What now?

[Matt737]

Hi everyone! Glad to be here. I've had some experience before with RC aircraft, but I want to get more involved now. I have a good background knowledge of aerodynamics and flight.

I am looking at the Flite Test Simple Cub to be my first purchase. This, along with the Power Pack C, and some wheels. I know I need a battery and a transmitter, but I'm not sure where to go from here. I've seen positive reviews of the Turnigy TGY-i6 transmitter, but I can't be sure if it is accurate. The battery that I am looking at is the Tattu 3S LiPo Battery 45C, but it is currently out of stock on the flitetest store. I'm looking for some opinions on what transmitter I should buy, along with battery. My goal with this first plane is to get accustomed to the handling of an RC aircraft, and then to continue on with more complex planes.

If anyone could give some suggestions, as well as tips for a beginner in RC flight, please tell me. Thanks!

 

[mrjdstewart]

if you are serious, buy a real Tx. i have used the TGYi6 and i9 and can't stand them. interface is like dealing with an 80's computer. the low price makes them attractive, but if you have plans to have multiple aircraft and are serious about entering the hobby you should spend the money up front and get a real Tx.

in my opinion the Spektrum Dx6e is the best bang-for-your-buck Tx. then use orange or lemon rx's on the cheap.

also, the cubby doesn't need a C-pack, a B-pack w/ a 8" or 10" prop is more than fine. i have built prob 10 at this point so trust me, spend the money on your Tx.

good luck,

me

 

[Mode 1]

Matt - Even though I've moved to the Frysky QX7, I fully agree with the above.. the Dx6e is the ideal radio for someone coming into the hobby. It's easy to use, can use the orange and lemon rx's and is priced right.

 

[Flite Risk]

Regarding the cub;
I might, no I will recommend, not the cub but the tiny trainer, its a hand launch/belly land plane that opens up where you can fly. You don't need a pretty runway. And being 3 channel its simple.

Regarding a radio;
For a TX you can't go wrong with the Taranis Qx7.
$80.00 for a full function radio that can be backwards compatible with spektrum planes with the right mods. It can be set up to go very long range cheaply. if that's where the hobby takes you. (price out receivers, you will buy plenty and the Qx7 can store up to 50 models in internal memory (maybe more)).

Regarding a battery.
C rating is only important in quads, it measures how the battery discharges in fast bursts.
I fly my tiny trainer on a 2S 400mah. It is cheap and sorta quick to recharge.

Just my 00.02

If its a penny for my thoughts and I put my two cents in. . . . . Somebody is making a penny........

Have fun, don't stop asking questions here its a wonderful community.
-Chris from Delaware

 

[Matt737]

in my opinion the Spektrum Dx6e is the best bang-for-your-buck Tx. then use orange or lemon rx's on the cheap.

Orange or lemon RX's? Is that like a brand name or something?

 

[Matt737]

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/oranger...ch-2-4ghz-receiver-w-cppm.html?___store=en_us

Is this what you mean by Orange RX?

As I said before, I'm not too good with electronics; would this be compatible with the Taranis Q X7?

 

[Mode 1]

Orange or lemon RX's? Is that like a brand name or something?

Yep

 

[Mode 1]

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/oranger...ch-2-4ghz-receiver-w-cppm.html?___store=en_us

Is this what you mean by Orange RX?

As I said before, I'm not too good with electronics; would this be compatible with the Taranis Q X7?

This may sound a bit odd coming from a guy who just moved from Spektrum to the Taranis QX7.. If you are new to the hobby and not too good with electronics i'd stay away from the Taranis and buy the DX6E. Taranis is a great radio.. it's a fantastic value. However, it's user interface and programming is not nearly as user friendly as the Spektrum transmitters. Out of the box the Taranis is not compatible with the orange Rx.. although it's possible if you purchase a multiprotocol module.

If you want a transmitter that is user-friendly and will grow with you for the next few years, go get the dx6e and an orange Rx or two.

 

[Matt737]

The DX6E is a bit out of my price range for now. Is the Turnigy 9X a good choice?

