Reliability of FRsky Tandem X20S

[Sam Longley]

So I posted in this forum about problems I had with "odd receiver linking issues."

Today at the field I met my instructor who also has a model shop. I explained the problem to him. Now he is a bit off hand about my Futaba transmitter because he does not like me asking for advice about it. We had a bit of a set to one day about this because I had not bought it from him. I explained that another shop had sold it to me for £75-00 less AND included a receiver FOC. So i could hardly not buy it from them. I also pointed out that I had bought a lot of new models from him plus engines & accessories. I had also had 50 lessons at £25-- per lesson from him, so it was not as if I did not favour his shop.

Anyway he says I should get my radio checked out or get a new one "Before I kill someone"I pointed out that to send it for repair means that I am without it for 4 months ( I was last time) so a new one is the only option

He says that a new 16SG will be over £700.& I will have to buy 10 new receivers.  I really find this expensive at the current time. (Bought the wife a new car today)

 

I said that I had looked on line & the programming on you tube of the FRsky X20s looks easier than my Futaba & at £570-- plus the receivers looks a better deal

He immediately went into a rant saying they were rubbish & advised me not to touch them. He said he has heard of loads of crashes with FRsky. I said why & he said well you only have to look at the price. They are made like junk.

I asked if he sold them & he said NO they can only be supplied through certain outlets & he would not sally his reputation training people who used them

So now I am in a quandry

 

No one in our club has one- All Spectrum & Futaba so I will not get any help in setting it up. But there is plenty on line info

 

But are the top of the line FRsky sets really that bad or is the rant just a Futaba user slagging off the opposition because he cannot sell them

Is the bad reputation really because of the cheepo ones  & does it apply to the top end of the range?

Is there anyone who has experience of a group of users & how they perform, or is this a small manufactured niche item that really is rather bad & there are few about

Am I being influenced by a bad shop keeper

Help & opiniom PLEASE because I need to get something if what he says is right.

That being said , My transmitter worked OK today on a different plane & receiver so I do not know what to do. But I am leaning to a new one as this one is now 10 years old

Edited February 9, 2023 by Sam Longley

[Richard Wills 2]

I fly an x20s, my experience has been totally positive and would trust any model to it.  Plenty of opinions about it online so do your research and form your own opinion.  As for the model shopowner/instructor, if it was me I would be steering clear completely if the above story is true.

[Ron Gray]

5 minutes ago, Sam Longley said:

Am I being influenced by a bad shop keeper

Yes!
 

Personally if any shop owner said that to me (without any first hand knowledge) I would not be buying anything from him again. 
 

My first hand experience of using FrSky gear ever since it came out, is that it is very reliable. The only crashes I have seen have been down to me! 
 

Regarding build quality, the X20S is extremely well built and is a very nice radio.

[Graham Davies 3]

Sounds like a toxic relationship to me...

 

Most 'reliability' issues with any gear can be traced to something else. I used Futaba for years, but now use a Radiomaster TX16. I love both, and am more than capable of crashing with either...

 

Good luck with your choice; I'm sure whichever way you go you won't be disappointed.

[kc]

First of all reliability is the thing - so don't use your Futaba set if it's dodgy!

 

However why do you need an expensive Futaba set - why not buy a less expensive Futaba like 10J?   Of course your FAAST Rx won't work with the 10J or cheaper Futaba but replacing the Rx is  a good idea anyway - the Rx might be the problem.   All most of us need is 6 channels or so but it must be 100 percent reliable.    Do you really need 10 Rx?   If you do then buying an expensive tx might be the cheaper way out to use your old Rx , but if you only need a few Rx then swop to the newer Futaba sustem.   

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by kc

[MattyB]

56 minutes ago, Sam Longley said:

But are the top of the line FRsky sets really that bad or is the rant just a Futaba user slagging off the opposition because he cannot sell them

Is the bad reputation really because of the cheepo ones  & does it apply to the top end of the range?

