Topic: Which 2.4Ghz Radio (Read 16394 times)

shimsham · « **on:** March 07, 2011, 08:27:22 pm »

Thinking of changing my Tx i have got a Spek Dx7 and thinking of getting a Spek Dx6i which i an told is a lot more tolerent to boat ESCs
is there anyone on the forum who as experienced any problems with the Dx6i and ESCs.

U.A.

Shipmate60 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2011, 09:26:48 pm »

I have experienced problems with the Dx5, but not had a Dx6 so can't comment.

Bob

Underpressure · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2011, 10:13:16 pm »

I'll be interested to see comments on this thread. I have a DX7 which I bought for hele's but am now planning on using for some of my boats.

What sort of problems have people had?

Neil

sailorboy61 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2011, 10:26:24 pm »

I have a 5e, not had any problems with it touch wood.

shimsham · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2011, 10:47:49 pm »

Hi Neil.Well to start with i had my Spek Dx7 serviced in November 2010 and had not used it because of the winter months, i built the Jules Verne over the winter i do beleive it as a P93 esc from Action i fitted with a Spek MR3000 Rx and it runs perfect,my secong build required a P80 again from Action for some unknown reason [especially to me ] the Tx would not recognise the esc on the throttle you could bind the Rx, the rudder servo would work but not the throttle i have spoken to Dave at Action today and he does think the Dx6i performs better with boat gear than the Dx7.
So Dave at action as fitted a P93 to my last build and it works fine with the Dx7 but not the P80 i am fully aware the Dx 7 was i do beleive was originally for helis,so if i can get some feedback about the Dx6i i might go with that i do like Horizon Hobbies gear because their after sales/service are second to none
Colin

787Eng · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2011, 11:54:04 pm »

Used a DX7 for years with not one spot of problems EVER both with Boats and Electric Helli's (Trex 450 & 600)

I also second Uncles comments about Horizon's customer support....the standard that all should follow.

Note I've only ever used it with Electronize, Mtroniks or Castle Creations ESC's though....

Mark

PMK · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2011, 01:26:58 am »

Uncle Albert, have you considered using equipment other than Spektrum?
I myself have owned/used the DX7 - worked perfectly with each and every peripheral that I threw at it. My only two nags were the way in which the Spektrum folk employ their somewhat annoying binding system, and also that it was pretty limited when it came to programming the Tx for model planes. Unfortunately I never owned a P80 while I owned the DX7, so cannot really comment about that particular idiosyncrasy.
However, since returning to my Futaba equipment, I have experienced absolutely no issues whatsoever with any ACTion hardware. The P80 in particular works flawlessly with Futaba equipment, as does the 93, etc, etc.
Food for thought, maybe?

Underpressure · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2011, 06:44:49 am »

Interesting to see people's thoughts.

I only sail steam boats, so no Esc issues, but odd that one particular type of Esc fails to function. I'm not sure why the blame would fall on the Tx though, unless it is to do with channel allocation rather than the transmitted signal.

Too early in the morning for my feeble brain to cope with that one.

Neil

DickyD · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2011, 07:30:24 am »

I have Futaba, Planet5 and CaptCod R/C equipment and all work faultlessly with ACTion stuff.

I understand that Dave has checked out this particular speed controller using several different makes of R/C equipment and it worked faultlessly.

I have known Dave long enough to know that his expertise is second to none and if he says the speed controller is OK then the speed controller is OK.

I would ask why Colin seems fixated on the speed controller being the problem.

I had a similar problem with one of my boats when I tried to check out the electrics under a switched on fluorescent light fitting.

6705russell · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2011, 07:42:18 am »

I swear by my Futaba/Jeti conversion, with these you can monitor the motors/rpm, batteries/amps, run time left and all manner of things..

