PB Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 The cheap as chips Orange receiver has had quite a lot of press here and elsewhere, some good some bad, but you have to speak as you find. I bought two Orange receivers from ebay a while back for £12 including post and they sat in my flight box for ages. Then one day I thought let's give these Rxs a go and I put one in my Seagull Spacewalker EP II and took it to the flight field. My club uses a disused airfield with loads of free tarmac to play with so I put the Spacewalker down on a taxiway and set it on its way at taxi speed until it was almost out of sight. Turned it round on the rudder and taxid it back to my feet, no problem. On the basis of this I put the Spacewalker in the air and flew it fairly close to begin with but gradually pushed it away until it was as far away as I dared to go, and at least as far away as I fly my other models which have expensive full range Rxs in them. All I can say is that this ultra cheap Orange Rx did the business and really gained my confidence. I just wonder, for the flying that I do anyway, whether I should be spending lots of money on mega-hyped full range receivers when a £6 Orange Rx is perfectly capable of doing the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieW Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I use the orange receivers when flying on the Great Orme and all I can say is , the yanks must have very big parks ! For those that are familiar with the Orme the distance you can get out to sea can be quite a way, and I think I can only remember losing signal momentarily once, but it soon clicked back when I lifted the Tx slightly. Great value for money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I must admit we have had no problems so far with one for the short time we have had it, but for good value and full range genuine Spektrum gear, this is very nice. Most sport models are 4 channel so for your sport model, I think this is good value, and it is DSMX. CS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Pollard Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Been using the "Orange" 6 channel RX s for the last 18 months without any problem whatsoever. I bought a £250 model at the Nats this year, and dropped an Orange 6 channel RX in it. Any probs, not a one. I for one will not be buying any more of the genuine ones. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris larkins Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I have 6 models (mostly foam) that are fitted with the 6CH Orange RX's, the only time I had any range issues was on a multi engine foam model, this was cured by fitting the optional Orange Satellite RX and I have now fitted these to all of my models. For some strange reason these Satellite RX's are more expensive than the main unit, however you can still get both for around £15 inc postage from Hobbyking. All in all they get a massive thumbs up from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 We have three of the little 6 channel ones. I've never had a glitch. I trust them absolutely. They will work down to a very low voltage too. Something which can't be said about some of the 'real' ones. The Orange 7channel 'full range' receiver however is a diffferent matter... That did decide to have the occasional break from receiving with fairly predictable results! Edited By GrahamC on 19/10/2012 23:30:31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouncebounce crunch Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 so thats a thumbs up then chaps. good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Really, you only have to look at the inherent quality of the manufacture and component quality of these so called 'cheapo' receivers to see how good they are - gold connectors, heat shrink sleeving where the antennae leave the case, clean solder etc. etc. Even the plastic case is excellent quality - if you open one to remove the board - say for lightness - it's an absolute nightmare trying to get it back together again at a later date. Open up one of your old 35MHz jobbies just to see what kind of mess some of them can be in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Reynolds LaserCraft Services Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Forgive me if I am wrong here and I probably am as I have never owned one, but are the Orange receivers CE marked? I have been led to believe they are not and are Grey Imports, therefore voiding any insurance you may have, also voiding any warranty the Tx may come with. Like I said, I don't know this for a fact and would be very interested to know myself, its just something someone told me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Our orange satelite receiver is CE marked, but not the receiver itself, which could lend itself to that problem. CS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Reynolds LaserCraft Services Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 That would probably explain why the satellite is dearer than the main unit itself I just hope i'm not opening up a can of worms here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 The matter of orange receivers and CE markings has been done to death on other threads BMFA Members' Handbook page 79 quote "....equipment bought through the normal model shop chain is warranted to be legal by the major importers who do the original importing into the EU. However, if you have imported equipment directly from outside the EU for your own use then you are personally responsible for its legal operation within the UK..." unquote. There are lots of UK-based model suppliers selling both the Orange receiver and its satellite so buy from them and you're legal according to the BMFA. However, it's of interest to note that the Hobby King UK Warehouse does not sell the Orange receiver, or rather it says it has no stock, and you can speculate why that might be when this receiver is clearly in demand and if they had them in stock at the price the're quoting they would undoubtedly be flying off their shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 When I have bought Orange receivers from HK and UK based ebay sellers (8 in total) they have usually arrived in a bag with a CE sticker on the bag. As far as I am concerned that is good enough for me, I can only trust the company / person I have purchased from. Besides... the receivers only receive a signal and as long as it actually works when you test it and you do a proper range test then what else should you expect it do do that a CE "certificate" would prove? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 If you wish to lose the will to live, Dylan, have a read of this thread.........it probably contains all you need to know! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris larkins Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Just checked and these are once again available and in stock from the Hobbyking UK site (and at just $5.99), therefore as these have already been imported by a major supplier there should be no worries about any CE regulations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David P Williams Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The HobbyKing UK warehouse does occasionally have stock - it just sells out almost immediately it comes in. I've bought two from there. I had ticked the 'send me an email when they come in' box. when the email came, they had almost sold out by the time I logged onto the site to order. I was concerned about range, so I set up a test with a genuine Spektrum AR6200 with satellite (definitely not one of the cheap copies) and an Orange six channel with satellite. Bound both to my DX7 with throttle low as failsafe, connected each throttle channel to a servo with a big cardboard pointer attached, set the tx to throttle high, checked that switching the tx off caused both pointers to drop and then held in the range check button and walked away. Got almost out of sight before the AR6200 went into failsafe first, then the Orange a little further on. Totally reassured, I fitted the Orange to my HobbyKing Vampire and went flying....... David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Reynolds LaserCraft Services Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Just had a quick gander Pete, hmmmm, only need 3 answers, are they legal? are they safe? and am i personally "liable" if they go wrong? The safe question seems to be answered above by so many, all in the positive, legally wise looks good if buying from a major importer/distributor, and if they are then i suppose thats the laibilty question answered, but what if i buy one from flea bay? from a none major importer/distributor? who is liable then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 If you buy them on Ebay from a UK source, you haven't imported them so no problem there. I wouldn't consider getting them from anywhere other than Hobbyking as they don't come any cheaper elsewhere, anyway. Frankly, even if you bought them direct from the Far East, who is to know where you sourced them from if anything went wrong, to be (dis)honest? I have several 6-channel Orange Rx's in use, all from Hobbyking, and they've been fine Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concorde Speedbird Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Some of the Spektrum gear is good value, like this and this for 6 channel, they are cheaper than some, espacially the 4 channel one, full range and DSMX I would personally go for these. CS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 Dylan, why not buy from the horse's mouth - **LINK** two for £14 cheap as chips......... Edited By PB on 06/11/2012 18:25:40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolstonFlyer Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The AR400 is very good value for money, I have seen them as low as 15 pounds. I am going to put one in my 2013 mass build Tuccano. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Dylan I suspect you are looking for a problem that is not there. In the UK under the CAA Air Navigation Order the section, CAP658 about model flying makes it clear, Article 138 states: "A person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property." For models under 7kg that's all there is. There is no definition or reckless or negligent so its up to you, and only you, to satisfy yourself you have met the terms of Article 138 both for your plane and the way you fly it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Reynolds LaserCraft Services Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Not looking for a problem, far from it, just want to satisfy my curiosity, before delving in a maybe trying one, as a responsible pilot i just want to make sure the equipment i use is fit for purpose and legal, would you rather i did that or just go out, buy any old piece of "replica" rubbish, put my plane in the air and cause damage to person or property, that would be both reckless and negligent in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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