Have You Voted?

[SkyNorth]

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1585161

[cre8tiveleo]

I did.

[jhsa]

I did too.. Guys, go there and tell what you think and what this radio can do.. I tried but my english is not that good..

[cre8tiveleo]

Your english is just fine, better than mine... Ass is spelled with two S's.

[jhsa]

I know.. that's why I did put TWO POINTS after the "a"..

[erazz]

Any type of awareness is good!
Didja notice the guy who said that he wasn't interested in the Turnigy stuff until he heard it supports the BNF models? That's exactly what we need to do. The more people we have on board the better!

Remember, this is free stuff. Not only free to own but free to use. I cannot fathom going back to a closed system where I can't have a say on how the radio operates.

[jhsa]

I know exactly how you feel.. Once you've tasted it you just can't go back..

[wheelspinner20]

wasn't interested in the Turnigy stuff until he heard it supports the BNF models?

OK, here's the potential problem for that, its in the quote. B...N....F now I can see those that have tinkered for a while, and just want a quick little yard flyer, and know how to mod. BUT a majoritiy of the BNF market wont know the first thing about modules, soldering, antenna's stuff like that. AND its not like they can buy the $80 radio and go bind it to their bnf (unless its a Zieda 9958 4ch FP micro-heli) Heck they cant even throw the DSM?? module in there unless they go through the work of reflash to custom FW (not hard for us) but you know what I'm saying right?? It's just a poll, I'm not trying to be a debbie downer here, but we need to be careful to not mis-represent how you get to that possibility.

Erazz, I can totally relate to your post on that poll when describing the revelation of radio type.! Made me laugh out loud.! But I was wondering what classifies your er9x as a hack?? Do you really use that term?? Maybe I just mis-understand that word, believe me, I understand you started with thus's work, but theres a ton of code here that only you or Mike or couple others have strung together and I don't want to think of my COOL-A-- radio as being controlled by "hack" firware.

We got tons of computer geeks and engineers here(I mean that in the most endearing way), we need a P.R. man to give tips on spreading the GOOD word! I'm not exagerating, do you know how many times I have heard "won't find any of that cheap chinese c**p in my planes!!!" ???considering I've only been flying for 15 months, its alot..!

And on the flip side of that, have any of you been able to attribute any plane crashes to a failure of this system (I know I know alot of variable there but you KNOW what I mean)? The only one I can remember is Box, but that was a battery failure (trustfires), maybe I just don't have that good of memory, or there is a great conspiracy to hide the faults of this "cheap chinese c**p"?? I've had a couple of lockouts, but I was smart enough to test a few times, and both spots were repeatable specific areas of a subdivision, and I have to assume interference from WIFI setups. PLUS, same plane with a 3 channel car receiver, so I KNEW I was pushing its range at the time.! Any other failures out there??

Pat

[cre8tiveleo]

You can just pop a dsm jr. module in the module slot in the back and you've got bnf too. No soldering, just rip the old module out.

[wheelspinner20]

Can you post a link leo?

[cre8tiveleo]

http://hobbyhobby.com/store/product/214 ... ompatible/

This is a hobby store in my area. You can find them almost anywhere.

[wheelspinner20]

I'm ummmm speechless.... wow thats a lot of receivers and batteries.!

Where is your posts again for the dsm stuff, I got some soldering to do, no way I'm payin that.! wow

[erazz]

wasn't interested in the Turnigy stuff until he heard it supports the BNF models?

OK, here's the potential problem for that, its in the quote. B...N....F now I can see those that have tinkered for a while, and just want a quick little yard flyer, and know how to mod. BUT a majoritiy of the BNF market wont know the first thing about modules, soldering, antenna's stuff like that. AND its not like they can buy the $80 radio and go bind it to their bnf (unless its a Zieda 9958 4ch FP micro-heli) Heck they cant even throw the DSM?? module in there unless they go through the work of reflash to custom FW (not hard for us) but you know what I'm saying right?? It's just a poll, I'm not trying to be a debbie downer here, but we need to be careful to not mis-represent how you get to that possibility.

Erazz, I can totally relate to your post on that poll when describing the revelation of radio type.! Made me laugh out loud.! But I was wondering what classifies your er9x as a hack?? Do you really use that term?? Maybe I just mis-understand that word, believe me, I understand you started with thus's work, but theres a ton of code here that only you or Mike or couple others have strung together and I don't want to think of my COOL-A-- radio as being controlled by "hack" firware.

We got tons of computer geeks and engineers here(I mean that in the most endearing way), we need a P.R. man to give tips on spreading the GOOD word! I'm not exagerating, do you know how many times I have heard "won't find any of that cheap chinese c**p in my planes!!!" ???considering I've only been flying for 15 months, its alot..!

And on the flip side of that, have any of you been able to attribute any plane crashes to a failure of this system (I know I know alot of variable there but you KNOW what I mean)? The only one I can remember is Box, but that was a battery failure (trustfires), maybe I just don't have that good of memory, or there is a great conspiracy to hide the faults of this "cheap chinese c**p"?? I've had a couple of lockouts, but I was smart enough to test a few times, and both spots were repeatable specific areas of a subdivision, and I have to assume interference from WIFI setups. PLUS, same plane with a 3 channel car receiver, so I KNEW I was pushing its range at the time.! Any other failures out there??

Pat

Agree 100% with what you wrote. Technically it is a "hack" though you are certainly right, P.R. wise it's not a confidence builder.
There will always be people out there who are scared of even taking off their radio's back and changing the stick tension. To them what we are doing is black magic. They would never do it and paying many $$$ gives them a nice warm fuzzy feeling. These are not the target audience. The target audience are those that didn't even know about this. Just getting the word out IMHO gives people food for thought.

