Which Set Should I buy

[Stearman65]

Posted by Anthony Wright 3 on 01/11/2018 15:43:37:

Hello ever thought of making your own mind up? If you say you are building a model requiring 8 functions (which I find highly unlikely) can’t you work this out all by your self ? Or like the rest of the sad so-called experts do you need some else to tell you what to do ?

There's an old saying "what will hold a lot will hold a little", which is the reason I mentioned 8 channels. My Stinson if I ever finish it will have 4 basic channels, throttle, ailerons, elevator, & rudder. Plus flaps, landing lights, nav' lights & an animated pilot, the camera I will probably run continuously, but if I decided to control it would need an extra channel.. So that's a full house. The warmliner will have 5 channels, so that's on the "little" side. Read my thread on the Stinson build for more info. Being out of the game for 11 years, technology has moved on.

**LINK**

Edited By Eric Shepherd on 01/11/2018 17:20:52

[Stearman65]

Thanks everyone for your input, it's given me much to look at & some I've never even heard of.

[Frank Skilbeck]

Eric, also now you would probably have 5 basic channel as it is more normal now to put the ailerons on separate channels so you can electronically dial in some aileron differential, which helps offset adverse yaw. On some of my models I have different amounts of differential on different flight phase, increased differential for take off and landing to avoid adverse yaw at low speeds, and less for aerobatics.

[Peter Christy]

Eric: Don't worry too much! Flying is like riding a bicycle - you may get rusty, but you don't fall off!

Last year, I booked an "air experience" flight (full-size) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my going solo. Despite not being at the controls of a full-size for around 49 years, I managed the take-off, climb-out and basic manoeuvres without any physical input from the instructor! Even the landing was passable! (Well, I didn't break anything!)

Models are the same. It won't take you long to get "back in the saddle"!

As far as radio gear is concerned, the last few years have seen dramatic changes in the technology. However, there is nothing wrong with the "old stuff", and many of the flyers in my club still fly on 35Mhz. Any of the major brands will serve you well. However, it is worth bearing in mind the cost of the airborne equipment when you choose. If you stick at it, you will probably want to build yet more models, and the difference in cost between receivers is dramatic! The difference in performance is not! All modern equipment is built on automated production lines - often in China - and many of the cheaper receivers perform just as well as "major brand" ones costing four or five times as much. Indeed, one of the newer arrivals has established itself as a "major brand" ridiculously quickly. This is because it works, and is a lot less expensive than the traditional manufacturers!

I would wholeheartedly agree that local knowledge is very useful, though. I would recommend avoiding any manufacturer who doesn't have at least one user in your local club! At least, until you have managed to re-gain some experience.

Best of luck! And let us know what you decide to go with and why. It may help others in a similar situation!

--

Pete

[Stearman65]

Posted by Peter Christy on 01/11/2018 17:55:38:

Eric: Don't worry too much! Flying is like riding a bicycle - you may get rusty, but you don't fall off!

Last year, I booked an "air experience" flight (full-size) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my going solo. Despite not being at the controls of a full-size for around 49 years, I managed the take-off, climb-out and basic manoeuvres without any physical input from the instructor! Even the landing was passable! (Well, I didn't break anything!)

Models are the same. It won't take you long to get "back in the saddle"!

As far as radio gear is concerned, the last few years have seen dramatic changes in the technology. However, there is nothing wrong with the "old stuff", and many of the flyers in my club still fly on 35Mhz. Any of the major brands will serve you well. However, it is worth bearing in mind the cost of the airborne equipment when you choose. If you stick at it, you will probably want to build yet more models, and the difference in cost between receivers is dramatic! The difference in performance is not! All modern equipment is built on automated production lines - often in China - and many of the cheaper receivers perform just as well as "major brand" ones costing four or five times as much. Indeed, one of the newer arrivals has established itself as a "major brand" ridiculously quickly. This is because it works, and is a lot less expensive than the traditional manufacturers!

I would wholeheartedly agree that local knowledge is very useful, though. I would recommend avoiding any manufacturer who doesn't have at least one user in your local club! At least, until you have managed to re-gain some experience.

Best of luck! And let us know what you decide to go with and why. It may help others in a similar situation!

--

Pete

Thanks Pete, Sound advise.

[Stearman65]

Posted by Frank Skilbeck on 01/11/2018 17:50:37:

Eric, also now you would probably have 5 basic channel as it is more normal now to put the ailerons on separate channels so you can electronically dial in some aileron differential, which helps offset adverse yaw. On some of my models I have different amounts of differential on different flight phase, increased differential for take off and landing to avoid adverse yaw at low speeds, and less for aerobatics.

Hi Frank.

