Hi from the other side of the world!

[Casey]

Hello Flite Test community!

I'm a long time watcher of the YouTube channel, having been drawn to it first for the stunning aerial videography, but staying because of the wonderful personalities! I used to dabble in R/C a long long time ago, and now I'm interested in starting again.

Thing is though, I live on the other side of the world! I'm an American living in Taiwan. Obtaining materials through US channels is very difficult and expensive here. On the other hand, I do seem to have good access to Chinese purchase sites, particularly Banggood.

I figure that the first place I have to start, to get back into the hobby, is to get a transmitter. I want to get folks's opinions on the ones being offered on Banggood, and whether anyone can give me more information about going that route with my electronics. If I start with a good transmitter, I can practice on simulators.

My goal for my first FT airplane is going to be a Tiny Trainer. I like the different wing options so I can learn bit by bit, and there are some nice slopes around here that I might be able to do some soaring on (if that isn't too hard!) The foam board they sell here is NOT like the foam board back home: the backing feels more like tack board than paper (not sure how to describe it... semi-plasticky?) but I'm intending to throw a sheet of it on a scale here when I get a chance, to see just how bad it will be for building.

If anyone can throw me any advice, like perhaps the Aussies in the house who know about sourcing goods on this side of the big pond, that would be great. I'll post a link below to the top-selling transmitter on Banggood and I'm hoping that folks can give me some honest, objective feedback on it... like, I don't know what I should be looking for since my last transmitter was a 4-channel Futaba FM transmitter back in 1987. Thanks in advance for any help you can give, and I'm glad to be here!

https://www.banggood.com/FlySky-FS-...ansmitter-With-FS-iA6B-Receiver-p-983537.html

(highest number of reviews)

 

[earthsciteach]

Welcome!

I don't have personal experience with the transmitter you posted, but I know there are people on the forum that have. I started with the Turnigy 9x from Hobby King (another China based vendor) and still use it today. Personally, I think the best value in transmitter on the market today is the Taranis QX-7. Great radio for the price!

Turnigy 9x: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy...dule-ia8-receiver-mode-2-afdhs-2a-system.html

Taranis QX-7: https://www.banggood.com/FrSky-ACCS...ter-White-Black-p-1112717.html?rmmds=category

 

[Ricci]

Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.
I will relocate to India next week and eill have the same problems getting RC electronics.
I csn go for FrSky but it’s to expensive in India. You slso get FlySky in india for a good price so i will go for FlySky.
Should work fine.

 

[rockyboy]

Welcome to the forums!

On the transmitter question, how about ordering through Gearbest? In particular, the Jumper available for a little more than the FlySky, will serve you much longer in the hobby. The FlySky is very limiting - it will work, but you are really effectively limited to one plane (or one of a couple limited quad options) at time. The Jumper is an open source software based radio with multiple radio chips and will control receivers from about a dozen manufacturers - and has model memory capabilities to run dozens of different aircraft with the same transmitter just by switching models. Also it allows lots of mixing and switch control capabilities, and will grow with you in the hobby for many planes - perhaps even a couple years before you start to feel limited.

https://www.gearbest.com/radios-receiver/pp_772049.html

There's a good thread on choosing a first transmitter over here: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?37966-Which-Transmitter-You-Should-Buy - and while I personally love flying with the Taranis / FrSky / OpenTX line I think the Jumper might be a better fit for where you are in the world and product availability.

And keep asking questions when things don't make sense - we're here to help

 

[Casey]

Welcome to the forums!

On the transmitter question, how about ordering through Gearbest? In particular, the Jumper available for a little more than the FlySky, will serve you much longer in the hobby. The FlySky is very limiting - it will work, but you are really effectively limited to one plane (or one of a couple limited quad options) at time. The Jumper is an open source software based radio with multiple radio chips and will control receivers from about a dozen manufacturers - and has model memory capabilities to run dozens of different aircraft with the same transmitter just by switching models. Also it allows lots of mixing and switch control capabilities, and will grow with you in the hobby for many planes - perhaps even a couple years before you start to feel limited.

https://www.gearbest.com/radios-receiver/pp_772049.html

There's a good thread on choosing a first transmitter over here: http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?37966-Which-Transmitter-You-Should-Buy - and while I personally love flying with the Taranis / FrSky / OpenTX line I think the Jumper might be a better fit for where you are in the world and product availability.

