Time to sell the DX8 and move on??

[The Stig]

Well i lost my acro wot yesterday, only about 15 flights old

Was on the final approach and all of a sudden, it got a mind of its own and went to full throttle, banked fully to the right and went straight in, all in the blink of an eye so i had no time to do anything.

After a 20 minute search through the corn field i found it in lots of pieces, it was still bound and everything still working as it should so no idea what went on?

Upon discussion with a few club mates they have advised me to try and steer clear of Spektrum as they said the suffer with 'dead spots' and are prone to losing their bind. Now i havent had the latter happen to me, but the dead spot would make sense to me as to why the acro wot went in, i recall having a couple of instances over the past 15 flights where ive felt like ive had no control for a split second or so. and its also happened to a couple of my other models too.

So ive been recommended the Hitec Aurora 9 and im severely tempted.

I was about to put it on ebay but i thought i would see what you guys think?

[Frank Skilbeck]

I've been using a Dx6i for 5 years (I think, but soon after they came out anyway) and apart from a couple of broken trim levers its been fine. There was an issue with earlier Dx8s after they were updated to DSMx when they would lock out on older DSM2 Rxs but that was fixed last year with a firmware update. Couple in our club and since the update there has been no problems.

Note if it's a loss of signal from the Tx then the failsafe should have kicked in and moved the throttle to idle, assuming you set the failsafe by rebinding after you had set up the plane, same with "deadspots" the failsafe should kick in.

I would send the Tx to Horizon for them to check over.

If you suspect it is faulty and plan to put it on EBay then you would declare this wouldn't you.

[Handyman]

Hi "TheStig". Its funny that your mates said that about the Spektrum. I have the DX6i,DX7 and the DX8. I lost an aircraft two weeks ago while flying it with my DX6i. I had been flying touch and goes and getting in some practice and all was going well until my final turn onto base leg. I was lined up almost on the centre line of our runway and I applied left bank to make the final turn, but nothing. I heard the fail-safe cut in, engine to idle even though my throttle was still at the 3/4 stage and all controls went to their neutrals. The net result was that my aircraft continued on base leg straight into the top of a Poplar tree. The recovery 3 days later, carried out by our friendly Tree surgeon, cost me £30 to recover the bits from 85 feet up. Today, I was flying my Wot 4 Classic with an Irvine 53 up front.. This time I was using my DX7 and all was going well again, until I handed the plane over to our instructor after flying for 10 minutes. I had asked him to land it for me as the wind was blustery and across our strip. This time I was established on the downwind leg when I passed over the Tx but he immediately shouted that he had no control, and my plane was continuing to fly on straight and level. I grabbed the Tx back and waggled all of the sticks and suddenly got control back upon which my instructor took it back again and proceeded to turn it back towards our strip and land it quickly. In both of these cases, we checked out the Tx voltages, the DX 6i was showing 5.2 volts and the DX 7 was showing 10.5 volts.During my flights today, I was aware that my plane made one or two un-intentional manoeuvres that I had not called for. In particular two rolls became 4 and a half even though I had meant to stop them after 2. I am beginning to suspect that all may not be well with my Spektrums and I am beginning to regret dropping Futaba and adopting the Spektrum. I am going to have to carry out some tests on range and control movements using different receivers to se if the fault is in the Tx's or the Rx's. Will keep you posted.

[Andy Ennis]

After more flights than I could possibly remember with Spektrum (both DX8 & DX18) I have never lost bind with a receiver, and have never even heard of 'dead spots'

This strikes me as another of the scare stories about Spektrum perpetuated by those that have no experience with it whatsoever

However, the Hitec radios are fine pieces of equipment I am told (although I have no personal experience of them), and if you make the change I am sure it will serve you well.

[Ausferret]

In my experience the first reaction when a model goes in is usually, in this order, radio failure, other equipment/fittings failure, interference, god hates me or finally pilot error.

The Spektrum/Futaba/JR/Hitec equipment is rubbish comments usually follow. This is of course nonsense all the well known brands are of excellent quality and are reliable. Their functioning is predicated on correct installation and setup with component failure a possibility, but remote. A club member recently lost a self-designed nice twin ducted fan model where at about 300 metres away it just rolled to the right and dived to the ground. After the usual upset and slow walk of shame we got to the model pieces and gathered them up. Back at the pits upon inspection it was pretty obvious what the issue was, receiver placement next to batteries and ESC with no real seperation of the satellite. To add to this he flies with his transmitter antenna straight up and points the transmitter at the model during flight. This (the aerial tip) I am led to believe is the part of the aerial with the weakest signal transmission.

