The only radio I've ever used is a Turnigy 9x with Er9x, Lipo and a backlight. I've never had any complaints over the functionality or stability but do wonder whether there's a better experience to be had from a radio like a Futaba 14SG in terms of the feel of the gimbals and layout / ergonomics etc.
Last weekend I did try to have a look at other radios by popping into my local aero model shop in Milton Keynes, but found the dinosaurs behind the counter's shocking dismissal of my requirements and their sheer condescending nature completely offputting (apparently nobody will ever, ever need anything other than 2.4Ghz for any reason now or in the future, ever).
So, what' the general opinion of the feel of a big brand radio vs the budget radios in actual flight? I know ergonomics changes from hand to hand but in general does the "feel" and experience of a big brand radio justify the price?
Cheers,
Neil.
My two pennies worth ;)
I started flying with futaba and wished i never sold it all but that was years back, I now fly with a turnigy9x upgraded and find it fine i am still using a dx8 however it does feel nicer i dont trust the connection to my uhf as much as i do my own built connectors on the 9x :D
If i had the pennies i prob would go back to a large futaba but i prefer my 9x for the moment maybe Taranis later on
Spectrum is going tbh but yes in essence a well made hand set feels nice to hold :D
dizzy :)
I have flown with Futaba, Spektrum, Turnigy 9x and Taranis. In flight there is absolutely no difference in their feel at all. They all respond in the same way, apart from Spektrum with the dreaded brown out "feature" :)
The 9x gimbals are not the greatest, but the Taranis gimbals are nice and can be compared to the branded gear.
Layout is personal, depending on how many features you need depends on how many pots and switches you need so that would have a heavy influence on the layout. Some have less Switches / Pots / Sliders which some will like because everything i spaced out more, but then of course that limits functionality due to lack of hardware to assign to functions.
After buying the big brands and flying with them, then running out of features or channels, I will not buy another one again due to the budget radios having those channels and functionality at much more reasonable price
Quote from: Coyote on November 03, 2013, 12:29:21 PM
I have flown with Futaba, Spektrum, Turnigy 9x and Taranis. In flight there is absolutely no difference in their feel at all. They all respond in the same way, apart from Spektrum with the dreaded brown out "feature" :)
The 9x gimbals are not the greatest, but the Taranis gimbals are nice and can be compared to the branded gear.
Layout is personal, depending on how many features you need depends on how many pots and switches you need so that would have a heavy influence on the layout. Some have less Switches / Pots / Sliders which some will like because everything i spaced out more, but then of course that limits functionality due to lack of hardware to assign to functions.
After buying the big brands and flying with them, then running out of features or channels, I will not buy another one again due to the budget radios having those channels and functionality at much more reasonable price
I agree with coyote flying with any radio is the same really ( but my 9x does feel plasticky compared to the dx8)and my 9x gives me enough channels now for fpv)
dizzy :)
I"ve used spectrum for land and air as well as futaba for my quad, whilst its reassuring to use a familiar big name brand i can't help thinking the gaps rapidly closing between the major names and some of the budget ' less known' brands. If I was to buy a tx & rx again i would probably go for something like a 9x or frisky. As whilst I like my T8J very much I can't help thinking the build quality is a bit cheap, The phrase 'you get what you pay for .' i think can be true to a degree but i do think some of the lesser known brands do make some great gear & to upgrade from what you have to get a noticeable difference to appreciate I think you would need to spend a modest wedge. That said there are some great tx's that would be awesome with a 2.4ghz module popped in, JR and some of the older Futaba's spring to mind.
Just my thoughts.
Jim
Well their right who needs anything but 2.4ghz
UHF is only for long range which means over 4km now, which of course is a no no but that depends if you follow the rules or not.
As for all sets feel the same i'd disagree...
Futaba feels a world apart from a 9xr crappy thing and that includes the gimbals sticks and stuff.
I have to say I don't care what anyone says all of the frsky TX's feel like they are going to fall to pieces in your hands :D
You ever used a 9x?
Tatamis is allot better, and the 9x has never fallen to pieces.
Having uses a dx6, I can say that taranis is no worse. In many ways better.
I honestly think you got a bad radio. I have two, and they are both solid.
Rob
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Yep 9x, 9xr and a taranis they are all terrible
I'd be interested to see what they feel like. I'm just wary because everyone said the Turnigy radios were ok but when I got my hands on one it felt like it came from a pound shop.
I've been using a DX7 which I bought when it was released, it's been flawless in dozens of models and thousands of flights. The Turnigy just inspired no confidence at all.