I've looked into the Orange RX and it looks like the right choice for a receiver, at least from what I can tell. Would it be compatible with the 9X out of the box?

 

[Mode 1]

Matt - I have no experience or knowledge of the Turnigy line. Take a look at this thread for an overview of transmitters.
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/which-transmitter-you-should-buy.37966/
at the simple level.. any of the Spektrum transmitters should work with the Orange or Lemon Rx's.

 

[mrjdstewart]

nope. turnigy only works w turnigy. check ebay. I have a dx6e I got for $30, sent to horizon, they fixed for free and sent back.

 

[Flite Risk]

Matt,
I was in your position when I went to Flite Fest 2017. It was my first flight Fest I was new to the hobby and did not yet own a radio. I asked around, most people mentioned the Qx7 because of its bang for the buck and ability to grow with you through the hobby. I found getting to know the Qx7 pretty easy.

Full disclosure, I've never used a Spektrum radio. I am not knocking Spectrum or any other protocol this has just been my experience.

Painless360 has quite a lot of videos on YouTube that have helped me figure out my Qx7.

Conversations like this are priceless and what make this community great.
I hope we help you figure out what you end up being most comfortable with.
-Chris from Delaware

 

[d8veh]

This modern RC stuff is an absolute minefield, mainly because there are a lot of compatibility issues. Buy your transmitter and receiver as a matched pair or set to avoid that. I wouldn't advise a Taranis unless you're used to setting up computer equipment. I have a couple of them and had many hours of frustration and research before I got them working.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Taranis (Open TX/frsky) is probably the gold standard right now for radios. It's ability to be programmed to do what you want is unparalleled. There is simply nothing more versatile for the price. Taranis is also probably the most complicated radio for the price. You can do almost anything, but the learning curve is STEEP. Take a weekend to set up the radio and learn how to program it.

Spektrum is very versatile, solid and very intuitive. You can't make it dance and sing like the Taranis, but you can fly today at a moderate price point.

The Turnigy 9X (flysky) is where I started (now own a Taranis and love it). It is intuitive and cheap. The failsafe on these blow so I wouldn't put an expensive multirotor in the air with this, but you can fly today for $50.

The FT Cub is a good plane but for a beginner to foamies or to electric powered planes, I would recommend the Tiny Trainer. You get two wings, the craft is VERY forgiving and simpler to build and maintain.

Once you get your airframe, start a build thread, post photos and film your glide tests and maiden. If anything goes wrong, we can use the video to help you. When you fly, we can all cheer with you!

Welcome to FliteTest!

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

MY personal recommendation for a transmitter is FrSky. Preferably a QX7 but you really can't go wrong with any of their products. Rock solid firmware and pretty good quality straight out of the box. If you want to upgrade the gimbals later then hall effect gimbals can be had for a pretty reasonable price and they make the radio feel like a $1000 machine. The programming CAN be tricky, but it's not hard to get the hang of basic models. Maybe an afternoon's with of painless360 youtube tutorials and you'll be competent enough to get your plane dialed in. Spektrum stuff is good for ease of use, but IMHO they are too expensive to really compete with the QX7. DSMX is good, but the majority of cheap receivers will be DSM2. Fine for flying by yourself, but if you ever go to an event or fly with multiple people get ready for brown outs (loss of signal.) You can get cheap 4 channel ACCST (FrSky) receivers off of sites like banggood for about $6 and they will be more stable than DSM2. If you buy genuine spektrum stuff expect about $25-$30 for a 4-6 channel receiver. The main benefit of spektrum (again, IMHO) is that it is directly compatible with everything else that Horizon Hobby makes. And let me tell you, Horizon makes some good stuff. Great flying airplanes which is somewhat reflected in the price, but it is worth it. Anything marked BnF on Horizon's website is a super super easy setup with a spektrum transmitter. So it really comes down to what you want to do in the hobby. For DIY stuff I would go QX7 all the way. The upgrade-ability and flexibility along with the low entry price point makes FrSky and obvious choice. Spektrum has great customer service and a lot of compatible products to boot, but is a bit more pricey than FrSky. Wither way, I can't see you making a bad decision between the two, just don't completely cheap out on your transmitter as it is the one thing that you'll have long term in the hobby.

