Originally Posted by UNGN

A lipo is the best thing you can buy for these radios. You will never worry about the battery again and fly for days without charging (not days between charging but actually FLYING for days without charging).

HK has a Dx8/7S 4K lipo for $18.

I haven't worried about my battery in a year. I think I worried every day about the NiMH battery. It was like watching the gas gage on a big block muscle car.

Yes indeed! That's the conclusion I quickly came to as well.

Spectrum did a poor job of including those NiMH packs with an internal charger that doesn't automatically shut down at peak charge. A bit puzzling really.
The LiPO pack should have been in the kit instead, cost notwithstanding.

But since that's what I now have and still using - I need to know how to effectively deal with that NIMH pack.

Originally Posted by midnite

But since that's what I now have and still using - I need to know how to effectively deal with that NIMH pack.

That's easy. Take it out of your radio and throw it in the recycle bin.

Buy a 4.0 mAh Lipo from HK for $23 shipped.

Problem solved.

You probably have more important things to worry about. Don't spend another minute on this one.

You are stressing over 2003 technology in 2012. Embrace 2006 technology and get on with your life.

Has anyone had signal problems with their DX7s? I have lost 4 planes lately, two of them were definite signal loss, the other two I thought were battery problems, but now I am beginng to wonder if they went down because of the TX not sending a signal. This has happened on 1 orange RX, 1 AR6110e, and 2 AR7000 Spektrum receivers. On my old DX7 you could tell if the the radio was transmitting by the green lite on the bind button. The DX7s doesn't have this feature. I don't know if I should get a different radio or what to do.

Terry

My DX8 NIMH batt took a dump after 2 months of use. I put the HK lipo in it and never looked back. Runs for an average of 2 months between charges using the charger in the trans.

Gord.

Originally Posted by krazyman

... two of them were definite signal loss, the other two I thought were battery problems, ... Terry

Can I ask how you know "definite" it was signal loss?

Originally Posted by krazyman

Has anyone had signal problems with their DX7s? I have lost 4 planes lately, two of them were definite signal loss, the other two I thought were battery problems, but now I am beginng to wonder if they went down because of the TX not sending a signal. This has happened on 1 orange RX, 1 AR6110e, and 2 AR7000 Spektrum receivers. On my old DX7 you could tell if the the radio was transmitting by the green lite on the bind button. The DX7s doesn't have this feature. I don't know if I should get a different radio or what to do.

Terry

Yes it does have that feature. The orange LED under the logo is what tells you it's transmitting. Go into System mode sometime and see it's off. Then watch it turn on when you go into Normal mode.

Andy

Originally Posted by krazyman

... On my old DX7 you could tell if the the radio was transmitting by the green lite on the bind button. The DX7s doesn't have this feature. I don't know if I should get a different radio or what to do.
Terry

Originally Posted by AndyKunz

Yes it does have that feature. The orange LED under the logo is what tells you it's transmitting. Go into System mode sometime and see it's off. Then watch it turn on when you go into Normal mode. Andy

DX6i, DX7s,DX8,DX10t and DX18 all have this feature.

krazyman - my DX7s was not transmitting out of the box. HH replaced the ant & RF module. Maybe yours is going bad. Call them as they are usually very helpful.

My HK Tx LiPo should be here soon (after waiting 3 weeks for delivery!).

Chuck

Originally Posted by krazyman

Has anyone had signal problems with their DX7s? I have lost 4 planes lately, two of them were definite signal loss, the other two I thought were battery problems, but now I am beginng to wonder if they went down because of the TX not sending a signal. This has happened on 1 orange RX, 1 AR6110e, and 2 AR7000 Spektrum receivers. On my old DX7 you could tell if the the radio was transmitting by the green lite on the bind button. The DX7s doesn't have this feature. I don't know if I should get a different radio or what to do.

