Seabee

My 35MHz JR3810 with a 649S SPCM receiver was good for 2 miles (measured by OS map) but was not immune to the switching frequency of brush-less speed controllers. But the 649S back in 1998 cost £104 (ouch!) I used the 3810 with a FrSky V8 module until the Taranis 9D arrived with Open-Tx in 2013. Nothing like the range but the V8s were not affected by speed controller interference.

I agree, but not long ago receivers of this size and price point were limited to indoor use only. Just because you get this kind of range at no cost doesn't mean you have to use it.

At this time of year when there are no leaves on the trees I can see the club field gate with binoculars from an upstairs window. Google Earth gives this distance as 2.41 miles. As my FrSky ACCST receivers put out RSSI warnings at less than 1.25 miles I wondered if my ELRS gear would reach this far. I taped the receiver to the window but with 9 WiFi LANS visible it was quite a hostile RF environment. Much to my surprise from just inside the field gate my transmitter reported a TQly of 100 (which means all packets from the transmitter were received) a RQly of 94 (which means 6 out of 100 telemetry packets were lost) and an RSSI of -105db which is very low and probably due to the local WiFi LANS. The ELRS link was configured for 8 full resolution channels at a refresh rate of 333MHz and the transmitter power was 100mW. It is recommended that one doesn’t try to fly with a TQly of less than 50 so one could probably maintain control while flying much further. Not bad for £11.85 receiver with flight battery voltage monitoring. Colin

Possibly not dying but evolving. It used to be that if you wanted a plane you had to build it which required time, space, skill and some determination. Now ARTFs are made with a precision that few builders can match and sold at a price which can be less than something hand built due to the escalating cost of balsa and associated materials. If the demand dries up then eventually the supply does as well. For me now building is more satisfying than flying and looking round at the models at our field I am clearly in a small minority. However it appears to me that model plane flying has never been so accessible with inexpensive radio gear and good flying ARTFs. The technology evolves and changes our behaviour. Look how smart phones have just about eradicated the camera market apart from the semi-professional equipment. If I wanted to get into model flying now rather than in the 1950s I doubt I would have ever embarked on building.

The LED program box now includes this label

I used to use 4mm connectors as then that was all that appeared to be available but found some inconsistency in the fit when mixing them, then came Deans which were in my opinion just awful. Now I only use XT60s but it is worth noting that often it is the plastic that is making the tight connection not the connectors themselves. In some cases the split pins after a lot of use have compressed and don't make a really good contact but they are easily uncompressed with a nail or similar. It is worth visually checking the split pins in the XT60 plug on the ESC before plugging it into the LiPO.

I run mine directly from a 3 cell lipo. Hasn't failed yet. Manual says 5 to 15volts supply.

Just checked my RF board is a D16HV2 and it doesn't work with either of the two S6Rs that I have attempted to bind.

I have had a prolonged exchange of emails with FrSky technical support trying to resolve this S6R binding issue. They were helpful and instructed me to try various things none of which worked. They gave no indication of being aware of this problem on the 10/11/2016

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 12/11/2016 20:06:16: I'm afraid that still gives the dodgy 'bind' where servos might move but somewhat erratically and the RSSI goes up and down all the time. The switch on channel 7 does initiate a self check (LED blue). I keep the other 2 switches centred so the S6R is supposedly able to work like an ordinary X6R. Thanks anyway Chris. I think I'll have words with T9 on Monday and see what they suggest. I've seen reports of them working OK elsewhere other than here so perhaps I have a faulty one. In fact most reports have been discussions about setting them up which is a different thing altgether and is a matter of playing with the Configuration programme via the SRK interface. Geoff You are the third person I know of with a S6R from T9 that behaves this way. My replaced receiver does the same thing so that could make the count 4. I have been in contact with FrSky technical support in China who have asked me to send them videos of what I'm doing. They can see nothing wrong with the procedure and have asked me to try it with International Firmware rather than EU-LBT. I'm not too keen on changing the Taranis but will give it a go today. I also have a couple of other things to try following help from Andy48. It seems improbable that the whole of T9's batch is bad. The build date on the side of the two S6Rs that I have tried is 2016/08/19

Posted by MattyB on 10/11/2016 08:16:01: Posted by Geoff Sleath on 09/11/2016 17:32:31: I can get mine to bind (International firmware) but it doesn't do anything useful. The RF continually swamps the transmitter and gives the 'Telemetry Lost' /'telemetry regained' messages on and off continuously even when they are over a metre apart. I've given up. I just got totally frustrated after struggling for hours and getting nowhere. It's not in the bin ... yet - but it's close. Geoff Why not just send it back for replacement or refund? I had mine replaced but the second one was no better than the first but what I have learnt is that stabilisation is on as default and unless you either turn it off or calibrate and initialise it the S6R is totally inert (assuming you get it to bind), this I believe is a safety feature.

Posted by Andy48 on 09/11/2016 10:11:02: Posted by C Brooks on 09/11/2016 00:11:45: Has anybody successfully bound a S6R to the original Taranis with EU-LBT firmware? I have now tried two and in spite of reassurances from FrSky that they are compatible they simply don't bind. Instead of the green LED coming on the red LED flashes when powered on again after the binding sequence. I know I am not alone with this problem. It worked for me. Original Taranis, EU firmware, OpenTX 2.2 Was that with the EU or EU-LBT Firmware ?

Has anybody successfully bound a S6R to the original Taranis with EU-LBT firmware? I have now tried two and in spite of reassurances from FrSky that they are compatible they simply don't bind. Instead of the green LED coming on the red LED flashes when powered on again after the binding sequence. I know I am not alone with this problem.