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What first radio?

doberman

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Pembroke Pines, FL
hello everyone. I am about to get my first quad and want opinions and advice on selecting a radio. The local shop is recommending the Spectrums. They said many of the models (they sell) are ready to bind.

I would like to get something that won't be outdated in 3 months (I know the way things are nowadays that's impossible). I don't mind spending a little more to get something that I can grow into.

What are your thoughts on Spectrums? Which one is the best for quads (remember I am a total beginner that likes to thinker with builds, settings, etc). I like the DX9 voice features. Is that an overkilll? Is voice really useful or is it gimmicky.

Thanks in advance
 
The DX9 is probably overkill. The Taranis X9D plus is very popular and talks at around $250. I use the Radiolink AT9S at $140 and love it. Never had an issue with it. I think I read somewhere that you can make it talk, but have never tried to mess with that.
 
You can get taranis x9d plus for 210 and 200 if you look for it and cheaper if you find a coupon.....however don't know how new you are to RC it is not beginner friendly and will probably take a great deal of watching vids and reading to figure out all the stuff you can do with it. I've been in RC for like 5 years and still can wrap my head around some stuff on it. Constantly have to look up how to do stuff because I can't seem to remember most of it. I guess I'm use to spektrum radios which are very user friendly.
 
So if I want simpler interface, do you recommend spectrum DX 6/7/8 or 9?


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Depending on how far you want to go in this hobby. And how big of a budget you have.

I prefer Spektum myself simply because of the easier programing. Just keep in mind, programing for any radio isn't very intuitive unless your just a wiz at these things. The reason I say go with Spektrum over the Taranis is that there is "more" programing to do on the Taranis itself before you even get into the standard programing ( like you will be doing anyway with the Spektrum).

On witch ever radio you decide, you will need at least 6 channels to fly the quad. And at least (1) 3-position switch to have decent flight mode select ability. So you could get by with the DX6. But the 6 would be the bare minimum. I wouldn't recommend the DX7 because I believe that they have been discontinued by the manufacturer. So now your looking at the DX8 G2 (like mine). Or the DX9. Big price difference between the 8 & 9 though.
 
I have a dx6i that I started with a long time ago. The dx6i was discontinued but there are other dx6 models now that are better. I liked the dx6i for helis and planes but just didn't like it with quads so that's why I bought the taranis. I feel like the frsky radio connections are stronger than spektrum too. Which is probably nonsense but I did loose radio connection with the dx6i on my first vortex 250 and it resulted in a lost quad. I think I told the story on here before but I was shocked because it wasn't that far away and I still had video connection.
 
Doberman,

Welcome! I opted to go with the Taranis X9D Plus. I bought a few RTF's and decided I wanted to stay in this hobby. After much research I thought the Taranis was the way to go for me. I now use it to fly 3 birds and a couple of simulators. It does take a bit of learning to get it set-up initially but once you start to get familiar with it the sky's the limit on it's capabilities. Another factor was seeing so many of the "Pro's" using it.

Jerry
 
Doberman,

Welcome! I opted to go with the Taranis X9D Plus. I bought a few RTF's and decided I wanted to stay in this hobby. After much research I thought the Taranis was the way to go for me. I now use it to fly 3 birds and a couple of simulators. It does take a bit of learning to get it set-up initially but once you start to get familiar with it the sky's the limit on it's capabilities. Another factor was seeing so many of the "Pro's" using it.

Jerry
What is your opinion on the RTF selection for a beginner? So many choices. I am leaning towards what my local shop has so I can ask for help if I buy it from them, Is that a bad idea?
 
Not a bad idea at all, if they have some good options. You will probably pay a little more, but you will get support. I built mine, but I enjoy that kind of thing. I personally would recommend getting a 200mm-230mm x-frame with all up weight of around 350g not including battery.
 
What is your opinion on the RTF selection for a beginner? So many choices. I am leaning towards what my local shop has so I can ask for help if I buy it from them, Is that a bad idea?

RTF (For Beginner)- For learning, this is your best option. For economics, this is your worst option.

My concern with the "Beginner RTF" stuff is that you may outgrow the stuff in a short amount of time. If your like me, next thing you know is that you will be looking for better gear soon after getting decent results with the RTF gear. So, if you choose to go this route, look for a package that has equipment that will carry you through several years before you need to replace items with their more expensive counterparts.

Speed Addict SuperLight (5 Inch RTF)
 
Doberman,

I'm really a newbie too. I went with the Arris X-Speed 250B RTF with the Radiolink AT9 radio. For me as a newbie it was (and still is perfect). It gave me all I needed to get flying right away to see if I was going to like this hobby. It also provided me the ability to learn about all of the key components necessary to build/repair these types of quads. Although, I now have 2 other, better quads, I still love the Arris. It was reasonably priced for a complete bird/radio set-up. The components are mainstream and not proprietary so replacing parts should not be an issue. It's obviously not as fast or agile as my other quads but it's still a blast to fly. I got mine on Amazon Prime so if I had any issues I could return it easily. If I did it all over again, I'd do the same thing.

Jerry

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015ST5UPM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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hello everyone. I am about to get my first quad and want opinions and advice on selecting a radio. The local shop is recommending the Spectrums. They said many of the models (they sell) are ready to bind.

I would like to get something that won't be outdated in 3 months (I know the way things are nowadays that's impossible). I don't mind spending a little more to get something that I can grow into.

What are your thoughts on Spectrums? Which one is the best for quads (remember I am a total beginner that likes to thinker with builds, settings, etc). I like the DX9 voice features. Is that an overkilll? Is voice really useful or is it gimmicky.

Thanks in advance
I am brand new to all this as well. I would go with the taranis x9d, the interface is not as simple but there are so many resources available that you can easily learn as I have done. Also you can get an orangerx module for like 40 bucks and basically turns the taranis into a spektrum. Not sure if spektrum has a module to do the same.. I love mine so far.
 
hello everyone. I am about to get my first quad and want opinions and advice on selecting a radio. The local shop is recommending the Spectrums. They said many of the models (they sell) are ready to bind.

I would like to get something that won't be outdated in 3 months (I know the way things are nowadays that's impossible). I don't mind spending a little more to get something that I can grow into.

What are your thoughts on Spectrums? Which one is the best for quads (remember I am a total beginner that likes to thinker with builds, settings, etc). I like the DX9 voice features. Is that an overkilll? Is voice really useful or is it gimmicky.

Thanks in advance

We have all had this start up dilemma! I will give you the adv ice I got - and ignored! Buy the BEST you can afford...TARANIS is probably the most used by the top guys...Spectrum tend to be popuar with fixed wing flyers.
There is now a Taranis "Lite" on the market and looks a winner. I thought the Taranis was a bit expensive and opted for a Devo 10 - never really settled with it and then beat my own logic having already parted with $150 - I paid another $246 for a TGY i10 - which is a brilliant easy to programme radio and the RX are tops at $25 and as low as $10 ( 6 chanl) on ebay for a 6 channel RX - I also got a cheapo TGY 5 channel...so in total I have three TX and spent more than buying the Taranis!
 

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