Originally Posted by seefest

Correct. Thats why the Lipo should have been the stock battery.(and was probably designed that way initially)

Probably was the case being designed for Lipo and then they seen it is a potential upgrade sale to make it optional. The worst is the fact they overprice the "official" lipo so much, when it could be sold at a much more reasonable price and still be profitable.

Originally Posted by Franco2fly

... and the HK lipo is on order.

Take care, unlike some other designs (Hitec for example) , the extreme low voltage shut down protection is not built into the radio, it is in the special Lipo that Spektrum sell.

So if you do manage to leave the radio on with a 3rd party lipo installed and somehow don't hear the alarms it will go all the way down to lipo killing voltage levels.

Originally Posted by flitelab

Unfortunately I'm not sure this is the case, that there are no big issues.

I think it would be fair to assume that this radio is outselling the competition by some considerable margin so by sheer numbers alone we are going to see more problems of all kinds reported about the DX8 than other similar transmitters.

We have also moved from having huge numbers needing returns to HH for essential work to a sporadic few needing attention so I do thing it is fair to say that the big issues are in the past.

Balance of probability has got to be hugely in favor of getting a good one if you buy new right now.

I'd still advocate performing the tests that have been published for each of the big issues so far to ensure you are good to go, but I'm betting the vast majority are going to be just fine.

... and for those that aren't HH will fix the problems quickly and painlessly.

I'd love it if quality was better overall, but at the current price points we have to be pragmatic and understand that we do have the legendary HH support to stand behind the product when it is needed.

Originally Posted by flitelab

Probably was the case being designed for Lipo and then they seen it is a potential upgrade sale to make it optional.

It does certainly scream out that it was intended to be Lipo straight out of the box and I'd suspect it was cut to let them hit a desired price point or to remove a production bottle neck.

Notice how often the Lipo goes out of stock, if there is a problem ensuring a steady supply, you certainly wouldn't want that to get in the way of your main production schedule.

Well, I'm glad of one thing: this debate over the design "may" just cause Spektrum to introduce a much cheaper lipo, so to the loudest cries in the marketplace, I say, "Thanks!"

As for the substance of the debate, to me (subjective), it seems rather like throwing Charlez Theron out of bed for eating crackers.

I think I'll retreat to the "other" thread as well.

And, a goodnight to all.

Originally Posted by Telrin

I think it would be fair to assume that this radio is outselling the competition by some considerable margin so by sheer numbers alone we are going to see more problems of all kinds reported about the DX8 than other similar transmitters.

We have also moved from having huge numbers needing returns to HH for essential work to a sporadic few needing attention so I do thing it is fair to say that the big issues are in the past.

Balance of probability has got to be hugely in favor of getting a good one if you buy new right now.

I'd still advocate performing the tests that have been published for each of the big issues so far to ensure you are good to go, but I'm betting the vast majority are going to be just fine.

... and for those that aren't HH will fix the problems quickly and painlessly.

I'd love it if quality was better overall, but at the current price points we have to be pragmatic and understand that we do have the legendary HH support to stand behind the product when it is needed.

Agreed, my bigger concern is issues that were supposedly only in the very initial batch of radios and noted as fixed are still showing up, so clearly the fix applied is not 100%.

The user really needs to do a full end to end QC process on their own before using the radio just to make sure it does work as advertised, better that then lose an aircraft because a "feature" lead to a crash. We cannot assume anything out of the box unfortunately.

It has much the same feel as the Xbox 360 release, push a product to market with known problems and just deal with them after the fact and win the war by sheer volume. This seems to be the approach HH is taking and just making sure the customer support can handle the load.

Again great radio for the price, I've just lost some confidence in the quality at this point. Spending $400+ and having to send it in for repair is not a great customer experience.

Originally Posted by akschu

Andy,

Got my DX8 back from repair, gimbals are WAY better. I think that was my problem all along. I'm happy with my DX8 now.

Great news, Schu! Thanks for getting it checked out.

Andy

Originally Posted by Telrin

Take care, unlike some other designs (Hitec for example) , the extreme low voltage shut down protection is not built into the radio, it is in the special Lipo that Spektrum sell.

So if you do manage to leave the radio on with a 3rd party lipo installed and somehow don't hear the alarms it will go all the way down to lipo killing voltage levels.

When a TX LiPo lacks a BMS-chip like the Turnigy LiPo then is it unsave.
This is not a Spektrum problem.
With an orginal Spektrum TX LiPo with BMS and balancer the DX8 switch out by default before drained.
The same behaviour with an orginal Futaba TX LiPo with inbuild BMS and balancer.

Originally Posted by seefest

Wow, if thats the case, I'm sure there are more than a few people who have filled a gas car/truck with diesel.

I will just have to resist the urge to fill up my van!

VP

PS Although I wish my van was Diesel!

Originally Posted by Kambalunga

When a TX LiPo lacks a BMS-chip like the Turnigy LiPo then is it not save.
This is not a Spektrum problem.

It is not safe when used in a radio not designed to use such a pack, that is true.

If you are adding a lipo option to a radio not designed for it then the pack must protect itself.

If you design a new radio you can decide if the radio will protect the lipo or if the lipo must still do all the work.

Hitec went one way, Spektrum went the other way.

It just means you need to be aware of the limitation and react accordingly.

Personally I'd prefer the option to use a lipo from non-branded sources, but with Spektrum that is not a safe choice.

Originally Posted by Kambalunga

When a TX LiPo lacks a BMS-chip like the Turnigy LiPo then is it not save.

Maybe you should read this! (personally to low should be 3~3.3v but none the less, and no I don't own one as the Standard NiMah pack is just fine and dandy!)

"The Turnigy DX8 Intelligent Transmitter Pack also features a built in voltage protection circuit, this circuit will automatically cutoff once the pack drops to 2.85v per cell ensuring the battery will not be damaged if you accidentally leave your transmitter switched on. The voltage protection circuit will also restrict charging to 4.2v per cell ensuring the pack can never be over charged."

Originally Posted by topgearuk

"The Turnigy DX8 Intelligent Transmitter Pack also features a built in voltage protection circuit, this circuit will automatically cutoff once the pack drops to 2.85v per cell ensuring the battery will not be damaged if you accidentally leave your transmitter switched on. The voltage protection circuit will also restrict charging to 4.2v per cell ensuring the pack can never be over charged."

Interesting, it certainly doesn't seem to have worked to protect the pack shown earlier in this thread ...

2.85V is perfectly fine as a cut-off for such a low load like a TX, but something obviously didn't work right for the OP with the puffed pack.

I have ordered many stuff from HK that did not work right. I still order from them.

Protection is in the Spectrum pack, user had the HK pack, no protection. Clearly issue not owned by Spectrum. LIPO 101, be smarter than the pack.

Originally Posted by Telrin

Interesting, it certainly doesn't seem to have worked to protect the pack shown earlier in this thread ...

2.85V is perfectly fine as a cut-off for such a low load like a TX, but something obviously didn't work right for the OP with the puffed pack.

Originally Posted by freechip

I have ordered many stuff from HK that did not work right. I still order from them.

Sounds like my DX8. Lots of reseller and manufacturers have issues. QC is out the window and it is down to moving volume at the lowest cost now and the customer suffers.