Terry

Has a IT worker, first thing I will suggest you to do is to make a firmware update of the DX7s. 2 new versions since the start up of the DX7s.

I had mine since last March and no signal lost problem. I had use the AR8000 (DSMX mode), AR6310(DSMX mode), Orange R610(DSM2 mode) and the DSM2 Rx in 2 UM from Parkzone.

Originally Posted by freechip

Can I ask how you know "definite" it was signal loss?

I found the problem that I thought was just signal loss. The connector for the SBEC that plugs in to the RX had a loose prong and was not making good contact. This is the SBEC that I was using in both planes that had no control. I guess the other two planes went down because of bad batteries. They just lost power and stalled.

Where do you get Firmware updates? And how do you load them?

Terry

You register your radio on the Spektrum websitee Once registered you can check for update and download them onto the radio's SD card. Then install in the radio and power on the radio and let it do it's thing.

Tips: Eject or Safely Remove the SD card from the PC, most SD card and update issues relate to improper removal of SD card from PC.

Originally Posted by freechip

You register your radio on the Spektrum websitee Once registered you can check for update and download them onto the radio's SD card. Then install in the radio and power on the radio and let it do it's thing.

Tips: Eject or Safely Remove the SD card from the PC, most SD card and update issues relate to improper removal of SD card from PC.

Thanks, I will do that now.

Terry

Originally Posted by UNGN

That's easy. Take it out of your radio and throw it in the recycle bin.

Buy a 4.0 mAh Lipo from HK for $23 shipped.

Problem solved.

You probably have more important things to worry about. Don't spend another minute on this one.

You are stressing over 2003 technology in 2012. Embrace 2006 technology and get on with your life.

I fully intend to do just that - but since I'm flying with it now, if anyone has been using that NiMH pack with any success, I'd appreciate some answers to the questions in post #794. Also, even after using a LiPO pack the NiMH will still be used as a backup.

No stress, just need information. Thanks.

Originally Posted by midnite

I fully intend to do just that - but since I'm flying with it now, if anyone has been using that NiMH pack with any success, I'd appreciate some answers to the questions in post #794. Also, even after using a LiPO pack the NiMH will still be used as a backup.

No stress, just need information. Thanks.

Good luck in your quest. I'm afraid no one has the answers you seek.

The Charger in the radio is not made for NiMH batteries, it is made for lipo batteries. There are "Smart chargers" and there are "dumb chargers". it is a Dumber charger.

HH sees Lipo batteries as a profit center. It's always been part of their business model. It's why they didn't spend one extra buck making a smart NiMH charger, knowing eventually everyone who purchases a TX will give up on the NiMH battery and buy a Lipo.

A bit of forshadowing:

When you purchase a Lipo battery, the NiMH will go into a box some where, never to be heard from or seen again. It won't be a "backup" for anything, except maybe a table with a short leg.

Originally Posted by UNGN

Good luck in your quest. I'm afraid no one has the answers you seek.

The Charger in the radio is not made for NiMH batteries, it is made for lipo batteries. There are "Smart chargers" and there are "dumb chargers". it is a Dumber charger.

HH sees Lipo batteries as a profit center. It's always been part of their business model. It's why they didn't spend one extra buck making a smart NiMH charger, knowing eventually everyone who purchases a TX will give up on the NiMH battery and buy a Lipo.

A bit of forshadowing:

When you purchase a Lipo battery, the NiMH will go into a box some where, never to be heard from or seen again. It won't be a "backup" for anything, except maybe a table with a short leg.

OK, thanks.

And you very well might be right about not using the NiMH pack as a backup.

They should sell the radio without batteries - maybe that's essentially what's happening anyway and the NiMH pack is just to allow immediate initial use. I suppose it's like those minimal memory cards that are/were supplied with cameras.

The DX6i - 4 single AA cells, no built-in charger, is a better arrangement in my opinion. Is there really a need for a charger to be built into the 7s or any other transmitter for that matter?