I had that facility on my last radio, a JR but never got used to programming it in. Which is why I mentioned ease of programming. I don't have a smart phone, just a PC, Laptop, tablet & 3 digital cameras. I moved from flying to digital photography which taught me a lot, so after 11 years, this time I should be able to master the modern radios.

Regards Eric

[Old Geezer]

Eric, something that has been largely ignored so far is the ergonomics of the set - in my opinion the only manufacturer to seriously approach the ergonomics of a Tx are Multiplex. Without labouring the bloomin' obvious, you are going to be holding the Tx and manipulating the sticks plus one or two switches and perhaps a slider for the entirety of every flight so comfort is vital - with the offset orientation of the gimbals and that most subsidiary controls are reachable without much change of grip - - - well, it feels as if it had been designed by the guys at Saab - anyone who's owned a Saab will know what I mean. You get in, it was designed around you, everything was where it should be and comfortably within reach.

And programming a Cockpit SX is extremely straightforward - the only down side of the Cockpit is the price, not exactly at the budget end of the market - but once you've held a Multiplex set you're hooked. Go on, at least have proper look at one!

[Devcon1]

Hi Eric,

Futaba, JR, Spectrum, Hitec, FrSky, Jeti, Multiplex + a few other players will, I think, deliver all of your basic needs.

The factors to influence your decision will be initial purchase cost, ongoing hardware costs, radio link reliability, software functionality and the longevity of the brand.

Difficult for me to produce a table with all the variables but my personal experience led me to plump for FrSky which I'm very happy with, although I still use Spektrum for some legacy models, and can't imagine changing again.

Hope this helps.

John

[Stearman65]

Thanks Devcon 1 & Old geezer. All duly noted. As it is difficult to find a shop with stock I may visit a few local clubs & see if I can blag my way in to go see.

Thanks again.

Regards Eric.

[Stephen Smith 14]

Posted by Anthony Wright 3 on 01/11/2018 15:43:37:

Hello ever thought of making your own mind up? If you say you are building a model requiring 8 functions (which I find highly unlikely) can’t you work this out all by your self ? Or like the rest of the sad so-called experts do you need some else to tell you what to do ?

LOL

[PatMc]

Posted by Old Geezer on 01/11/2018 20:10:03:

Eric, something that has been largely ignored so far is the ergonomics of the set - in my opinion the only manufacturer to seriously approach the ergonomics of a Tx are Multiplex. Without labouring the bloomin' obvious, you are going to be holding the Tx and manipulating the sticks plus one or two switches and perhaps a slider for the entirety of every flight so comfort is vital - with the offset orientation of the gimbals and that most subsidiary controls are reachable without much change of grip - - - well, it feels as if it had been designed by the guys at Saab - anyone who's owned a Saab will know what I mean. You get in, it was designed around you, everything was where it should be and comfortably within reach.

And programming a Cockpit SX is extremely straightforward - the only down side of the Cockpit is the price, not exactly at the budget end of the market - but once you've held a Multiplex set you're hooked. Go on, at least have proper look at one!

I have a 35meg Cockpit SX with a FrSky hack module wired in via a switch. Because the SX has synthisized RF system I can use 35meg Rx's on any Xtl as well as V8 & D series Frsky Rx's. Although I do quite like the Tx and find that using the optional "rubber duck" aerial a boon when slope soaring, I can't say that the I find the Tx particularly comfortable to hold & I find the offset orientation gimbles mildly irritating.
The Sx has one of the most comprehensive manuals I've come across but IMO programming is anything but straightforward & the manual is often required.
OTOH once I'd got over the initial few hurdles with the Taranis I found programming even quite complex setups quite intuitive. I have at times needed to ask for help when upgrading firmware etc but these upgrades have always been by choice not through necessity.

Edited By PatMc on 01/11/2018 22:16:02

[Dave Cooper 3]

Hi again Eric - just a few final comments from me. I'm basically a Futaba man (35 MHz) and I think their '2.4' spec's are very impressive. The problem for me is I will have 5+ models on the go next year, so, Rx cost comes into it very strongly and I don't want to disturb each installation to swap out a trusted Rx every time.

I read a tech' review on Aurora 9 the other day and it seems there may have been an issue with 'dead-spots' at the extremities of stick travel. This may have been fixed now, but, worth checking out. (potentiometer mis-alignment ?)

Taranis - this is most likely my new route for 2019 - a 3-metre, vintage, scale glider. I can put you in touch with an "Open TX" expert who will talk you through a complete set-up over the phone. BTW their Limited Edition Tx now has 'hall-effect' sticks - beautifully smooth when I tried them last week !

Dave

[Anthony Wright 3]

An open TX expert! I rest my case .

