Spektrum DSM2 Users

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
All it takes is the loss of one model. For me it really wasn't worth it to buy the Orange R910 ($25) over the original Spektrum AR600 ($59) and try to save only $35! Look what it got me...the loss of a $99 airframe. Luckily the rest of the electronics are OK so me trying to be cheap is going to cost me another $99 (cause I want the plane again) $25 for the original Orange RX, and now $59 for an Original Spektrum RX.
 

sandblaster

Senior Member
Now I have the perfect excuse for those nose dives into the ground, not beginner pilot error, as I thought. No, brown out sounds so much better. Yep! That's my story and I'm stick'en to it.:D
 

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
Now I have the perfect excuse for those nose dives into the ground, not beginner pilot error, as I thought. No, brown out sounds so much better. Yep! That's my story and I'm stick'en to it.:D
I'm not exactly a beginner, bro. I'm no expert but I'm not a beginner either. The controls on this plane froze on three different flights for about 1.5 seconds. This is the only plane that I have that this has happened to and happens to be the only plane I have an OrangeRX in. I have no problem taking blame for a crash, I've lost a lot of planes to dumb thumbs but you can tell if a plane stops responding to any input.
 

sandblaster

Senior Member
bicyclemonkey,

Don't take me wrong, I totally believe you. I'm just having fun. I needed an excuse. My boss ask, "did you crash?" almost before I can get through the door, after flying. Now I can say, Yep! Another brown out.:D
 

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
By boss, you mean wife? Dealing with the peanut gallery is a piece of cake compared with having to tell the wife you crashed another plane. Chalk another one up to the glitch-o-matic.
 

sandblaster

Senior Member
By boss, you mean wife? Dealing with the peanut gallery is a piece of cake compared with having to tell the wife you crashed another plane. Chalk another one up to the glitch-o-matic.

Yes, one and the same. Great women to put up with me and all my hobbies over the years. Not sure to many like her were made.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
My experiences are thus. I own 2 DX5's, the first one stopped binding after I dropped it. Totally my fault. It still works with the simulator though so I plug it in and let the kids use it. The other one I use with my foam cub when my kids fly it, and as a trainer box when people want to try flying.

I have friends with the DX6i and the old DX7's, and they fly the same things I do and have never reported a problem. I know a guy that flies extreme 3D with electric and nitro helicopters up to a TREX 700 on a DX7 for years and no reported problems. So I think the DSM2 works fine. He also flies at a popular field with lots of other systems going simultaneously.

I bought the DX8 and haven't had a single failure. I use Orange RX's in 4 of my planes and have flown them as far as I could see them and never had a problem. I also fly near our local airport and in my experience if you're going to have interference issues, it will be near an airport.

The reason I bought my DX8 is I started out with horizon products and wanted to stick with the BNF capable aircraft. I wanted to be able to fly everything I own on one transmitter. I had also never experienced anything that would deter me from sticking with Spektrum.

The aircraft I fly are in my signature. All have spektrum or orange receivers. I have experienced good things with my Orange receivers but at the same time, for my nitro planes and my helicopters I spend the 60 bucks and get a good spektrum DSMX receiver. Just makes me more confident. Confidence that it will work is worth the extra money.

As far as compatibility, my instruction manual states that all DSMX radios are compatible with DSM2 receivers. They simply revert back to DSM2. My DX8 says right on the screen which mode it's in. All of the Orange RX's and all my ultra micro's are DSM2 and the DX8 works fine.

The only guy I know that had trouble with a DX8 was a guy I met at the field in Fairbanks and he had a $13,000.00 jet with a kerosene turbine. He said he had lost confidence in his DX8 so he got a JR11x. He's still using all the same radio gear in the jet, but he likes the 11x better. It's all DSM2.

Hope this helps.
 

pgerts

Old age member
Mentor
Now I have the perfect excuse for those nose dives into the ground, not beginner pilot error, as I thought. No, brown out sounds so much better. Yep! That's my story and I'm stick'en to it.:D
Good one! Before the time of 2,4 there were many "LOSS OF SIGNAL" in "The Bermuda Triangle". Every field has its own Bermuda Triangle - that is the downwind corner when you are getting in for final on the landing.
 

ananas1301

Crazy flyer/crasher :D
True.

For me it just really depends on what you fly. On a 13,000$ kerosine jet I´d never ever use DSMwhatever xyz at all! I just don´t fully trust it or I just didn´t have the experience of never ever having lost a plane due to that.

The receiver quite often comes down to me all fine but has that blinking light showing me it had a few signal losses. Even though I didn´t feel it or see it and that even with a AR500! (sometimes I even did feel it) I just can´t get DSM going with something over 300$ plane!

I´d rather save my money and spend it for a good Futaba T8FG Super or something like that, which is approved to be very good or a Aurora 9.
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
That 8FG Super is amazing. I really like that system. If I were a Futaba fan that's what I would go for. Spektrum also has the expansion modules to add more channels but only on the super expensive DX10T. I'm hoping that they will follow futaba here and make some expandable radios.
 

