Hello All,

Last week, I bought Airtronics SD-10G, 10 Channel Fully Programmable Radio, and amazed to see the looks and the performance of the radio.

Just writing few Pro's and Con's of this Radio in my view

Pros: -

I read and understood that this is the fastest Radio available as of now. (SD-10 G updates all channels in every frame, but the next fastest Radio DX7 updates 3 channels every frame. and the frame rate is not 25 milliseconds anymore, but is 3 milliseconds).

I bound this transmitter to my 8 channel receiver which was mounted on the scanner (low winged trainer), and test flew the model, to my amazement, the feel and the response of the transmitter is excellent, and feels much better than most other radios.

All switches are 3 Position switches, and all switches and sticks are fully programmable.

It gives you an option to set up your Airplane / heli without switching on the transmitter.

I still need to explore tons of features available in the radio, (which I might never use   , 207 Pages of Manual  ... Uh!    )

It allows you to set unique identifier for the radio, so that the receiver can identify the transmitter once it is bound (Your name!!!      )

Has a facility of Receiver Battery voltage monitoring Programmable from 3.6 Volts to 4.6 Volts from the Transmitter. (It moves the throttle channel back and forth in a pre-programmed fashion at an interval of 1 min in case receiver battery voltage is below set threshold voltage      )

Binding to the receiver is done through software (No external Bind Button      )

you can Assign 3 Models to quick model select buttons on the radio, and select the models just by holding down any of the three model select buttons and switching on the transmitter.

You can use the transmitter with your old sanwa/Airtronics 2.4 GHz receivers    

has 9 point throttle curve and Pitch curve setting for Heli's ( more precise control      )

you can slow down the servos you wish to slow down ( For E.g.: Flaps and Retracts )

you can program Asymmetrical movement of the servo arm ( for Flaperons ? )

You can re-assign the channels to different sticks/ switches on the fly using a pre-programmed switch  

Cons: -

This transmitter is definitely not for a beginner. (Too many programming features   )

Airtronics recommends if you use the 10 ch Receiver that comes with the transmitter, you will need to use Digital servos. Or you can use any of the 8 channel or 6 channel 2.4 GHz receivers, if you wish to use Analog servos.      

The throttle lever is too tight when bought, and I had to loosen the ratchet to get the Feel right.  

I need to explore other features and Update this post. (I’m still new to this Radio      )

Some observations:-

I did some testing on the TX and Rx yesterday with Futaba,JR,Airtronics,GWS,Tower-pro,Ace-RC,and one Chinese unbranded servo's connected to the 10ch Receiver, which claims to have very fast frame rate, and recommends to use Digital servo's with the receiver. Except for Futaba, tower-pro and the Chinese cheap servo's, all other standard analog servo's work very well without any issues with the standard 10ch receiver.

Chinese servo will just sit there making some noise, and refuses to move. Futaba S3001/3003/3004 and FP148 servos do move, but if you move the stick they change the position, and unless you load it, it wouldn't change the position after initial move, and makes lots of noise. tower pro servo's behave like Chinese servo's  

JR, Airtronics,GWS and ACE Rc servo's work very well. I did not have had a chance to test hitec servos though.


to bind to the Rx, you need to navigate to modulation menu, and select Transmit bind code, and Switch on the receiver while holding the bind button on the receiver, and Press Yes/+ on the TX, the bind LED will blink rapidly on the Receiver for sometime and then goes off. Then you need to press No/- button on the transmitter , then the bind LED on the receiver will switch on, indicating the receiver has bound to the TX.


Regards

Raghavendra

Welcome to RC India 

Although it has been mentioned above, the analog servo issues are related to the higher frame rate required in the FHSS-3 mode/receiver.  If you want to use these other servos, just go with an older receiver (like the FHSS-2 type ones).

if you want to use Futaba or chinese analog servo's with this Reciever, you can contact me personally, i can provoide a solution for this.

regards

Raghavendra

Heard they have been great reviews all over the world.

How is the range and other program features, would love to know.

Thanks for the great review

feels Great to use the Radio. heard great Reviews all over, spoke to one of Customer care Executives from Airtronics, he confirms the range has been tested for 8000 ft with Antenna Retracted on a Fully CF model. Extending the Antenna will Approximately increase the range by 5%. according to Airtronics, this radio is specially designed for Glider pilots in US, who launch the glider in a differant pin code and land in another!!   


regards

Raghavendra

hello raghavendra

have you actually flown a model with analog servos/Airtronics 10 channel receiver ? i'm thinking of getting some Airtronics standard servos for a low wing trainer ! what would you say or should i go for digital servos ?

sahil

if i were to use a 10ch 2.4Ghz receiver ?

Hello Sahil,

i've flown my electrics with 10 ch Reciever on analog servo's, and then my scanner on this, but with a converter, which i built for the same purpose. sanjeev ( RC Dhamaka will carry this converter by next week on their web site ). you can purchase it from them, if you wish to use standard analog servo's with 10 ch reciever. i've designed this converter, and test flown on few models, and results are quite amazing. your standard analog servo's work mucho faster than using the same servo with a 7 or 8 channel reciever with the same Tx.

regards

Raghavendra

  so this converter is some sort of servo rate slower ??

thanks

sahil

what about a digital logic delay circuit or some time delay circuit ? a one-shot multivibrators !

one shot multivibrators will add some delay. ( can be simply called as edge triggered monostable ? ) and you will need to sense the timing on each frame. this is much simpler. we are not altering any pulses, but just adjusting the frame rate to match with the analog servo's

regards

Raghavendra

yes i was thinking about a monostable! so you are using a micro-controller or digital/analog circuit right now ?

sahil

So the idea is to drop the frames in between ?

more or less!

yesterday i got my radio, programming is simple and easy to understand/use for a beginner like me(non-computer operator)

guys a friend of mine (Philip sun) has built an adapter using which one can use analog servos on Airtronics FHSS-3 10CH. receivers no more digital servos details are in the video description part !

4.9volts dc regulated power source,
test servo = TURNIGY TG9e servo

Guess direct links won't hurt (instead of looking up on Youtube).

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14477177#post14477177
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14424645&postcount=26

 

Good. this is a feasible solution, was my first prototype. then decided to go without uC, to eliminate any undesired delays in the signal.



Raghavendra

well uC does not require or limits use of external components hence my preference! i will only be using the adapter for mini electric model.............

hey i did try out the site u mentioned but i could not find any info ?

sahil