And keep asking questions when things don't make sense - we're here to help

Free expedited shipping to my Taiwan address from Gearbest's China warehouse Now that remote doesn't seem to include a battery, and if there's one thing I definitely haven't learned about in the modern hobby, it's batteries. The last thing I flew was a ParkZone Cub back when it first came out (2004 maybe?) So I would love some information on a good rechargeable battery for the Jumper and for batteries in general for modern electric planes.

 

[rockyboy]

@rfd has some battery recommendations for the Jumper in this post

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...You-Should-Buy&p=378074&viewfull=1#post378074

For catching up on 10-15 years of RC hobby battery tech, there's a great article here:

https://rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/

Feel free to ignore the mathy bits if you like - those are great for a deeper understanding, but not really necessary to have fun and get a working craft in the air

 

[Casey]

@rfd has some battery recommendations for the Jumper in this post

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...You-Should-Buy&p=378074&viewfull=1#post378074

For catching up on 10-15 years of RC hobby battery tech, there's a great article here:

https://rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/

Feel free to ignore the mathy bits if you like - those are great for a deeper understanding, but not really necessary to have fun and get a working craft in the air

Thanks a ton! I'll dive into these resources now... see you when I come back up for air!

 

[Steve Fox]

i fly with a FS-i6 they are fantastic for the money.
you can also flash them with custom firmware and turn them into 10ch transmitters with a cable few clicks of a mouse!

if you go flysky, get the fs-ia6b receivers and not the fs-ia6, they support ppm (the ia6 does not) but more importantly, the ia6b has 3x the range of the ia6!!!

these transmitters have duel antennas, you can replace the internal ones with external ones pretty easy too, this gives you antenna options and you can also position them to best suit the orientation that supports your models flying.

my fs-i6 with custom firmware and external antennas -

 

[Steve Fox]

and id like to add, i trust banggood way more than i trust gearbest, i buy everything off banggood unless they dont have it!

 

[rockyboy]

Steve, can you share some links on where to get that custom firmware for the FlySky?

And would you be willing to add a write up on this for the Which Transmitter Should You Buy thread?

FlySky just got a whole lot more interesting to me with this news

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Casey]

With the new information about being able to flash the firmware, and the endorsement of Banggood, I've ordered the FlySky FS-i6 with the FS-ia6b receiver. All up $45.30 with shipping and insurance. I'll be checking back later to find out more about connecting it to my computer for simulators. What flight sims do people recommend for learning 4-channel planes as well as quads?

 

[Ricci]

I have RealFlight as flight simulator. I can recommend. It’s really realistic and has a lot of planes. Even some FliteTest designs available, i flight the sim and the real ones and they behave nearly the same.

 

[Casey]

i fly with a FS-i6 they are fantastic for the money.
you can also flash them with custom firmware and turn them into 10ch transmitters with a cable few clicks of a mouse!

Hi Steve, I just want to be clear about what's being said here... in this thread @rockyboy said that the Jumper is "an open source software based radio with multiple radio chips and will control receivers from about a dozen manufacturers - and has model memory capabilities to run dozens of different aircraft with the same transmitter just by switching models. Also it allows lots of mixing and switch control capabilities"...

Can the FS-i6 also do these things? With the custom firmware, can you mix for elevons, can you bind to different models using different protocols, all that? Does it have the "multiple radio chips"? (Keep in mind that I'm new enough to not really understand yet what that means.) Information would be great, as I'm still deciding between these two radios. My order with Banggood had to be canceled because I typed in my Taiwan address wrong on the order, so I can still choose between these two.

 

[Ricci]

Hi Casey, i will go for a flysky in India.

Look at this videos. It’s all what you need.

Introduction

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kKgV3LhAwVo

Programming
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xt5IdeLdiug

 

[Casey]

Hey, thread resurrection here! My FlySky FS-i6 just came in the mail today: exactly one week from the night I ordered it!

OK so I have some questions, since I've never had a transmitter with so many switches on it. Is there a "standard" set-up as far as people setting particular switches to particular functions? If there is something that makes more sense ergonomically, I'd rather find out by asking rather than getting used to a less than ideal arrangement and then having to unlearn it.

Also, specific to the FS-i6 and its ilk, what do people use the potentiometers for? Seems an awkward input device, just curious about people's actual experience with dial-channels as opposed to switch-channels.