The 2018 Transmitter Survey!

[Steve Colman]

Still Spektrum for me with both DX6i and DX8.

However, if I were to be in the market for a new Tx now it would most likely be a FrSky.

[Ace]

Spektrum DX9 does everything I need although with mainly third party receivers, Lemon, Redcon and Orange due to genuine receiver costs. - ALL ROCK SOLID performance

[Peter Jenkins]

JR XG11 for me. Does everything I want apart from telemetry and a 3rd party product covers that. I don't have a vast fleet so the 11 Rxs I have will do very nicely. I also bought a second hand XG11 just in case my first one went sick. If I do decide to change at some point, my current next favourite would be Jeti.

[Ian Jones]

Currently I use:

Futaba SkySport6 (simulator only)

Futaba 6EXA (simulator only)

Hitec Eclipse 7 (35Mhz and 2.4Ghz)

Futaba T8UAP (Hitec 2.4Ghz module)

Hitec Eclipse 7 Pro

The Hitec Tx's are my primary radios, the Futaba T8UAP I mainly use for sloping.

[Tom Thomas]

I think it's just a generalised poll and a bit of fun it's not going to influence the market trends lads is it?

[Low pass Pete]

I have been 100% JR for many years but receiver prices have risen so much last 12 months that I have made the decision to move to a Futaba 10J. The latest Futaba is a lot lower cost for receivers such as the S3008SB. 

Cheers

Peter

Edited By Low pass Pete on 10/04/2018 05:20:00

[trebor]

I changed from Spektrum to Frsky, fustrating menus and failsafes were the main reason but Spektrum pulling out of the U.K. was the last straw. This Taranis I can fix it myself if I get a problem

[cymaz]

Futaba 9cap and the 8ch 2.4 module....it does everything I need. I do my own telemetry before flying, I check the battery and fuel level myself. I bought my first Tx at the nearest model shop to me here in PL31. They only had Futaba on the shelf, so that’s what I bought. It was a 6 exa , still have it on the Reflex XTR simulator.

[J D 8]

Started with Futaba M series in the 70's and have stuck with them except for a fleet xp/fm,I still like the feel of that set and plan to convert it to 2.4.

[gangster]

I don't think I can take part in this poll as I use Futaba,Spektrum and Jr with Frsky module in roughly equal amount

I have never had any brand loyalty over the last few decades and have been happy to buy which looked best at the time.

About 5 years ago I started flying electric and decided to get some 2.4 gear so bought Futaba 8J nice radio but somehow looked and felt dissapointing and having seen the old DX8 which seemed so much better I bought that as well. So both get equal use with my electric planes and am happy with both.

The glow withdrawal symptoms bit so I bought a second hand JR PCM9 , a radio I have always liked, there was a short period of time that the values of good radios like the FF9 and JR9 dropped second hand, but now seem to have crept up again. I also got a load of receivers cheap as well. I lated converted this to 2.4 with Frsky the reason being that I felt that I might want to one day and thought the DJT modules would not be around for ever.

Great move so much easier to carry a running model out to the strip when there is less chance of getting the aerial in the prop.( Safety police, yes I know.! ) Only ever did it once decades ago.

So what would I buy next, dunno but possibly FRsky especially after Spektrum and Futaba receivers have shot up in price and you can still get a fr rx for half the price.

[Danny Fenton]

I am not sure how this applies these days. Many of us use more than one Tx and saying main is not completely accurate. I use Taranis more and more as the flexibilty is great. However this is mainly for indoor models using Spektrum (or clone) Rx's and a Spekky Diy module. I have however started using Taranis for outdoor larger models too, which was the domain of my Jeti and will remain so with many of my existing models.

I am sure many are the same and use more than one brand

Cheers

Danny

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Yes, I'm in a similar position David. I like FrSky for their reliability, comprehensive range of sensors and all at a very competative price. But what I am really a fan of is OpenTx. Fundamentally I use Taranis primarily because it uses OpenTx which I sincerely believe to be the most significant and enabling technical development in out hobby since spread spectrum 2.4GHz became commonly available.

BEB

[Josip Vrandecic -Mes]

The question of this research is what we use, not what we want to use.
The most important thing for me is that TX is reliable ... this factor is always directly connected to my wallet. Speaking openly, the most reliable are Futaba's ... for me of course.

