RC Model Reviews

Hi Bruce and others,

I'll apologise up front for this being a double post ( I put it in the generic radio section first but it really belongs here )

I've got three old JR Unlimited 8 transmitters from the early 80's that I've been holding onto for a very long time now - because I just love the way they feel in my hands, and they were always very reliable and robust - but I really need to do something with them or they will just take up space for nothing.

Are any of the current JR compatible 2.4Gig module conversions suitable for these radios? I tried the Spektrum a year ago, but the pins in the transmitter were too thin to make good contact with the module's sockets and I couldn't get it to work. Am I flogging a dead horse here? If it is possible, I'd love to go with telemetry of some kind. I've got a JR DSX9 for regular flying, so would be looking to set up the JR U8's for specific models just for fun.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome.

Cheers,
Greg

I'm not familiar with the DSM2 conversion modules (mainly because, apart from BNF) I see no point in risking a model to the DSM2 system that even Spektrum and JR have now effectively admitted isn't really up to the task of handling the noisy 2.4GHz band.

You might actually find that it's cheaper (and a *whole lot* better) to fit something like a FrSky DIY module to your radios and fit FrSky receivers to the models you want to fly with the older radios.

Of course this assumes that your old JR radios aren't the ones that were PCM-only -- I think there might have been one or two models from way-back that JR made which weren't PPM at all.

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for that. I kind of hoped the FrSky would work, and have since found the U8 referenced in FrSky material, so that's the way I'll be going. I'll replace the old nicad with a LIFE and slip that module in and see what happens. I can hardly wait, as the transmitter always felt "right" and I like its weight too. At least you know you have hold of something substantial, metal case and all.

Cheers,
Greg