It may be there is an element of component failure but to label the entire brand as unreliable is clearly unreasonable. I fly Futaba and Spektrum and have had not a single issue with either. My Spektrum DX8 is used for the majority of my models now, including some bind and fly fixed wings and small helicopter. I use mostly Spektrum receivers but in my cheap foamies I have HK Orange receivers and these have never let me down even when flown at extreme visual range. So I guess it is pot luck if you happen to get a component of dubious quality and if this results in an aircraft loss then of course it leads to suspicion about the reliability of the manufacturer's products. But taken overall given the numbers out there the failure rate is low and if it is a software glitch then all are pretty quick these days to correct the error. Any computerised system is complex and hey, they are designed by humans and we ain't perfect!

[Former Member]

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[Dave Bran]

Seems to me from lots of reading, observation of issues occuring and personal experience over the years:-

1. It really does look like there is a problem with the DX8, at very least in some firmware versions.

2. MANY MANY people don't have clue how to install and use radio gear!! (and won't read the manual, either)

Example - Expensive 6 servo wing moulded large glider ploughs in, clearly radio issue as three experienced flyers took the Tx and tried to "fly" it on its way to the ground. Kept coming back to control then going again. Inspection showed that the owner had tangled all the servos wiring in with the aerials, buried by the flight battery so looking in the radio bay looked neat and tidy. He'd never done a range check, either.

HE however was bad mouthing the radio for all he was worth. (It was Futaba FASST, BTW).

I have a DX6i and a DX7, NO issues in air but have had two AR500 Rx's refuse to hold bind when "stored" between flying sessions of a few weeks. I also have a Futaba 10CG and two 6EX's, NO issues.

[Greybeard]

I normally keep my own council on this subject but note that all the radio issues I hear about on my club field seem to involve Spektrum equipment but then again they are popular so maybe that’s the reason.

[Peter Miller]

One of our members has just had a similar crash with his DX8, says he has had another three with it on his helicopter., Again, the throttle did not go to fail safe, the model just failed to respond and piled in.

On the other hand I have never had any problems with my DX7 which I bought almost 7 years ago.

[Former Member]

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[GrahamC]

Stig... You don't say which receiver you were using...

my experience with Spektrum is as follows. I used a DSM2 DX6i for a number of years with complete confidence. I then upgraded to a DX7s, which it turned out, had a faulty RX board from new. Spektrum of course replaced this FOC and I have the added confidence of knowing that my TX has passed their soak text, not just the standard quality test in the factory.

However.... My impression is that orange receivers worked very well, with no issues with a Dx6i, but don't work anything like as well with DSMX transmitters. I also had issues with AR500 receivers with the new TX.

I'm intrigued that Orange have now modified their RX's and fitted an additional antenna - initial experiments suggest that these newer designs work much better with the DX7s. (One wonders why Orange felt the need to do this?

The other thing I have discovered is that diversity in the antennas is a much more important issue with DSMX. Installations that worked flawlessly with a DX6i didn't work well with the DX7s.

Edited By GrahamC on 12/08/2013 09:12:50

[The Stig]

Apologies, I was using an AR6200 reciever in the acro wot, this was purchased from tjd models. I have an ar500 in my aircobra, and my other yt warbirds have AR8000's in.

I used to have a dx6i, and I had no problems at all, which is actually one of the reasons I stayed with spektrum and upgraded to the dx8 (about a year or so ago), there's only one other guy that uses spektrum down at the field and he has a dx6i, and has no reported problems either.

I keep going over what happened in my head, but it all happened so quick, but for the plane to do what it did, i woukdve had to have whacked the throttle fully open and banked hard right, and like i said i was on the final approach into the wind, so i was pretty much flying hands free, letting it decend on its own, apart from a few minor adjustments.

In a way I'm happy it was the acro wot that went in and not one of my larger yt warbirds that crashed! But at the same time it's frustrating not knowing why.

[Vecchio Austriaco]

I know I make myself not very popular - but never leave out the possibility of a stall. You said you were at the landing approach - so normally not too fast. As I flew almost every day last week I noticed some gusts from Thursday on - if you catch one of those in the right moment and from the right direction you may enter in a stall - and than you would need a few meters to catch the plane again - which you don't have in a landing approach.