Regarding the reliability issue. I don't know of anyone who has crashed because of the FW itself (e.i. attributed to lockout or software error - not RF). There were a couple of people who got hacked by a propellor by deleting a model memory while having the plane on. Adding a warning screen seemed to have solved that. I tend to think we have a very wide testing base and that makes problems very rare. Errors are a force of nature. I saw a Futaba radio go from idle to full on a heli when the values were 100% on the cyclic. Scary isn't it? Just seeing that made me go into the FW and implement a check to prevent that! We can't promise zero errors but I think since we are open to criticism (at least trying to be) we have a good chance of having the firmware safe. Personally I think that we are in better shape than any other radio in that regard. More than a year of experience and having people going after us with machetes has done that...
I once calculated that we have more than 40,000 man hours on the FW alone. Imagine how much that would cost! Do brand names put that kind of effort into their SW? Though I like to make fun of it I do take this very seriously and I do take pride in the ecosystem we have created. I sterss the word we. This is a community effort. I have my part but without the others it would be meaningless.

As far as RF is concerned. I have seen problems (and lost planes) with Flysky, FrSky, Futaba and Airtronics. I've seen the same with Spektrum and JR though I never owned their radios. I have seen a brand new 30% plane with a brand new Futaba PCM system bite the dust because of rx fault, even tough it was range tested and mounted correctly. The RF connection we have is, to put it plainly, a joke. Don't let the spread spectrum frequency hopping hype distract you. We are flying on a single data and hw channel. We are flying it on civilian frequencies populated by everything from other models, wifi systems and kids toys. We are transmitting on very low power. Any problem and your plane goes boom. The cheap Chinese c**p is not good but the expensive hyped brand name stuff is just as bad! You have to remember that whatever you fly it is probably just a second away from locking out. So when people ask me if I trust the cheap Chinese HW I tell them no. I also tell them that I don't trust the expensive stuff they have. You want reliability? Pony up to a true redundant system like Weatronics.... $$$$

To make thigs short and clean: The FW is very safe and probably better tested than any other radio on the market. I trust it.

[wheelspinner20]

Thanks for answering the way you did.

Had no idea there were that many hours in it.

Great info, being a novice at this, it's good to know about the top end stuff too. Not that I will ever use it, but , that whole last part is common sense based compelling argument against half of the people that give me/us that glare of dis-approval.!

Thanks erazz

[erazz]

Oh, finally!

Someone listened!!!! You have just made my day! I have been ranting about this for way too long and people just give me this stare and say "well, it's still Chinese c**p"


You have made me happy!

[wheelspinner20]

pffffffff, not only did I listen, you were preaching to the choir, but, I copied and pasted your monologue to a couple local non-club goups so that they might get a little heads-up. There is a winter tech-session on Wed. nights, and I really want to go show off er9x, but, I get nervous that I don't know enough to answer all the questions. I did convert 1 guy, well by convert he bought one, er9x'd it, and he really liked the dual motor/rudder thrust differential. So thats a start.

Now, the ama club pres that is a freind of mine that has been flying for 25 years is a different story all together. It's difficult when I'm the rookie! PLUS I let the vice pres fly my polaris with it, not knowing that I accidently hit enter in the mix menu and inadvertantly added 100% rudder to the ail... This make a snap roll with a rear engined delta VERY intersting to say the least! Sadly he was under the impression that it was the equipment, not the operator.! He just shook his head an walked away. DOH!

[erazz]

You win some you lose some.

Now I need to make a DLG, install a G-meter on it and show people how we can use telemetry for fun stuff!

[G550Ted]

Oh, finally!

Someone listened!!!! You have just made my day! I have been ranting about this for way too long and people just give me this stare and say "well, it's still Chinese c**p"
You have made me happy!

Anyone with an open mind that looks hard at what is being done here has to be convinced by the evidence. I was/am. I have purchased two 9x radios and flashed er9x to them without using the OEM FW. I would not have bought either radio had it not been for er9x. They have replaced my Futaba and Spektrum Txs for all but 2 models which remain to have their receivers changed out. I was also able to get a buddy back into RC and into a 9x/er9x because of it's utility and price.

Thanx again for your (and other's) hard work on both this and the ersky9x projects!

Ted

[jhsa]

It's not worth it speaking to those guys.. It's like banging your head agains the wall. The want to stay in ignorance and are very happy with it..

I'm not posting there anymore..

[erazz]

I think that we actually have gained a bit from all of that. We've raised awareness. Maybe got someone interested. I don't worry about the curmudgeons.

[cre8tiveleo]

It's like car owners, they know their Fords suck, but won't admit it.

[jhsa]

HHeeeyy, I have a Ford....

No I don't..

[Flaps 30]

I have voted on the thread

My 'other half' 'Flaps 15' seems to have stirred things up on that thread with someone effectively saying that by us messing with the 9x, that we are asking for trouble regarding our insurance and the like.. I have no doubt that a few people connected with the BMFA might frown on what we are doing. But I do recall that the insurance we have through the BMFA covers us for damages caused by radio failure or some fault, under the heading of product liability.

It would be a sad day when we can only use approved radio systems in approved ready to fly models. Add to that the fact that you won't be allowed to fly alone unless you have at the very least an 'A' certificate, and to get that you have to join an approved training club.

Sometimes I do wonder where our hobby is going.