The bad reputation is not even because of the "cheapo" ones - OpenTX based sets like the Taranis X9 and X7 have sold by the bucket load over the last 10 years, they might even be the number one sellers worldwide given the vast takeup they have had by FPV quadcopter flyers. Given that and Frsky's meteoric growth, how unreliable can they really be?

 

I have a gen 1 Taranis from the very first batch that has hundreds of hours of flying, and I've never lost a model to it due to RC issues. In fact on multiple occasions it has SAVED models because a poor install on my part has been detected on the ground during range check or in the air by the cheap as chips signal strength  telemetry. With Futaba and other big brands that has historically been a high cost option not included by default. Of course there have been the odd issue along the way occasionally, but they have been growing fast and  it is not as if the likes of Futaba (GUID 0000 issue) and Spektrum (high brownout voltages in early RXs and DSM2 issues in noisy environments) have never had a problem either.

 

56 minutes ago, Sam Longley said:

Is there anyone who has experience of a group of users & how they perform, or is this a small manufactured niche item that really is rather bad & there are few about

Yes, just the tens of thousands of happy users all over the world (go over to RCGroups if you want to meet them, although there is plenty of FUD about pretty much every brand there as well, including Futaba!). You won't find as many Frsky users on this forum probably as we don't have a high proportion of multirotor flyers (who are generally far more accepting of the challenger brands), but the data indicates that Frsky are probably now the #2 or #3 manufacturer in terms of global sales. That's not a "niche item"!

 

56 minutes ago, Sam Longley said:

Am I being influenced by a bad shop keeper

Undoubtedly. He clearly knows nothing about the product, so is spreading FUD because they threaten market share of the long established "big brands" he does sell. Remember, Frsky have a business model that deliberately does not utilise selling through LHS', so their success is a direct threat to his sales because he can't easily start to sell them himself. Just ignore him (and ditch him as an instructor).

 

56 minutes ago, Sam Longley said:

Help & opinion PLEASE because I need to get something if what he says is right.

That being said , My transmitter worked OK today on a different plane & receiver so I do not know what to do. But I am leaning to a new one as this one is now 10 years old

Having said all of the above abut Frsky, I believe there is essentially zero chance of you having an issue with your Futaba that would bring down a model. Sure, I have seen lots of ways for people to crash over the years (battery failures, poor RX installs, broken aerials, not extending the aerial on 35 etc etc), but I have never seen or heard of a model becoming unbound in flight at a random moment. This is because of the way that binding works - essentially you are transferring a UID from one to the other, and once done that can only be overwritten by going into binding mode again which cannot happen in flight.

 

I have seen a loss of bind happen on the ground, but that has always happened after a power cycle where the model memory had somehow become corrupted and the bind information overwritten. Setting up again from scratch on a clean on a new model memory (sometimes after replacing or reformatting the memory card) and they worked absolutely fine for many years after.

 

To reassure you I suggest conducting the following tests then move on if it passes...

 

1. Take off the prop (or just use an RX outside of a model)
2. Turn on your TX and bind the RX with a servo connected
3. Turn off the TX and turn it on again - check the connection is re-established.
4. Do that 10 more times, 20 or 30 if you are particularly risk averse!
5. If all is well, forget about it and move on. 
6. If you get a loss of bind at any point, replace the SD memory card in your TX, then retest as above.

Edited February 9, 2023 by MattyB

[Trevor Crook]

I know two people with X20 tandems and both work well. They look very well made. Even the cheapy QX7 I've got has a nice feel, with smooth joystick operation. I found OpenTx a bit challenging to program though, so after a dabble went back to using my Spektrum stuff, which I find easy to program (albeit I am used to it) and has never given any bother.

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

I have been flying Frsky since 2012.

 

In that time I have never had an issue that I can put down to the hardware!

Started off with a DX7 that I modified improved with a hack module.

Then a DX9 the early one not the plus model.

Then 3 Horus X12S and now a Tandem X20.

Never have I had one "unbind" on me.

The new ETHOS OS is one of the easiest to program that I have come across. There are plenty of very good utube video`s out there.

 

No idea what part of the world you are from Sam, but if I were you I would find another model shop and a club where training is FREE.