[Cuban8]

BEB, I wonder why your belief in Open TX isn't getting through to mainstream radio users?
I'm not saying that your wrong, quite the opposite, in fact.

[Bob Cotsford]

I'm now on an FrSky Horus with my Taranis demoted to being my backup transmitter. I still have my FF8 and FF9 with FrSky modules but they are now obsolete. At my club we still have a couple of Futaba users but for most a mid range Spektrum fits the bill.

I guess I should really put the Futabas back to 35Mhz and sell them.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 10/04/2018 13:47:13

[The Wright Stuff]

It's funny. If / when I buy a new Tx, it'll probably be FrSky, but I'm a complete Luddite when it comes to this particular aspect of the hobby. It's not that I'm worried it'll be too complicated: indeed my day job involves data acquisition electronics, firmware, parameter files, version control and instrument configuration, so perhaps it's busman's holiday syndrome. When I set up models, I just can't be bothered to do anything complicated, I just want to switch on and go. The most complicated thing I think I have ever done is a flap-elevator mix.

Similarly with number of channels. I have genuinely never needed more than six. Y-leads all the way, but I've literally never had any issues.

[Colin Anderson]

Started off with a Futaba 6EX, because I knew little about R/C and it was what I could afford at the time. I now have a Spektrum 6.

[Nigel R]

"busman's holiday syndrome"

I'm with you on that one. My day job involves writing software for full size airplanes. I just prefer my RC time consists to be more building and flying than programming.

[dave parnham]

Never ever had a problem with my Futaba Gear....Still have a FF9 FF10 and 14 and whilst I'm very happy and don't need to change. I still have an interest in a multiplex sx9 or12?

And right now I'm hankering after a Jeti 16 or dc24 (cant afford it !!) but I want one

dave

[MattyB]

Posted by kc on 09/04/2018 19:06:18:

I don't think the results so far show the real situation at clubs. FrSky gets talked about a lot on the forum but I never see one at my club. Its mostly Spektrum and Futaba with one Graupner at my club.

Traditional UK clubs with their ageing demographic are not where FrSky is gaining most leverage - the growth is centred more around younger multirotor flyers and those fixed wing/rotary enthusiasts who fly mostly outside of clubs and who want high reliability and the latest new tech at a good value price.

[Manish Chandrayan]

Started off with a two channel Sanwa set back in early 90's. Then it was on to Futaba sets. an Attack 4 AM, 6EX, and 9 CAP (still flying).

First 2.4 GHz set was a hand me down Jr 9303 which I still use with multiple Rx's and then recently bought a Graupner MC 20.

One can well imagine what I go through when setting up the Radio's

[The Wright Stuff]

Posted by Nigel R on 10/04/2018 14:30:59:

"busman's holiday syndrome"

I'm with you on that one. My day job involves writing software for full size airplanes. I just prefer my RC time consists to be more building and flying than programming.

Excellent. Nice to know I'm not the only one!

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[MattyB]

Posted by Cuban8 on 10/04/2018 13:29:18:
BEB, I wonder why your belief in Open TX isn't getting through to mainstream radio users?
I'm not saying that your wrong, quite the opposite, in fact.

See my comment above - it is getting through to mainstream radio users, just not necessarily the same mainstream you are thinking of!

In the growth areas of RC (i.e. multirotors) FrSky and OpenTX are the prevalent system globally, probably because most of these pilots are relatively new to the hobby and did not need to to "unlearn" their old system. IMO it is a complete myth that OpenTX is hard to configure (note I did not use the word programme; unless you are one of the tiny minority of Jeti and FrSky users taking advantage of the LUA capability no-one needs to "programme" their TX!) it is just different sort of logic to more traditional canned mixer style systems. Those who come to it completely fresh pick it up very quickly, but for more experienced pilots it can be more difficult to accept much of what you know is no longer applicable in OpenTX because of the way it works. They therefore stick with what they know, even if it costs them quite a bit more financially to do so. Fair enough, horses for courses and all that, but if you look at the figures in this poll over the years they don't lie - even though the fastest growing segment of FrSky users probably aren't voting here, the brand is still growing steadily in market share at a time when most established names are contracting or (in the case of JR and Hitec) withdrawing from the TX market.