the edge blades by throwing everything they could think of at it)

Now all that said

You also need to incorporate the cost of a 14S charging solution (And batteries) so that will also cost you more $$

In the end only you can decide if the extra cost is worth it (You can also take a look at the Logo 700 that just got released if you don't want to go for the 800 just yet.

[hidaven]

So far you will need an aftermarket KDE OWB block, upgraded dampners for the TREX 800, and probally a KDE redesigned head when they come out with it. So add about 200.00 so far towards the price of the trekker 800. You cant strtch a 700 to an 800 without beefing up the core components. Align is stupid and short sighted in this respect.

[PetJumper]

Hi Tristin


I don't know the Extreme very well, but I know the Trekker. From my perspective, it is an underpowered Trex 700 Superior with DFC and a longer tail. To that repect, it is fundamentally overpriced.

See https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=464254

Best
Peter

[bloftin]

Hmmm a purpose designed and built from the ground up 800 (Logo800) or a stretched 700 with a 700 class (same part numbers) rotor head and drive train marketed as an 800 (trekker)... Not much of a comparison if you ask me.

But some will say I'm biased...

[350Z_Al]

Apples and Oranges.

If I was doing light 3D, or AP and I was concerned about local parts support, I'd buy the Trekker.

If I wanted a purpose build, balls to the wall, 800 class 3D monster, I'd do the xxtreme.

[hidaven]

Ok, having worked through the minor issues of the trekker and flown it I can say this. While not built like a tank like the extreme, it is more than capable and the drive train can handle the bigger blades. Although it or the extreme will never smack like a lighter weight protos/ diablo etc. both helis will hold their own with mild to moderate 3d. The extreme is built like a tank but there is a weight penalty as my trekker will still out maneuver my friends extreme. I'm all up weight under 13 lbs. my friend is quite a bit heavier. Also consider that the extreme needs 14 s packs at least 4400 to 5000 mah that are more expensive and heavier. I'm getting a full 6 minutes on my setup with the same size blades on 12 s which makes me happy as I have numerous planes and helis on 6 s. the cost on the trekker is significantly less and believe it or not, the hv servos are MORE than capable.

Obviously time will tell as to how the gear train holds up over time. I see no reason why it shouldn't with the OWB mod and the main gear mod. I'm into this for 1900.00 including the heli command hc3sx. I'm sure it will fly with the align 3dx. My 750mx is performing fine esp. Upping the timing and PWM to 12 and 12.

If you want the ultimate 800 built like a tank massive powered heli out there go for the extreme. If you want to get close to that experience saving a good deal of money in the process go for the trekker. It really is a great bird. My power to weight is fantastic and my runtimes are long. Being able to use 12s is a godsend. At twice the price the extreme looses its edge in my opinion. Needing at least 4 7s packs to fly one bird was the deal breaker for me.

[jtjohn1]

Originally Posted by hidaven

Being able to use 12s is a godsend. At twice the price the extreme looses its edge in my opinion. Needing at least 4 7s packs to fly one bird was the deal breaker for me.

But it's not twice the price (That would be around $4200)

It's about a third more expensive than the Trekker and comes with way better electronics.

If I wanted to use the same electronics on the Trekker that I did when I first got the XXtreme (Not talking about the Kontronik stuff I have on it now) then I would be looking at spending an additional ~2000+ on the Trekker kit (Since it's not available yet as a kit only that would bring the cost at well over $4000 before batteries) and that's not counting any mods I need to do like the KDE upgrades. It's either that or stick with the Align stuff that comes with the kit. Arguably this isn't a horriable thing to have to do but one would hardly consider them to be the best available for your machine (3GX Vs V-Bar. Align motor Vs Scorpion, Castle ESC/gov Vs YGE ESC with the V-Bar gov. Futaba Vs Align servos)

If your getting 6+ minutes of 3d flight on a 12S trekker then I doubt your doing any kind of hard or even medium 3d (Could be wrong though). I can easily get 6 minutes of flight (More really) on my XXtreme doing mild 3d and sport flying when I want to.

