Imax 9X Radio

[andrechina2003]

Hi All
It seems as if the previous thread was closed. So lets try again. And please, please let us talk about this radio and not the Bible or any other irrelevant subject.
We are currently testing this radio in South Africa and if it passes all tests, we will definately import them.
We flew it today at a club field near Cape Town, using a standard 6 channel PPM receiver (our own brand, G-tech), the included 9 channel PCM receiver as well as the 2.4 gig module and receiver. We used a 40 size low wing sport plane that is close to retiring.
All went well, but we had a glitch on the ailerons on 2.4 gig. In changing the receivers we did not secure the small 2.4 gig receiver module, so it was falling around in the plane. Silly mistake knowing that the two short anttenae
should be mounted at a 90 degree angle. We will fly it again with the receivers mounted properly.
But so far so good. Now we are going to do tests on a spectrum annalizer to see if it is "clean" and tests on a sweeping signal generator to see how well it will reject adjacent signals. Will keep you posted.
Yes, the manual is in Chinglish, but it does not mean that the product is bad. Working in China for a year, I have learnt that Chinese electronic engineers are not good translaters, and Chinese English translaters are not good at technical terms. The engineer will explain and the translater will write. And when the translater reads it back to the engineer, it will sound just like he explained. We are working alongside the Chinese to get the manual right.
As for my own English, please forgive me, as I am an Afrikaans speeking South African, a boer as we are called here.
Anyone who has some experience on this radio, or anyone who wants to know more about it, please join in.
Happy landings
Andre de Beer
Hobby Flight Center
South Africa

[cmulder]

hi if you need help translating from afrikaans to english let me know ;)
I am Dutch so afrikaans is not a problem for me ;)

[supershuey]

HI

any pics of this set up
thanx
Dylan

[JRexA]

You can find it at http://www.skyrc.cn
They also have the manual ready for Download. It is in "Chenglish" ;-), but fully understandable.

I expect to order one or two, next week, from a Distributor that I deal with. Just have to get the total order up to 45 kg (volume) else I am going to waste US$ 200+ in shipping.

[andrechina2003]

Hi All
Thanks to C Mulder from Ireland for offering me his help on translating. Yes, Afrikaans and Dutch is much the same. However, Dutch people understand us much better than we understand Dutch. Afrikaans is kind of a simplified Dutch.

Last Thursday we flew the 9x on 2.4 gig again. This time with the receiver modules mounted properly with the antennae at a 90 degree angle. We flew far and low, with no glitches what so ever. We also never felt that we had "pockets" or "holes" where the plane would not respond.

Yesterday I drove 250km to my hometown, Worcester, to meet with an old school friend. He is a qualified electronic engineer, earning his daily bread at a test range on the South Coast, designing and testing guided missiles. He also often helps Nasa tracking their satelites over Southern Africa and relaying tellemetry back to Houston. He has all the equipment we needed to test the radio.

We tested four radios. The fist was a very popular brand in South Africa which is used by the majority South African model pilots. Not that we doubt this radio's ability, but we wanted a standard as reference. Then we had two radios, an 8 and a 9 channel from another Chinese manufaturer, with their dual conversion PPM and PCM receivers, and then ,of course, the Imax 9x. First we set up the spectrum analiser to check if the radios were clean and that the signal from the radio does not bleed over to adjacent bands. All the radios tested exactly the same. Very clean. Then we used a signal generater to check the ability of the different receivers. Again we first tested our popular brand reference radio to set a standard. The 8 and 9 channel radios from the other Chinese manufacturer were way below standard. Their PCM receivers even worse than their PPM receivers. Any signal near the center frequency would cause them to "lock out" and stop working. Then we tested the Imax PCM receiver, and as my friend turned on the power on the signal generated stronger and stronger and the receiver just kept on working he said,"Hey, Andre, here you have a winner." He was amaized at how well the receiver behaved. For 2.4 gig, one cannot test a receiver this way, so we will just keep on fliyng it at different flying sites over and over until we are convinced that it will not let anyone down.

So, yes, so far we are very happy with our tests and we are sure this radio is just as good, if not better, than many other brands out there at much higher prices. Of course, to start marketing an unknown radio brand is a whole new ball game.

Again, anyone with experience or questions on the Imax 9x, please join in.
Happy Landings
Andre

[village_idiot]

Well, it says it has CE and FCC certification, which is a step in the right direction! Any high quality competition will be good for the buyers.

[JRexA]

andrechina2003: Thank you for your excellent test. You have convinced me, that I need an iMAX 9X 2.4G version.

Did your test sample of the iMAX 2.4Ghz have CE marks, also on the 2.4ghz modules?