Even if the differences are illusory a big part of me doesn't care. I like cars that feel well made because they make me confident that I will reach my destination without the thing falling apart. If my DX7 reminds me of Toyotas and BMWs I have owned then the Turnigy felt like the Renaults or worse yet, the Citroen.
For the money a lot of these handsets cost you might as well Buy a 3D printer and make your own :laugh:
Would be surprised if someone hasnt done that already tbh?
regards
Andy
Quote from: DaveyLC on November 03, 2013, 01:44:24 PM
Yep 9x, 9xr and a taranis they are all terrible
You fall under the snobbery category :)
Have any of them actually fell apart in your hands ?
Have any actually failed ever in flight ? ( My DX6i did once while "in control" of a Raptor 50, my Futaba blew a regulator and failed but my Turnigy / Taranis never have.)
With goggles on, can you actually tell any difference in a switch or a gimbal ? OK the Turnigy gimbals leave a lot to be desired so I`ll give you that, but not the Taranis gimbals
Quote from: iPeel on November 03, 2013, 11:14:58 AM
The only radio I've ever used is a Turnigy 9x with Er9x, Lipo and a backlight. I've never had any complaints over the functionality or stability but do wonder whether there's a better experience to be had from a radio like a Futaba 14SG in terms of the feel of the gimbals and layout / ergonomics etc.
Last weekend I did try to have a look at other radios by popping into my local aero model shop in Milton Keynes, but found the dinosaurs behind the counter's shocking dismissal of my requirements and their sheer condescending nature completely offputting (apparently nobody will ever, ever need anything other than 2.4Ghz for any reason now or in the future, ever).
So, what' the general opinion of the feel of a big brand radio vs the budget radios in actual flight? I know ergonomics changes from hand to hand but in general does the "feel" and experience of a big brand radio justify the price?
Cheers,
Neil.
By any chance was that Al's hobbies in mk?
I'm not far from mk, should meet up.
Futaba any day of the week, enough said.
Quote from: rob.thomson on November 03, 2013, 01:42:27 PM
You ever used a 9x?
Tatamis is allot better, and the 9x has never fallen to pieces.
Having uses a dx6, I can say that taranis is no worse. In many ways better.
I honestly think you got a bad radio. I have two, and they are both solid.
Rob
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
I've had the pleasure of using just about every brand or flying with every brand
My 12FG is a world apart from the turingy stuff
I do however like the JR sets nice gimbals
is it sobbery no its what I like Turst and have Faith in :)
Quote from: Brucey on November 03, 2013, 02:22:26 PM
By any chance was that Al's hobbies in mk?
I'm not far from mk, should meet up.
Heh', yes it was! Apparently unless you fly £10k jets you're a nobody.
I walked in there with money to spend and would now travel 50 miles to buy from a different shop.
I saw an old thread about an FPV meet up near MK so maybe we should try to arrange something once the weather settles?
OK, thanks everybody. It seems the community is definitely divided in terms of getting what you pay for.
I have to say I've found the build quality of my 9x perfectly acceptable, but I was just interested in whether the gimbals on the Futaba / Spektrum radios are that much better. I find the spring around the centre point of my 9x quite a bit to fight against and wondered whether the transition in the centre of the radio better on a Futaba / Spektrum.
I may well stay with the Turnigy and see what crops up in the future.
Cheers,
Neil.
I HATE that shop.
It's a shame the small family run business are being killed by the internet shops because of price. But that place is a joke. Some one must be buying stuff from there as the owner drives around in an Audi R8 ???
Sorry to go off topic, but it really pee's me off!
Quote from: iPeel on November 03, 2013, 03:36:28 PM
OK, thanks everybody. It seems the community is definitely divided in terms of getting what you pay for.
I have to say I've found the build quality of my 9x perfectly acceptable, but I was just interested in whether the gimbals on the Futaba / Spektrum radios are that much better. I find the spring around the centre point of my 9x quite a bit to fight against and wondered whether the transition in the centre of the radio better on a Futaba / Spektrum.
I may well stay with the Turnigy and see what crops up in the future.
Cheers,
Neil.
It's simple: if you've tried high end radios too and you can't feel or see the difference then you don't need a high end radio :)
If you haven't tried the branded stuff out then you should go and have a play..
It's your personal choice :)
To answer the OP, if you have a well set up 9x/9xr/Taranis, you will gain precisely nothing by switching to an equivalent Futaba radio except to join the elitist club who think they're something special because they own one...
If, however, you own a radio so that you can reliably control a model aircraft, I say just enjoy your previous purchase and feel smug that you have equivalent (or better) features for a lower cost.