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

TO go against what has already been said... I've had 5 TGY i6's and 3 TGY i4x's and love both of them. really small and lightweight, and while they aren't very powerful feature wise, for a beginner they are perfect. even me, 5 years in am still using mine, I've tried other radios and hated most of them. And, for FPV its got a 2km range so pretty good.

Abe

 

[buzzbomb]

Dang. Matt, I'm not hijacking your post, but I'm in the same boat and want the same clarification as far as the transmitter is concerned. If we get answers, it is because of your post:

Ladies and Gentlemen! (I'm not looking up ya'lls gender.) *taps glass* Thank you for your non-biased opinions. This debate has been both Informative and Noteworthy. (As we sit around a classic English Smoking Room, in my mind's eye.) However. There MUST be a consensus from this meeting!

There are TWO things we are looking for:

1. Really cheap but functional and get it in the air now, with information on the drawbacks of that approach, besides outgrowing it. Cheap enough that when we outgrow it and have to upgrade? We won't mind, because we are already flying at least a 4ch and the transmitter and receiver were financially insignificant. The important thing is that we learned to fly.

2. The second thing we are looking for is perhaps a little more learning curve and cost (it really has to be worth all of it), but we can grow with it for a few planes. Probable upgrade in the distant future. Distant Future.

All bias aside. If you answer question number one, it's just temporary. We'll be moving on to better stuff pretty quick, but it's cheap enough that we don't have to wait and make a big investment. It'll get us in the air and learning how to fly.

Question number two: Longer time before we can actually fly (not good. I'm a patient man, I don't know about Matt.) BUT if that is what is truly recommended, I will take that route (I can't speak for Matt, the OP).

So. Gentlemen (and Ladies if they are present, my mind's eye is kind of fuzzy) please. A consensus on just cheap and airworthy and another on a larger investment with room to grow. Transmitter and receiver if you would be so kind.

Sit back, enjoy your cigar and sherry, the next debate likely begins with the next post. I honestly hope we can nail this down. It will help not only Matt and I, but so many other newbies.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I started with a Turnigy 9X. Used it for 2 years. Then I crashed my plastic 3D printed hexacopter upside down in my backyard. My receiver was damaged and no longer would receive signal The failsafe on the Naze32 was set to turn off upon loss of signal however, the copter motors kept spinning FAST and my copter tried to dig it's way to China.

That taught me a lesson. The Naze had a failsafe but it wasn't triggered because even though the receiver had lost signal, the receiver had no failsafe and simply told the Naze to keep flying. If the receiver had shorted out, the Naze would have shut the copter down, but because the receiver was still intact, it told the copter to continue doing what it had been doing (fly).

Turnigy receivers have no failsafe. On loss of signal a Turnigy receiver will send signal to a flight controller telling it to keep on truckin'. This was too dangerous for me to fly in my yard, so I upgraded.

I upgraded to FrSky receivers and popped the FrSky module into the back of my Turnigy 9X radio. This doubled the cost of my radio and gave me access to the FrSky receivers and a decent failsafe.

Eventually I got into higher end copters. KISS ESCs came out and we started seeing F3 and F4 boards arrive. My Turnigy radio could handle it but the Taranis has nicer gimbals and MUCH more functionality. I upgraded again and with the Taranis will likely not have to upgrade again.

It would have been least expensive to get the Taranis up front. BUT, my frustration level would have been higher in the early days since Open TX (what runs on the Taranis and QX7) is a PITA to learn. Connecting a Taranis to Windows 10 in 2016 was a driver NIGHTMARE.

If you are into BNFs, Spektrum works out of the box. Nothing else does. If you want cheap as dirt and easy to learn, Turnigy offers a solid solution. If you want a radio you will never outgrow, Taranis is the real McCoy.

