I picked up a new DX6 on Friday to have a look at, first impressions are very positive, it really makes my previous backup DX6i look like an antique!
Stick feel is very nice, it has 3 position switches for flight mode and one of the rate switches which is pretty much all you need, and all switches are assignable anyway. Backlit screen looks excellent, and they've gone back to the all in one display layout (like DX6i not like DX8) which I think is a big plus, so for example servo settings only has 3 screens, reverse/ATV/subtrim each showing all channel settings on right and servo monitor display on left. I think its amazing value for money, given the features (voice/telemetry/backlit screen).
A couple of niggles:
- voice prompts seem to be disabled by default (ie timer), seems very silly, you can turn them on but for beginners its awkward
- supports two timers which run independently, but can only announce or reset both together - you can only clear both timers together and can only announce both timers at once - which is silly and frustrating. I have flight timer based on throttle out, and stopwatch using bind button to start/stop, but means you can only time one 'lap' per flight without losing your flight time.
- lack of a charge socket - clearly they want to sell an 'upgrade' lipo with a built in charge socket, but seems silly when if they had just included the charge socket, you could have used existing DX8 lipos (they fit and have correct connector, just no easy way to charge at present - I plan to splice in a 2s balance plug to a hobbyking DX8 lipo to get round this, so I can just pop the hatch and charge easily rather than wait and pay for the spektrum specific lipo which I am guessing will be pricey).
Personally I feel to release a new radio in 2014 with no proper multirotor model type is unfathomable, you can get a multirotor image through a kludge in acro/glider model type, but its clearly an afterthought (not even in manual) (in Aircraft Type menu, Leave the wing/tail settings as Normal. Click on NEXT. Click on the picture. Scroll through different pictures until you get to quad.).
Still a lovely radio to use, I only have one model on my DX8 which actually uses 7 channels, just annoying I cannot copy model files straight across (there is a free 3rd party conversion tool online - http://mutantdesign.co.uk/spm/ (http://mutantdesign.co.uk/spm/)), good thing is once I get over to the DX6 then the files are compatible with DX9/DX18, then again, not sure I would justify cost of the DX9 when the DX6 does pretty much everything it does, except for the extra channel I only use on one model (which I can stick with DX8 for).
I've put a comparison video on youtube
Spektrum transmitter comparison new DX6 vs DX6i vs DX8 not really a review (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bui8utn_vdk#ws)
Hi James,
I checked out your video review of the DX6 and it was very informative and helpful. I'm on the lookout for a new 2.4G radio as I've just ordered a 250 sized mini with a Naze32 Acro. Would this be a suitable radio do you think? I don't want anything too flash. Just something good quality which will do the job. The telemetry feature is something I'm interested in. Would this be able to be set up to warn me at the tranny if my flight pack is getting low if I have the relevant kit on the quad?
New DX6 is fine for pretty much any quad, heli or plane, I'm flying my FPV250 with it fine.
Telemetry with spektrum you need to buy a seperate tm1000 or tm1100 telemetry module to send back flight pack voltage, you also need to choose a receiver with data out port if you want to monitor rx link (holds/fades), so it gets expensive.
For a 250 quad I wouldn't bother with telemetry for the space and cost, just use a flight timer (which DX6 will do very nicely with voice announcements every minute if you wish).
Other radio's like Taranis have telemetry built into receiver which makes it much cheaper, so your trading off ease of use against cost, both are very capable radio's, main advantage of the Spektrum stuff is the ease of bind and fly, but you can fit a DSM2/X module to the Taranis and get similar functionality but slightly trickier to setup.
Thanks for the info James. Very helpful.
Just to update, I wanted to put a lipo in as AA cells are a bit old hat, Spektrum sell a custom lipo with built in charger but its expensive and only 2000mah so hardly better than AA, so instead I got another 4000mah Turnigy DX8 battery and it works fine, you can either buy the spektrum charge adaptor or I preferred to just solder on a balance lead so I can charge without disconnecting/unplugging every time.
Video below:
Spektrum DX6 - quick easy lipo conversion using cheap Turnigy 4000mah DX8 lipo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgTysZd225s#ws)