Futaba v Spektrum

baz.b

baz.b
Hi gents, me again.

By now I reckon more than a few of you, have read my previous thread about the Loss of Sound on the DX6 G3. Well, I've found out that all the Horizon Hobby service centres in the UK have now closed and all pulled back to Germany. Well for me to send my tx to Germany for repair is just not feasable, due to the costs involved, so I'm just going to keep it as spares for my other DX6, but meanwhile, I've been thinking of changing my allegiance from Horizon Hobby to Futaba. The question is, what do you all think of the Futaba, the later series sets, for a replacement for the Spektrum.
Your views and experiences would be gratefully considered.

Many thanks in advance

Barry
 

baz.b

baz.b
Brilliant, just the sort of reply I was hoping for, thank you for that. I haven't considered the FrSky, but it's certainly worth a look.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
I'm in the camp that started with Futaba and switched to FrSky.

I bought a Futaba T7C years ago and bought FrSky receivers that were FASST compatible. Now I'm switching to an FrSky transmitter.
 

OliverW

Legendary member
I have flown both futaba and spektrumand can say spektrum has much higher quality transmitters. They feel more locked in
 

clolsonus

Well-known member
My Futaba systems have never failed me and I've owned several of their transmitters, even going back to the 72Mhz days. But I also have an FrSky Taranis and it has been just as rock solid. I use the SBUS output of the frsky receiver to feed the input of my fixed wing flight controller project (AuraUAS.) At the time I looked Futaba SBUS was crazy expensive. I think the rule of thumb is take excellent care of your equipment and it will take good care of you. I think the brand is less important as long as it has the features you want.
 

baz.b

baz.b
This is great, but also getting quite confusing. I too started my flying over 20 years ago, using Futaba, which as I can remember, never had any issues, but gave it up for a long long time. I've now got back into the flying, and was told by some mates, get a Spektrum, which I did, but have had a number of problems, including this latest escapade with the sound loss. As I said, the main reason for changing id due to the fact that Horizon Hobby have shut down all it's service centres in the UK, and moved them all to Germany, so really, no back up, and I feel betrayed, so this is the reason for the change.
I must admit, looking at the FrSky models, I'm very impressed, and the prices aren't too bad either.

Keep the replies coming gents please.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
@baz.b - If you owned a Futaba 7C, then the Taranis QX7 from FrSky will feel pretty similar in programming controls. It uses a pretty much identical system of scroll wheel and a few buttons. Plus the LCD screen is twice the size of the one on the 7C and it's backlit.

For just over $100 USD I don't think you can go wrong. I just received my QX7 the other day in the mail and already I'm looking to sell both my Futaba 7C and my FlySky 9x.

Yes, OpenTX has a learning curve, but there is also a lot you can do with it. And since it sounds like you are no beginner when it comes to radios and programming, I don't think you would have a tough time of it.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
@baz.b - don't worry about the double post, but you can delete the post if it bothers you. At the bottom of every post there are options to Report, Edit or Delete a post you have made.
 

FDS

Elite member
If you use Lemon RX satellite receivers or Orange RX satellite receivers they are $15 or less, both are DSMX. The Lemon ones are slightly better IMO, the only downside is no telemetry.