10J or T12k?

[tizdaz]

Hi guys, apart from number of channels supported, what are the differences between these 2 radios, I was set on buying the 10J for my planes, but then the T12K has more channels so would be more future proof, is there any major differences between the 2? Is the 12K a better radio.

 

Each radio comes with the 8 channel receiver, I'm new to the RC plane scene, The radios are 10 or 12 channels, but they only come supplied with an 8 channel receiver, am I missing something here? Does this mean that I would only be able to operate 8 servos max using this receiver? What if my model uses 8 servos, but then I also wanted to operate some lights on/off remotely using one of the TX switches etc?

 

Any info appreciated!

 

Cheers ?

[tizdaz]

Also what about the T6K? As this now supports up to 8 channels & comes with same8 channel  receiver as other 2?

[FlyinBrian]

Are we talking about Futaba radios here? - I fly with a Futaba T14SG it is great but in general Futaba is not cheap.

If so you could do better (bang for buck)  looking at FrSky or Jumper radios. 

 

Having said that if you are or will be joining a club go and see what radios they use as you will be able to get help with set up and you may need the use of a compatible Tx in Buddy box (trainer) mode.

 

If your chosen Futaba radio supports SBUS on the receiver (check out the specs on the Futaba web site)then more channels are available via S-BUS or S-BUS2 Getting your head around some of these radios takes some previous knowledge and research.

 

Finally just to make life more interesting there is some rumours that Futaba may quit RC manufacture shortly.

 

Good luck

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by FlyinBrian

[Eric Robson]

5 hours ago, tizdaz said:

Also what about the T6K? As this now supports up to 8 channels & comes with same8 channel  receiver as other 2?

I bought a Futaba T6K last year and find it does all I want. I have been flying RC for almost 50yrs. mainly scale and have never used more than 6 channels, I like to keep thins simple and be in control. The manual for the T6K is about 10mm thick all in English and being a computer dinosaur I have not taken up things like flight mode and very rarely  use expo, I tried a gyro RX on my other set, a Spektrum 6e and did not use it after the the first few flights. The Hanger 9 ad. for the Mustang said it needs 5 channel, 6 if using retracts so unless you are putting lights drop tanks etc 6 is fine. Don't let me put you off buying a 10 or 12 channel Trannie if that is what you want, I like to spend my time building and flying not setting up computer systems as at my age it is too much to take on, but the technology is there if you want it, I remember a chap driving 60 ml. one Sunday to our strip, he had one of the first computer radio's. He left the manual at home and no one could help him so after 4 hours he did not get a flight. 

Good luck with your flying and the Mustang when you get round to it, I am currently flying a Warbirds replica Mustang 57" span, it is a great flyer as all Mustangs are and I like it a lot.  

[tizdaz]

19 hours ago, FlyinBrian said:

Are we talking about Futaba radios here? - I fly with a Futaba T14SG it is great but in general Futaba is not cheap.

If so you could do better (bang for buck)  looking at FrSky or Jumper radios. 

 

Having said that if you are or will be joining a club go and see what radios they use as you will be able to get help with set up and you may need the use of a compatible Tx in Buddy box (trainer) mode.

 

If your chosen Futaba radio supports SBUS on the receiver (check out the specs on the Futaba web site)then more channels are available via S-BUS or S-BUS2 Getting your head around some of these radios takes some previous knowledge and research.

 

Finally just to make life more interesting there is some rumours that Futaba may quit RC manufacture shortly.

 

Good luck

 

Yup, Radios ?

 

I was looking at others but the local club I'm intending to join use Futaba, so i really want to go with this for the link-up with training etc ?

 

17 hours ago, Eric Robson said:

I bought a Futaba T6K last year and find it does all I want. I have been flying RC for almost 50yrs. mainly scale and have never used more than 6 channels, I like to keep thins simple and be in control. The manual for the T6K is about 10mm thick all in English and being a computer dinosaur I have not taken up things like flight mode and very rarely  use expo, I tried a gyro RX on my other set, a Spektrum 6e and did not use it after the the first few flights. The Hanger 9 ad. for the Mustang said it needs 5 channel, 6 if using retracts so unless you are putting lights drop tanks etc 6 is fine. Don't let me put you off buying a 10 or 12 channel Trannie if that is what you want, I like to spend my time building and flying not setting up computer systems as at my age it is too much to take on, but the technology is there if you want it, I remember a chap driving 60 ml. one Sunday to our strip, he had one of the first computer radio's. He left the manual at home and no one could help him so after 4 hours he did not get a flight. 

Good luck with your flying and the Mustang when you get round to it, I am currently flying a Warbirds replica Mustang 57" span, it is a great flyer as all Mustangs are and I like it a lot.  

Great info thanks ?

 

And my type of flying will be Scale as that's what I like ?

 

Yeah, I was looking up the "Radiomaster T16" but as i mentioned above, my local club use Futaba for training & also the Radiomaster uses Open TX which isn't too "User-Friendly" as they say!

 

So, after reading what you said & doing a little more research, I decided to go ahead & purchase the T6k, the chances of me needing over 8 channels will be very slim & the 6k isn't a silly price! It should be with me beginning of next week!

 

Also purchased a new charger & battery pack (I don't think the 12v SLA's I use in my boats weighing around 8kg each would be suitable! ? ) I bought the Spektrum S150 Smart Charger & a Spektrum smart battery pack (2000mAh). In the future I will purchase the 4000mAh smart battery pack for longer run times, but for now the 2000 will do just fine! I have to say, the charger is a very neat bit of kit, its VERY small/compact & it charged my battery pack up to full in about 10 mins, so I'm quite impressed, only downside is it mains only I think so no charging with it out in the field I don't think ? but for the price, I can't complain & like I say, in the near future I will purchase the larger capacity pack, so I will have both packs fully charged when out so should be plenty ?

