First Transmitter

[Fuzzy Whumpkin]

Hey all,

I'm sure there are threads on this, but this is my noob question - i'm looking at the Flysky FS-i6 as a first transmitter, any thoughts?d

I was looking at a cheaper hobby king model, but it seemed like the Flysky had more features, would be good for a starter, and have a higher ceiling of how far i can take it...

so... good choice? anywhere cheap to get one? anybody near south jersey have a used one they don't want anymore i could buy?

thanks guys

hobby king Tx:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...HK6S_2_4Ghz_FHSS_6Ch_Tx_Rx_White_Mode_2_.html

flysky Tx:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VE3PZ3Y...UTF8&colid=1PFK1ZDUV0PAW&coliid=I4AXH22SI635Y

 

[DharanFlyer]

I have never personally heard of Flysky and looking at the site it makes me a bit nervous. Seems a little cheap/knock-off to me. I'd go with your HK choice or switch to a Turnigy TGY-i6 for a few bucks more. If you can float it I'd go to the 9RX pro and get a module for the type of receivers you want to use.

My $0.02

 

[Crazy Goats]

I've heard many good words about the i6. I dont own one though.
Yes, it is a cheap transmitter, but it seems reliable which I think is pretty important.
The range is supposed to be really good too.

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...-what-kind-of-radio-to-get&highlight=frsky+i6
Heres a thread that has a bit of talk on the i6.

Good luck whatever you choose!

 

[Epitaph]

I have never personally heard of Flysky and looking at the site it makes me a bit nervous. Seems a little cheap/knock-off to me. I'd go with your HK choice or switch to a Turnigy TGY-i6 for a few bucks more. If you can float it I'd go to the 9RX pro and get a module for the type of receivers you want to use.

My $0.02

Actually, Turnigy is the knockoff, and Flysky is the one knocked off...

 

[DharanFlyer]

Actually, Turnigy is the knockoff, and Flysky is the one knocked off...

Good to know.

 

[Ross]

So far so good with my FlySky FST6 , $55 for transmitter and receiver. I chose this one because I don't know how deep I will get into this hobby and can always upgrade in a year or 2 if needed.

 

[m00ndancer]

The i6 (turnigy/flysky) works great and supports both the old flysky protocol and the new one with diversity and telemetry. Get it from banggood.com with the ia6b receiver. (receiver works on both brands) I own the Turnigy i6.
I have just returned from the field and have flown three of my planes, FT simple Storch, FT Spitfire and maiden the hysterical Z-84 Wing.
Had to adjust some trims on the Z-84 and set the correct throttle curve, rates and expos (60% max trottle, rate 80% with 40% expo), two flights and now the Z-84 is fun but fast. Easy to set the radio.
About 6 hours of back to back flights. Still power in the Ni-MH cells in the radio.

 

[Snafu]

Go the extra $10 or so and get a Turnugy 9X - those extra channels will come in useful and if you ever want to upgrade, it's a quick and easy job to drop in a FrSky module - much better resale value too should you decide that RC is not for you

 

[earthsciteach]

Agree 100% with Snafu. For the extra $10 you get a lot of radio with a lot of growth potential.

 

[Fuzzy Whumpkin]

If you can float it I'd go to the 9RX pro and get a module for the type of receivers you want to use.

well, crap - just when I thought I knew enough to make a good choice of receiver...

what is a module?

 

[albent_33]

I would go with a spectrum if it is in the budget. The OrangeRX T-Six is a good transmitter from Hobbyking. You can grow with it and it is spectrum so if you ever want to get a BNF model from horizon hobby you could just bind up your TX and go not have to get the RTF and use the cheap tx.

 

[m00ndancer]

well, crap - just when I thought I knew enough to make a good choice of receiver...

what is a module?

(This is my opinioins, not absolute facts)
Varning, longish post too.

That's just the thing, getting the 9x (a really old radio) and all that module stuff just adds complexity. If you're on a budget, stick to a simple to program TX(radio) like the i6. Those $10 extra that you save will give you another RX(receiver) or a motor or two servos. The RX for the i6/i10 is really solid in performance and really affordable. If I would go for a higher end (functions) TX, I would go for a modded DEVO 10, Flysky i10, Spectrum 7/8, Frysky Taranis. The Graupner is also a good one. You're not only paying for functions and channels, you're paying for mechanical quality of the gimbals and switches.

But then you're paying 3-6 times the money compared to a i6. The choice you have is to go cheap and possibly have to change TX and RX in the future (although the i10 will work with the ia6b RX) or get a more expensive RX and TX now.

6 channels with 3 mixes will give you enough to play with until your skills are good enough. When you're tired of the 6 channels on the i6 you can flash it to 8 or 10 channels or use ibus and an expander to 10 channels. (different topic)

6 channels on the i6 will give you at least this : (examples from my planes)

FT Spitfire
4ch ailerons, elevator, rudder, throttle
FT Storch
5ch ailerons, elevator, rudder, throttle, two stage flaps with mixed elevator
Z-84 Wing
3ch Elevons and with a throttle curve set to 60% max
F-949
3ch elevator, rudder, throttle

Every plane have failsafe settings, throttle cut (so you don't injure yourself) and two modes (sport and normal) for the rates/expo on ch1 (ailerons), ch2(elevator) and ch4(rudder)

The mixes can give you differential thrust or mixed flaps and elevator or something something else.