Russ

shimsham · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2011, 09:48:20 am »

Dicky, If you wanted to know why as you say i am fixated about the esc why didnt you pm me i have sent you emails also photos of the set up as you requested,so what you are trying to tell me that ALL Daves gear is absolutely FAULTLESS,with reading your last input you seem to know more about going up to Nottingham yesterday than i do.
The visit was more about elimination than whos right and whos wrong and he did test the P80 on different Txs inclunding a Dx5 and it did work fine,but contary what other people might say or think it will not WORK on my TX.
And before i went on this crusade to Nottingam all last week i spent several calls to Horizon Hobbies Technical Dept [who i rate very highly] and they did Tx checks over the phone and could not find a fault with the Tx.
Please bear in mind i have had this Tx from brand new and they are not a cheap Tx by any means and i have flew planes with it with no problems,also as i like to keep it in god working order i had it serviced last November.
I would also like to point out i did enjoy meeting Dave yesteday and he gave some good advice and he was very helpful and he fitted a P93 which works perfect and very generous, but to say i am fixated with the esc is wrong all i want to do get the bloody running and not get involved in the blame game.
Dave did find a fault with one of the ports on the Rx i rang H.H. when i got back and they said it back and we will sort it for you [bless them]

Colin

ACTion · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2011, 12:25:28 pm »

I believe that the problem lies with Colin's particular radio or perhaps the way it has been set up.
P80 is an 'autoset' ESC in that it will detect the first signal it receives from the Rx and lock onto that value as its neutral (motor stopped). If that first signal is outside its 'acceptable' pulse-width range (0.9ms - 2.2ms) then it will reject the signal and sit doing nothing until it is rebooted and detects a "valid" signal.
The P93 which I fitted in Colin's model - and the P94 in his Jules Verne, incidentally - works in a different way. It has a fixed neutral of 1.5ms, so maybe the radio is initially sending out a throttle signal which is outside the P80's reference values before settling down to the 1.5ms required for P93's neutral postion - this is possibly something to do with the failsafe setting. It may be that the radio would behave itself if the failsafe were to to be reset to 'stick = centre' (i.e. corresponding to about 1.5ms signal width), but I just don't know for certain.
I don't have a DX7i but it's difficult to imagine that there isn't at least one customer who has one and is running a P80 successfully with it - after all we sell a heck of a lot of P80's (nine just last week).
As I said earlier and have since demonstrated to Colin, his P80 works fine with my Futaba 2.4 6EXA, Spektrum 2.4 DX5E and Hitec Ranger 40MHz sets.
DM

Chameo · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2011, 01:13:25 pm »

It's a known problem that the DX6 sometimes needs a little longer to establish the connection to the receiver. If this last longer than 2 seconds the P80 detects an invalid signal and refuses to work.

In this case it would be better to connect the P80 to the receiver after the connection between TX and RX has been established. If this solves the problem, inserting a switch into the red wire of the 3 wire cable from ESC to RX could be a permanent solution.

ACTion · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2011, 02:03:46 pm »

Chameo
That seems to fit in with the situation, particularly if the DX7 has the same set-up delay as the DX6. Many thanks for your input. Now, watch this space............

DM

shimsham · « **Reply #14 on:** March 10, 2011, 04:59:59 pm »

Hi Dave, As i told you i sent the Rx back to Horizon Hobby telling them that there was a fault on the throttle port,they sent me a Brand New one today fitted it and everything runs a treat, you cannot beat H.H. for there after sales back up.

Colin

DickyD · « **Reply #15 on:** March 10, 2011, 05:17:33 pm »

Wasn't the P80 then ?

PMK · « **Reply #16 on:** March 10, 2011, 05:34:16 pm »

Quote from: 6705russell on March 08, 2011, 07:42:18 am

I swear by my Futaba.....
Russ

And so too several million other Futaba owners.
By the by, did you know that you can get a backlight conversion kit for the FF9? For instance: http://rc.runryder.com/helicopter/t470039p3/

DickyD: Just yesterday I had a DX7 in for repair - with the exact same fault which U.Albert experienced with his P80. Guess what?... The oscilloscope had shown that the signal pulse on DX7 throttle channel was a lot lower amplitude than the other channels.
Spektrum, eh?

shimsham · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2011, 05:38:19 pm »

PMK, He would not understand that if it was a P80.

