9Xtreme V2? Or Discontinued?

[jhsa]

We all know that the 9xtreme board is for the people that ALREADY OWN a 9x radio and want to upgrade it. It wasn't meant for people to go spend money on a 9x and then on the 9xtreme.

Of course the 9XR-PRO is cheaper than buying both the 9xtreme and 9X, but it isn't near as powerful as this board. Much better processor, much more eeprom and RAM (even than the taranis I believe), and we can make use of the now unused pins from the 9x board for other stuff like switches and extra sliders. The PRO is more limited in this case.
I have 4 extra pushbuttons connected to the old 9x board trim switches for example, and a slider connected to one of the now free Analog inputs. I still have 3 free analog inputs if I well remember.

João

[KAL]

By the way: there's much more usable room inside the 9X ...
I don't like this crampedness inside the Pro

Klaus

[jhsa]

Yes, difficult to mod because of space inside the case. The electronics allow it but the case doesn't..
It is a reliable radio though..
João

[OctavioS]

Is there a schematics image of the 9xtreme, like this one?
thx.

[s_mack]

Like the images in the first post on that thread? Those aren't schematics. They're just a features list really. Its more or less like this image referenced in steps 7/8 of the installation instructions tab of the product page.

[OctavioS]

Mike spoke about a J9 connector above the expansion grid, that can be used to plug the arduino mini pro for the rotary encoder. can you tell me which one it is?

[MikeB]

It's the one labelled I2C.

Mike.

[OctavioS]

Thx Mike, can you tell what kind of plug does it have, so i can purchase?

[s_mack]

I am fairly confident they are JST ZH (1.5mm pitch) connectors. I'd say 95% sure. I'm not at the computer I'd need to be at to confirm for sure. [edit: confirmed]

Here is an example eBay listing

Given that shipping is free, that's probably your best bet.

[elkayem]

Hi Steven,

It would really be a shame to discontinue this product after a run of only a year! I just installed my kit over the weekend, and I am super impressed. Everything was really high quality, and just fit. Really well thought out. Updating the firmware was a breeze too, and the ersky9x easy to program.

Just some perspective from a new 9Xtreme user. I've been flying for over 20 years, but only (very) recently joined the 21st century and replaced my old FM transmitters for a newfangled 2.4GHz radio. I picked up a FlySky FS-TH9X a year ago, mostly because it was so cheap. Recently, I decided to upgrade to something with telemetry and with firmware that was a little more user friendly. Going the er9x route was a no-brainer, as I'm a big fan of open source software, I love to tinker, and a brand new radio would have been much more expensive. Sure, I could have bought a Taranis radio from the start for a little bit more than what I have already put into this FlySky, but I honestly can't see myself sinking $200+ on a new radio when the 9X was out there begging for me to buy it.

I think your assumption that "everyone who wants a 9Xtreme already has one" is probably not true. As long as FlySky and Turnigy are selling the 9X, there will be people looking to get a good radio for cheap. And many of these are hobbyists who won't be afraid to open their radio and improve it. The 9X is still on the market and I'm sure continues to sell well at its low price point. The real turning point will be when the 9X is no longer sold, perhaps displaced by something else at that price point.

You're the one with the sales numbers, so you're in the best position to judge whether to continue selling this product. It certainly may take another 2 years to recover your investment, and maybe that is too long or too much risk. I would certainly like to see this product stay on the market and attract new customers.

I personally think the product is nearly perfect, and if selling another round of v1.1 is more cost effective than v2.0, then that seems the way to go. Forget the reverse polarity protection. Most of us are smart enough to know the right way to connect a battery. Just keep the product on the market.

And thanks again for making this available! It was a fun little upgrade, and 24 hours later I was out flying.

[s_mack]

I appreciate that.

Regarding the reverse polarity... you may be surprised at how many of the 1000pcs went to replacing blown up units

Regarding sales, risk, etc... it is an expensive product to make and the problem is that 1000pcs is kind of a minimum order. If sales continued at the same pace we're at now (and that's unlikely), it would take over 3 years to sell them. That's a long time to have product on a shelf. In fact, that brings up another issue I hadn't mentioned previously: logistics. The warehouse I use (and pretty much all similar services) expect fast moving stock. They aren't there for long term storage needs. "Stale" stock gets penalized. After 3 months it costs 2x as much to store. After 6 months it is 4x. After a year it is 12x. Storage is cheap, but 12x cheap isn't cheap.

But... as timing has it, I just got an email last week from the LED backlight supplier asking if I wanted to re-up the order and I told them I couldn't do 1000pcs. They previously said 1000 was their minimum, but now they're saying they can do 500 at the same per-unit price. Armed with that, I sent an email to the other suppliers asking if they'd be on board with the same terms. The PCB assembly house got back to me with a quote and, while it is definitely more expensive per-unit, it isn't break-the-bank more expensive. If the rest of them can do 500 then it might be a possible go.

Anyway, thanks for your input.

[jhsa]

I think the 100 ohm resistor on the PPM line is perhaps as important, if not more, as the reverse polarity protection..

João

[lancaster]

Hi Guys
Its encouraging to hear from Steven that another run might be possible

HobbyKing are selling the 9X in Europe and in the UK and I noticed that Banggood are marketing the Flysky 9X

There is still a future for the 9X

regards Hans

[OctavioS]

Hi,
Is there a possibility of making better quality 9xtreme rectangular sitckers (those that replace the radio brand name) and sell them as stand alone?

[s_mack]

I thought they were pretty good quality! I was impressed with them. The adhesive comes in a bagillion varieties so perhaps it wasn't the best one for the application (although the majority of feedback was that there was no issue).

[OctavioS]

The problem with the stickers was the glue/adhesive. I had to add liquid glue for them to stay in place, otherwise they were always falling. The rest is nice.

[Hertz]

I haven't used my sticker yet and after a year found that it's no longer attached to the paperback. This adhesive definitely has a half-life time too short
Which glue do you use for these applications? No CA, please!

[jhsa]

Why not?

João

[Hertz]

Every time I apply CA I end up with an ugly mess, I'm afraid to trash the radio front panel beyond repair.

[jhsa]

Some unconventional solution here, but what about a little dab of hot glue? easily removed with alcohol if needed..

I didn't try this myself so I don't know if the heat would melt the sticker, but I wouldn't think so..

João

[csurf]

@s_mack,
so, what's the status on getting a batch of upgraded 9xt boards made?
I'd be willing to order two for my two old 9x's.

[s_mack]

Sales are too slow. There won't be another batch. I'm not even making the minimums that the warehouse requires, so I'm getting hit with significant storage fees now.

I suggest getting them while you can.

ps. "upgraded" was going to be a couple of very minor changes unnoticed by most, so not sure what you were expecting.