Does anyone actually care about how plastic a 9x feels?? I've flown with a Futaba T7CP - my so-called plastic 9x simply hasn't bothered me at all since switching.
Agreed.
I actually sold my futaba and JR radios in preference to a 9x!
Why?
Because the custom firmwares are so good!
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wouldnt mind a haptic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic_technology) joystick though :) Any transmitter have that?
regards
Andy
9x with a sky board in it does haptic :)
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Quote from: rob.thomson on November 03, 2013, 07:34:39 PM
9x with a sky board in it does haptic :)
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Ah Ha .. Sounds more my cuppa tea :) What's a sky board?
Also
Quote from: skyscraper on November 03, 2013, 02:11:53 PM
For the money a lot of these handsets cost you might as well Buy a 3D printer and make your own :laugh:
Would be surprised if someone hasnt done that already tbh?
[...]
Now I recall that the OSRC system had a haptic joystick and it turns out he's also working on 3D printing (though I'm not sure that producing one's own 3D printer is entirely necessary for the task :) )
http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,7737.msg68012.html#msg68012 (http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,7737.msg68012.html#msg68012)
regards
Andy
Quote from: DaveyLC on November 03, 2013, 03:45:28 PM
[...]
It's simple: if you've tried high end radios too and you can't feel or see the difference then you don't need a high end radio :)
[..]
( Fook. better buy me the shiniest one I can then and pretend I can tell the difference. Dont want to look like a chav..) :laugh:
regards
Andy
I've got a 20 odd year old 35mhz jr radio I bought on fleabay ,it is basically exactly the same as the 9x except 2 things
1) it doesn't have the board /screen/programming of the 9x
2) its 20 years old and is still more reliable than the 9x ,
my 9x has needed 2 switches , the throttle pot replaced , a new throttle plastic return thingy, and a new 5v regulator (user error connecting the battery wrong but its a dumb design) .
Don't get me wrong the 9x is a good radio and has excellent features , but build quality is pish compared to the jr radio it was originally carbon copied from.
I actually bought a 9xr when they came out but it was so ergonomically bad I sold it straight on.
I'm getting a taranis for crimbo , hoping its a quality version of the 9x that I don't have to mod to get it to work right. If I had the cash to waste i'd get multiplex profi , but im too grippy.
It would be interesting to know how often the advocates of the 9X/9XR/Taranis etc. fly.. I.e. how much use/abuse they get?
I've actually dropped my dx7s flat on its face and I bent the flap switch, fixing was easy I just bent it back straight.. If I had done that on my Taranis I'd probably wipe out a gimbal and be looking for bits of switches and plastic.
You could argue though, that the price of the switches is low enough that it'd take a LOT of abuse before you'd have reached the price of a Futaba set :P
Quote from: Steve W on November 03, 2013, 06:32:41 PM
To answer the OP, if you have a well set up 9x/9xr/Taranis, you will gain precisely nothing by switching to an equivalent Futaba radio except to join the elitist club who think they're something special because they own one...
Nope Futaba are like Ford cars bloody everywhere and common as muck not an elitist club at all, go to any club theres bloody loads of them!
I find it quite peculiar that people really care that much. I used 3DJims Futaba once, it had a weight behind it and felt very nice, but then I didn't go back to my 9x and think how shit it was. I'm lost in the experience of flying, instead of thinking about how the radio feels in my hands.
As long as it works, then it's good. I love the flexibility of the programming on the Taranis, from what I understand this seems to be missing on some of the more expensive radios.
Hmm ..
Nothing I've seen on a Futaba radio has convinced me that I made an incorrect choice in selecting a 9X. If anything, I'm happy I saved a couple of hundred quid buying a radio that not only equals the range of a more expensive one but is also extensible and (IMO) comfortable to use.
What's not to like? I could break 4 of them before I'm losing money by having to buy replacements :laugh: On that note, I'm not particularly worried about breaking one either, because it costs beans to replace if I have to... in a nice muddy field that's a good thing I think!
"You pays your money, you takes your choice".
Personally, I'm not so bothered about the 'feel' of the sticks - not good enough to know the difference.
What I do want and expect is a tx where you can easily program a 3 way switch !
Quote from: wgt40w on November 03, 2013, 10:36:49 PM
"You pays your money, you takes your choice".
Personally, I'm not so bothered about the 'feel' of the sticks - not good enough to know the difference.
What I do want and expect is a tx where you can easily program a 3 way switch !