Correction - May be not as you say full throttle - did you check your fail save settings?

VA

Edited By Vecchio Austriaco on 12/08/2013 10:30:03

[FlyinBrian]

Re R/C installation

I met a fellow club member for the first time yesterday, he had a "Riot" plane with Spektrum 6ch Tx and I think a 6200 receiver. The receivers were stuffed into the open part of the fux, not attached to the sides and basically floating around.

The model flies absolutely fine.

I keep the main Rx and sattelite a min of 3" apart with the recommended 90 degree orientation of the aerials and I worry if one aerial overlaps another wire. Mind you I dont have any problems either.

[Nev Haycox]

I believe I lost my Extra 300 to my DX8 and a DSM2 AR6200 combination. I returned both TX and RX to Horizon who claimed a fault had been found with the TX RF board and replaced it FOC, they also updated the firmware on the TX.

I have since used my DX8 all summer with no further problems, that said, I now only use it with DSMX receivers.

My advise would be to return your TX to Horizon a ASAP.

Nev.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I often wonder if one reason why Spekky seems (I emphasise "seems" ) to have more than its fair share of suspected problems is because its the "system of choice" for many beginners? So the user population has a lower average experience level than is the case with say Futaba or JR. This lower experience level might have two consequences:

1. Poorer installation quality
2. A lower level of flying skills/experience

The combination of the two leading to a higher "incident rate"

Just a thought.

BEB

PS Before anyone jumps on me I am not suggesting all Spektrum users fall into this catagory - nor am I suggesting it is the cause in any particular instance. I'm just saying that "on average" it might be true!

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 12/08/2013 11:32:34

[Former Member]

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[Mark Agate]

A couple of weeks ago I was flying a model which I'd happily flown for well over a year, when I suddenly had a control lockout of about 5 seconds duration. Fortunately I got it back and landed safely. We range checked it against a couple of other models I had, all using the same DX8 Tx switched to range check mode. My AR400 Rx and an Orange Rx both gave the full 30 paces, but the AR6200 with satellite (which was the one which had locked out) only gave 9 paces. When I disconnected the satellite it went down to 1 pace!

A quick check on the internet revealed that I'd been using a counterfeit AR6200, which I identified from the photos in this **LINK**. I immediately destroyed it.

Spektrum seem to suffer from counterfeit receivers much more than other manufacturers, and I suspect that's one of the main reasons for their tarnished reputation.

[Former Member]

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[Former Member]

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[The Stig]

Thanks for the input chaps. Much appreciated. I think Andrew hit the nail on the head for me. But I won't make a hasty decision and I'll see what's on offer first.

Regards

TheStig

[andyh]

Posted by Percy Verance on 12/08/2013 14:39:07:

You could liken it to a scenario where you have a car which breaks down often, but costs little or nothing to repair. Most would probably wish for more reliability in the first instance. I've witnessed some Spektrum owners having issues myself, but most still seem to have unshakeable faith. No doubt Horizon's customer service plays it's part here.

the difference being that if a car breaks down, you can generally coast to a halt at the roadside; not quite the same with flying models!

[Frank Skilbeck]

Posted by andyh on 13/08/2013 22:01:38:

Posted by Percy Verance on 12/08/2013 14:39:07:

You could liken it to a scenario where you have a car which breaks down often, but costs little or nothing to repair. Most would probably wish for more reliability in the first instance. I've witnessed some Spektrum owners having issues myself, but most still seem to have unshakeable faith. No doubt Horizon's customer service plays it's part here.

the difference being that if a car breaks down, you can generally coast to a halt at the roadside; not quite the same with flying models!

Depends on the model I had a "radio failure" when I released my Easy Glider on the bungy without switching on the Rx , it when up, came off the bungy, did 4 or five circuits and landed in the next field

[Bandit]

My DX8 is the best thing that ever happened to my model flying. I have all 30 model nemories in use with a variety from indoor to 50cc petrol 3D plane. Spektrum isn't the problem in my humble opinion.

[Devcon1]

Hi all,

I've been using a DX6i and then a DX8 for the a few years now with no radio link problems apart from one incident.

One of the aerial stubs on an AR6100 had fatigued and broken just outside the point where it soldered, I now make sure all the aerial stubs are supported in straws or old snake offcutts.

Very pleased with Spektrum and plan to get a DX9 when they start doing a few post launch offers next spring.

Regards

John