Our models come and go. They aren't meant to last. But there are two things we all own that impact everything we fly, our chargers and our radios. These two items power our flight experience for every model whether it is an $20 Tiny Trainer or an $800 Alien quad copter. More than anything else, these two items impact everything we fly.

There is no one radio for everyone any more than there is one model for everyone. It is a learning experience and just another part of the ride.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Dang. Matt, I'm not hijacking your post, but I'm in the same boat and want the same clarification as far as the transmitter is concerned. If we get answers, it is because of your post:

Ladies and Gentlemen! (I'm not looking up ya'lls gender.) *taps glass* Thank you for your non-biased opinions. This debate has been both Informative and Noteworthy. (As we sit around a classic English Smoking Room, in my mind's eye.) However. There MUST be a consensus from this meeting!

There are TWO things we are looking for:

1. Really cheap but functional and get it in the air now, with information on the drawbacks of that approach, besides outgrowing it. Cheap enough that when we outgrow it and have to upgrade? We won't mind, because we are already flying at least a 4ch and the transmitter and receiver were financially insignificant. The important thing is that we learned to fly.

2. The second thing we are looking for is perhaps a little more learning curve and cost (it really has to be worth all of it), but we can grow with it for a few planes. Probable upgrade in the distant future. Distant Future.

All bias aside. If you answer question number one, it's just temporary. We'll be moving on to better stuff pretty quick, but it's cheap enough that we don't have to wait and make a big investment. It'll get us in the air and learning how to fly.

Question number two: Longer time before we can actually fly (not good. I'm a patient man, I don't know about Matt.) BUT if that is what is truly recommended, I will take that route (I can't speak for Matt, the OP).

So. Gentlemen (and Ladies if they are present, my mind's eye is kind of fuzzy) please. A consensus on just cheap and airworthy and another on a larger investment with room to grow. Transmitter and receiver if you would be so kind.

Sit back, enjoy your cigar and sherry, the next debate likely begins with the next post. I honestly hope we can nail this down. It will help not only Matt and I, but so many other newbies.

When I started I did not have the funds to buy a flash Radio system and I was not sure that I would ever fly so I bought a real cheapy Hobby King system. It took a while but I learned that my radio system was good for cars but not for flying, (it only had a single transmit and a single Rx antenna and so "Polarisation loss" was the cause of many crashes.

Needing to replace my radio I bought a Turnigy iA6 radio system which has a dual antenna system and my crashing decreased to almost zero overnight! It does all the mixes I currently require and can handle 20 different model setups. The failsafe settings are set globally so I never forget to set failsafe! Price was so good that I now have 2 transmitters and about 25 Rxs. I also have a home made buddy box cable and use the setup to teach others to fly, (or give them a taste of the handling etc of my latest designs to see if they are interested!

The Turnigy is just a rebadged FlySky and very low cost. I made the change over almost 2 years ago and I definitely do not regret my purchase!

Have fun!

 

[sprzout]

Regarding the cub;
I might, no I will recommend, not the cub but the tiny trainer, its a hand launch/belly land plane that opens up where you can fly. You don't need a pretty runway. And being 3 channel its simple.

Regarding a radio;
For a TX you can't go wrong with the Taranis Qx7.
$80.00 for a full function radio that can be backwards compatible with spektrum planes with the right mods. It can be set up to go very long range cheaply. if that's where the hobby takes you. (price out receivers, you will buy plenty and the Qx7 can store up to 50 models in internal memory (maybe more)).

When I see this, I have to stop and ask - "How much for the mods?" If it puts it into the same price category as the spektrum radios, why not just buy the Spektrum? Remember, if you try to go backwards compatible with mods, you are doing 2 things:

1) Most likely, you are voiding the warranty of the radio you purchased for cheaper.
2) If you are not sure what you're doing, you could damage it and have to replace it with another radio, or have to hire someone else who knows how to fix it - at a higher cost.

Just be aware of what you are getting. I personally didn't like the QX7 when I looked at it, as it felt cheap - the gimbals felt soft, and not as responsive as the Spektrums, and the ergonomics of the controller were not comfortable for my meat paw hands.