I RUN WITH A Turnigy9x, I fitted an extra three way switch in place of the third rotary works a treat and programming is simples :D
pic below
http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a557/dizzygirl19/DSCF0092turnigy9xwithtwothreewayswitchs_zps553dc7f1.jpg (http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a557/dizzygirl19/DSCF0092turnigy9xwithtwothreewayswitchs_zps553dc7f1.jpg)
dizzy :D
been using RD8000 and RD6000 since 2003 never had any problems with either now I've converted them to lipo they last for weeks, bought the RD8000 brand new £250 odd quid for my sceadu 50 heli, however purchased a flysky FS-T6 for a tricopter build I sold to a mate and to be honest its almost impossible to tell which ones which when flying.
A mates just bought one (hes always had JR) but has got fed up of messing around in the sub menus Tony
Quote from: wgt40w on November 03, 2013, 10:36:49 PM
"You pays your money, you takes your choice".
Exactly Right :cheers:
I'll hold my hands up and say that I do miss the jog-dial style control from the Futaba T7CP ... much easier than constantly clicking up/down etc...
Quote from: wgt40w on November 03, 2013, 10:36:49 PM
What I do want and expect is a tx where you can easily program a 3 way switch !
Agree'd. :D Whats wrong with end-points and sub-trim to start? Surely that's enough flexibility for 99.999% of users?
My opinion is the open source transmitters seem to be aimed at the people who just love to fiddle more than they enjoy actually flying... And I also say each to their own but what does grate me is people who say there is no noticeable difference in quality: The difference is HUGE and its extremely obvious..
It would be like saying "Whats the point in buying a Mercedes, there's hardly any difference to a Kia.".. Or what's the point in buying an Omega when you can have a Casio?
I think it depends on how long you've been flying as well. Lots of FPVers have only been at it for five minutes so don't have the baggage of decades of flying previously with transmitters which have at least a bit of a quality feel about them. If you're used to proper transmitters then the pound shop build quality of a Turnigy etc can feel a little jarring.
I've never had a TX fail in thirty years, mostly Futabas and then the DX7. Would I have enjoyed the same record if I had used Turnigys for that long? Who knows? I kind of suspect not, though.
Quote from: DaveyLC on November 04, 2013, 12:45:58 PM
Quote from: wgt40w on November 03, 2013, 10:36:49 PM
What I do want and expect is a tx where you can easily program a 3 way switch !
Agree'd. :D Whats wrong with end-points and sub-trim to start? Surely that's enough flexibility for 99.999% of users?
My opinion is the open source transmitters seem to be aimed at the people who just love to fiddle more than they enjoy actually flying... And I also say each to their own but what does grate me is people who say there is no noticeable difference in quality: The difference is HUGE and its extremely obvious..
It would be like saying "Whats the point in buying a Mercedes, there's hardly any difference to a Kia.".. Or what's the point in buying an Omega when you can have a Casio?
I love fiddling on.
I've got loads of transmitters and they are all good, except for just one of them I really don't like.
If your flying with anything that is reasonable you should'nt be thinking of the transmitter at all, it becomes an invisible interface.
If you drive your car while thinking about the steering wheel and the gear stick you're not driving it, just posing.
My Taranis just arrived with a free pair of goggles
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
Quote from: Coyote on November 03, 2013, 02:18:48 PM
You fall under the snobbery category :)
Have any of them actually fell apart in your hands ?
Can't remember who's unit it was but at the last Mad Dogs someones Taranis already had a bunch of snapped switches due to the cheap arse metal switches.
I was really looking forward to the Taranis until I held the thing (and saw the snapped switches) - just didn't compare to my FF9 in terms of switch feel, and build quality. All of which is pretty important to me.
As much as you can say it's snobbery, I think there is a fair bit of reverse-snobbery going about. As if buying anything other than a 9xr makes you a snob with more money than sense.
AS DaveyLC suggested, an interesting test would be to drop your transmitter onto concrete from ever increasing heights. Divide the height it stops working by the price to get a winner!
Whose up for that ? ;)
regards
Andy
Quote from: skyscraper on November 04, 2013, 05:26:21 PM
AS DaveyLC suggested, an interesting test would be to drop your transmitter onto concrete from ever increasing heights. Divide the height it stops working by the price to get a winner!
Whose up for that ? ;)
regards
Andy
I left my my old 35meg futaba handset in its leather case on the roof of my car once out at North Cliffs after some slope fun and drove off it came off on the first sharp corner and bounced down the road :o
Scuffed leather, broken antenna, bent throttle stick And still worked, LOL, I dont suspect the turnigy would fair as well tbh ;)
But i dont put things on car roof's anymore now ;)
dizzy ;)
Quote from: dogzilla on November 04, 2013, 04:39:43 PM
Quote from: Coyote on November 03, 2013, 02:18:48 PM
You fall under the snobbery category :)
Have any of them actually fell apart in your hands ?
