Spektrum DX6e receiver compatibility?

[SteveRobey]

Hi all,

I've been looking around trying to find a list of different receivers that I should be able to pair with my Spektrum DX6e transmitter. I'm posting here because I didn't find anything when searching the forum for this subject but if there's an existing thread that might contain the information I am after please link to it.

I'm new to the hobby and the last time I operated anything radio controlled excluding just recently, they used crystals, so these new software defined systems are something new to me. What I understand currently though is that I should be able to pair my transmitter to the receiver in each of my models so I only have to take one transmitter to the field with me, but it seems like I may have to get some new receivers to go in some of the used aircraft I have bought from some of my local club members.

I put the new AR610 receiver that came with my transmitter into my FT Tiny Trainer since that's what I'll primarily be flying. I Programmed that to model memory 1, overwriting the "Acro" entry that the transmitter comes with, got that all set up and everything is working as expected. Then I added more memories for my other planes and tried to pair them up with no luck. The first two, I'm not really surprised with but the third I am somewhat surprised it doesn't work. One airplane has a Spektrum Park Flyer receiver, which I think I have learned is essentially locked and will only work with the accompanying transmitter, which I do have, but the plane that's installed in is definitely not something you want to fly at the park. Thinking I need to replace the AR6000 park flyer with an AR610?

Next I tried to pair up the receiver in my Eflite Apprentice S 15e. No luck there either. In both instances, the radio system seems like it's communicating for a second and then I get "Bind Failed" on the display. I tried the bind procedure a few times and can't get it to work. I guess with this one, I was under the impression that the receiver was compatible with a variety of transmitters, because it's a very popular one to install into other aircraft.

Lastly, I attempted to bind my transmitter with the first plane that I bought and have never successfully flown for more than a few seconds, the Dromida Voyager. No surprise really that this didn't work, but looking inside the fuselage at the all in one circuit board of this airplane, there are a couple of open JST ports, so I'm wondering if I need to jumper one of those in order to bind this airplane to my transmitter? I'm close to putting the voyager up on a shelf and forgetting about it. It's just too windy where I live.. because there is wind at all really. This plane is too small and lightweight to fly in any wind above maybe 3-5 mph and the propeller shaft is tiny and brittle.

I would like to at the very least try and bind the Apprentice to my transmitter if it is at all possible so I can try out this "SAFE" mode and see if it's really as great as all of the videos I have seen make it out to be. As for the park flyer.. Anybody interested in buying a used Spektrum DX6 Parkflyer transmitter and receiver? I successfully flew and crashed my TT with it plenty of times before my DX6e arrived, so in more skilled hands it ought to work great for a smaller aircraft.

In closing: Is there a list of receivers that are compatible with the Spektrum DX6e transmitter?

 

[F106DeltaDart]

Hey Steve, your DX6E is compatible with any receiver that uses the DSMX or DSM2 protocols. I don't have a complete list, but it is more or less all the receivers currently sold by Spektrum, LemonRX, and some from OrangeRX. The AR6000 uses the older DSM signal protocol, so you won't be able to bind to it. The Dromida voyager can only be bound to a Tactic radio using SLT protocol, so that won't work out of the box either.

As for the Apprentice, that should work with your radio. Try standing back about 10 feet from the aircraft when binding. Some of my DSMX receivers are kind of picky about that.

 

[SteveRobey]

Hey Steve, your DX6E is compatible with any receiver that uses the DSMX or DSM2 protocols. I don't have a complete list, but it is more or less all the receivers currently sold by Spektrum, LemonRX, and some from OrangeRX. The AR6000 uses the older DSM signal protocol, so you won't be able to bind to it. The Dromida voyager can only be bound to a Tactic radio using SLT protocol, so that won't work out of the box either.

As for the Apprentice, that should work with your radio. Try standing back about 10 feet from the aircraft when binding. Some of my DSMX receivers are kind of picky about that.

Thank you I will definitely try that. The first time I was doing this sitting at my table with the fuselage (Wing removed) sitting on the floor on it's landing gear. It's my understanding that when you turn on that receiver it needs to be sitting on flat, level ground, so the built-in gyro can zero out to what is considered flat and level. I'll give it a try from a greater distance.. After I put the bird dog outside. He doesn't yet understand that I don't want him going after these birds lol.

Thanks again!

 

[Paden501]

Regarding your experience with binding the apprentice, try it a couple times and as deltadart said, stand away from it a few feet. I've bound a couple receivers and a tiny whoop to my DX6 now and I've noticed that it doesn't always complete the first try. If it fails I turn both transmitter and receiver off (unplug the battery from the model) and try the bind procedure again from step 1. after a couple of tries it should bind up.

Any DSMX or DSM2 receiver or BNF airframe should work.

 

[SteveRobey]

Success.

After I returned home yesterday morning, I got out the apprentice again and jumpered the bind port and this time stood roughly ten feet away, may have only been 8 feet or so, but it worked on the first try. The last thing I have to do is replace a missing aileron linkage and this plane should be ready to fly now. I also noticed when I picked up the fuselage with the radio turned on and tipped it forward toward the ground that the elevator came up a little bit as the SMART receiver attempted to level it out so it seems that's working. I'll have to play around a bit with the settings so I can figure out how to switch modes etc but I think it's ready for a test flight this weekend. Parts are cheap and it's not my only plane so I'm not afraid to try and fly it though I will say this is a lot larger and more powerful than my Tiny Trainer. It will be interesting to see how it does all the same.

