Turnigy 9XR with Spektrum AR6115 for a BNF/ARF??

[iruamjs]

Hello everyone!
I'm a total newbie when it comes to RC. I've always loved RC flying and had a Nine Eagles SkyEagle (~20' Cessna) that I mastered flying a couple years ago, it finally burned out and I never got to replace all the electronics it needed.

After that, for a school project, I built a 42" wingspan balsa Spitfire with ailerons, elevator, rudder and throttle. Needless to say, it was well built but very poorly flown into the ground after about 11 seconds in the air.

I've kept the motor (Neodym NEO25 780kv), ESC (Thunderbird 54A), cheapo transmitter (eflite MLP4DSM) and receiver (Spektrum AR6115). All parts were suggested by the hobby store employee based on what I told him the plane would be like, and that I wanted the cheapest I could find, being a student at the time.

I want a Turnigy 9XR. It seems like a cheap, durable option.

Would any of my components still work for me? I'm wondering this because I'm looking into buying an Apprentice or a Sukhoi su-29mm. any of the two with SAFE. Or a Sensei with WISE

After all this rambling, my questions are basically:

- Can I get the 9Xr and buy a BNF version of these airplanes?
- What else would I need to buy for the 9Xr, considering I already have a receiver (will it work with the Tx?)?
- How small of a plane can I build out of foamboard to use my currently owned components?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[pressalltheknobs]

The Turnigy 9XR is no longer sold so I assume you mean a 9XR PRO or do you mean a 9X? In either case you will have to get a Spektrum compatible module to fly with the AR6115 or the Apprentice. You can get the Spektrum DM-9 one but it's DSM2 only and is only sold in a package with a receiver that costs more than the 9X PRO. Or you can get one of the Orange DSM2/DSMX modules - the switchable is the better bet - which don't always work and and the latest version of which are well know for not working well with the integrated/UMX BNFs - There is a hack that apparently fixes this that was just developed... not by Orange.

Personally I think you should have a good reason for buying the 9XR PRO rather than say getting a Spektrum DX6i. They cost about the same depending whether the 9XR PRO is on sale at the moment. The 9XPRO allows you to use er9x or OpenTX firmware which are very good and very flexible but if you don't know what those are you should ask yourself why you want a 9X PRO.

If you primarily want to fly Spektrum BNFs and maybe make a model or two I would just get the Spektrum. The 9XR PRO has good features but it's build quality is so so - ok if you get a good one. The only reason I see to buy a 9XPRO is because you can't quite afford a Taranis but you don't want to hack a 9X. Personally I'd get the 9X and hack it with a AR9X board rather than buy a 9X PRO because the 9X case is a much better design...but that's a personal choice.

 

[iruamjs]

The Turnigy 9XR is no longer sold so I assume you mean a 9XR PRO or do you mean a 9X? In either case you will have to get a Spektrum compatible module to fly with the AR6115 or the Apprentice. You can get the Spektrum DM-9 one but it's DSM2 only and is only sold in a package with a receiver that costs more than the 9X PRO. Or you can get one of the Orange DSM2/DSMX modules - the switchable is the better bet - which don't always work and and the latest version of which are well know for not working well with the integrated/UMX BNFs - There is a hack that apparently fixes this that was just developed... not by Orange.

Personally I think you should have a good reason for buying the 9XR PRO rather than say getting a Spektrum DX6i. They cost about the same depending whether the 9XR PRO is on sale at the moment. The 9XPRO allows you to use er9x or OpenTX firmware which are very good and very flexible but if you don't know what those are you should ask yourself why you want a 9X PRO.

If you primarily want to fly Spektrum BNFs and maybe make a model or two I would just get the Spektrum. The 9XR PRO has good features but it's build quality is so so - ok if you get a good one. The only reason I see to buy a 9XPRO is because you can't quite afford a Taranis but you don't want to hack a 9X. Personally I'd get the 9X and hack it with a AR9X board rather than buy a 9X PRO because the 9X case is a much better design...but that's a personal choice.

Thanks for all that information!

I was looking at the 9XR Pro. And I read about the firmwares and what I understood was that you can get different mixes and such. I saw a tutorial on mixing, rates and expos on a 9XR Pro running ER9X, which interested me since I want to do a couple scratch builds as well.

I gather that a spektrum receiver is DSM2? How does this relate to JR? I read a lot of people recommending the Frsky JR receiver for the 9XR pro, but I failed to find if that would work with a spektrum receiver. Would it, or just the Orange DSMX?

Would the alternative then be a Taranis X9D plus? I found a combo with receiver for $210
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...o_Digital_Telemetry_Radio_System_Mode_2_.html

And yes, pretty much spot on with "can't afford a Taranis but don't want to hack a 9x". I love hacking stuff, I'm just not sure if it's worth the time and cost to hack it compared to just buying the 9xr pro for a couple extra bucks.

