New transmitter

Hi folks. My friend has expressed an interest in RC. I suggested their first expense should be a transmitter that would grow with their experience level. They are nearing completion of a house re-fit so budget is a concern. I have a few ideas in mind regarding which one would be a good fit for them but I am eager to find out what y'all would suggest. Ta in advance, Jim.
 

cnc_dave

Member
taranis qx7, i started in the hobby last year it was the only one that ticked all the boxes, especially budget and support. at $100 range you can't beat it
lots of good videos on the youtube for about anything from setting up to repairs and mods.
 
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jtrops

Member
Depending on the budget I would recommend either the Flysky Fs-i6x, or the Taranis Qx7.

For $50 the Flysky radio is hard to beat. It is pretty simple to get started flying right away, but it offers quite a bit of room to advance as your needs change. The receivers are inexpensive, and the range is outstanding. The downsides are that the gimbals apparently wear out over time (I haven't had that happen), and it has a 20 model capacity.

For $100 the Qx7 is limited only by the physical number of switches/controls on the radio. It uses modules, so new protocols can be added when the need arises. It uses OpenTx firmware which allows complete control over every function. The downside is that it is also a much steeper learning curve to use it.

I don't have a Qx7, but I do have a 9xr that uses similar firmware. If I was going to buy a radio today it would probably be a Qx7. If I had to go back to when I bought the first radio it would be a Flysky again. Even with the more capable radio available the Flysky does its job well, and there's no reason to let it collect dust.
 
Thank you everyone! That was exactly the info I was needin' You cant taste it from there but I am having a lovely wee dram in your honour. Slante!
 

Wingman04

Member
DX6e is awesome. I have one and can use it to fly over half of Horizon Hobby's craft. I holds 250 model memory and is programmable. jtrops also had a good idea. Basically, the only difference is two channels and $50. It's all up to you on how much you want to spend and what is going to be needed of the transmitter. Another idea is the outdated DX6i. It only has a 2 position flap switch and only 10 model memory, but are dirt cheap used on Ebay. You can get them used with a Rx for usually under $120.
 
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Gotta go with the Taranis on this one. You cant beat open TX right now as there is soooo much that can be done. Other radios have nice features but what you buy today is what you are stuck with tomorrow. The Taranis gear is constantly being updated and there are many developments in the works at all times like things such as LUA scripts. The memory is upgradeable and is on a sd card so if you somehow manage to fill up the original you can simple copy that over to a larger one and continue growing. Then there is TONS more community support with them and the protocol they use to transmit is rock solid second only to after market long range systems.

Every radio has a learning curve as its all proprietary stuff. With open tx there is a standard forming and there are more then one way to do something like mixes and such and you are not locked into a single vendor mandated method like other gear. Its not as hard to learn the format as everyone says. If you can read you can do it. If you spent more then a day or two with a radio in your hand you can figure things out without even reading.

I would suggest the QX7 hands down or save a bit longer and get that special edition X9 with all the current physical mods already done including the hall effect gimbals. Those alone are worth switching brands in my opinion.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I'll throw my $0.02 in as well, but I'll say that if you have a chance to get your hands on the radios first, DO IT.

When I bought my transmitter a year ago, I bought a Spektrum DX6. I was able to pick it up, feel where all of the buttons and switches were, and see how it felt. Ergonomically, the DX6 felt the best to me. In addition, when I looked at the Taranis that was $50 cheaper, I started moving the sticks around and they felt mushy to me. I made mention of that to the person at the hobby shop, and he said, "Well, you can swap them out to different gimbals, but it'll be $50 for the upgraded parts."

Since that put me at the Spektrum's price, AND since I had a lot of people flying Spektrums in my area, AND my particular quad that I was looking at already had a Spektrum receiver in it, I just went ahead and spent the money on the Spektrum DX6. Dpes that mean that you need to fly with the Spektrum? No...But I would highly recommend finding something that you like the feel of before you drop the money. Remember, you're going to be holding that thing the entire time you fly with it; if it's not comfortable, you're not going to want to keep flying for a long time, and if you're using switches that aren't ergonomic (which has happened to me with an older Graupner controller, as well as an old HiTec radio), your hands are going to cramp, and it will NOT be a fun flying experience.

That's something that I recommend REGARDLESS of your radio choice - find something that's comfy, if you can. They're all fairly similar, but not all are comfortable.

Last thing that's a REALLY nice feature with the DX6, DX8, and DX8e, and I think the Taranis and some others like the Graupners have this - the voice features. I have with my radio, the ability for it to tell me how much time I have left in certain increments. It's nice to hear it tell me, "One Minute" or "30 Seconds remaining" when I get close; that way, I know I need to start planning to land within that time.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
I spent over 2 years trying to find the RIGHT Tx for my needs. I wanted 9+ channels, sliders, and something that FIT in my hands. I use thumbs and I have huge palms with shorter fingers so it was important that I found something ergonomic. That said, I was willing to pay up for anything and landed with the Taranis. The only downside then was the gimbals. I swapped them out for gimbals from my old (1996) JR Tx and it worked great. With the M9 gimbals I am in hog heaven now and would not change a thing.

I've used as few as 4 channels, and am currently working on an airplane to use all 16 channels... yes 16. I can control everything and the kitchen sink with this thing and it fits me.

Definitely get your hands on the radio before you buy and try to have a vision of where you want to go with the hobby. Beginning is hard that way but it is possible to find the flexibility in a Tx.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I spent over 2 years trying to find the RIGHT Tx for my needs. I wanted 9+ channels, sliders, and something that FIT in my hands. I use thumbs and I have huge palms with shorter fingers so it was important that I found something ergonomic. That said, I was willing to pay up for anything and landed with the Taranis. The only downside then was the gimbals. I swapped them out for gimbals from my old (1996) JR Tx and it worked great. With the M9 gimbals I am in hog heaven now and would not change a thing.

I've used as few as 4 channels, and am currently working on an airplane to use all 16 channels... yes 16. I can control everything and the kitchen sink with this thing and it fits me.

Definitely get your hands on the radio before you buy and try to have a vision of where you want to go with the hobby. Beginning is hard that way but it is possible to find the flexibility in a Tx.

Ok...16 channels intrigues me...what are you going to use all of them for? I'm guessing rudder, throttle, ailerons, elevator, landing gear, flaps...Are you running each servo on a different channel for trim functionality? I'm asking more out of curiosity than anything else, as I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to use all 16 channels (there's obviously a reason to have that many, or else they wouldn't make a radio capable of it, but I don't understand how, having never seen a setup that large).

And I completely get what you mean about the Taranis gimbals. That's the big kicker why I went Spektrum - yeah, I could've saved $50 on the transmitter, but I didn't like the feel, and the cost to fix it wasn't a savings. Plus, I have a hard time tearing something brand new apart to "fix" it...
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Ok...16 channels intrigues me...what are you going to use all of them for?

Throttle
Aileron 1
Elevator
Rudder/ tail gear steering
Aileron 2
Flaps
Main gear (Pneumatic)
Tail gear (Mechanical)
Main gear doors (Mechanical)
Bomb drop
Canopy slide
Cowl flaps
Cockpit throttle lever
Cockpit Aileron (Stick)
Cockpit Elevator (Stick)
Cockpit rudder pedals

Then I'm using an airspeed sensor on the S.Bus.

It's for the Corsair linked in my signature.