Matching my Spektrum DX4E with the right reciever and flight controller

[opax03]

Hi, I'm 13 years old, and I am just getting into the wonderful hobby of DIY quad copters. I have done lots of research, watched lots of videos, and decided that the best place to take my questions now are these forums. My current question has to do with compatibility. When I was 11, I got a Delta Ray Firebird and crashed it on my first try. We got it fixed, but I never used it again and it stopped working. Recently, I dismantled it to try to get the parts, mainly the receiver, because I've found out that the transmitter it came with, the DX4E, is worth a good 70 bucks. However, since the plane was made in a factory, there was no separate receiver and it was built in, so I'm considering buying a new DSMX to use on another flight controller. My question is whether or not the DSMX receiver is compatible with the LUX Flight Controller, as that is the one I plan on using for my quad. If not, are there any other good fligh controllers that are compatible with DSMX?

 

[pressalltheknobs]

Hi, I'm 13 years old, and I am just getting into the wonderful hobby of DIY quad copters. I have done lots of research, watched lots of videos, and decided that the best place to take my questions now are these forums. My current question has to do with compatibility. When I was 11, I got a Delta Ray Firebird and crashed it on my first try. We got it fixed, but I never used it again and it stopped working. Recently, I dismantled it to try to get the parts, mainly the receiver, because I've found out that the transmitter it came with, the DX4E, is worth a good 70 bucks. However, since the plane was made in a factory, there was no separate receiver and it was built in, so I'm considering buying a new DSMX to use on another flight controller. My question is whether or not the DSMX receiver is compatible with the LUX Flight Controller, as that is the one I plan on using for my quad. If not, are there any other good fligh controllers that are compatible with DSMX?

Generally Receivers are only combined with the Flight controller for microquads. So long as you have the DSMX version of the DX4E ( has an X on the front ) then any DSMX receiver should work. However you will only be able to control 6 channels with it. The DX4e transmits 6 channels so you can use the bind button as a momentary on CH5 and the AUX switch to control CH6 ( I may have the channels backwards)

For mini quads the primary solution with Spektrum has been to use a Spektrum "Satellite" receiver. The flight controllers that use Baseflight, Cleanflight and Betaflight generally have a dedicated Spektrum "Satellite" input.

https://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM9645

A problem with this is that generally "Satellite" receivers are not intended to be used standalone and can only be bound via a main receiver. Now Baseflight, Cleanflight and Betaflight provide a way to bind then via the flight controller so you don't necessarily need a main receiver to set them up. There are also compatibles made by Lemon and Orange which are not technically legal in the US since they are not FCC certified but they apparently work ok and people use them since they are quite a bit cheaper than the Spektrum equivalent.

Recently, Spektrum launched some so called "Serial" receivers that officially provide the satellite output as a documented interface. These are basically satellites but with diversity antennas which should provide more reliable range...

https://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM4648
https://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM4649T

They are not much good without a flight controller though because they have no standard PWM outputs. The much larger AR7700

https://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPMAR7700

is more flexible if you have a number of different applications in mind...

but that receivers cost as much as your transmitter.

 

[opax03]

This was extremely helpful, thank you!