[Eric Robson]

I have a 2000ma 2s lipo in my Spektrum 6e and a 2000 4.8v eneloop in the Futaba T6k after 10 consecutive days flying neither have required charging. I have been getting a Ju 88 and a Chipmunk ready for flying and have had both sets in use setting up the two planes and still they show good readings, it must be at least 3 weeks since they were charged. I use 2000ma in my glow models and get a lot of flying time between charges, wish I could say the same about the electric flight models. One thing I don't like about Futaba is you have to be careful selecting a receiver as they are not all compatible with other Futaba sets I use the basic £27 6 channel recievers and have had no problems with them, but as I said before I don't use telemetry or many of the functions available, my car has all sorts of functions and it still just needs the basics to get you from A to B,

Eric.   

Edited May 1, 2021 by Eric Robson

[kc]

The T6K seems a good choice - but I hope you checked with your potential club that the Tx you bought is the corrrect Mode.    Most dealers supply Mode 2 but some clubs train on Mode 1.   It's possible to change the throttle spring over but it's fiddly and may void the guarantee.   It's better to get the dealer to change it.    Once you learn on a particular Mode it's not normal to change.

 

To answer one of your first questions - an 8 channel Rx can only operate 8 channels but might operate 9 servos if required.   For ailerons etc where 2 servos might be plugged into 1 channel via a Y lead.   In that case both servos operate together.  

 

You mentioned buying a Spektrum charger but if memory serves me correctly I think the Futaba Tx socket is opposite polarity to Spektrum /JR.    Be sure to check!

Edited May 1, 2021 by kc

[Eric Robson]

I was a little confused with that Kc, thinking it must be for a Spektrum set. The Spektrum plug  and socket in the TX are different to the Futaba so will not fit without surgery. I tend to think of people buying from a model shop and being advised on their purchase, but so much is done on line now the personal touch has gone.  

[MattyB]

Sorry for the cynicism, but those Spektrum smart chargers just seem to be a way for HH to keep people baked into a premium priced ecosystem. They might simplify charging lithium chemistry batteries slightly, but the price you pay is considerable - a 3S 2200 is £30! Ouch. Just get a decent standard 150-300W charger and PSU and learn to use it - far batter in the long run.

[tizdaz]

On 01/05/2021 at 19:00, kc said:

The T6K seems a good choice - but I hope you checked with your potential club that the Tx you bought is the corrrect Mode.    Most dealers supply Mode 2 but some clubs train on Mode 1.   It's possible to change the throttle spring over but it's fiddly and may void the guarantee.   It's better to get the dealer to change it.    Once you learn on a particular Mode it's not normal to change.

 

To answer one of your first questions - an 8 channel Rx can only operate 8 channels but might operate 9 servos if required.   For ailerons etc where 2 servos might be plugged into 1 channel via a Y lead.   In that case both servos operate together.  

 

You mentioned buying a Spektrum charger but if memory serves me correctly I think the Futaba Tx socket is opposite polarity to Spektrum /JR.    Be sure to check!

Yup its mode 2, my club uses mode 2 (most popular in UK it seems) & for myself I prefer mode 2, if I was to train using mode 1 it would just end in disaster over & over as I don't like the layout of Mode 1. Yup I've had a good read around & spoke to a few guys who own the H9 20cc mustang & they say 8 channels will be plenty for her, it can be setup with just 6 channels with retracts if needed, so all good in that department ?

 

I won't be using any TX pack for my futaba set, I've always used Eneloops for my TX over the years, much prefer them than the usual premade TX packs ?

19 hours ago, MattyB said:

Sorry for the cynicism, but those Spektrum smart chargers just seem to be a way for HH to keep people baked into a premium priced ecosystem. They might simplify charging lithium chemistry batteries slightly, but the price you pay is considerable - a 3S 2200 is £30! Ouch. Just get a decent standard 150-300W charger and PSU and learn to use it - far batter in the long run.

I've had a couple of bad experiences with "budget" packs over the years, so now I tend to stick with branded for peace of mind, I have a Elysium LX60B Pro charger which I use a lot for my SLA's & NiMH cells, lets me manually adjust charge rate & discharge etc. But for my planes I wanted a separate charger & new packs, so decided to go with the Spektrum charger as it was cheap/simple & has good reviews which is good enough for me ?

Edited May 3, 2021 by tizdaz

[tizdaz]

On 01/05/2021 at 10:50, Eric Robson said:

I have a 2000ma 2s lipo in my Spektrum 6e and a 2000 4.8v eneloop in the Futaba T6k after 10 consecutive days flying neither have required charging. I have been getting a Ju 88 and a Chipmunk ready for flying and have had both sets in use setting up the two planes and still they show good readings, it must be at least 3 weeks since they were charged. I use 2000ma in my glow models and get a lot of flying time between charges, wish I could say the same about the electric flight models. One thing I don't like about Futaba is you have to be careful selecting a receiver as they are not all compatible with other Futaba sets I use the basic £27 6 channel recievers and have had no problems with them, but as I said before I don't use telemetry or many of the functions available, my car has all sorts of functions and it still just needs the basics to get you from A to B,

Eric.   

 

Seems I will have a very similar setup to yours in terms of electrics! ..I've always used eneloops, imo the best cells there is for TX's especially for the price.  I remember not using a set for over 6 months, so checked the health on them & they still had 75% charge in them ?