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[HS93 (RIP)]

saw this advert for a new system comming out end of March, The price looks right when you think its 2$ to the £ at present.Peter

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPZT8&P=7


http://2.4gigahertz.com/

[FullLeatherJacket]

Peter

Now I don't want to disappoint anyone about the price of this, but don't forget the UK importer is Ripmax. If you're wondering what the he11 I'm talking about, check out the drop in price of Graupner items once that company is not involved in the chain (more than 25% - See Wyeforce News elsewhere on this Forum). In other words, if the $296 Tower Hobbies price doesn't convert to around £296 once Ripmax get hold of it then I'll be pleasantly surprised. Of course, if you really enjoy being a victim of rampant capitalism you could buy it from Slough Radio Control - the owner of that establishment also owns Ripmax!

As the motor manufacturers have it, the UK is Treasure Island i.e. we'll pay any damn price they care to charge. It would be very nice if UK modellers either stopped buying Futaba gear (which, IMHO, is nothing like as good as it used to be) or bought it mail-order from Germany, where it is much cheaper. The EU actually has made certain transactions easier!

[HS93 (RIP)]

Would you buy from RIPmax.?? Ive been buying from the states and other places for over 30 years ,and not payed 1$ to the £. If you look at the people who have been buying spectrum equip they are not paying that sort of exchange rate, there is allways E-bay now.. The main reason to post was just to show people that there is an alternative to spectum equip. peter

[tigertiger]

If you buy from elsewhere in the EU the warantee should also be good. As it SHOULD be european cover.

And should be honoured by the register dealers in another EU country.

UK motorcycle distriburtors/dealers tried to refuse to do waarantee work on parrallel imports form other EU countries.
The EU lawyers told the MC manufacturere concerned that they must comply.

So one advantage of buying EU over US.

[FullLeatherJacket]

Peter

Your main point was well-made, matey. It will  be a good thing to have competition for Spektrum from probably the world's best-known RC manufacturer, but I wanted to further your original point on the aspect of price.

My purpose was to illustrate that Messrs Ripmax - through whom the vast majority of UK modellers would probably purchase their Futaba gear anyway - are not necessarily either the most reliable or the best value suppliers available. I know that they have been disenfranchised by Graupner viz a viz their position as "sole" UK agents for Graupner, but I'm not aware that Futaba have done the same thing. It couldn't happen soon enough; I detest the concept of "sole agents" in any area of commerce. It says "licenced to print money" to me and is a throwback to darker times.

Notwithstanding your experiences of buying from America, I recently costed a superb battery charger direct from the USA but the price of the shipping killed the deal stone dead. There are also the vagarities of HMRC to contend with when importing from outside the EU, and their involvement would likely put off many potential private imports from the USA; see Threads Passim as they would say in Private Eye!

As Tigertiger says, there are advantages to purchasing goods from the EU e.g. no Customs declarations/VAT/Duty to pay, same voltage, cheaper goods than UK, lower shipping price than US and valid warranties. We might hope that Futaba eventually decide to distribute their goods in the UK through a wider network than at present. If the Futaba 2.4GB stuff will be available in March then we shall see whether I was right or not about the UK price. Meantime please carry on buying your stuff from Uncle Sam and report back to HQ. If you prove me horribly wrong then I won't give a monkey's because there will then be a rush of forum members to buy Futaba 2.4GB from the same place - it's a "no lose" situation (unless you own Ripmax..........)!

Suit yourselves. Meanwhile I will continue to adjust servo throws and mix channels with my thumbs; my model memories remain in my head; my sets are all last century's 40 mHz HiTech and most of the guys who sail where I do are still on 27 meg! It'll be a while before I need a 2.4GB set........

[slewis]

Its Ok importing from either the EU or USA or wherever else to save a few ££ and I am usually the forst to go for it myself .
BUT
The units offered , do they have a CE mark on them if imported ?
I understand it that unless the imports are so marked they are illegal to use and if used and there is an accident then any insurance will be invalid ?
Its a lot of ifs I know and a fair bit of memory searching to come up with what I have done so far. If anyone KNOWS not guesses (as most of my ramblings are) about the legalities of importing this stuff please reply as it is important stuff to know .

[Seaspray]

Does any member(s) have lists of places to buy goods in the E.U ? Establishments and countries.

If you do, please let the other members and myself read your buys and any problems involved or recommendations

[slewis]

you can buy it over here at sussex model centre
or Als hobbies http://www.alshobbies.com/  bit of a plane site really but I DO know Ali and he will go out of his way to help anyone interested in any of his products.

[HS93 (RIP)]

The main reason to post this was to show that there another alternative to spectrum, and as far as a ce tab I would have thought that about a third of radio equipment if not more has not got one as it is so old,and there is also the equip that has been opened and played with , A lot don't realise that strapping a few extra cells inside can make a signal so wide  and Ive not even started on the "reverse xtal "brigade.. Peter

[HS93 (RIP)]

slewis 


  a couple of plane suppliers where selling spectrum stuff before the power limit was increased to make then legal   On 8th October  so they would not have been legal at time of sail   there was a previous discussion about this and import   Peter

[slewis]

Peter as far as I am aware (I may be wrong on this) That ALL the leading suppliers of plane stuff i.e sussex were indeed taking orders for but NOT supplying untill after this date.
At the time it was of no use to the majority of model plane users as it was only 10mhz and untill it became 100mhz it was of no real use to flyers as it didnt offer the range needed .
Regarding your comment on a third of radio gear not having a CE tab as its so old , I really dont get where you are coming from on that one .
As far as I am aware ANY radio gear sold in the UK must be CE marked or its illegal.

