Originally Posted by skye8070

...I have timed for a friend at the NATS flying the Hitec Aurora 9 and it does have an innovative altimeter telemetry option. Displayed on his Transmitter LCD was "RPM 1850" which he would sometimes ask me to read off the number every few seconds. This wasn't exactly his altitude in feet or meters due to calibration issue but he told me it did indicate altitude uncompensated by a pitot tube. He was circling directly over our heads which is always tough for pilot and timer to read as lift or sink and yet by me reading the numbers to him he could see he was in a thermal and was going up after all. Since it wasn't like a vario with an audio indication it wouldn't be so user friendly if you flew alone but he said it worked well if he had someone timing for him which is exactly the situation in sailplane contests. I think he said that altimeter device and the telemetry module cost less $100 to add to the radio, although that was at the 2011 NATS so prices could have changed by now.

Gosh, Skye, I hope he wasn't using it in a contest because I was under the impression that telemetry wasn't allowed in NATS events. I suppose ALES would be ok since it is provisional but even that I would want to check. I think battery voltage readout is acceptable in telemetry but not other formats.
Sorry to hijack the thread but important issue!

On topic, hard to beat the SD 10G, but I may look into moding it to be compatible with some less expensive receivers for slope flying. I wish ATX receivers were a bit less expensive!

Jim

Telemetry is allowed in AMA competitions unless outlawed by the CD ahead of time.

FAI events do not allow them, nor does the World Soaring Masters rules.

Thanks, Tom, I stand corrected. Being an AMA CD I should know this but since we are not sent rulebooks unless we request them (or download them, I suppose) and I haven't had to CD a contest in some time, I can see how I missed that change.

I have no problem with telemetry usage for signal strength or voltage readings but I think variometers shouldn't be allowed in any "major" contests. I wonder how that rule got changed? I suppose I need to do a bit more research on topic. I appreciate the Masters and FAI events not allowing it.

FWIW
Jim

ALES contests also do not allow thermal "sniffers or varios".

I seem to be seeing more and more Airtronics SD10G radios at contests. And the pilots I talk to love them. Some are long time Airtronics users but quite a few are new to Airtronics.

I was fortunate enough 20 something years ago that my father bought a Graupner MC-24 radio. At that time it was beyond any JR, Futaba, Hitec or Airtronics radio. It had great potential and we knew it. Today, I still fly my trusted MC 24 but with a spektrum 9 channel module. Yes I know it is a waste but hey, who needs more than 8 channels in a TD sailplane? Lately I have been looking in to something a little bit more up to date and modern and light weight to replace it, but no matter how hard I look around, the comfort for my flying stile, the feel and versatility of programming can't be beat by any other. the only thing I will not use it with is my little 2 channel DLG just because I don't need anything else but a simple transmitter and receiver. For my DLg's and park flyers, sailboats, etc (you get it, the other not so high end stuff) I got a great deal on a Futaba T7cap. So far I'm back to 72mhz flying the DLG or at least until I can buy a FRSky DHT module to hack it! In the mean time I fly my Orca 4X, ALES 2m and Raptor 30 v2 with the MC-24 and spektrum receivers. Knock on wood, never had an issue with them!

I have lately being thinking of updating my mc - 24 to the new HOTT system and get back the full 12 channel capability of the mc 24, but again, it implies switching receivers all around! Another option I was thinking is to simply switch to the Graupner HOTT MX-16 but I read that there where some signal strength and range issues. Hopefully those should be no problem. It is a very fine radio!

Enrico

Originally Posted by Jimn8uay

Thanks, Tom, I stand corrected. Being an AMA CD I should know this but since we are not sent rulebooks unless we request them (or download them, I suppose) and I haven't had to CD a contest in some time, I can see how I missed that change.

I have no problem with telemetry usage for signal strength or voltage readings but I think variometers shouldn't be allowed in any "major" contests. I wonder how that rule got changed? I suppose I need to do a bit more research on topic. I appreciate the Masters and FAI events not allowing it.

FWIW
Jim

I used a thermal sensor for a couple of years back in the mid 70s but gave it up because I could do as well at contests without it. If I was listening to the sensor, I missed some of the little signals the model was sending me. The sensor was a real help when flying overhead or at extreme range where I was having trouble seeing the model. In between, I missed little wing wiggles. Thermal sensors are necessary for flying from a moving vehicle but theren't many cross country contests.

