Going to next Level, New DSM radio

[Villalji]

Hi there, im Planning to get a new transmitter to upgrade from my basic DX5e, and sinc I have already some DSM receivers (spektrum and orange) I was planning to stay with a Spektrum. The question is if it is worth going all the way to a DX8 or a DX7 or even a DX6 is ok as the next step?
Looking at the specs, I can see the more advanced models have some nice to have features (although probably not essential) like many more memories, telemetry, etc. I can see them useful for the future, but today I only need something a bit more sturdy, more memories and a radio I can start programming mixes... But of course, I do n or want to upgrade again in 6 months... Anyhow, what do you guys recommend out there? What are your experiences?

 

[Ak Flyer]

I went from the DX5e to the DX8 with the intention of buying one radio to use for many years flying large nitro and gas models and helicopters. I wanted something I could grow with. I've never regretted it once. I have a friend who went for the DX6i as his first radio and he's been happy for 4 years now. He's finally upgraded to a DX7s and kinda wishing he'd gone with the DX8. But he, like me, is flying 600 size nitro heli's. He needs that radio to fly what he wants to fly. I need my DX8 to do what I want to do. If you are planning to stick to planes or even electric helis, then you really won't ever need anything more than a DX6i unless you start getting into large models where you need to use all the channels and mix them together for a large 3D plane or something or start doing bomb drops or pan and tilt FPV plus your flight controls. It's all dependent on what you see yourself doing in the future. I can tell you for sure that the DX6i doesn't hold a candle to the 7s and 8 as far as ease of programming. The display is so much better and the menus make everything so much simpler. The 8 also has way more 3 position switches and the supporting programming which gives you many more options and makes tuning things easier.

So, what are your RC goals in the next year or so? What types of things do you want to build and or fly?

 

[Villalji]

Thanks for the reply, For the next few years I want to improve my building and flying abilities in general. I want to try edfs, want to build David's tricopter, learn more about mixing, generally growing with the hobby. The thing is, if I'm going to "invest" in a new radio, I'm willing to spend a few more Euros if it is really worth it, but I do not want to overkill ( definitely a Dx18 is not even in my horizon �&#56841

 

[pgerts]

It is worth going beyond the 6 channel transmitters.
It is a better quality in general and getting the new 7 or 8 with SD-card and telemetry option makes the transmitter something to grow with.
I have the DX7 (old) and DX8 (new) but i have used the DX6i a lot for training juniors.

 

[Villalji]

Mmm, I see that I should not consider the dx6, now I need to make up my mind to decide if I want to convince the wife to go to the dx8, or if the dx7 will be enough....

 

[Villalji]

So, i finally went for a DX8, my LHS gave me the last push by leaving the dx8 just 50 Eur from the dx7, so I could not say no...
Now I need to do some study of that huge instruction manual and programming guide. Oh, one more thing, the back light is much more important than I initially thought!
Of course, testing it with a ft flyer seemed like an over kill, but heck, I wanted something easy to repair in case I had set up something wrong.

 

[pgerts]

Better to crash a cheap plane with an expensive transmitter than the other way.

 

[Villalji]

Don't know about expensive planes as Im more in scratch builds, but I agree it's better to have a good radio to minimize risks of crashing any plane...

 

[MrClean]

You can put a bunch of foamies and 6 dollar rx's on a Dx8. It's a good radio. You can buy a cheap Turnigy and put a FrSky module in it and have in-expensive full range receivers and a good radio as well. I don't know that you can download and save those.

Then again, there are only so many flyable planes a fella really needs. I've got a dozen or so of those cheap orange receivers sitting in airplanes and I haven't flown anything in 2 months. I've got an event second weekend of next month that several of my planes I haven't flown since the event last year. Gotta go through those planes. If you fly a lot, its nice to have cheap rx's in close in, high abuse foamies and expensive, long range rx's in high dollar, far away airplanes. You can have a bunch of both and get by with swapping RX's and memories.

I got into the duplicates thing when I was flying combat. I'd have 3 of each class I was fling ready to go with spares and parts sitting aside. I've cabaged and built in between matches and squeaked it out. I've also flown all rounds with one plane each, it's unpredictable. So my equipment "needs" are probably really skewed.

You'll like that Dx8. With the exception of not having a swapable module it's much better then my 8103's that I loved. I may still hardwire the FrSky module into mine for an "Everything in one box" approach. Or just buy the new FrSky transmitter when it comes out. Money I got, time? Ehhh, not so much.

 

[glydr]

I recently took a 'step up', but possibly not the direction most would go:



Works for me. I don't need telemetry or long range FPV. DSM2 is going to be with us for a long time, yes its not as robust as (say) Futaba FASST but good enough for my purposes. 30 model memories should be ok.

And its real nice to use!

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I went straight to the DX8 last year after a 12 year 'break'.

I knew I wanted 8 channels because I fully intended to have switched lights and a camera gimbal. My KK2 also wants a channel for its switched auto-level. I know I could do all of that with the Turnigy, but I decided the Spektrum might provide a notch or two more quality and it's something that stays on the ground, thus it's relatively safe from abuse.