[slewis]

sorry missed a bit

a couple of plane suppliers where selling spectrum stuff before the power limit was increased to make then legal   On 8th October  so they would not have been legal at time of sail

I am /was unaware that the power limit was a reason for them being illegal . The power limit was as in my previous post of no use to the majority of flyers.
the 2.4 system was illegal untill it had been tested and passed by the uk inspectors or whatever body tests these things (maybe ofcom)

Shane 

[HS93 (RIP)]

the reason fleet stooped selling tx was because of the new CE rules and type approval,there is a lot of equipment made before that time and still in use
.the reason why spectrum could not be approved was because up until the 8th of October Ofcom rules had a max of 10 mw and spectrum was 100mw so could not pass approval.

http://www.ukrcc.org/index.html

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2017.0

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/licensing/classes/rlans/technical/ofw311/

I  CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THIS SITE ..YOU POST WHAT YOU THINKMAY BE OFF SOME HELP AND ALL YOU GET IS HASLE

SLEWIS   ...  BY THE WAY THIS IS A BOAT SITE

[tigertiger]

A slight change of tack.

Does anyone know what the effective range of 2.4 GHz at 100MW is.

I have asked this many times and never had a real answer.
I have been told that I cannot see my boat further than 300m so it won't matter.
Well I lost control of my boat the other day, as I can see quit well. This is not problem as it was on a river and the wind was blowing to my bank.

But I sail on a big lake and get adventurous.

Please can anybody tell me the effective ranges of the Tx/Rx for the following

• AM
  FM
  2.4GHz

[Doc]

tigertiger,
The effective range is something that I've never really worried about.  In my case, my ability to see what a boat is doing is the limiting factor, not the radio's range.  That goes for 27 Mhz as well as 2.4 Ghz radios, sight is my limiting factor.
The term "line of sight" is applicable to most R/C modeling.  If you can see it, you can probably get a signal to it.  Whether or not that signal reaching the model makes 'sense', as in can you see it well enough to give it an intelligent command?  That's the question.  If you can take 'Spektrum's word for their radios range, it's something on the order of 1/2 mile.  The "but" of that statement is it can be 1/2 mile if nothing gets in the way to block or reduce the strength of that signal to an unusable level.  The limiting factor at 2.4 Ghz is that 'line of sight' thingy, not the amount of power of the transmitter.  Multiplying the transmitted power by 10 would probably have some slight effect.  Multiplying it by 2 would probably make no difference at all.
 - 'Doc

[Wish I could tell you the range of the various radio systems but I can't.  I'd be tickled to do the range testing, if I don't have to buy the radios.  Wish I could afford that too! ;]

[tigertiger]

Thanks for this Doc

Half mile would see me safe.
I can do about 400m and still see what is happening, I will investigate the 2.4 further. It may save me a lot of money, and heartache,  in lost boat.

[slewis]

I  CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THIS SITE ..YOU POST WHAT YOU THINKMAY BE OFF SOME HELP AND ALL YOU GET IS HASLE

SLEWIS   ...  BY THE WAY THIS IS A BOAT SITE

Chill out for gawds sake !

I certainley am not hassling you and reading through my posts I cannot say I have done anything to upset you either .
I was just passing comment on what I thought correct about the CE mark .
I obviously stand corrected !
I also know its a boat site (the title gives it away ) I referenced sussex models and model plane flying as an example of why they were not sold untill a certain date .

I also see why people are leaving the site . They get too much grief for passing comment !
Take it from me EVERYONE out there is not up to speed on evrything and the only way they find out is to ask !

[Telstar]

Hi
May I try to throw in my pennyworth on this thread.
Importing electrical equipment from EU contries (including RC sets) should be no problem, if it carries the debated CU mark, this mark is to indicate conformance with European requirements not just UK. So if it conforms in Germany it should should conform in UK (we're part of the same European common market)
Be aware however that I was shown some electrical equipment bearing what looked like the CE mark. It did not comply to any safety code (it was in fact potentially dangerous) the organisation investigating the sale of this equipment told me the mark (a clone type copy) was in fact a conformation mark for "Chinese Engineering", it was imported from china, and was not suitable for use in UK, or any EU country. I can only think this is a scam to fool the unsuspecting into buying cheap dangerous rubbish

Fair winds and calm water
Tom

[Doc]

After thinking about it for a while, I figure I should add this 'disclaimer' about the 'Spektrum' radio I spoke about.  As far as I know what I said was true for USA made/used 'Spektrum' radio systems.  Since I don't know anything about the 'rules'/requirements in the UK or EU, I have no idea if everything holds true there.  I would think so, BUT, I've certainly been wrong before (I know that's hard to believe, but it's true...he said modestly).  In the 'typical' situation, The 'Spektrum' systems should give good control/service.  In 'un-typical' situations, just like all the other radios available, you have to make allowances.  There, you're on your own!
 - 'Doc