Newcomer, trying to make my first airplane. Have a question about compatible receiver

[defhermit]

Hey there all,

I apologize in advance if this is not the appropriate place for a post like this. I've been watching Flite Test youtube videos for a few weeks now but I'm completely new to the forum, but I'm anxious to get started. I scanned the site and didn't notice any "NEWBY QUESTIONS HERE" section!

Just last week I got the bug to finally try to fly an RC airplane for the first time. After a bit of research on options, I went out last friday and picked up a Horizon Hobby Sport Cub S Ready-To-Fly plane. I've been having a great time with it! Highs and lows included, my first take-off, first landing, first figure eight, first loop, and first bad crash. Learned some about repair and that led to seeing the insides of the plane, understanding its workings, etc.

I'm now anxious to ramp up toward building my first plane and I plan on doing so with one of the Flite Test speed-build kits. I've even gone out and purchased myself a hot glue gun, sticks, and some other tools in preparation for this.

Here's the question, finally: can I get some assurance that the receiver I purchase for use with the build will be compatible with the (presumably) low-end radio handset that came with my RTF plane? It is labeled as an "MLP6DSM"

http://www.horizonhobby.com/mlp6dsm-6ch-safe-reg;-transmitter-24ghz:-180-qx-hd-eflrmlp6

I realize that this is a radio meant for my micro-scale plane, and its range will likely be too small for a larger plane. I haven't yet decided which speed-build kit to do, but it will likely be larger and more powerful than this plane. I have plans to upgrade my radio soon enough, but I feel like it would be nice to get another plane off the ground before investing in another radio. If possible, I'd like to wait until I can upgrade to a really nice radio eventually without wasting money on "intermediate" radio between now and then.

So, what can I put in my plane that is guaranteed to work with this radio? Does anyone know? Any things I should be worrying about? Sorry if I was too wordy.

Thanks a lot,

James Connolly

 

[defhermit]

well I broke down and bought the cheapest receiver/transmitter pair I could find:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9042__Hobby_King_2_4Ghz_6Ch_Tx_Rx_V2_Mode_2_.html

at least now I am relatively sure they will pair together. any advice would still be welcome!

 

[razor02097]

Hello defhermit!

I haven't really heard great things about radio systems that come with Horizon's small RTF planes and helis. They are lower power transmitters which are fine for the small models that won't fly very far. Deciding to move up is a good idea.

 

[Craftydan]

defhermit, Welcome to the forum!

That's a fair first radio from a pure price perspective. It's pretty limited, but it should meet your needs for getting started.

DO make sure you pick up the programming cable. You will need it to reverse channels, set endpoints (how far the servo throws in either direction), set dual rates (allows you to limit how far a surface can move at the flip of a switch), or turn on any elevon mixing (Versa/FT-22/FT Delta).

 

[defhermit]

Thanks for the replies,

I heard about the lack of cable in the comments section of a review, but I assumed that it was one of the standard USBs that comes with printers. Glad I checked, as this is some other thing entirely and I will have to pick one up.

Now I have another question.

Can anyone suggest a cheap PC-compatible simulator transmittor (gamepad)? I downloaded 2 free simulators last night and set up my xbox one controller as input, but obviously its not perfect since there's an auto-centering spring in the left stick. I assume my soon-to-arrive affordable transmitter will NOT do this with or without the programming cable. Some real transmitters just work I guess, via what looks like a 1/8th inch (headphone-type) jack.

If I'm not yet ready to spend a lot of money on a good transmitter that also has this feature, are there any cheaper "just-simulator" transmitter controllers available that anyone recommends?

 

[defhermit]

Received my HK-T6A V2 tx/rx combo (and programming USB cable) in the mail today! looks good. I was able to install the T6Config application to program the transmitter after a searching a bit. it worked, but the clunky, obviously out of date winforms application I'm now reliant on to program my transmitter is not confidence boosting. also, I found videos of people using T6Config where it seemed they had access to settings I haven't seen in the version I'm running.

so I can get to the point where I can see my input on the transmitter represented onscreen in T6Config, and the changes I make to the trim, reversing, etc all stay intact after disconnecting and rechecking. so I think I can "reprogram" the transmitter properly (although I didn't see a way to straight up remap anything, maybe that's not possible?). I wanted to try the transmitter out with the few simulator applications I've found, but although I had a few promising leads in forum posts describing how to do it I was not able to get anything working on that front. it is 2015 and these forum threads were talking about getting stuff working on Vista. we are 2 OS's away from that at this point. I've given up on that front for now.