PMK · « **Reply #18 on:** March 10, 2011, 05:49:51 pm »

Hmm... Don't underestimate the know-how of Mr D. With all due credit he was right in thinking that the P80 was not up the Swanee after all.

shimsham · « **Reply #19 on:** March 10, 2011, 06:13:57 pm »

Neither was the Tx

PMK · « **Reply #20 on:** March 10, 2011, 07:38:36 pm »

Now I'm really confused.
Without wishing in any way to sound rude or pernickety or suchlike, if the Tx was neither duff, then why was it sent back for a replacement?
I now know of at least two DX7's with a problem on the throttle channel (your first one, and the one I tested yesterday), which, to me, is probably more than just coincidental.
Like I said, I've no desire to sound negative against Spectrum equipment or Spectrum owners in general, but I'm curious as to why two identical radios should have the same problem on the throttle channel, and even more curious why you sent the first DX7 back to Horizon if if it wasn't up the Swanee in the first place.
Care to enlighten me?

shimsham · « **Reply #21 on:** March 10, 2011, 08:06:32 pm »

PMK. I think you have got it slighty wrong,Dave at Action tested my RX [MR3000] while i was at his place and found the throttle port nearest to the binding port was not working but the other throttle point was,as i had just bought this RX i rang Horizon Hobby C.S. and they told me to send it back and they would have a look at it,dont know what the problem was but they sent me a new one FOC
today, but i never sent the radio back and as i only had it serviced in November there was no point,why the P80 would not work with the DX7 i dont know, Dave said it would work with the DX6i but my mates got one and it wont work with that either whether it will work with the DX5 i dont know,I have now got a P93 fitted and everyrthing works fine now.
I think you will find that alot of other members on this forum use Spek TXs they are not the cheapest Tx you can get but as far as the Tx goes i have had any trouble with it from new.

Colin.

ACTion · « **Reply #22 on:** March 10, 2011, 08:18:43 pm »

Have had a lengthy correspondence with the guy who designed the P80 software. I won't bore anyone with the details but the way it works doesn't explain the problem with the DX7 i.e. the P80 should have detected the transmitted neutral signal, even if there was an undue delay in it 'settling down'. We established that the ESC works 100% with all the other types of radio I have at my disposal - including a Spektrum DX5e - so the problem is clearly either the type or maybe just Colin's particular example.

Peter's findings would, however, explain why the P80 sat and did nowt; the signal just wasn't 'loud' enough for the ESC to detect it. There is a particular Futaba 4 or 6 channel FM receiver whose signal is so weak that it will work servos but not all speed controllers, but that applies to all of the channels and not just the throttle. Bluebird will recall the exact type - I've forgotten. I remember too a 2-channel Futaba FM Rx I had for which Gordon Tarling had to build an extra amplification stage in order for it to operate one of his speed controllers.

As it stands, the problem hasn't occurred with any other radio set, so Colin's may just be a rogue example. If there are any other Spektrum owners out there who have experienced similar problems then I'd be interested to hear about them. I have to say that after initial suspicions I now prefer the Futaba 6EXA to the Spektrum DX5e, but the good Dr Wombat reckons that his DX6i is a better set than the 6EXA. As for the cheap Chinese sets, I wouldn't go near one - but that's just my opinion.

DM

shimsham · « **Reply #23 on:** March 10, 2011, 08:26:14 pm »

Dave.Have a look at PMK thread looks like he had a similar problem.

Colin

shimsham · « **Reply #24 on:** March 10, 2011, 08:32:29 pm »

Dave.Dont know if its any help but when i had the P80 here my mate brought his DX6i over last Saturday night just to try it with another Spek TX and the same happened with that as the DX7

Colin

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Author Topic: Which 2.4Ghz Radio (Read 16394 times)

shimsham

Underpressure

sailorboy61

shimsham

787Eng

PMK

Underpressure

shimsham

ACTion

Chameo

ACTion

shimsham

PMK

shimsham

PMK

shimsham

PMK

shimsham

ACTion

shimsham

shimsham