If you listen to the "Hard" 3d flights with the Trekkesr that are up on youtube you can tell that the pilots are GOOD and using some XXtreme pitch management (No pun intended ) because if you listen and watch you can tell the 12s Trekker is bogging and has to be flown a certain way IE a lot of manuvers moving to keep air going thru the blades and not a lot of stationary tic tocs for any length of time etc) Not saying it won't do it just needs a really good pilot/collective managment and energy managment skills. Probably just the Castle gov not being able to hold the head speed of those big blades on 12S.

You want a 12s 800 class machine (Light weight) then go with the Goblin 770 (Even though it's not exactly 800mm blades)

You want an AP/sport flying ship that can stand up to some mild to hard 3d (Depending on your skill set) then the Trekker is an option

You want a full blown 14S 800 3d machine that will just get better and better as batteries/power systems catch up to the design (And not need to modify it) then go for the XXtreme.

Just my .02 though (And if anything in here would be considered a flame I appologize)

[stevehof]

Just saw a Trekker flown by Ray Nemovi with the new black main gear and a BIG Neu motor. Even with the stock blades that thing was hauling the freight on 12s for close to 5 minutes. Cells were about 3.7v when it came down. As fast or faster than any 700 I've seen and smackin' it pretty good too. I have seen both Ray and the owner of this Trekker fly it before on the stock motor and that big Neu motor really made that thing move....on 12s... They had also installed the KDE motor/pinion mount and auto gear housing.

[hidaven]

Which neu motor?

[stevehof]

Originally Posted by hidaven

Which neu motor?

I think it was made for Ray. He and Steve Neu go back a long time. I have seen the logs off his 700 when that motor was in his 700E conversion and it was pulling over 6000 watts. Maybe not as powerful in watts as some of the current mega motors but it looks to be very torque'y. My point is that if the new black gear drive train and existing head can take it, the big motors will make the Trekker rock on 12s....

[jtjohn1]

Originally Posted by stevehof

I think it was made for Ray. He and Steve Neu go back a long time. I have seen the logs off his 700 when that motor was in his 700E conversion and it was pulling over 6000 watts. Maybe not as powerful in watts as some of the current mega motors but it looks to be very torque'y. My point is that if the new black gear drive train and existing head can take it, the big motors will make the Trekker rock on 12s....

It would be interesting to see what head speed he was flying at?? Nothing is ever free so if he put a monster motor into the machine and flew hard smack 3d you would think the batteries would be drained faster (Certainly faster than with the stock motor)

Is he using the stock FBL controller and ESC with the castle govenor do you know??

For those looking to 3d the Trekker I wonder how much a better gov/FBL unit would help (Keeping the stock motor)

[stevehof]

Originally Posted by jtjohn1

It would be interesting to see what head speed he was flying at?? Nothing is ever free so if he put a monster motor into the machine and flew hard smack 3d you would think the batteries would be drained faster (Certainly faster than with the stock motor)

Is he using the stock FBL controller and ESC with the castle govenor do you know??

For those looking to 3d the Trekker I wonder how much a better gov/FBL unit would help (Keeping the stock motor)

They had 1950 and 2050 rpm on the head. I don't know which they were flying it on when I was watching. I have to assume, since it was the maiden with that motor, that they flew a little on each head speed. Ray claims the Neu motors are much more efficient than the Trex stock motors. In any case, I did personally see the battery voltage after that flight and it was a 3.7v average per cell. Castle 160 in gov mode. The whole flight was not smack but there was not much slow and easy stuff going on either...;^)

[hidaven]

The one big plus of the heli is that its got a nice amount of power for the sub 13 lb weight. The stock motor comes alive with 12 PWM and 12 degrees of timing. I'm sure a scorpion or KDE would make even more torque. Now keep in mind this is all on 12s. Stick a 14 s setup in here and the thing will be a missile.