 

There is a thread about the X20 HERE.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Kevin Fairgrieve

[Andy Gates]

Like Ron, I use FrSky stuff - mainly receivers and have only had one non pilot related issue.

I do not use a FrSky Tx as I have one of those "really cheap rubbish" transmitters - a Jumper T16 Pro.

My stuff takes quite a bit of punishment as I fly almost all weathers and I am one of 3 club instructors - but I do most of the training with the buddy being a Futaba F9CP wirelessly linked.

 

As such I need to have complete confidence in my equipment which I do have. Failure rate is almost non existent for me (I hope I have not fated myself).

 

As Trevor has suggested, you become familiar with whatever you use.

Personally I find main brand transmitters terribly frustrating as I have to do things the way they want me to and quite often switch usage is limited.

I have become used to doing things how I want via OpenTx, yes it was a steep learning curve but for me well worth it.

 

My transmitter has 16 channel capability with telemetry displayed or called out and is still available for around £130 +P&P. I can't get anywhere close to that with branded equipment.

[Graham Bowers]

I've used a FrSky Taranis since 2015 and it's been totally reliable. I jumped ship from Multiplex not for price, but for functionality. Opentx takes a bit of learning however it's versatility seems limitless.

 

Something you may wish to look at is the Radiomaster TX16S that has a version with an internal multiprotocol module. The multiprotocol module will bind to many brands of receiver; I bought one recently to bind to a bind-and-fly spekky quad. I've since bound it to some of my multiplex receivers, and FrSky receivers. It shipped with EdgeTx (an open source operating system based on Opentx) however I reflashed it to run opentx. My plan is to transfer all my models to it in the fullness of time. There are other transmitters that use multiprotocol modules, internal and external. i can't guarantee they'll bind to your Fut receivers however now you're aware of this you can do your own reading.

 

I've pasted a couple of links I came across as I was doing my reading.

 

https://rc-soar.blogspot.com/2020/07/can-radiomaster-tx16s-crush-my-x9d-plus.html

 

 

[Graham Davies 3]

I have a TX16s, and love it

[stu knowles]

Shocked at the amount of money that you have given this guy, especially for tuition.

 

My advice would be to have a review of your aquaintances.

 

Fr sky?  Rock solid. First Class gear - an opinion based on continuous experience since the brand first came to this country

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Modern Radio of all makes, are all much more reliable than the advice given by some, strange fella.

🙄

[MattyB]

45 minutes ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

Modern Radio of all makes, are all much more reliable than the advice given by some, strange fella.

Agreed. Enquiring mins would love to know who this proprietor is so we can be sure not to contribute to his income in future 😉, but I suspect the OP will not wish to burn his bridges completely which is fair enough.

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by MattyB

[GrumpyGnome]

Totally reiterate the above - there are two Taranis users in our club, one ex-Taranis user (me), 2 FlySky users, one Radiomaster user (me).  Nobody has ever had a radio related issue that was not their fault. 

 

If they were unreliable, they would not sell and the internet would be awash with tales of woe - it isn't.  I suspect your acquaintance believes that if you can't buy any item from him, it's rubbish!

 

Personally, I'd do some internet research......... and find another instructor as you're quite an income stream for him.  Most clubs have instructors that don't charge.  

[leccyflyer]

My Frsky experience has definitely been with the so-called low end kit, via one of the original plug in modules for the Futaba FF9. That drives 25+ of the V4 FRII and V8 FRII receivers in fixed wing and gliders over more than 10 years. The only issue I have experienced in many hundreds of flights was completely user induced on my first flight when I accidentally took off in range check mode. The radio gear has been rock solid throughout that time.

 

Your instructor/model shop owner is spouting garbage with his tales of unreliability of Frsky kit. I was a dyed in the wool Futaba user pre 2.4ghz, but the excessive cost and lack of flexibility of the Futaba system was a significant discouragement from stocking with Futaba after the transition. The thought of replacing 40 odd 35mhz receivers at Futaba's prices at the time was not compelling - though I can certainly see how desirable that sort of outcome might be to the mindset you describe.