I am asking because I heard a couple of weeks back, that the CE approval of the 2.4ghz modules wasn't ready yet.

btw. I am ordering 2 of the iMAX 9X 2,4G versins this week.

p.s. Your "Other brand" Chinese radios wouldn't happen to be the RTF radios from the Well known "W......" brand of Helicopters?

[andrechina2003]

Hi
Yes, the Tx 2.4 gig module has the CE mark on it. Our sample Rx 2.4 gig modules have no stickers on it what so ever, so I would not know if it has a CE sertification. By the way, I am not sure what the "CE" thing is all about. Can someone explain please?

No, the other two radios were not Walkera. They were from another Chinese manufacturer. Fantastic transmitters, specially the 9 channel Tx. It has the best and easiest programming I have ever found on a radio, but unfortunately the receivers are not good enough. The receivers are very small in size and use the mini crystals, which I also don't like. If they can improve on the receivers this will be a fantastic radio. ( By the way, the manufacturer's name also starts with a W..)
Happy andings
Andre

[JRexA]

CE Marking/Approval is needed in order to sell any type of consumer products inside the European Union.(From Barbie Doll shoes to 50" speed boats and more...)

Before CE approval, you needed seperate approvals for radio equipment, for most any European country... So Today, the manufacturers need 1 approval, instead of 20 or so... (Hopefully meaning Cheaper products, and for small countries/markets, faster access to new products)

I have also read that other countries, requires RC equipment to be CE approved. I think Australia was mentioned.

For RC Equipment CE Approval is the European counterpart to the US FCC approval.

I think that CE stands for "Certification Eurepeané" (Sorry for the spelling)

[airheli1201]

very interested in this radio. does anyone how a link to buy it?? or the roughly price range of the 2.4tx??

[andrechina2003]

Hi
I think you should visit the SKYRC website and send them an e-mail checking whether they have an agent in Ireland. We will receive our first order early next year, so if you have no luck I am willing to send you one. Are you on 35mHz ? Remember, this radio comes with a FM module and PCM receiver. The 2.4 gig is an optional upgrade.
Andre

[airheli1201]

i doubt ireland has an agent. do you know what the price will be?
thanks

[JRexA]

(This has also been posted in the Radio Section)
Well... I took the plunge and bought one.

First impressions:
Radio itself looks well made, a lot better than the Walkere RTF Radios I have, but not much different from my Futaba 6EX 2,4Ghz.

Packing is decent, but nothing spectacular. It won't fit in the packing, with the 2.4G module mounted.

2.4G Receiver: that is a HUGE receiver(compared to the Futaba R606FS) with a funny antenna arrangement. It looks to have connectors for 9 servos.

I was planning to put it in my Walkera Heli, but I don't know, size and weight makes it less atractive for that, but I am likely to take a shot at it, anyway.

The Sticker on the receiver is missing, I have to guess at which connector is Which....

Regarding CE approval, the Transmitter modules are CE marked, but there is no Sticker at the Receiver.

[Yannicflight]

Hello,
Iam Yannic van Moerkerk and i live in the Netherlands.
I want to set up a webshop so i have contacts with skyrc and imax.
I have also tested the Imax-9X transmitter and the 9channel receiver.
my first test was with a Wing Jet EP.
It is fallen out of the sky because of a range problem.
my mistake was that i had bind the tranmitter and reicever only 4 meters away from my 2,4 GHz router.
I have tried again today and binded them on a parking lot and now my range was good.
But I still have a question.
The manual says now insert the binding cord into tranmitter :S :S i cant find a hole for it so i have looked the the picture ( pic.5 ) and there you see the receiver with binding cord in it.
?? So I think this is a chinglisch fault in translating. ??

I have binded the transmitter and reiceiver by hanging the receiver onto a Brushless ESC and putting the binding cord into the batt port.
the lights began to flash then i holded the button on the 2,4 GHz module and switching the transmitter to ON.
It took about 4 secs and then the LED from the receiver stays solid.
I had took out the binding cord and get the power of the receiver.
now i have connected the servo`s and speed controller to the right channels and it worked !
So i think the first time binding was go wrong by my 2,4GHz router or something.
?? Is this possible ??.

Greetz : Yannic van Moerkerk

PS: sorry for my Bad english :P

[andrechina2003]

Hi Yannic
Yes, the binding cord goes into the receiver and not the transmitter. I have no idea if the router could cause the problem. Will check on that. A new manual will be available soon.
Regards
Andre

[bergaliv]

Is it possible to buy one of the TX's to do an evaluation?

[andrechina2003]

Hi Bergaliv
Are you from South Africa?
Andre