it came with the receiver so now I want to test that it works, right? damn I can't power the receiver up. found a cool youtube video of a guy demonstrating binding between these two devices using a 4-AA battery pack. that'd be nice to have, but I guess I should just buy the batter that it's gonna run on anyway. so, tonight I went ahead and bought 2 batteries (2s and 3s) and the 3 pack swappable kit from flite test! I believe I have everything I need to get it built and going once this shipment arrives.

anything I'm not thinking of? stuff I should pick up between now and the delivery? I'm all ears people.

sorry for being so wordy, I'm kind of obsessing over this stuff at this point.

 

[Craftydan]

I see you now have a TX/RX and have battery and fuselage kits on order . . . do you have servos? Motor? ESC? Battery charger?

If you didn't get a power pack, the kits come without electronics.

Even still, I don't recall FT selling the charger, and the one you have with the sport cub won't work for a 2S or 3S pack.

 

[defhermit]

I ordered the power pack with the speed build kit (there was only one option, I forget which). Ordered a charger from HobbyKing at the same time. Thanks for looking out. I found it a little strange that there wasn't an option at the flite test store for a charger! Maybe they don't have a lot of storage space? Seems like there would be a lot of people like me who would rather just buy EVERYTHING in a single order from one site.

Looking forward to building this! This will be the first time I've used a glue gun since elementary school. Maybe I should find some kind of "how to use a glue gun" tutorial?

 

[Craftydan]

No problem

Probably their B-kit -- it'll treat you well for a bloody wonder, versa wing, FT22, soarer, or fogey/speedster. Would likely be underpowered for some of the larger kits, but that still leaves a LOT of room open to grow.

Yeah, space is kinda tight for them, and honestly the power packs are VERY new too. From the conversations I've had with them, they don't expect to become the one-stop-hobby-shop or Hobby-king killer by any means. The new parts selection in the store is there to get the new guy up and running enough they can get a little context of "this + that = fly" . . . then send folks off to the myriad of larger selections at other stores, no longer a blind noob, but equipped to know what to look for and a better chance of picking the right things.

They've been looking into getting a simple balance charger for the 2S and 3S 800's they stock, particularly for classroom kits they're working on, but even that charger would be unsuitable for much else -- Just enough to get up and running. At the time I last chatted with Josh, he hadn't really found one they liked. Perhaps that will change soon.

Now as far as the HGG . . . Best of luck. Watch out for the hot end. It's hot

 

[defhermit]

Here's a strange thing, maybe you've encountered it before?

After ordering last night I received a confirmation email from flite test giving me their internal order number for my order.
Then I received another email telling me that the order had shipped, but that no tracking number was assigned to it yet.
Then I got the most recent email including a link to the tracking page for my assigned tracking number.

Problem is, when I click on that link I'm led to a USPS page indicating that the tracking number is not found.

"The Postal Service could not locate the tracking information for your request. Please verify your tracking number and try again later."

Is this normal? It seems likely to me that there's a window between when flite test receives a tracking number from USPS and when the USPS site becomes "aware" of that tracking number. It would make me feel a lot better if someone could tell me that this is completely normal and I will be able to track my shipment in a few hours?

Is that the case?

 

[Craftydan]

That's pretty typical, and more-so from USPS.

The commercial shippers have fairly rapid updates, but nearly everybody print labels pre-shipment, which will hold a "tracking number" but show up dead in a search until the truck rolls by and picks it up. Truck drive scans it in and the commercial shippers update immediately from "we have no idea what you're talking about" to "it's over here". USPS is occasionally as fast, but most of the time the data that comes in is at least a few hours old, if not a day or two in some spots.

It's getting better, but it's still an exercise in patience

 

[defhermit]

sweet, that's what I thought.

I use USPS because I live in an apartment building and the mailboxes are all in a centralized "mail room". USPS is the only delivery option where the delivery guy has a key to that mailroom. Otherwise I just get left with a "tried to deliver" notice or even worse just gets left in front of my door.

Can't wait to receive the kit and start gluing!