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
I´d rather save my money and spend it for a good Futaba T8FG Super or something like that, which is approved to be very good or a Aurora 9.
I was looking at both and decided against the Aurora 9 1st because it doesn't have a memory card slot for upgrades and 2nd it's the slowest new radio on the market. <---- whether or not the difference is even noticeable is debatable.
 

epiper93

Active member
I bought my son a DX-5e a few years ago and at first it seemed to work fine. However now my very proficient pilot of a son has lost connection with the receivers and we are losing confidence in this setup. We would have simply bailed-out on this system if it wasn't for the mSR, the ultra-micro P-51, the ultra-micro Su26, and his Orange Rx. I would like to regain confidence and perhaps get him an upgrade, like a DX-6 but I'd rather not spend more money on another unreliable radio system only to wreck more aircraft.

We have another radio in mind but going that route means those BNF a/c will be going to the bone yard which would be a VERY unfortunate and sad thing.

So, I would like to hear from DSM2 experienced people who have had successes, failures, and especially failures that they were able to remedy.

—Jim

I intend to keep this thread clean by deleting some of my own replies from time to time if they don't contribute to the cause. The posts I'm referring to are the ones of gratitude, acknowledging those who are providing input.

Thank you all for your help. I hope others will also gain from this.
I have a dx5e as well and i havent had any trouble, however my brother has a spektrum dx6i and has had 2 crashes thanks to radio failure, spektrum radios arent cheaply built compared to turnigy and such, however compared to futaba and JR they are in my opinion
 

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
Good 'ol Spektrum in the DSM2 version doesn't frequency hop and only uses two bands on the 2.4GHz frequency (the T9X uses around 16) so it's more prone to interference. Also brownouts can be a problem since the rx will shut off if the voltage goes below around 4v.

Given this, I have NEVER had a problem with my trusty DX6i (DSM2). But knowing this info, I only use my Spektrum stuff for park flyer size planes anymore.

Check these video review of Spektrum DSM2 I found online:


 

itssean95

Junior Member
Hey, I got the new Spectrum Dsmx Dx6i and i decided to try the Ar6210 reciever that came with it but after a range check which was fine i had launched it and as soon as it hit the air i lost all control of it. Has anyone else had issues with the new Dx6i? and could i have just put in the reciver incorectly. Ive been flying for awhile but i dont know all that much about the electronics that are involved.
 

bicyclemonkey

Flying Derp
Mentor
Hey, I got the new Spectrum Dsmx Dx6i and i decided to try the Ar6210 reciever that came with it but after a range check which was fine i had launched it and as soon as it hit the air i lost all control of it. Has anyone else had issues with the new Dx6i? and could i have just put in the reciver incorectly. Ive been flying for awhile but i dont know all that much about the electronics that are involved.
Welcome to the forum. Sorry your first post had to be one about destruction :( I hope the plane wasn't too badly damaged. I actually have not heard of any issues with the DX6i. I have the 10-plane memory on mine (DSM2 version) full with no problems. The DX8 on the other hand has been riddled with recalls and brownout/lockout problems. Could have been a problem with the Rx, it would be hard to connect it incorrectly. You can send it in to Horizon at no charge usually and they'll test/replace it if necessary.
 

sandblaster

Senior Member
Did you do a pre-flight check and make sure all the control surfaces moved in the correct direction? My first time things were set in reverse of what was needed, even when I thought I had corrected everything before.
 

fwa2500

Ramp Rat
My only bad experience was with my polecat's brick, once with the rtf tx from my t-28 and once again with my dx6I it lost bind while at full throttle with aprox 45 degrees nose down. Horizon kindly sent me a brand new brick for it free of charge and I haven't had any issues since. I also have an orange rx in my mini-swift that was been working flawlessly. I should also note that both of my flying sites are within a couple hundred yards of an NDB and haven't had any issues with interference.
 
Last edited:

pgerts

Old age member
Mentor
Hey, I got the new Spectrum Dsmx Dx6i and i decided to try the Ar6210 reciever that came with it but after a range check which was fine i had launched it and as soon as it hit the air i lost all control of it. Has anyone else had issues with the new Dx6i? and could i have just put in the reciver incorectly. Ive been flying for awhile but i dont know all that much about the electronics that are involved.
This should be a DSMX system. Does the TX recognize the RX as a DSMX when you bind?
The first X systems - +12 months old - had some issues with locking up, but i have not heard of it regarding any system sold the last 9 months.

All of my similar experiences has been due to cable and connector problems.

Do you have any pictures of the plane and installation of the equipment?
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
I have a DX5e that's never given me problems and a DX8 that's been flawless except I sent it back because the tone/vibe quit. I fly thirteen models with it in all sizes and shapes and used both of them tonight. Sorry to hear you are having trouble. It would help to know what you have attached to it.