Originally Posted by RENATOA

Sure, a brick, no failsafe receiver.
Come-on, I have here in Eastern Europe fellows with $300 monthly income doing modellbau without such compromises !
I am shocked to see people from countries with 10 times bigger income trusting in their planes RC stuff cheaper than my servos !

I have both FrSky and Flysky receivers and both have served well so far.

My planes are in the 200-350€ range fully equipped and a 100€ HK450heli + 200€ RC car. Losing one in a crash is acceptable for me even if I have a very budget conscious (=cheap) nature. My income would allow more expensive models but I feel no need for them and crashing one into bits I would never forgive myself no matter what the reason.

Ali Machinchy's - Hawker Hunter Crash - The Last Flight (3 min 22 sec)

On the other hand one friend spends ALL of his not very high income to cutting edge RC gear and models. Is it medical condition or enthusiasm, I do not know for sure.

I totally agree with Renatoa.
If You spend several hundred hours or lots of $ on a plane DON'T save a few bucks on the rx or servos. I only use one type of receiver without fail safe and that is the small VD5M (for my DLG:s) and I have never had as much as a glitch with them.

I must state that I did not mean it is acceptable to crash a plane because of the radio fault but in general. That is why I do not fancy 10000€ models because I could not dare to fly them no matter what brand the radio is. I have used the flysky and turnigy for almost three years so I pretty much trust them already. Two of my most expensive models are with Frsky. One reason is they have good reputation, the other is failsafe and last but not least is telemetry.

Originally Posted by RENATOA

Sure, a brick, no failsafe receiver.
Come-on, I have here in Eastern Europe fellows with $300 monthly income doing modellbau without such compromises !
I am shocked to see people from countries with 10 times bigger income trusting in their planes RC stuff cheaper than my servos !

I see where you are going if you had $300+ planes BUT all my planes come out under AU$150 not including batteries or rc gear and most of my planes are less than AU$60. Normally this includes 4* $1.80 servos, $6 esc and a $8 motor.

And since these planes are normally hot wired EPP or scratch built (designed myself) they are practically indestructible.

Also, neither the Turnigy nor the OrangeRX recievers I have used have ever failed and I fly at least once a week in multiple environments and near a phone tower around once a month. To be honest the only crash that may have been caused by lost signal was with a genuine Specktrum DSM2 RX, yet it was more likely pilot error (my second flight ever on ailerons, self taught).

Anyway, I thought this was needed:

Hi,

I'm getting ready to buy my first BNF tx. Should I wait for the Turnigy 9xr or go for the DXi6?

Thanks

I would wait on that suggestion until after the 9xR comes out... who knows what it will really be like.... it could easily be better OR worse than a Dx6i. If you're new to RC and electronics in general, I'd almost recommend the Dx6i, mainly because it's quite capable out-of-the box, a very easy-to-use programming interface, and has a great support program. The 9x is also great but not as capable or easy without er9x, and if you get a broken one, your plans for support are much more... limited. (nonexistent).

Originally Posted by acetech09

I would wait on that suggestion until after the 9xR comes out... who knows what it will really be like.... it could easily be better OR worse than a Dx6i. If you're new to RC and electronics in general, I'd almost recommend the Dx6i, mainly because it's quite capable out-of-the box, a very easy-to-use programming interface, and has a great support program. The 9x is also great but not as capable or easy without er9x, and if you get a broken one, your plans for support are much more... limited. (nonexistent).

Very helpful. thanks so much for your input.

If you specifically want to use the transmitter for the little Spektrum BNF models, the DX6i is guaranteed to work while the new transmitter may or may not do the job. It's not just a matter of having a DSM2 module in the Tx but you also have to have the Spektrum channel sequence. It may take a while.

If you are in a hurry, and/or want to be sure, go DX6i. If not wait and see how things develop.

Also consider the issues of manual and support (lack of) raised above

Yeah. I forgot about the channel sequence. Unless you want to get in-depth with electronics, firmware, programming, and figuring out stuff yourself, go with a Dx6i. I have used one for years, and it's a great Tx.

Was going to get a BNF radio for a Nano CX heli. I fugured this would be a good place to start between the two.

Come off it. There's plenty of support out there for the open source firmwares. Channel selection? Come off it you can change channels simply and quickly with any programmable transmitter. Go the 9XR and you'll have a much more powerful and configurable transmitter at a fraction of the price.

If you fly BNF models, then going with the DX6i can be convenient because the recommended settings on how to set up the radio is found in the manual.

However, don't fall into the trap of thinking it's a better radio just because it cost more. It doesn't even come with backlighting in the LCD.

I would troll Craigslist if you want a DX6i. I see it become available from time to time for $100.

From the leaked specs, the forthcoming 9xr looks like an ideal first radio. Will do everything a newbie needs and more. And when you want to spend money in the future in more expensive radios, I think you can easily sell and still come out ahead. But I warn you, you might like the flexibility of the open firmware too much and there might be no turning back after that.

Originally Posted by BrettAltea

Come off it you can change channels simply and quickly with any programmable transmitter. Go the 9XR and you'll have a much more powerful and configurable transmitter at a fraction of the price.

Very few transmitters allow you to change the channel sequence, unless you means via a mixing work-around. Of course the alternative firmwares for the 9x do.

I'm not knocking the 9XR, just saying it ain't here yet and we will have to see how compatible it is initially with the DSM2 BNF UM models.

Originally Posted by Virginian

Was going to get a BNF radio for a Nano CX heli. I fugured this would be a good place to start between the two.

The model is BNF, not the radio. Once the 9XR compatibility is established, it should be a good choice. So be patient.

I'm with D66 on this one. The 9XR remains uncertain in many ways at this time. If you want certainty that you have a good solution for bnf that will work easily out of the box and still have access to low cost RX, the DX6i is the way to go.

I have yet to see a new generation TX launch without teething problems. I'm sure a year from now the 9xr will be a solid and well understood option and probably a good choice for newbies.