Spektrum Rx brownout

[siang]

Spektrum seem to be taking the beating lately. I've 4 spektrum recievers that I've been using for about 3 yrs now, never had any problem with them. I've seen and heard of loss controll/brownout/.... on but usually the flyer isn't sure what's hapening, just assume that it might be the radio or even the esc, bec, could even be a bad soldering on batts to esc or ...... Then again it's not just the Spektrum, I've also heard/seen problem with others, futaba (less than a year ago) and hitech (just the sunday b4).
Could it be that we are barking up the wrong tree? If those profesionals 3D heli flyers are willing to stake their life with Spektrum doing all those dangerous 3D, I'll have to say I'm staying with my Sektrum unless I need more channels or programing needs.

[RCModelReviews]

It's hard to say what the cause of this hike in reports of issues with 2.4GHz RC systems is but I'll have a go at some possibilities:

1. Could it be that 2.4GHz is now just so popular that there are bound to be more cases of "problems" reported?

2. Might it be that more and more people are now using hi-drain digital servos with their RC systems, now that the price of those servos has dropped enormously. This could mean that batteries which previously worked just fine are now inadequate and, when those digital-servos start moving, they cause brownouts in some circumstances?

3. Are people switching to Enerloop NiMH cells for their receiver packs, unaware that the combination of hi-reboot voltages, heavy-drain digital servos and wimpy AA-sized batteries is a bad one?

4. Is it simply that now the majority of fliers have shifted to 2.4GHz, the band is becoming increasingly congested and noisy. Perhaps this means that those systems with less headroom and tolerance for noise (such as Spektrum) are starting to get real issues with lockouts due to interference?

All of these are "could-be's". Nobody knows for sure what the real underlying cause is -- maybe it's all of them.

[siang]

I, for one sucks where electronics are concern. I recall I did have some issue with mine, long time ago when I first got into this hobby. My heli would drop and throttle up on and off for no particular reason. The problem found by LHS is at the connection pin esc to motor, bad soldering after taking a few crashes over time. So that make me wonder if we sometime assume it's the rx failure when it's not.
What you say on the "build-in bec" make sense. Something I've never suspect. My mate crashed his funjet on a 4s lipo, 80A esc. Till today, we can't figure out what actually happen, we assume it's the ecs or maybe the rx. As we are no expert, we just have to take it as it is, bad luck. Thanks for the tips, I'll ask him to install an external bec for his powered plane.
I've seen a few giants rc plane in action, most or more like all of them are using crystals, none on 2.4. If one where to fly an expensive plane like that, surely they would want the safest most reliable radio system for their bird. I wonder why do they choose crystal over 2.4?

[ransideous]

"I've seen a few giants rc plane in action, most or more like all of them are using crystals, none on 2.4. If one where to fly an expensive plane like that, surely they would want the safest most reliable radio system for their bird. I wonder why do they choose crystal over 2.4?"[/quote]

maybe a megahertz glich is easier to live with than a gigahertz 2 second or more dropout?

[ransideous]

another thing. many are bringing up the fact that some of these 3D heli pro guys are on spektrum. maybe they are, maybe they aren't. maybe some see a JR tx and think spektrum. if you are sponsored by a high brand like JR, would you take an alright 2 band system(dsm2) when you have access to a 3 band hopper(dsmj). i know the choice i would make come competition day. just speculation

[siang]

Too many mabies, mate, lol. Check this video out. There are many more out there. Most of them have been using Spektrum when it was first launched and I believe many have move on by now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2QuNrQyrXM
Still I believe there is a reason why giants flyer choose crystal over 2.4. Their tx is, I believe, way more expensive than any 2.4 on the market but I don't think that's the reason.

[RCModelReviews]

Believe it or not -- good old FM on a MHz frequency has lower latency than most of the 2.4GHz options so, if you're flying 3D helis, it's still a great choice.

Perhaps that's why some heli-fliers are sticking with the long-antenna stuff?

PCM on MHz frequencies however is as bad as most of the 2.4GHz options for latency.

[siang]

Yea, that's true, I've been seeing alot of that, moving on to the long ant, for quite awhile now, and it has always make me wonder why. Initially I taught it's the programing limitation, then again 3D heli programing needs isn't that complex. Anyway, sorry for the hijack, this post is actually more about brownout the the choice of system . Thanks for the info, Bruce.