Originally Posted by enrico74ec

I was fortunate enough 20 something years ago that my father bought a Graupner MC-24 radio. At that time it was beyond any JR, Futaba, Hitec or Airtronics radio. It had great potential and we knew it. Today, I still fly my trusted MC 24 but with a spektrum 9 channel module. Yes I know it is a waste but hey, who needs more than 8 channels in a TD sailplane? Lately I have been looking in to something a little bit more up to date and modern and light weight to replace it, but no matter how hard I look around, the comfort for my flying stile, the feel and versatility of programming can't be beat by any other. the only thing I will not use it with is my little 2 channel DLG just because I don't need anything else but a simple transmitter and receiver. For my DLg's and park flyers, sailboats, etc (you get it, the other not so high end stuff) I got a great deal on a Futaba T7cap. So far I'm back to 72mhz flying the DLG or at least until I can buy a FRSky DHT module to hack it! In the mean time I fly my Orca 4X, ALES 2m and Raptor 30 v2 with the MC-24 and spektrum receivers. Knock on wood, never had an issue with them!

I have lately being thinking of updating my mc - 24 to the new HOTT system and get back the full 12 channel capability of the mc 24, but again, it implies switching receivers all around! Another option I was thinking is to simply switch to the Graupner HOTT MX-16 but I read that there where some signal strength and range issues. Hopefully those should be no problem. It is a very fine radio!

Enrico

20 years ago? That must be the MC20. The MC24 came much later. I think, it was 2004 or 05. Both radios are from JR but with a focus on sailplanes, boats and model trucks instead of helis.

While I like the Aurora9, and it can do any mix; It's weird sometimes. I'd like the SD-10G even better if it had voltage telemetry.

Seems there are lots of good sailplane radios out there these days.

Originally Posted by Pippin

20 years ago? That must be the MC20. The MC24 came much later. I think, it was 2004 or 05. Both radios are from JR but with a focus on sailplanes, boats and model trucks instead of helis.

Well I stand corrected on the year, I still believe it was around 99 or 2000 that we got our MC-24. Now about both radios being JR, yes. About both radios focusing in sailplanes, boats and model trucks ... well here I have to disagree. The MC-20 and MC-24 are modular radios. What that means is that you can add and take modules depending on your needs. The specific's that you talk about where the profi - trims which where and add on specific for either boats, sailplanes or helicopters. this specific module would activate specific programming, but again, it was an add on. I don't have the profi trim in mine and I still have the ability to program complex heli, sailplane and acro models in my radio without any limitations.

That's why it is so hard for me to find a radio to replace my MC-24.
Just my 2cents

Enrico

No one is mentioning the Spektrum DX6i other than to use it as a secondary Tx for Bind 'N Fly, or to otherwise disparage it. I own one and it has served me well. So what's up with the lack of endorsement?

Doc,

I read through the thread again and don't see any disparagement of the DX6i. As for lack of endorsement in a thread about sailplane radios, why would you expect that? DX6i is not a sailplane radio. Period!

Chevy Camaro is a great car but a lousy choice for a pick-up truck. That is not disparagement, it is fact.

You said you have two DX6is but you did not say you used them to fly sailplanes, and more specifically full house sailplanes.

Can you fly a sailplane with a DX6i? Sure? Can you fly a full house sailplane with a DX6i? Sure! You can fly a full house sailplane with a standard 4 channel and a RES glider with a 3 channel radio. But they are not sailplane radios either.

Would I recommend a DX6i to someone looking for a sailplane radio? No.

I'm with Enrico, The MC24 is a fantastic radio, and when I bought four of these radios right when the German Mark was at it's lowest point in the late 90's. Now, I'm the only one using it from my group of friends. Easy to repair(I repair and modify the radio myself).

Having 9303 with a 72MHZ module and 2.4 Spectrum module is super handy since I fly BindNFly stuff, so swapping between RF modules is very simple on the 9303..

You cannot go wrong with any of the modern stuff out there. It either works, or your model crashes..

Martin

Originally Posted by aeajr

I have several new members in my club. They are thinking of getting new sailplane radios. What do you recommend?

The models I recommend they consider, that are available new, are:

JR 9503
Airtronics S10G
Futaba 8FG Super
Hitec Aurora 9

And, for those who would like to do it on a budget and don't mind doing some work to update the HW and SW, the FlySky TH9X, Turnigy 9X with ER9X and the FrSky radio module added.


So, what are your thougths on these radios for full house pure and electric gliders for contest flying? Please focus on ones you know or ones your friends like and recommend. If you have never touched it or never seen one, please don't comment on it.

Just to bring forward the original intent of the thread, I will quote myself. I was really focusing on new radios, but that does not mean we can't meander wherever things take us. But, by the time we get to page 3 we sometimes forget the topic.

Since we have drifted into 72 MHz radios and modules, I guess there is nothing wrong with recommending used radios too. One of these two articles, from RC Soaring Digest, talks about upgrading 72 MHz radios to bring them current to 2.4 GHz. And there are certainly a lot of good used 72 MHz sailplane radios out there.


Low cost sailplane radios – RC Soaring Digest
Two part series – July and August 2012

Upgrading 72 MH Sailplane Radios - July
http://www.rcsoaringdigest.com/pdfs/...SD-2012-07.pdf

Low Cost Sailplane Radio - August
http://www.rcsoaringdigest.com/pdfs/...SD-2012-08.pdf