Thanks again for your help Delta.

Next I'm looking into Orange RX receivers as they have been recommended to me by some club members as a low cost equivalent to the Spektrum AR610. Currently I have two R615X receivers sitting in an online cart. Are these any good? Any problems I should know about with them?

Thank you.

 

[Paden501]

Hi Steve.

Glad to hear that you got the apprentice bound. I had almost the exact same question about the Orange RX receivers the other day. Some people warned me off of them, particularly the older ones that rely on the DSM2 technology. However, I bought one of these new V2 orange receivers (I picked the R1220XLR) and it's worked very well for me. The new ones do use DSMX 22ms. I picked the bigger one mainly for the onboard telemetry and because the price difference between the R620 and the R1220 was <$1. The R615x is about $10 less, but it doesn't feature the telemetry, So keep that in mind.

Bottom line on the Orange RX receivers, The new ones have worked well for me so far. Others have reported problems with the older DSM2 ones. So I guess I'll answer your question with another question: "If you lost your model to a receiver brown out, how big of a deal would that be to you?" My answer was, well it's a foam airplane so worst case is I have to fish it out of a tree and throw the airframe away - not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. So I went for the Orange rx and so far I've not had any issues with it.

Here's a link to the discussion thread that I had going about the Orange receivers:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?36053-Killed-My-Receiver

 

[SteveRobey]

Well I ordered two of the OrangeRX R615 receivers and installed one in my mini ultra stick and got that all set up. I'm still not ready to fly this plane yet but when I do, it's ready to go. I did get to fly the apprentice this weekend though and that went okay with the SAFE receiver, but I think I'm going to take it out. There is a way to switch between beginner, novice and expert mode with that receiver, but I haven't quite figured it out. I'll be replacing that with the other R615 that I have because I want full control of my airplane. I quickly noticed that I had no need for the receiver to help me out and as it turned out, I was having a little trouble keeping the plane where I wanted it because the receiver wouldn't allow me to bank as sharply as I wanted, nor would it let me go up or down as much as I wanted to. As a result, with 5-10mph winds I was finding that each wide circle of the aircraft it was getting higher and further away each time. At one point I even cut throttle completely and found that the plane continued to climb with the wind.

I managed to land with no problem but I don't want an aircraft with a mind of it's own after that experience. I'll give it another try reconfigured with the OrangeRX receiver and see how I like that. As for losing a plane because of a receiver brown out, if the throttle shuts off during the brown out I'll probably be fine. Our club airfield is situated in the middle of many many acres of farm land and it's just rough prairie out in front which would provide somewhat of a soft landing assuming not too slope of a descent angle. If the throttle stays on though, I could potentially have a plane fly in a straight line for miles and miles until the battery dies. While I don't particularly want that, I would be able to call my losses considering I've got less than $100 into any of the three planes I currently have.

I'll be starting construction this week on an FT Sparrow too and have electronics on the way for it. I'm hoping everything will have arrived by this weekend but might have to wait a week to maiden. After I get that one flying I'm going to explore my options for a small camera that can be installed on one of the planes. Not for FPV yet, just something to record a first person view of flights.

 

[Bricks]

If you get your flight modes set up you can turn off the AX3X so it flies with no input from the AS3X. Check Spectrums' web sight or do a google search for Horizon Hobby Apprentice file downloads. Should have a file you can download to your radio and will set up the AS3X so flight modes to work on a switch. I have heard the V2 Orange receivers are better then the first version but I prefer the Lemon receivers.

 

[SteveRobey]

Hey guys I wanted to follow up on this thread..

As I mentioned before I was having issues with my apprentice not turning like I wanted it to. Well, I think part of the problem might have been an issue with maintenance. When I bought this plane used from a club member, it was missing an aileron linkage so another club member built me a pair of new ones. Well, we were both excited to get it in the air and see how it did and I guess we forgot to tighten down one of the linkage stops. It wasn't until I was back home unloading the car that I realized I was probably flying with only one functioning aileron.

I'm going back out to McKay field this weekend and will try it again, probably will also have my Tiny Trainer and my new Sparrow with me to try out. If the Apprentice behaves similarly with both ailerons working, I have another OrangeRX that I may install in it.

 

[Ouch!]

I've just bought a DX6e for my first proper FT build. (I have the Storch kit but waiting for batteries and some other stuff to arrive).Previously I was using a Horizon Hobby Sport Cub-S with the bundled radio controller.
I was able to bind the DX6e with it very quickly and easily and I'm hoping I've bought the right transmitter to last me a while in the hobby.

Anyone got any issues with the DX6e that I need to be aware of as a Noob?

Many thanks

Ouch!

 

[Cigar Mike]

The only problem we have had was using some brands of receivers. Spektrum has been ok but not perfect. The ones with sats are much better. OrangeX, bad. Lemon with sat has never failed. Motion RC is selling Lemon made receivers under the Admiral brand and they work as good but have better cases. For the money I don't think you can by a better receiver than Lemon when using Spektrum transmitters.