This is my opinions, and regarding radios you will get as many opinions as there are users here. It's hard as a beginner to make heads or tail of everything that people say to you. As a beginner, any 6ch radio will work fine. Things that do matter is how easy it is to use. From the ones that I have tried, the i6 is the simplest to grasp.

Radios in complexity order that I've played/own with (according to me)

1. i6 (own)
2. DX6
3. Taranis (lots of help from the community is available)
4. Devo 7e (modded with deviationTX)(own)

 

[Snafu]

well, crap - just when I thought I knew enough to make a good choice of receiver...

what is a module?

A module is the removable transmitter part of some radios - so if you have a Turnugy 9x - you have FlySky compatibility, but drop in a spectrum module and now your radio is compatible with all spectrum products, same with Futaba, FrSky etc.

 

[rockyboy]

My personal experience has been

- FlySky i6 first - worked great, got me flying. I didn't like having to rebind when switching between planes through. I outgrew it in about 2 months.

- Turnigy mini 5 next. It worked just fine, but my daughter wasn't interested in flying with me anyway. And now I had two radios to juggle with different signal formats, and still had to rebind receivers to switch between models. I shouldn't have bought this one, was just trying to be cheap and it didn't pay off from a value perspective. Donated it and the i6 to a school program when I bought the Taranis

- Taranis. This is the 'bees knees' - the whole enchilada - the big kahuna of functionality and compatibility at a great price. I built a Spektrum module for it to use with all the BNF models and super cheap Lemon receivers, use the full telemetry in it's own receivers for my big models, and bought a WL-Toys radio module to be compatible with super cheap receiver/servo bricks for indoor DIY flyers.

I can't say enough good things about this radio. Almost everyone at my club flys Spektrum and they all are impressed with the functionality and expand ability for the price. When they buy a $400 Spektrum radio that still can't do what the Taranis can at $200, I do feel sad for them. And they are all in the same signal format and in danger of knocking each other out of the sky with signal interference at a big event. The only down side to the Taranis is it takes a little more time to learn how to program and use it - but there are tons of resources available to help.

It's an amazing radio that is almost a hobby in itself. Check out the link in my signature for some of the modifications I've done with mine.

So my recommendation for people now is buy a FlySky i6 or Turnigy clone - something around $50 with a receiver and get flying. If you get hooked by the hobby and want to keep flying and expanding, just save your pennies and jump directly to a Taranis from there, and buy or build a Spektrum DSM2/DSMX radio module to go in it. That setup will last a person for many years in the hobby.

 

[m00ndancer]

- FlySky i6 first - worked great, got me flying. I didn't like having to rebind when switching between planes through.

You mean when using the same powerpod on several different planes?
I never rebind anything that has a iA6/iA6B RX but the WLToys F949 needs to rebind each time (but that is a microRX with the older Flysky Protocol and no flash to store the info on). I just change the model on the TX and start flying.

 

[rockyboy]

Switching the power pods between planes does prevent the need to rebind, but early on I started building and getting other planes that didn't use the power pod so I'd want to leave the receiver in them.

The rebind every time on the WLToys F949 is annoying - but it's also $10 for a receiver brick, compared to $60 for a Spektrum one. So I deal with the rebinding every time I power up and use the saved money to buy more planes.

 

[m00ndancer]

Switching the power pods between planes does prevent the need to rebind, but early on I started building and getting other planes that didn't use the power pod so I'd want to leave the receiver in them.

The rebind every time on the WLToys F949 is annoying - but it's also $10 for a receiver brick, compared to $60 for a Spektrum one. So I deal with the rebinding every time I power up and use the saved money to buy more planes.

That explains a whole lot
I only move the receiver when the plane is due for the dustbin. Then I collect the electronics and build something else.

 

[Epitaph]

When it comes to the rebinding every time issue on the small RTF fliers, Deviation had the best option added which was to make the model setup in the menu, and leave the bind code blank... then when you are going to fly, turn on the model first, and then the transmitter (with that model already selected previously) and it would bind during the transmitter startup, no need to go into menus to select things or press any buttons.

because they made it so easy, I look at cheap WLToys bricks for small, easy solutions when it comes to all-in-one things like the model I have in mind right now.

Now, on one hand, Deviation isn't recommended for just anyone, as model setups can be a little complicated, especially when doing basic or advanced mixes (which it can do perfectly, just not easy to setup), even simple things like V-Tail or Elevon (which are basically the same) take some time to set up, but on the other hand, there is an extensive community that have shared their .ini files all over the DeviationTX forum with all kinds of mixes for scratchbuilds as well as setups for RTF models, which you can just add a small personal touch (like protocol in scratchbuild models or button changing in both) pretty easily either on the radio or with a notepad program on you computer.

 

[Fuzzy Whumpkin]

Just for fun, here's my everything-but-the-foam list, holler if you see any problems, as it'll be drawn out over a couple months getting everything.

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the motor seemed a bit shady, but from the description I think I got what I need...

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I think its safe, but if you spot any red flags, let me know

 

[Ross]

If the motor and ESC don't have connectors on the ends you need the bullet connectors and what ever connector for the ESC to the battery. Soldering iron and solder. I can't see those pics very well.