Can't remember who's unit it was but at the last Mad Dogs someones Taranis already had a bunch of snapped switches due to the cheap arse metal switches.
I was really looking forward to the Taranis until I held the thing (and saw the snapped switches) - just didn't compare to my FF9 in terms of switch feel, and build quality. All of which is pretty important to me.
As much as you can say it's snobbery, I think there is a fair bit of reverse-snobbery going about. As if buying anything other than a 9xr makes you a snob with more money than sense.
I would be interest to find out how the switches where snapped? What was being done at the time?
Mine switches a fairing perfectly well. No issues or problems.
It is entirely possible a bad batch of radios came out.
The reason I ask, is that it is very easy to make sweeping statements that something is bad - but all evidence is contrary, and as a general rule all forum posts are users raving about it.
So being the scientific type. I simply ask for an evidence based example, with proof and details to back it up?
Rob
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Quote from: dogzilla on November 04, 2013, 04:39:43 PM
As much as you can say it's snobbery, I think there is a fair bit of reverse-snobbery going about. As if buying anything other than a 9xr makes you a snob with more money than sense.
Not really true, I don`t see many saying the brand gear is crap because its more expensive than a 9XR, but I see brand users slating good radios with really no backup other than what they think would fall off or fail, but actually hasn't, which makes the baseless unsubstantiated claim nothing more than snobbery.
My logic on basing an opinion is this :
I will use Futaba as an example because its been the most reliable brand name I have used.
Does the brand radio I used do anything more than the budget brands I have tried - No
Has the brand radio been more reliable than the budget brands I have tried - No
Do I notice while flying the difference in quality between the brand radio and the budget radio - No
Does the brand radio offer anything to justify its high price tag - No
So logically, I can see no reason to pay through the nose for a limited channel / feature brand radio when they have nothing to offer than feeling better in my hands when I fly, which I don`t care in the slightest about....... because I`m flying :)
That`s not snobbery, that`s real world experience using both examples for a few years
Quote from: rob.thomson on November 03, 2013, 01:42:27 PM
You ever used a 9x?
Tatamis is allot better, and the 9x has never fallen to pieces.
Having uses a dx6, I can say that taranis is no worse. In many ways better.
I honestly think you got a bad radio. I have two, and they are both solid.
Rob
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
im gonna agree with you rob :)
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I've got a 9x running er9x with a Frsky module and admit that that the firmware is designed by people who want to tinker as it gets me scratching my head sometimes. Yes it feels plasticy and maybe the gimbals aren't as good as your high end Jrutba sets but lets face who really spends over a grand on a Tx when you are flying bits of foam round the sky like we do. If you have £5k+ turbine jet model hooning round the sky then, yes you can probably afford the high end radio to go with it.
I for one cannot afford such luxuries and have to make do with what I can afford. All I know is that I also have Spektrum Dx6i and that broke between uses (the wire inside the attenna fractured leading to a crash) and the 9x hasn't.
I hope to upgrade to a Taranis soon and that still only cost as much as as my first radio set which was a Futaba Challenger set and that was back in the late 1980's
No matter how good the radio it's only as good as the interface between the pilots brains and thumbs.
Cheers., Mark
Quote from: Western on February 01, 2014, 09:03:13 AM
but lets face who really spends over a grand on a Tx when you are flying bits of foam round the sky like we do. If you have £5k+ turbine jet model hooning round the sky then, yes you can probably afford the high end radio to go with it.
I for one cannot afford such luxuries and have to make do with what I can afford. All I know is that I also have Spektrum Dx6i
The foam is only part of the story :) I bet if you add everything up the airframe is a tiny cost..
And you use the example of a manufacturers most entry level programable radio (dx6i) to judge the rest! Remember the 9x was once the flagship so you should be comparing to an old 12fg or an old dx10 :D
Is this thread still going on? My 9x is still working really well :laugh:
Quote from: DaveyLC link=topic=16698.msg149900#msg149900 date=
The foam is only part of the story I bet if you add everything up the airframe is a tiny cost..
And you use the example of a manufacturers most entry level programable radio (dx6i) to judge the rest! Remember the 9x was once the flagship so you should be comparing to an old 12fg or an old dx10 :D
I used it as an example Davey as it's my only other radio. :D
Cheers, Mark