[Allan Bennett]

Posted by Dave Cooper 3 on 01/11/2018 23:25:45:

Hi again Eric - just a few final comments from me. I'm basically a Futaba man (35 MHz) and I think their '2.4' spec's are very impressive. The problem for me is I will have 5+ models on the go next year, so, Rx cost comes into it very strongly and I don't want to disturb each installation to swap out a trusted Rx every time . . . . .

Dave

I was a dedicated Futaba man -- both 35 and 2.4 -- but I went to Frsky Taranis last year when I couldn't find a way to apply throttle-cut to two separate throttle channels. I now make a small profit almost every time I sell my Futaba 6 or 7 channel FASST receiver on eBay and replace it with a Frsky stabilised model. Replicating the original Futaba setups with the Frsky gear has so far been a doddle, in fixed-wing aircraft, flybarred and fbl helis, and in quadcopters. In fact in my quads at the moment I'm using Frsky flight controllers with built-in receivers, so none of the usual interface problems. I've got 15 models converted at the moment, with a few yet to do.

[Stearman65]

Thanks again Anthony Dave & PatMc. All your comments & advice duly noted & welcomed. I obviously need to get my hands on a number so different manufacturers kit. How I will achieve this I'm not sure yet. My nearest club is difficult to get to the flying field. The nearest large retailer doesn't have stock on the shelves & I don't believe he would want to unpack the sets they do have just to let me twiddle the sticks. Some more research is needed before I take the plunge, winter is coming, so being a fair weather flyer would mean I have a couple of months before I buy. Thanks again.

Eric

[ken anderson.]

hello again Eric,we are spoiled for choice today compared to not so long ago...and the things work straight out of the box.....if you intend getting back in big style maybe spend a little more than average...…. if your just have a re-run of your years gone by....buy a budget set......even they will have most of what you require.... and will serve you well...i'm a Hitec A9 user....nice user friendly bit of kit...

ken anderson...ne...1...…. budget dept.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by Anthony Wright 3 on 01/11/2018 16:21:20:

Hello I use frysky Exelent radio. It just annoys me that nobody can think for themselves anymore!

I'm a little intrigued by this comment. Could I ask how you came to make your decision to go with your current system? Did you research it yourself by making comparisons with radios supplied for the purpose by the manufacturers or agents, take their marketing literature at face value, buy one on spec. with the hope that it would be suitable - or maybe use the experience and opinion of other club members or maybe even forums like this?

Yes, there's plenty of opinion bouncing around the internet but I suspect that if you were in the company of 100 model flyers, at least 99 of them would be convinced that their particular radio system was the best! I feel that I have a reasonable level of knowledge in model flying and building but only know one or two radio systems that I work with regularly in any depth and can be as confused as anyone by references to perceived difficulties or issues that affect other systems accompanied by various combinations of model names and firmware variants.

The OP is returning to flying after a long break and is aware of massive changes since he last flew models - perhaps not yet rejoined a club and has explained his specific requirements for anyone who cares to give the benefit of their opinion. This, to me, is entirely sensible information gathering and as differing opinions have been expressed (and would be expected) then he will be armed with some relevant information when he makes his decision to make a significant investment.

[Geoff S]

Very well put, Martin. Couldn't agree more.

Geoff

[Stearman65]

Precisely Martin. & Thanks again Ken.

Regards Eric.

[PatMc]

A wise man learns from his mistakes and experience.

A wiser man learns from the mistakes and experience of others.

 

Edited By PatMc on 02/11/2018 12:06:45

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by PatMc on 02/11/2018 11:45:13:

A wise man learns from his mistakes and experience.

A wiser man learns from the mistakes and experience of others.

Edited By PatMc on 02/11/2018 12:06:45

The wisest man learns from the mistakes and experience of others...and his own mistakes and experience - but claims that they were the mistakes and experience of others.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Pete B]

Posted by supertigrefan on 03/11/2018 12:29:20:

Here's a suggestion: Bin your current profile and start all over again with a new slate but this time lose the attitude!

He 'left the room' yesterday....no return is anticipated....

Pete

[Dave Hess]

Posted by Pete B - Moderator on 03/11/2018 13:24:47:

Posted by supertigrefan on 03/11/2018 12:29:20:

Here's a suggestion: Bin your current profile and start all over again with a new slate but this time lose the attitude!

He 'left the room' yesterday....no return is anticipated....

Pete

That's nothing to be happy about. If you start excluding people that think different to the modal forum guys, you'll end up with nothing but a clique of die-hards making threads about how well they can pin sticks of balsawood to plans and why I/C engines are better than electric.

The guy made a valid point, which he expressed in a rather clumsy though direct way. Instead of taking issue with his point, forum members resorted to a tirade of personal abuse. It's them that should have been dealt with not him.

You can ban me too for expressing my opinion if you want. I don’t give an iota. There are plenty of more friendly rc forums than this one.