 

[FAI-F1D]

If you primarily want to fly Spektrum BNFs and maybe make a model or two I would just get the Spektrum. The 9XR PRO has good features but it's build quality is so so - ok if you get a good one. The only reason I see to buy a 9XPRO is because you can't quite afford a Taranis but you don't want to hack a 9X. Personally I'd get the 9X and hack it with a AR9X board rather than buy a 9X PRO because the 9X case is a much better design...but that's a personal choice.

I agree with most of this, but a few caveats:

I've got a DX6i and honestly I've come to hate it. Only two mixes and the components are junk. I've had two trim switches fail and have had both the gear and trainer/bind switches fail. I've been using the regular AA batteries and the battery contacts have to be regularly bent back into place to maintain good contact (several crashes here). This radio is coddled and flown with care and kept away from heat as much as possible, so it's not rough handling.

The limited mixing capability and the like are real drawbacks to the DX6i. If you can find one cheap for $50, then sure it's a good deal, but otherwise the Turnigy 9 series are much better, and they can't possibly be as fragile.

 

[iruamjs]

I agree with most of this, but a few caveats:

I've got a DX6i and honestly I've come to hate it. Only two mixes and the components are junk. I've had two trim switches fail and have had both the gear and trainer/bind switches fail. I've been using the regular AA batteries and the battery contacts have to be regularly bent back into place to maintain good contact (several crashes here). This radio is coddled and flown with care and kept away from heat as much as possible, so it's not rough handling.

The limited mixing capability and the like are real drawbacks to the DX6i. If you can find one cheap for $50, then sure it's a good deal, but otherwise the Turnigy 9 series are much better, and they can't possibly be as fragile.

thanks! I don't know what it was about the lower end Spektrum's but I didn't even look at them. I think with your comment I'll be sticking to a 9XR PRO or maaaybe even wait a bit more and save up for a Taranis.

Thanks FAI-F1D!!

 

[FAI-F1D]

thanks! I don't know what it was about the lower end Spektrum's but I didn't even look at them. I think with your comment I'll be sticking to a 9XR PRO or maaaybe even wait a bit more and save up for a Taranis.

Thanks FAI-F1D!!

You may want to look at the 9X instead of the pro. I've gotten the impression that it's better in the long run (could be wrong about that, mind you).

Taranis is a fantastic radio.

There is mod you do to both of them to hardwire Spektrum hardware in so that they bind the model to the memory. CraftyDan just did that with his Taranis, and I'm planning to copy him on my new 9X. Time will tell...

One word of warning: programming all of these can be a challenge. If you get the 9x, upgrade it to OpenTX firmware. Even then, it's a little on the challenging side, but thanks to youtube the information is readily available.

 

[rockyboy]

The Taranis is a great choice, especially if you like hacking hardware and learning to use crazy, nearly unlimited software flexibility (OpenTx software can also be run on the (9XR's too).

There is a little bit of a learning curve, but transmitter programming and hacking has become almost a second hobby to planes for me


I'm having a hard time finding specifics about the motor you reference, but the thing you're going to need to figure out about it to size it up to a plane is how much thrust/power it provides. If you can get that number in terms of watts used or any sort of a thrust measurement along with the prop size that generated that power, you can back into the weight and type of flight performance you want, and then into the plane size.

There are some good websites to help, and in particular the http://rcadvisor.com/carlos-power-rule-explained page boils it down to a very rough formula “For a sport electric model airplane, 10% of the total airplane weight should be the motor and 15% should be the battery. This is valid as long as you use a brushless outrunner motor, LiPo batteries, and fly for six minutes.”

That site also goes into some serious maths about sizing motors, propellors, wing loading, etc. but that rule of thumb might get you into the ballpark for the size of DIY plane you should be looking at.

 

[pressalltheknobs]

thanks! I don't know what it was about the lower end Spektrum's but I didn't even look at them. I think with your comment I'll be sticking to a 9XR PRO or maaaybe even wait a bit more and save up for a Taranis.

Thanks FAI-F1D!!

If you have convinced yourself you want OpenTX or er9x and you can afford it reasonably soon, just get the Taranis.

I recommend getting it from AloftHobbies https://alofthobbies.com/radio-gear/frsky-transmitters.html if you don't get it from FliteTest https://store.flitetest.com/taranis-x9d-plus/

Also you may not want the X8R receiver as your first RX. It's biggish and if you want to build small things you will want a smaller receiver. Check out the full selection of FrSky RXs at Aloft.

There is one advantage of getting the 9XPRO is that the new hack for the Orange Module can be flashed from the 9XPRO directly and it can't from the Taranis but that wouldn't justify it for me.

http://openrcforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=8753

 

[iruamjs]

Thanks to all for the information!

I will try to save up for the Taranis, but if I get impatient I will flip a coin over the 9X or 9XR PRO. There seems to be many advantages to both and I don't think I could gather enough arguments myself with my little experience to choose one or the other willingly. If it ends up being the 9X, I'll commit and hack and program as needed.

I truly appreciate all the input and how helpful you've all been, I'm definitely going to spend more time here.

Happy Flying!