Radio link

[Edwin Brown]

Perkins have an advert in this months RCME for there transmitters. Looking at the specs on there web site they look very good. They are certainly very competitive. Has anybody got an experience of them. What are the pitfalls?

[Geoff S]

Transmitters are a one off purchase. Receivers etc, however, are not. The main thing to look at when contemplating changing a radio system in these days of exclusive protocols is the cost and range of available receivers and their ancillaries. That's one of the reasons when I opted to swap from Multiplex 35 Mhz radio to a 2.4gHz system I chose Frsky.

Geoff

[Peter Miller]

The receivers are very, very reasonable. Check the J Perkins website

One of our club members has a 12 channel Tx and a couple of Rxs.

I am told that much of the programming is similar to Futaba. He has needed some help with setting up but that is more to do with him and not the set.

I am also told that it comes with the manual in the TX but you can print itv off, all 80 pages.

[Colin Bernard]

I had a look at these at the Nats and was very impressed. The deal breaker for me was the small number of models it could hold, (I think it was 10), with no possibility of holding more on SD or offloading to PC.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Another consideration for less experienced pilots likely to be in the market for basic systems is whether they can buddy with instructors when using it.

[Edwin Brown]

Martin, you raise an important point about buddying. I want to be able to ensure that my 8 year old grandson can receive training from the clubs trainers so presumably I will need to buy two transmitters to ensure that this can happen. To upgrade from my current Spektrum DX7's is going to be quite expensive. I was planning to buy DX8's but it is the 12 receivers as well that really puts the price up. I have been looking in detail at the Radio Link and Perkins web sites and the manuals. Also there are some YouTube videos. So far I have been impressed. Indeed the programming seems more logical than my old DX7's but I don't know how much easier it is to do the DX8. I will keep digging.

Thank you all for your comments.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

You sound like the wife...

[Dave Hess]

My friend bought a very cheap Flysky system, which seemed to give him some range problems, so he bought a Frsky external module for it, which worked perfectly. He then found out how to modify the Tx to run Open Tx. he's now very happy with it.

I paid quite a lot of money for a Taranis with Open Tx, then I found a Jumper T12 transmitter that ran Open Tx and has the Jumper 4in1 module that can work with just about any receiver. it has all the switches and controls that my Taranis has, so setting up is virtually identical and it has all the same features for around £80, though it feels much cheaper.

Open Tx takes a while to figure out, so not for everyone, but you can buy that Jumper 4in1 module for £40 to fit any Tx with an external bay, which means you can convert your Tx to work with just about any receiver.

I like the look of the Turnigy 9X, which has a lot of features including the external module bay for £57. There's a review of it here. Normally, these guys are quite trustworthy with their reviews, but this one is sponsored, so bear that in mind. Turnigy receivers are nice and cheap too: