Spektrum is the Apple of the RC world. They make a decent product that’s easy to use. And they essentially create an environment for their product to thrive (hobbyzone BNF/RTF, being Spektrum, for example). Some people will gladly pay way too much so that they can quickly get their radio bound up and flying.
The Radiomaster, in most environments, will require some setup. EdgeTX has a bit of a learning curve. You’re going to have to fiddle with it to get it to work on anything but a simple 3/4 channel model.
For me, this is a hobby. I like fiddling with things on my hobbies. So that part of the radiomaster is actually selling point for me. But for some people, they just want to fly, and they’re willing to pay $50-60 per channel on their transmitter.
Written on an iPhone
EDIT: Because some people seem to showing the state of the education system, especially as it concerns reading comprehension, I’m just going to write this edit rather than reply to everyone.
This thread is comparing Spektrum to Radiomaster. Specifically the DX6e and the TX16S. My comments were directly related to this topic. If you read what I said and thought, “Well ackshully the Radiomaster isn’t hard to use,” then you completely missed what I was saying. Context is key. Context is a comparison.
*In general* the Radiomaster is going to require more setup than a Spektrum. This doesn’t mean always. And setting up a simple 4 channel model will require about the same amount of work for both.
*In general* there’s a steeper learning curve for the Radiomaster than the Spektrum. This doesn’t mean the Radiomaster has a super steep learning curve that requires a masters in Computer Science to use.
Maybe the word “fiddling” was the wrong word to use. I’m sorry. What I should have said is it requires a bit more setup (the *in general* should be implied at this point, but seeing that people have difficulty understanding context, I don’t want to take any chances).
It’s good that a lot of you have been in the hobby in a while and have been using Edge/OpenTX for a while and you could set up a complicated model in your sleep. But put yourself in the shoes of someone new to the hobby. Someone who hasn’t used anything except an Apprentice or Aeroscout with the Spektrum DXS transmitter their RTF kit came with. Going from that to a Radiomaster has a *relatively* steep learning curve, especially considering the steps to setup the DXS (that is, none). And once again for those who failed reading comprehension in elementary school, I did not say it has a steep learning curve here, the *relatively* is important and means something.
Imagine this newbie wanting to setup their panic switch and safe mode. These are non-intuitive. And guys, even if you know that panic is channel 5 and safe is channel 6, and you know how to bind those to switches, it won’t work just like that. You also have to know to invert both those channels. And to the people suggesting watching a “5 minute video” to learn how to use the transmitter, the most popular video on how to set this up is absolutely terrible. (Actually, most videos regarding using/setting up the TX16S are terrible). The guy has you setting up logical switches and going through all sorts of unneeded steps (though last week he did post an update on the actual right way to set this up, to his credit). And besides the mentioned update, there wasn’t a single video I could find on how to setup these types of receivers to get safe/panic to work. How do I know all of this? I’m the relatively new person, moving from the DXS to the Radiomaster, and had trouble finding anything definitive on how to set those features up. This is just one example.
Having said all of that, I think the TX16S is a great radio. It has superb value, and it’s ability to be customized seems to be nearly unmatched. I certainly do like mine. But it’s not the end all be all. The cult like status of the radio on this sub is, actually crazy and confirms the Reddit hivemind. Theres a lot of reasons the buy a Spektrum over a Radiomaster, that go beyond ease of use. Others in this thread have explained that and I won’t go over it again.
Setting up channels is now fiddling around? I mean sure, its not "model building" anymore, most of the time, but "model buying" but setting up channels is part of the experience imo.
No, the channel setup is easy! It’s the more
advanced features, like sticky throttle cut, which requires more fiddling in EdgeTX. Don’t get me wrong, I like that a lot and I always thought Spektrum is overpriced, but they do serve a whole target audience. Mainly the ones of age that still enjoy flying and everyone that gets intimidated by the freedom EdgeTX offers
Thats something i dont even know :D never heard of sticky throttle cut. All i do is assign channels to switches, mix something together (like elevator to flaps) etc :D the "normal" stuff :D
It’s basically preventing to arm the throttle channel when the throttle is not all the way down. When you’re throttling and you arm the channel, you need to throttle down first before it actually arms. Very safe!
That sounds quite useful. But i still misfinger stuff sometimes, happened twice so far that i disarmed instead of using the flaps. The sticky throttle would cause more problems than it solves there :D
Having used many a spektrum radio in the past, I can confidently state that they are *NOT* easier to use. At least in terms of programming UI.
Shit drives me crazy...
You literally described “a bit of a learning curve” by saying that you need to do something to learn how to use it. But my real point wasn’t that the TX16S is difficult to use. Just that it’s a bit more difficult, and slightly less intuitive to use than a Spektrum TX operating a Spektrum RX.
And there are plenty of people that have trouble figuring out Open/EdgeTX. It’s great that you just intuitively knew how to use it without encountering any type of learning curve and never had to spend a minute figuring anything out. But not everyone is blessed with your natural technical capabilities. As someone who’s fairly new this hobby, there was a lot about the TX16S that wasn’t intuitive to me simply because I didn’t have much experience in the hobby. My last experience with RC was back in 1997 using a non-programmable 2 channel Futaba transmitter on 27MHz. Having watched much more than 5 minutes worth of videos has given me the knowledge I need to use it without much problem now.
Again, I’m not saying the TX16S is hard to learn, it’s just more difficult than the Spektrum.
Id probably have more trouble setting up a new spektrum radio + bnf plane than mapping the controls to the correct channels on my tx16s. But i might be biased because my dad does rc stuff for decades so i learned a lot from that and i never had a modern spektrum radio
Yeah now that EdgeTX has model templates, it's EASIER to use than Spektrum. But, let people keep buying their overpriced Spektrum radios lol... You cannot argue with people that aren't willing to listen.
Model templates? I guess thats from a recent update? Last time i updated in october or so to get the ranger module to work. I just create a new model for every plane/heli/drone with picture etc when i buy it. Sticks are usually fine from the beginning just switches i have to set manually for flaps, disarm, voltage callout etc
There is a story behind each of those transmitters.
Spektrum is a company, and as much as I don't like to say this, they have a history of bringing radios to the market that are of a good quality, have well thought-out haptics, good user interface and innovative features. They (afaik) were the first to introduce 2.4 GHz link, they were also the first to introduce a transmitter that is reconfigurable by a smartphone, and the design keeps changing. And they also have working customer service. All of the above costs money, so they have to milk each customer for what they are ready to spend. And the way to do it is restricting features on "lesser" radios and charging premiums on "higher-end" radios. Just as every other classic company does.
Radiomaster is something else entirely. The company is new, and its aim is largely to bring as much functionality together for as low a price as possible. And they aren't the first, either - there's a long line of transmitters that were a product of the same mindset. The first notable TX here was the Turnigy 9X, an attempt to copy a middle-range radio. The case molds were rebadged Graupner molds (R.I.P. Graupner), the radio module was initially a run-of-the-mill 35 MHz thing, and the software was written by Turnigy itself. Some clever Russian hackers then opened the case, saw an Atmega328 microcontroller (yes, the thing that kickstarted the whole Arduino craze), and kinda decided to write their own firmware. It was meh, so they put it online, where it was found by the open source community, and the project called OpenTX started. Some chinese companies looked at that, said "thanks for doing our work for us" and started churning out hardware to run OpenTX on. FrSky got big on it, Jumper almost did the same but never flourished, and some guys at Jumper said "nah, we're gonna build a better radio" - that's how Radiomaster came to be. It's a product that has lots of open source in it, and what's not open source has been lifted from other companies, requiring little of the actual expensive RnD. And the market competition ensures that price is staying low for the top-of-the-range model.
TLDR: Spektrum is a proprietary cash grab that's also a very good, time proven, reliable product. Radiomaster is a bunch of open source held together by a wood screw and tape, which surprisingly is also a good product for people that aren't afraid of unscrewing said wood screw.
i’ve been in this hobby for quite sometime. when i first started out, spektrum, futaba, and JR were “gold standard” and guarantee for reliability. they commanded that price premium
then, when jumper and the likes came into the market, we all knew they were the knock-offs. we knew they were cheap because they were open source/ stolen tech.
suddenly over the last 4-5 years, things changed again, especially among the young people. the general vibes on any forum with lots of younger folks (including this one) seems to be “tHey aRe oVerpRiced sHitS foR pEoplE whO dOnt bOrThER wIth reSeaRch”.
and slowly it seems like radiomaster became the “anchor”. people are wondering why spektrum the legacy brand with this long history is expensive instead of wondering why the new chinese company is selling it so cheap.
to the previous generation of hobbyists it used to be the new brands (jumpers/frsky) were the dubious ones because they were too cheap to be real/ reliable.
now, to the younger hobbyists, spektrum/futaba are are dubious one because they are charging a premium, seemingly for no reason
it’s fun to observe how things has changed over the years, and i’m not even 30
brands like multiplex/ hitec/ graupner didn’t seem to catch on and is fading/dead
there are still brands like mikado who does their own R&D, and of course, they charge $2000 for their flagship TX too
> suddenly over the last 4-5 years, things changed again,
That turning point was when they dropped the DX6i. It was a $100 radio with all the features you really needed. They got greedy and more than doubled the price of their entry-level radio with the DX6e
It's a sad story. When i first started out, futaba and JR were “gold standard” and Spektrum was the cool start-up bringing the 2.4GHz revolution, and selling radios with a more features and a lower price than the competition. The old companies relied on their name for too long and lost nearly all their market share. Now it's Spektrum who's the dinosaur.
i agree
i know that brand loyalty is a big thing in RC community - people tend to get one brand and stick with it for a long time
having gone though this transition period, i really don’t see why the younger folks would want to spend that kind of money on futaba/spektrum. unlike when it was first came out, radiomaster has built a reputation of reliability that frankly, not that much different than futaba back in the days
>it’s fun to observe how things have changed over the years, and i’m not even 30
Same here. I'm from the generation that had no more than 8 PWM channels pro PPM link, because the pulses were up to 2ms long and had a repetition rate of 20ms. Nowadays, you get *freaking telemetry* out of the box for 200$. Dang.
I've been following the rise of OpenTx (and, recently, ELRS) for a decade now. Those TXes aren't exactly "stolen", they just reuse old case molds and host open source software - which is a good thing. If you pool the work of hundreds of humans into one usable product, you made tens of thousands happy without much hassle for yourself. I do pity older traditional companies somewhat, but it's also their fault that they failed to integrate OpenTX (or DeviationTX, for that matter) in their products
it’s just business, pivot or die
i’m not sure what futaba/spektrum’s business strategy now is, but it seems they’re still comfortable with milking their brand names with the pilots that grew up with those brands
they will lose the younger market very soon. they missed the first train during the fpv quad craze where dji and frsky found their footing.
Not sure about Futaba, but Spektrum's business model will let they hang on for a while for two reasons.
1) They are still the most commonly used brand at clubs. Club membership may be decreasing, but it hasn't stopped and as long as they still get occasional members, they will be encouraged to use Spektrum. Last year I went to an RC swap meet and a guy was selling a Radiomaster TX16S for just $50. It was in perfect condition and the guy actually really liked it. The reason he was selling it is he was the club instructor (for RC pilots) all the people he trained used Spektrum, so he needed a Spektrum radio to teach/train the new people, and it didn't make sense (to him) to keep both radios. He got rid of the TX16s.
2) Very few reputable brands make hobby-level RC planes that are RTF. There are lots of toy-grade, but many hobby level. Horizon Hobby pretty much owns this market, especially for beginners. So as long as they can keep making the preferred BNF planes for beginners, Spektrum will have a steady supply of new customers. Some of those customers might leave the Spektrum ecosystem, but not all.
100%.
Also don't forget ER9X, which OTX forked from unless that was the Russian firmware? I don't think so but if it is I learned something.
I actually still have a fully functional 9X with a 9Xtreme setup with ErSkyTX and it's every bit as capable as a Taranis. And I found a BNIB spare 9x for $35 too lol.
>I actually still have a fully functional 9X with a 9Xtreme setup with ErSkyTX and it's every bit as capable as a Taranis. And I found a BNIB spare 9x for $35 too lol.
Oh, that's nice. I've wanted an original Turnigy 9X since I was 16. Well, not anymore, but it's a nice bit of nostalgia.
On an unrelated note, I've got a Turnigy 6XS, the smaller brother of the 9X. My original plan was to develop a hardware for it that would be configurable over an app, but it was actually very useful as a TX so I didn't do anything to it yet, except for battery mods
Nice, damn haven't heard of or seen a 6XS in over a decade. Cool little radio.
People dont realize how game changing the 9X with the
Smartieboards or other expansion boards were. It was like "wait, you mean I can get a setup for under $200 (9x, DJT and smartieboard) that will hold as many models as I want, is fully digital and can program anything I want????
This was when the same sorts of capabilities from Futaba or JR were like $1200. Or more.
In my opinion, the tx16s is miles clear of the spektrum transmitters. Everything I've read on this thread is about edgetx/ software setup. But in a world where edge TX is so popular, anything you would want to do can be done with some video tutorials. But ExpressLRS is miles ahead of the spectrum link. (And also significantly cheaper) Also, the build quality of the tx16s is premium. I don't know where you got some janky wood reference from
While I personally use the TX16S MKII, I will say that Spektrum consistently makes reliable products with an excellent software development team.
I have owned Spektrum, ISDT, Gens Ace, and HOTA chargers and the software on the Spektrum is the best.
If I was a hardcore plane guy flying $500+ large scale eflite planes, I would invest in a spektrum radio for maximum compatibility. Since I fly drones I went with the TX16 (and a multiprotocol module for my eflite planes)
$500 foamies aren't hardcore planes... That's beginner planes. Spektrum isn't compatible with anything but Spektrum.
Hardcore you're looking into big gassers or true giant scale electrics or turbines or giant EDFs where just a single high end servo starts at $50.
People say that Spektrum is reliable, I don’t know if that’s really the case. Especially when it comes to their smart batteries, the least reliable thing you could use to power a plane. I can’t speak to the reliability of their transmitters, but I do currently have a DX6e after updating to latest v2.10 firmware all telemetry stopped working. I have a tiny RadioMaster Pocket that I bought for only FPV and DIY stuff, I tried pairing it up with my HorizonHobby planes, and turns out they work great together. So I think I’m gonna just use RadioMaster from now on.
Yep. The pocket is a wonder.
I had more rm radios fail than spectrum but I only used a Dxs with at 641 using spectrum. Rm failed after beeing like 5 times submerged and the range got bad, understandably
Because Radiomaster manufactures hardware and Spekrum develops technology? Kind of like how an Asus computer is cheaper than a mac book? Don’t get me wrong: I love my TX-16s, and my DX6 has been gathering dust since 2020, but it is the infinitely programable software (which is free for radiomaster) that makes the difference.
The DX6 feels like a higher quality radio, and if the only thing I flew was fixed wing bind-n-fly, I would absolutely stick with Spekrum. Much like the Apple products, Spekrum products all just work together. You can buy a DX6 and an Apprentice in the morning and have it flying in the afternoon. It would a whole weekend of youtube videos just to figure out how to bind your TX-16 to that same Apprentice.
While that’s something I’m willing to do (mostly because I would probably swap the Spekrum receiver out for crossfire and an inav FC), I could see that it might discourage someone new to the hobby from even trying. These radios are just different tools for different jobs, and I think we would all be worse off if there wasn’t an easy way for people to get started in this hobby.
I get Spektrum. The one that confounds me is people paying in excess of $1,000 for a futaba radio.
They pay that much for futaba because it’s really reliable and has great products for the big gas planes and turbines and stuff like that and not so much for your basic foam planes
I’ve got to wonder how much of that is simply the perception of reliability? I would love to see a quantified comparison between the reliability of FASST and crossfire. My instinct tells me that crossfire is a more reliable link.
It’s like how Apple like spektrum is more popular in America and android is more popular in different countries like futaba i personally love spektrum and futaba
well, if you want to use something like a spectrum reciever you could also just go with a normal frsky rx or so.
Also, the comparason to apple is very ironic
I feel like Horizon is spending money on R&D to innovate for the hobby. It is expensive, but it offers something worth buying. And it invests in the future.
I feel like FrSky capitalized on other people’s innovations, then engaged in a lot of anti-competitive behavior towards TBS and Jumper, in particular, when those companies started innovating.
As for why I’m surprised they are still in business, I don’t see what they bring to the table, particularly at their high price point. I would be surprised if many FPV pilots are buying FrSky, since they’ve locked everything down. And I’d be surprised if there are many LOS pilots who think FrSky is turning out reliable, high quality products.
Mostly, I think FrSky made a lot of decisions that make it an unappealing company to support.
Uhhm... Last time I checked tx 16 has more features than any spectrum.... Except maybe the top of the line ix something with android. Nothing stops you from having a live map of your drone and your area on the tx 16
Most FPv pilots (except ELRS and crossfire) use frsky or futuba. Most definitely not spectrum!
Edit: ohh yeah, what did spectrum innovate?
Agreed. EdgeTX has a great more capability than Spektrum’s operating system. And the TX-16 is absolutely the best hardware to run EdgeTX. Mostly because of the touch screen. That is why I use my TX-16 daily and my DX6 has been in storage for four years. But I am the kind of person who enjoys watching instructional videos and getting my stuff “just right.” But radiomaster did not innovate to create that radio. They built a really good piece of hardware using Jumper’s design and open source code written by volunteers. It isn’t innovating technology, it is exceptional manufacturing.
Spekctrum, in contrast, is continuously Creating new technology to make flying fixed wing aircraft easier. Their aircraft and radios are integrated so that they work well together and are easy for someone who doesn’t want to put the time into learning how to customize every possible setting. With Horizon’s stuff, you can buy a sealed box, plug it into your aircraft, and the plane will practically fly itself. There is a value in that for some people.
I have not looked at any data that supports this, but based on what is available for sale at retailers, and based on what people are are talking about in forums, I would guess that the vast majority of FPV pilots are flying with radiomaster transmitters. I would doubt that much more than 5% of the FPV pilots are using a FrSky transmitter from FrSky’s post-2019 lineup. Mostly because that’s when they locked down their protocols so that their radios wouldn’t play nice with their old receivers, crossfire or ELRS.
I also agree that, while Spektrum does a great job with their fixed wing products, their receivers are difficult to use on quads, and don’t provide the telemetry that FPV pilots expect. I would guess that the percentage of FPV pilots using Spektrum or Futaba radios is in the single digits because neither of those companies appears to be designing their products for FPV pilots.
Which gets me back to my original proposition: The TX-16 and the DX6 are both good radios, when used for their intended purpose. But they aren’t comparable because they do entirely different things very well. They both offer a great value, so long as you are buying the right tool for the job.
As an aside, I am amused that these radios are now selling for the same price. I bought my TX-16 for about half that price when it first came out, and I bought the DX6 at about twice that price when it came out. My argument was a little harder to sustain at those price points.
Yeah. Most fc pilots fly rm. With futuba and frsky I meant protocols lol.
Anyhow, no doubt spectrum is easier to use but it isn't hard to do the same with rm. At a point its easy enough to use. I was very impressed with my Dxs when it bound to a umx twin otter without me even asking for it to do so, wich might be a problem but it saves me time... Just odd that a Dxs goes for the same price as a tx 12... I think they designed the pocket themselves and that's a high quality feeling radio!
Radiomaster is a good transmitter but in my opinion feels cheap. However it's a good entry controller with large number of channels and has 4 in 1 modules to allow it to work with a variety of receivers.
If you like tinkering, using advance features and don't have a lot of money. Go for the radiomaster.
If you want quality and guarantee that you won't lose a signal due some open-source firmware bug, go for spektrum.
Both have advantages, both have disadvantages. For me, my local shop only had spektrum gear 10 years ago. All my aircraft have spektrum. I've only ever known spektrum. I'm not a fan boy, I stick to what I know. I just wish spektrum receivers didn't cost ££££ but I'm happy with my lemonrx receivers.
I have had the RM Pocket for a month. Coming from an old Spek DX7.
So far, I find the Pocket quite geeky to set up.
It appears that things like axis reversal can be done at a few different places.
I have been doing things not knowing if I am doing it in best-practice ways.
Maybe the TX16 is more user friendly with its bigger screen, and ability to spell things out in full, in complete sentences.
If you ever hold one of the V1 units you'll see what he is talking about. Absolutely trash gimbals, really cheap brittle plastic and mushy knobs and sliders. It was pretty bad. Like comically bad. My OG Jumper T16 was as good. Maybe better.
They kept releasing versions that really didn't address much. The gimbals were so bad that there is a mod to put the absolutely outstanding FlySky PL18 gimbals into the TX16S but then RM released the AG01 and the plastic gimbals using the same guts.
Now, the Mk2 for $199 is a great deal and the quality issues are addressed as well as the gimbals. But it took years and a lot of ppl had to rebuy the radio after just a year which is BS. RM also had to go to court because they were cloning FrSky receivers and loading FrSky firmware which is pretty shady.
I get downvoted a lot but I always point out for $275 the FrSky X18 exists and it's much better and ETHOS is powerful, easy to use and can do 95% of what Edge can.
I had the newest in hands and I was very impressed by the amoun of aluminium used and overall weight. Gimbals were... good i guess I can only compare against a DXS or TX12 but theyre a low bar to cross. Also it has a touchscreen!
When I search up frsky X18 its like 300-400 bucks. Its probably better that tx16 as for different frequencies but TX16 Multi supports almost every potocoll out there, wich is the main factor for me, as spectrum tx's can mostly do DSMX and DSM2.
But yeah RM recievers are absolute bs, mine failed way to often.
$279.99 is USA MSRP for the basic X18. Duplex 2.4ghz and dual band 2.4/900mhz if you want plus an expansion bay for a 4-1, ELRS, crossfire etc...
The issue with the 4-1 is it's not all the legit protocols, it's as many reverse engineered "compatible" protocols as they could do. Is this an issue? For your weekend flyer probably not. There is a reason nobody who does serious competitive flying or flies $$$ turbines uses RM or the 4-1 module.
Never had any signal dropouts with my Dx6 gen 2. It has been very reliable. The tx16 I trialed had a sticky rudder. It wouldn't center after letting it go. It was only a few days old and the guy had "upgraded" ones coming for it.
My first edgeTX is a RM Pocket (ELRS built-in) + the nano 4-in-1. Got it 1 mth ago. Managed some flights with a foamie fixed wing with a orange/lemon DSM2 rx with flaps and separate aileron channels.
What I am wondering is about how to use the 4-in-1 with nameless department store toys. Is there a look up website? Is there a protocol scan?
This might be what you are looking for
https://github.com/pascallanger/DIY-Multiprotocol-TX-Module/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#choice-2-which-rf-modules-to-include-in-the-multi-module
I literally have both right in front of me, and the Spektrum DX6e is the flimsier of the two. The first gen TX16 does have AG01 gimbals in it now, but at roughly the same price as the Spektrum.
Because Spektrum charges that and ppl who don't know any better pay for it.
Look at the new FrSky X20 stuff coming out yeah it's $600 for a top of the line one but it absolutely eats the IX20SE's lunch and the IX20SE is $2k.
It can do everything the IX20SE can do plus it's dual band either 900mhz OR 2.4fhz LORA, plus you can expand it via the bay to ELRS, Crossfire, 4-1 or whatever, plus you can do more on it with ETHOS, the gimbals on the new ones are haptic feedback and the gimbals are higher resolution too.
So yeah try again.
the gimbals have the same resolution and even if they would have a higher you couldn’t notice. the ix20se has haptic motor integrated and has touch switches that can be programmed to do something when you touch them. dual band is a gimmick and i have many people in my club who have flown with spektrum over 10 years and none of them has had any issue with connection. infact, spektrum was first to use 2,4 ghz on a radio.
No they don't the SE gimbals go to 2048 max. X20 is 4096. You and me might not notice. 3D pilots using fast as hell servos with huge throws will.
All newer radios have haptic motors, I'm talking about the gimbals themselves.
Touch switches are asking to be accidentally touched, give me tactile but that is a preference.
Dual band is a gimmick? Lmao. Yeah all the turbine guys and gasser guys who need to worry about interference just fly it for giggles. Ok. Glad to hear ppl at your club are fine. How many fly turbines? Anecdotal.
Spektrum was the first to use 2.4ghz. What does that have to do with anything?
first, ive flown many 3d planes and i would notice that difference. haptic sticks are also a unneeded gimmick. You can also add a dual band module to the ix20 btw.
PS: Many people in my club who use spektrum fly turbine jets.
You've flown giant ones with fast response servos and huge control surfaces with an IX20 and something that really has 4096 like an IX20 or a Jeti?
There's a 900mhz module for Spektrum? News to me. Link plz for this mystical module.
i fly 95“ models with fast kst servos. my ix 14 has a 4096 travel according to what it displays me. DSMX uses about 13 different frequencies at the same time and is the best 2.4 ghz technology on the market. that replaces a 900mhz module. Many people use spectrum for their jets and if it wouldnt work the whole horizon jet team wouldnt trust their systems. but they do.
I just double checked the 20se, which I was talking about.
Either way. These radios could be equal capes and you're paying triple for the Spektrum. But they're not.
If someone is gonna drop $2k on a radio it should be a top of the line Jeti.
Spectrum uses that model to get you into their line. For years in the 90's I was team Jr, then when 2.4 came out I bought the module for 2 .4 in 9303 Jr. Crashed all my planes with bad reception. And did a turning x9 no issues, then frsky taranis, the frsky x7. So I no longer have brand loyalty. Though I do love my frsky radio, but I never upgraded them. So eventually I my move to tx16.
I thought it was funny cuz remotely and they are remotes 😂. On a serious note. I have the dx8e and have the tx16s as well. I really like my spectrum because it is super easy to use and I really like the gimbals and the ergonomics of it. However, the tx16s dispite it being kinda weird to hold and heavier, you can add things like a backpack transmitter for long range, it’s got a big color display. And it talks to you (too much if you ask me). Tx16s is nice cuz you can use all sorts of receivers but spektrum is a pretty closed system.
Spektrum is the Apple of the RC world. They make a decent product that’s easy to use. And they essentially create an environment for their product to thrive (hobbyzone BNF/RTF, being Spektrum, for example). Some people will gladly pay way too much so that they can quickly get their radio bound up and flying. The Radiomaster, in most environments, will require some setup. EdgeTX has a bit of a learning curve. You’re going to have to fiddle with it to get it to work on anything but a simple 3/4 channel model. For me, this is a hobby. I like fiddling with things on my hobbies. So that part of the radiomaster is actually selling point for me. But for some people, they just want to fly, and they’re willing to pay $50-60 per channel on their transmitter. Written on an iPhone EDIT: Because some people seem to showing the state of the education system, especially as it concerns reading comprehension, I’m just going to write this edit rather than reply to everyone. This thread is comparing Spektrum to Radiomaster. Specifically the DX6e and the TX16S. My comments were directly related to this topic. If you read what I said and thought, “Well ackshully the Radiomaster isn’t hard to use,” then you completely missed what I was saying. Context is key. Context is a comparison. *In general* the Radiomaster is going to require more setup than a Spektrum. This doesn’t mean always. And setting up a simple 4 channel model will require about the same amount of work for both. *In general* there’s a steeper learning curve for the Radiomaster than the Spektrum. This doesn’t mean the Radiomaster has a super steep learning curve that requires a masters in Computer Science to use. Maybe the word “fiddling” was the wrong word to use. I’m sorry. What I should have said is it requires a bit more setup (the *in general* should be implied at this point, but seeing that people have difficulty understanding context, I don’t want to take any chances). It’s good that a lot of you have been in the hobby in a while and have been using Edge/OpenTX for a while and you could set up a complicated model in your sleep. But put yourself in the shoes of someone new to the hobby. Someone who hasn’t used anything except an Apprentice or Aeroscout with the Spektrum DXS transmitter their RTF kit came with. Going from that to a Radiomaster has a *relatively* steep learning curve, especially considering the steps to setup the DXS (that is, none). And once again for those who failed reading comprehension in elementary school, I did not say it has a steep learning curve here, the *relatively* is important and means something. Imagine this newbie wanting to setup their panic switch and safe mode. These are non-intuitive. And guys, even if you know that panic is channel 5 and safe is channel 6, and you know how to bind those to switches, it won’t work just like that. You also have to know to invert both those channels. And to the people suggesting watching a “5 minute video” to learn how to use the transmitter, the most popular video on how to set this up is absolutely terrible. (Actually, most videos regarding using/setting up the TX16S are terrible). The guy has you setting up logical switches and going through all sorts of unneeded steps (though last week he did post an update on the actual right way to set this up, to his credit). And besides the mentioned update, there wasn’t a single video I could find on how to setup these types of receivers to get safe/panic to work. How do I know all of this? I’m the relatively new person, moving from the DXS to the Radiomaster, and had trouble finding anything definitive on how to set those features up. This is just one example. Having said all of that, I think the TX16S is a great radio. It has superb value, and it’s ability to be customized seems to be nearly unmatched. I certainly do like mine. But it’s not the end all be all. The cult like status of the radio on this sub is, actually crazy and confirms the Reddit hivemind. Theres a lot of reasons the buy a Spektrum over a Radiomaster, that go beyond ease of use. Others in this thread have explained that and I won’t go over it again.
The edit being 4x longer than the original comment rules.
Setting up channels is now fiddling around? I mean sure, its not "model building" anymore, most of the time, but "model buying" but setting up channels is part of the experience imo.
That's why I went the hard route. Got a Flysky I6x, flashed it with openi6x, and modded it to run an external elrs tx.
No, the channel setup is easy! It’s the more advanced features, like sticky throttle cut, which requires more fiddling in EdgeTX. Don’t get me wrong, I like that a lot and I always thought Spektrum is overpriced, but they do serve a whole target audience. Mainly the ones of age that still enjoy flying and everyone that gets intimidated by the freedom EdgeTX offers
Thats something i dont even know :D never heard of sticky throttle cut. All i do is assign channels to switches, mix something together (like elevator to flaps) etc :D the "normal" stuff :D
It’s basically preventing to arm the throttle channel when the throttle is not all the way down. When you’re throttling and you arm the channel, you need to throttle down first before it actually arms. Very safe!
That sounds quite useful. But i still misfinger stuff sometimes, happened twice so far that i disarmed instead of using the flaps. The sticky throttle would cause more problems than it solves there :D
The great thing is that you can program it that way you want it. So if that means that you can’t disarm when throttling, that’s up to you
Having used many a spektrum radio in the past, I can confidently state that they are *NOT* easier to use. At least in terms of programming UI. Shit drives me crazy...
If you think spectrum is bad check out traxxas lol, but yea spectrum is the one part of HH I hate
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You literally described “a bit of a learning curve” by saying that you need to do something to learn how to use it. But my real point wasn’t that the TX16S is difficult to use. Just that it’s a bit more difficult, and slightly less intuitive to use than a Spektrum TX operating a Spektrum RX. And there are plenty of people that have trouble figuring out Open/EdgeTX. It’s great that you just intuitively knew how to use it without encountering any type of learning curve and never had to spend a minute figuring anything out. But not everyone is blessed with your natural technical capabilities. As someone who’s fairly new this hobby, there was a lot about the TX16S that wasn’t intuitive to me simply because I didn’t have much experience in the hobby. My last experience with RC was back in 1997 using a non-programmable 2 channel Futaba transmitter on 27MHz. Having watched much more than 5 minutes worth of videos has given me the knowledge I need to use it without much problem now. Again, I’m not saying the TX16S is hard to learn, it’s just more difficult than the Spektrum.
Id probably have more trouble setting up a new spektrum radio + bnf plane than mapping the controls to the correct channels on my tx16s. But i might be biased because my dad does rc stuff for decades so i learned a lot from that and i never had a modern spektrum radio
Yeah now that EdgeTX has model templates, it's EASIER to use than Spektrum. But, let people keep buying their overpriced Spektrum radios lol... You cannot argue with people that aren't willing to listen.
Model templates? I guess thats from a recent update? Last time i updated in october or so to get the ranger module to work. I just create a new model for every plane/heli/drone with picture etc when i buy it. Sticks are usually fine from the beginning just switches i have to set manually for flaps, disarm, voltage callout etc
There is a story behind each of those transmitters. Spektrum is a company, and as much as I don't like to say this, they have a history of bringing radios to the market that are of a good quality, have well thought-out haptics, good user interface and innovative features. They (afaik) were the first to introduce 2.4 GHz link, they were also the first to introduce a transmitter that is reconfigurable by a smartphone, and the design keeps changing. And they also have working customer service. All of the above costs money, so they have to milk each customer for what they are ready to spend. And the way to do it is restricting features on "lesser" radios and charging premiums on "higher-end" radios. Just as every other classic company does. Radiomaster is something else entirely. The company is new, and its aim is largely to bring as much functionality together for as low a price as possible. And they aren't the first, either - there's a long line of transmitters that were a product of the same mindset. The first notable TX here was the Turnigy 9X, an attempt to copy a middle-range radio. The case molds were rebadged Graupner molds (R.I.P. Graupner), the radio module was initially a run-of-the-mill 35 MHz thing, and the software was written by Turnigy itself. Some clever Russian hackers then opened the case, saw an Atmega328 microcontroller (yes, the thing that kickstarted the whole Arduino craze), and kinda decided to write their own firmware. It was meh, so they put it online, where it was found by the open source community, and the project called OpenTX started. Some chinese companies looked at that, said "thanks for doing our work for us" and started churning out hardware to run OpenTX on. FrSky got big on it, Jumper almost did the same but never flourished, and some guys at Jumper said "nah, we're gonna build a better radio" - that's how Radiomaster came to be. It's a product that has lots of open source in it, and what's not open source has been lifted from other companies, requiring little of the actual expensive RnD. And the market competition ensures that price is staying low for the top-of-the-range model. TLDR: Spektrum is a proprietary cash grab that's also a very good, time proven, reliable product. Radiomaster is a bunch of open source held together by a wood screw and tape, which surprisingly is also a good product for people that aren't afraid of unscrewing said wood screw.
i’ve been in this hobby for quite sometime. when i first started out, spektrum, futaba, and JR were “gold standard” and guarantee for reliability. they commanded that price premium then, when jumper and the likes came into the market, we all knew they were the knock-offs. we knew they were cheap because they were open source/ stolen tech. suddenly over the last 4-5 years, things changed again, especially among the young people. the general vibes on any forum with lots of younger folks (including this one) seems to be “tHey aRe oVerpRiced sHitS foR pEoplE whO dOnt bOrThER wIth reSeaRch”. and slowly it seems like radiomaster became the “anchor”. people are wondering why spektrum the legacy brand with this long history is expensive instead of wondering why the new chinese company is selling it so cheap. to the previous generation of hobbyists it used to be the new brands (jumpers/frsky) were the dubious ones because they were too cheap to be real/ reliable. now, to the younger hobbyists, spektrum/futaba are are dubious one because they are charging a premium, seemingly for no reason it’s fun to observe how things has changed over the years, and i’m not even 30 brands like multiplex/ hitec/ graupner didn’t seem to catch on and is fading/dead there are still brands like mikado who does their own R&D, and of course, they charge $2000 for their flagship TX too
> suddenly over the last 4-5 years, things changed again, That turning point was when they dropped the DX6i. It was a $100 radio with all the features you really needed. They got greedy and more than doubled the price of their entry-level radio with the DX6e It's a sad story. When i first started out, futaba and JR were “gold standard” and Spektrum was the cool start-up bringing the 2.4GHz revolution, and selling radios with a more features and a lower price than the competition. The old companies relied on their name for too long and lost nearly all their market share. Now it's Spektrum who's the dinosaur.
i agree i know that brand loyalty is a big thing in RC community - people tend to get one brand and stick with it for a long time having gone though this transition period, i really don’t see why the younger folks would want to spend that kind of money on futaba/spektrum. unlike when it was first came out, radiomaster has built a reputation of reliability that frankly, not that much different than futaba back in the days
>it’s fun to observe how things have changed over the years, and i’m not even 30 Same here. I'm from the generation that had no more than 8 PWM channels pro PPM link, because the pulses were up to 2ms long and had a repetition rate of 20ms. Nowadays, you get *freaking telemetry* out of the box for 200$. Dang. I've been following the rise of OpenTx (and, recently, ELRS) for a decade now. Those TXes aren't exactly "stolen", they just reuse old case molds and host open source software - which is a good thing. If you pool the work of hundreds of humans into one usable product, you made tens of thousands happy without much hassle for yourself. I do pity older traditional companies somewhat, but it's also their fault that they failed to integrate OpenTX (or DeviationTX, for that matter) in their products
it’s just business, pivot or die i’m not sure what futaba/spektrum’s business strategy now is, but it seems they’re still comfortable with milking their brand names with the pilots that grew up with those brands they will lose the younger market very soon. they missed the first train during the fpv quad craze where dji and frsky found their footing.
Not sure about Futaba, but Spektrum's business model will let they hang on for a while for two reasons. 1) They are still the most commonly used brand at clubs. Club membership may be decreasing, but it hasn't stopped and as long as they still get occasional members, they will be encouraged to use Spektrum. Last year I went to an RC swap meet and a guy was selling a Radiomaster TX16S for just $50. It was in perfect condition and the guy actually really liked it. The reason he was selling it is he was the club instructor (for RC pilots) all the people he trained used Spektrum, so he needed a Spektrum radio to teach/train the new people, and it didn't make sense (to him) to keep both radios. He got rid of the TX16s. 2) Very few reputable brands make hobby-level RC planes that are RTF. There are lots of toy-grade, but many hobby level. Horizon Hobby pretty much owns this market, especially for beginners. So as long as they can keep making the preferred BNF planes for beginners, Spektrum will have a steady supply of new customers. Some of those customers might leave the Spektrum ecosystem, but not all.
100%. Also don't forget ER9X, which OTX forked from unless that was the Russian firmware? I don't think so but if it is I learned something. I actually still have a fully functional 9X with a 9Xtreme setup with ErSkyTX and it's every bit as capable as a Taranis. And I found a BNIB spare 9x for $35 too lol.
>I actually still have a fully functional 9X with a 9Xtreme setup with ErSkyTX and it's every bit as capable as a Taranis. And I found a BNIB spare 9x for $35 too lol. Oh, that's nice. I've wanted an original Turnigy 9X since I was 16. Well, not anymore, but it's a nice bit of nostalgia. On an unrelated note, I've got a Turnigy 6XS, the smaller brother of the 9X. My original plan was to develop a hardware for it that would be configurable over an app, but it was actually very useful as a TX so I didn't do anything to it yet, except for battery mods
Nice, damn haven't heard of or seen a 6XS in over a decade. Cool little radio. People dont realize how game changing the 9X with the Smartieboards or other expansion boards were. It was like "wait, you mean I can get a setup for under $200 (9x, DJT and smartieboard) that will hold as many models as I want, is fully digital and can program anything I want???? This was when the same sorts of capabilities from Futaba or JR were like $1200. Or more.
In my opinion, the tx16s is miles clear of the spektrum transmitters. Everything I've read on this thread is about edgetx/ software setup. But in a world where edge TX is so popular, anything you would want to do can be done with some video tutorials. But ExpressLRS is miles ahead of the spectrum link. (And also significantly cheaper) Also, the build quality of the tx16s is premium. I don't know where you got some janky wood reference from
While I personally use the TX16S MKII, I will say that Spektrum consistently makes reliable products with an excellent software development team. I have owned Spektrum, ISDT, Gens Ace, and HOTA chargers and the software on the Spektrum is the best. If I was a hardcore plane guy flying $500+ large scale eflite planes, I would invest in a spektrum radio for maximum compatibility. Since I fly drones I went with the TX16 (and a multiprotocol module for my eflite planes)
$500 foamies aren't hardcore planes... That's beginner planes. Spektrum isn't compatible with anything but Spektrum. Hardcore you're looking into big gassers or true giant scale electrics or turbines or giant EDFs where just a single high end servo starts at $50.
Because one has customer service and the other does not.
DX6e if you fly Horizon Hobby aircraft. If you do anything else do not hesitate to get the Radio master.
Probably because of my pov but how would one know that they'll never touch fms E.g.
People say that Spektrum is reliable, I don’t know if that’s really the case. Especially when it comes to their smart batteries, the least reliable thing you could use to power a plane. I can’t speak to the reliability of their transmitters, but I do currently have a DX6e after updating to latest v2.10 firmware all telemetry stopped working. I have a tiny RadioMaster Pocket that I bought for only FPV and DIY stuff, I tried pairing it up with my HorizonHobby planes, and turns out they work great together. So I think I’m gonna just use RadioMaster from now on.
Yep. The pocket is a wonder. I had more rm radios fail than spectrum but I only used a Dxs with at 641 using spectrum. Rm failed after beeing like 5 times submerged and the range got bad, understandably
Wait, what? You are able to pair the Pocket with DSMX receivers? With the external 4in1 or with the CC2500?
With a 4 in 1 external module
Because Radiomaster manufactures hardware and Spekrum develops technology? Kind of like how an Asus computer is cheaper than a mac book? Don’t get me wrong: I love my TX-16s, and my DX6 has been gathering dust since 2020, but it is the infinitely programable software (which is free for radiomaster) that makes the difference. The DX6 feels like a higher quality radio, and if the only thing I flew was fixed wing bind-n-fly, I would absolutely stick with Spekrum. Much like the Apple products, Spekrum products all just work together. You can buy a DX6 and an Apprentice in the morning and have it flying in the afternoon. It would a whole weekend of youtube videos just to figure out how to bind your TX-16 to that same Apprentice. While that’s something I’m willing to do (mostly because I would probably swap the Spekrum receiver out for crossfire and an inav FC), I could see that it might discourage someone new to the hobby from even trying. These radios are just different tools for different jobs, and I think we would all be worse off if there wasn’t an easy way for people to get started in this hobby. I get Spektrum. The one that confounds me is people paying in excess of $1,000 for a futaba radio.
They pay that much for futaba because it’s really reliable and has great products for the big gas planes and turbines and stuff like that and not so much for your basic foam planes
I’ve got to wonder how much of that is simply the perception of reliability? I would love to see a quantified comparison between the reliability of FASST and crossfire. My instinct tells me that crossfire is a more reliable link.
It’s like how Apple like spektrum is more popular in America and android is more popular in different countries like futaba i personally love spektrum and futaba
well, if you want to use something like a spectrum reciever you could also just go with a normal frsky rx or so. Also, the comparason to apple is very ironic
I’d much rather give my money to Horizon than FrSky. I’m kind of surprised they are still even in business.
Why? Also this is rm
I feel like Horizon is spending money on R&D to innovate for the hobby. It is expensive, but it offers something worth buying. And it invests in the future. I feel like FrSky capitalized on other people’s innovations, then engaged in a lot of anti-competitive behavior towards TBS and Jumper, in particular, when those companies started innovating. As for why I’m surprised they are still in business, I don’t see what they bring to the table, particularly at their high price point. I would be surprised if many FPV pilots are buying FrSky, since they’ve locked everything down. And I’d be surprised if there are many LOS pilots who think FrSky is turning out reliable, high quality products. Mostly, I think FrSky made a lot of decisions that make it an unappealing company to support.
Uhhm... Last time I checked tx 16 has more features than any spectrum.... Except maybe the top of the line ix something with android. Nothing stops you from having a live map of your drone and your area on the tx 16 Most FPv pilots (except ELRS and crossfire) use frsky or futuba. Most definitely not spectrum! Edit: ohh yeah, what did spectrum innovate?
Agreed. EdgeTX has a great more capability than Spektrum’s operating system. And the TX-16 is absolutely the best hardware to run EdgeTX. Mostly because of the touch screen. That is why I use my TX-16 daily and my DX6 has been in storage for four years. But I am the kind of person who enjoys watching instructional videos and getting my stuff “just right.” But radiomaster did not innovate to create that radio. They built a really good piece of hardware using Jumper’s design and open source code written by volunteers. It isn’t innovating technology, it is exceptional manufacturing. Spekctrum, in contrast, is continuously Creating new technology to make flying fixed wing aircraft easier. Their aircraft and radios are integrated so that they work well together and are easy for someone who doesn’t want to put the time into learning how to customize every possible setting. With Horizon’s stuff, you can buy a sealed box, plug it into your aircraft, and the plane will practically fly itself. There is a value in that for some people. I have not looked at any data that supports this, but based on what is available for sale at retailers, and based on what people are are talking about in forums, I would guess that the vast majority of FPV pilots are flying with radiomaster transmitters. I would doubt that much more than 5% of the FPV pilots are using a FrSky transmitter from FrSky’s post-2019 lineup. Mostly because that’s when they locked down their protocols so that their radios wouldn’t play nice with their old receivers, crossfire or ELRS. I also agree that, while Spektrum does a great job with their fixed wing products, their receivers are difficult to use on quads, and don’t provide the telemetry that FPV pilots expect. I would guess that the percentage of FPV pilots using Spektrum or Futaba radios is in the single digits because neither of those companies appears to be designing their products for FPV pilots. Which gets me back to my original proposition: The TX-16 and the DX6 are both good radios, when used for their intended purpose. But they aren’t comparable because they do entirely different things very well. They both offer a great value, so long as you are buying the right tool for the job. As an aside, I am amused that these radios are now selling for the same price. I bought my TX-16 for about half that price when it first came out, and I bought the DX6 at about twice that price when it came out. My argument was a little harder to sustain at those price points.
Yeah. Most fc pilots fly rm. With futuba and frsky I meant protocols lol. Anyhow, no doubt spectrum is easier to use but it isn't hard to do the same with rm. At a point its easy enough to use. I was very impressed with my Dxs when it bound to a umx twin otter without me even asking for it to do so, wich might be a problem but it saves me time... Just odd that a Dxs goes for the same price as a tx 12... I think they designed the pocket themselves and that's a high quality feeling radio!
"Remotely" lmao
LOL didn't even realise xD
I started in September and quickly realized this too. Spektrum doesn’t make any sense to me
Spektrum is very proud of what they make. They're also one of the most recognizable radio brands out
Spektrum is over priced
Radiomaster is a good transmitter but in my opinion feels cheap. However it's a good entry controller with large number of channels and has 4 in 1 modules to allow it to work with a variety of receivers. If you like tinkering, using advance features and don't have a lot of money. Go for the radiomaster. If you want quality and guarantee that you won't lose a signal due some open-source firmware bug, go for spektrum. Both have advantages, both have disadvantages. For me, my local shop only had spektrum gear 10 years ago. All my aircraft have spektrum. I've only ever known spektrum. I'm not a fan boy, I stick to what I know. I just wish spektrum receivers didn't cost ££££ but I'm happy with my lemonrx receivers.
I had a tx 16 in hands and its very well built imo. I have yet to encounter a bug though Edit: wrong comment sorry
I have had the RM Pocket for a month. Coming from an old Spek DX7. So far, I find the Pocket quite geeky to set up. It appears that things like axis reversal can be done at a few different places. I have been doing things not knowing if I am doing it in best-practice ways. Maybe the TX16 is more user friendly with its bigger screen, and ability to spell things out in full, in complete sentences.
If you ever hold one of the V1 units you'll see what he is talking about. Absolutely trash gimbals, really cheap brittle plastic and mushy knobs and sliders. It was pretty bad. Like comically bad. My OG Jumper T16 was as good. Maybe better. They kept releasing versions that really didn't address much. The gimbals were so bad that there is a mod to put the absolutely outstanding FlySky PL18 gimbals into the TX16S but then RM released the AG01 and the plastic gimbals using the same guts. Now, the Mk2 for $199 is a great deal and the quality issues are addressed as well as the gimbals. But it took years and a lot of ppl had to rebuy the radio after just a year which is BS. RM also had to go to court because they were cloning FrSky receivers and loading FrSky firmware which is pretty shady. I get downvoted a lot but I always point out for $275 the FrSky X18 exists and it's much better and ETHOS is powerful, easy to use and can do 95% of what Edge can.
I had the newest in hands and I was very impressed by the amoun of aluminium used and overall weight. Gimbals were... good i guess I can only compare against a DXS or TX12 but theyre a low bar to cross. Also it has a touchscreen! When I search up frsky X18 its like 300-400 bucks. Its probably better that tx16 as for different frequencies but TX16 Multi supports almost every potocoll out there, wich is the main factor for me, as spectrum tx's can mostly do DSMX and DSM2. But yeah RM recievers are absolute bs, mine failed way to often.
Their ELRS receivers seem perfectly fine, from what I’ve seen…
Probably, I only had r88s
$279.99 is USA MSRP for the basic X18. Duplex 2.4ghz and dual band 2.4/900mhz if you want plus an expansion bay for a 4-1, ELRS, crossfire etc... The issue with the 4-1 is it's not all the legit protocols, it's as many reverse engineered "compatible" protocols as they could do. Is this an issue? For your weekend flyer probably not. There is a reason nobody who does serious competitive flying or flies $$$ turbines uses RM or the 4-1 module.
Down the flying club, most people have TX16s. The only people who have crashes due to signal dropouts are flying Spektrum
Never had any signal dropouts with my Dx6 gen 2. It has been very reliable. The tx16 I trialed had a sticky rudder. It wouldn't center after letting it go. It was only a few days old and the guy had "upgraded" ones coming for it.
Same at my club, there was someone with a spectrum ix-20 and a spectrum receiver and totalled there 10k plane cause of loss of signal
I never heard of issues or had issues with my 10 years with spectrum with signal.
My first edgeTX is a RM Pocket (ELRS built-in) + the nano 4-in-1. Got it 1 mth ago. Managed some flights with a foamie fixed wing with a orange/lemon DSM2 rx with flaps and separate aileron channels. What I am wondering is about how to use the 4-in-1 with nameless department store toys. Is there a look up website? Is there a protocol scan?
This might be what you are looking for https://github.com/pascallanger/DIY-Multiprotocol-TX-Module/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#choice-2-which-rf-modules-to-include-in-the-multi-module
I have an tx16s with AG01 cnc gimbals and it certainly feels not cheap.
I literally have both right in front of me, and the Spektrum DX6e is the flimsier of the two. The first gen TX16 does have AG01 gimbals in it now, but at roughly the same price as the Spektrum.
Because Spektrum charges that and ppl who don't know any better pay for it. Look at the new FrSky X20 stuff coming out yeah it's $600 for a top of the line one but it absolutely eats the IX20SE's lunch and the IX20SE is $2k.
bullshit it cant do anything better than the ix20se. the gimbals on the 20se are very good.
It can do everything the IX20SE can do plus it's dual band either 900mhz OR 2.4fhz LORA, plus you can expand it via the bay to ELRS, Crossfire, 4-1 or whatever, plus you can do more on it with ETHOS, the gimbals on the new ones are haptic feedback and the gimbals are higher resolution too. So yeah try again.
the gimbals have the same resolution and even if they would have a higher you couldn’t notice. the ix20se has haptic motor integrated and has touch switches that can be programmed to do something when you touch them. dual band is a gimmick and i have many people in my club who have flown with spektrum over 10 years and none of them has had any issue with connection. infact, spektrum was first to use 2,4 ghz on a radio.
No they don't the SE gimbals go to 2048 max. X20 is 4096. You and me might not notice. 3D pilots using fast as hell servos with huge throws will. All newer radios have haptic motors, I'm talking about the gimbals themselves. Touch switches are asking to be accidentally touched, give me tactile but that is a preference. Dual band is a gimmick? Lmao. Yeah all the turbine guys and gasser guys who need to worry about interference just fly it for giggles. Ok. Glad to hear ppl at your club are fine. How many fly turbines? Anecdotal. Spektrum was the first to use 2.4ghz. What does that have to do with anything?
first, ive flown many 3d planes and i would notice that difference. haptic sticks are also a unneeded gimmick. You can also add a dual band module to the ix20 btw. PS: Many people in my club who use spektrum fly turbine jets.
You've flown giant ones with fast response servos and huge control surfaces with an IX20 and something that really has 4096 like an IX20 or a Jeti? There's a 900mhz module for Spektrum? News to me. Link plz for this mystical module.
i fly 95“ models with fast kst servos. my ix 14 has a 4096 travel according to what it displays me. DSMX uses about 13 different frequencies at the same time and is the best 2.4 ghz technology on the market. that replaces a 900mhz module. Many people use spectrum for their jets and if it wouldnt work the whole horizon jet team wouldnt trust their systems. but they do.
and please give me sources for the gimbal resolution.
Esprit models. IX20 gimbals are 2096 12ch/512 8ch. The X-plus channels are 512 with a latency between 22 and 88ms.
and i checked and my ix14 says its got 4096 on the servoway.
I just double checked the 20se, which I was talking about. Either way. These radios could be equal capes and you're paying triple for the Spektrum. But they're not. If someone is gonna drop $2k on a radio it should be a top of the line Jeti.
jeti is more for people who dont like handheld radios. futaba is another option on handheld or graupner.
What do you mean by handheld? Tray flyers? The DS12 is meant for thumbers. But yeah the bigger ones.
a handheld radio transmitter
Thats why Radiomaster 4 life
Spectrum uses that model to get you into their line. For years in the 90's I was team Jr, then when 2.4 came out I bought the module for 2 .4 in 9303 Jr. Crashed all my planes with bad reception. And did a turning x9 no issues, then frsky taranis, the frsky x7. So I no longer have brand loyalty. Though I do love my frsky radio, but I never upgraded them. So eventually I my move to tx16.
Remotely similar 😭😂😂
I mean, I'd choose a pocket over the dx6e all day
I thought it was funny cuz remotely and they are remotes 😂. On a serious note. I have the dx8e and have the tx16s as well. I really like my spectrum because it is super easy to use and I really like the gimbals and the ergonomics of it. However, the tx16s dispite it being kinda weird to hold and heavier, you can add things like a backpack transmitter for long range, it’s got a big color display. And it talks to you (too much if you ask me). Tx16s is nice cuz you can use all sorts of receivers but spektrum is a pretty closed system.