What really gets my GOAT is you buy someting that the seller claims is so good. Then after you buy it the first time you fly it it crashes because of the substandard parts they use.

Oh, so you expect a seller to tell you when they're offering you a cheap piece of junk? Seems logical and perfectly reasonable... Riiiigggghhhhhtttt.... The only vendor I know of which does this is HobbyKing, but they have a lot of "abnormal" marketing practices and it seems to work pretty well.

As for the crashing, are you sure it's really the parts' fault and not because of the substandard skills you used?

Originally Posted by C₄H₁₀

Oh, so you expect a seller to tell you when they're offering you a cheap piece of junk? Seems logical and perfectly reasonable... Riiiigggghhhhhtttt.... The only vendor I know of which does this is HobbyKing, but they have a lot of "abnormal" marketing practices and it seems to work pretty well.

As for the crashing, are you sure it's really the parts' fault and not because of the substandard skills you used?

They way I see it Butane is that if you put sub standard parts, or bad glue/solder joints in the air then its still your fault even if someone else sold it to you like that. The pilot is ultimately responsible for what they put in the air. So if a hinge comes loose on my plane during a flight and as a result crashes... its my fault.

Originally Posted by btown2

No standardization of parts.

This is driving me bat crap crazy. Why can't we standardize a few things in this hobby? Why in the year 2013 do I have to physically cut off pieces of my servos to get them to fit into a receiver?

I bought a plane at a swap today. It had Futaba servos installed on it. I got home to find out that my ar600 isnt keyed so if I want to use those servos with it I have to cut off pieces of them. That is just ridiculous.

Please tell me that I can get some sort of converter so that I don't have to damage PERFECTLY GOOD SERVOS.

Yes, the best converter you should buy for those types of servo's is a futaba Fasst receiver and tx.

Originally Posted by rafe_b

Ah yes, we're all collectively responsible for corporate malfeasance. Profits are private, but "oopsies" are public. Nice system. What are we supposed to do, boycott every product that doesn't satisfy us, down to the last detail? Good luck with that plan.

Thank you for providing an example.



For everyone else:

Logically, if servos are meant to be modular components, they should not have wires dangling out of them. This is because the length of wire necessary is dictated by the airframe and NOT the servo. There's no way for the servo maker to know who much wire you actually need unless it's... not really intended to be modular.

That means the wiring should belong to the airframe.

The current system is nonsense. You swap servos and you wind up having to either extend wires (implies some obnoxious extra connector bulge somewhere in the middle of the run, or cutting/resoldering), or do some silly coiling thing with the extra wire.

Three female connector holes on the receiver (yes, the receiver has it backwards too) and three female connector holes on the servo. No keyed connectors; just label the holes. Cut the connecting wires to the right length. Once.

Like I said, we'll probably have to just wait for a combination of the status quo mouthpieces to die off and some less-indoctrinated manufacturer to unilaterally do something that makes sense.

Standardization = socialism

Freedom = Dealing with a million different plugs and adapters, all of which cost 10 times more than they should.

Originally Posted by GoatZilla

Thank you for providing an example.



For everyone else:

Logically, if servos are meant to be modular components, they should not have wires dangling out of them. This is because the length of wire necessary is dictated by the airframe and NOT the servo. There's no way for the servo maker to know who much wire you actually need unless it's... not really intended to be modular.

That means the wiring should belong to the airframe.

The current system is nonsense. You swap servos and you wind up having to either extend wires (implies some obnoxious extra connector bulge somewhere in the middle of the run, or cutting/resoldering), or do some silly coiling thing with the extra wire.

Three female connector holes on the receiver (yes, the receiver has it backwards too) and three female connector holes on the servo. No keyed connectors; just label the holes. Cut the connecting wires to the right length. Once.

Like I said, we'll probably have to just wait for a combination of the status quo mouthpieces to die off and some less-indoctrinated manufacturer to unilaterally do something that makes sense.

You're kidding, right?..You want to add the complexity (for some) soldering/crimping micro-connections and add to the crash rate for noobies?

These "status quo mouthpieces" you speak of are did quite a good job, IMO. If you want what passes for education today designing and building our ever-complex radio control systems we are indeed screwed. Opps, I forgot. We don't design or build these R/C systems anymore. We out-sourced that about 30 years ago. As long as the Far Eastern cultures surpass us in education, it's best we let them tell us how thing are to be designed and built.

Originally Posted by GoatZilla

Like I said, we'll probably have to just wait for a combination of the status quo mouthpieces to die off and some less-indoctrinated manufacturer to unilaterally do something that makes sense.

Ah I love the smell of generational warfare in the morning, and the arrogance of youth in full bloom.

That's what we need...a new manufacturer to come along dictating a new modular component format for our hobby that will render all existing hardware currently in use obsolete. The modular approach is great for 1 model design. I have maybe 20 models and can move the flight gear between them in a few minutes. Plug and play....

Reminds me of the HR poster:

Hire a teenager, while he still knows everything.

Andy

Originally Posted by GoatZilla

Logically, if servos are meant to be modular components, they should not have wires dangling out of them. This is because the length of wire necessary is dictated by the airframe and NOT the servo. There's no way for the servo maker to know who much wire you actually need unless it's... not really intended to be modular.

This is why many aircraft companies recommend you use another standard component called a "Servo Extension." This allows you to make the wire part of the airframe if you choose while not necessitating it for those who disagree with you.

Andy

Originally Posted by Da Big_G

That's what we need...a new manufacturer to come along dictating a new modular component format for our hobby that will render all existing hardware currently in use obsolete. The modular approach is great for 1 model design. I have maybe 20 models and can move the flight gear between them in a few minutes. Plug and play....

That worked well for common language. Everyone speaks Esperanto. Right?

Anyone remember the old DeBolt "Live Wire" planes. Most had a "standard" radio compartment. All you did was mount the radio system - receiver, batteries, etc - to a "standard" tray and with the removal of four screws, you could move the whole shebang to another plane in minutes. And we're talking a vacuum tube (valves on the east side of the big ditch) system with windup escapements.

- Roger

Fear not. It wont be too much longer before someone develops a wireless radio system., Then connecors and wire lengths will become moot.

BM

Wow what a great rant! "Hire a teenager...." you kill me! Still laughing. As one who is becoming a full fledged member of the "old group" as soon as I read standardization, I thought, someone must have been in the Army.
Here's a servo for you....This baby is cutting edge!!

Originally Posted by BillM

Fear not. It wont be too much longer before someone develops a wireless radio system., Then connecors and wire lengths will become moot.

BM

And you'll be binding to the wrong servos. Then we'll have servomatch to fix that. Of course you can't mix and match servo and receiver brands/protocols.

Originally Posted by Dave Craig

Wow what a great rant! "Hire a teenager...." you kill me! Still laughing. As one who is becoming a full fledged member of the "old group" as soon as I read standardization, I thought, someone must have been in the Army.
Here's a servo for you....This baby is cutting edge!!

WOW! That was from the days when only the battery had three wires (or should I say, "the battery had only three wires") - the servos had four. IIRC, the Kraft brick was part of a low cost two channel system - bolt it in and hook up two pushrods, what could be simpler?

- Roger