fatuba fast compatible receivers on hobbyking
now on preorder
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=14300

Well there goes the only reason for aversion towards Futaba FASST

Since Futaba uses a custom ASIC, wonder how they pulled this off. Cloning Spektrum is easy, they use off the shelf components.

HOLA! HOLA HO HO!! 
Just Y'day I was thinking to put the awaited FASST clone's arrival on the HK Forum and see!!! This clone was my gamble not to get an Assan hack for my Futaba T7C, and but 2 more Rx...

Now when the Clones are finally out, I think I made the right choice. But yes, Anwar is right, cloning Futaba FASST would have been tough (but hey our Chinese brethren are too good in reverse engineering), so I would wait to see if it fares well on flying ground as well.

Anyway! good job HK!!

The newer radios from Futaba are firmware upgradeable. That suggests they are not using ASICs. Nothing prevents them from putting in a uP in an ASIC though. Are any of their receivers firmware upgradeable ?

Using an ASIC for the core RC functionality (signal encoding/processing) is very much possible even when the rest of the control logic is non-ASIC.  Or it could be a uP in an ASIC as you suggested.

Haven't come across receivers which are user upgradable.

Will this reciever perform well for .46 size nitro planes bieng used with a Futaba T6EX transmiter ?

They say "medium sized sport planes".  Not sure it includes 40 or 46 sizes, but that seems to be the upper limit.

BTW, the price was 30 yesterday, and it seems to be 40 now !

Anwar bro I just logged in and it said that you have a one time discount to buy it @ 29.99... so I did the needful

Its no surprise that OrangeRx/HK is using the H\W 'Platform' from  Frsky ACCST system.
The board is 100% physically identical  :

http://www.frsky-rc.com/ShowProducts.asp?id=39

Hope it works well.

Oh n if you miss out on the "one time only discount".. Just clear your cookies n visit the page again for another "one time only" discount 

I was looking at it without logging in... when I logged, the price went down to 30.  Ordered some

Couple of things noted on some other forums related to this.

1.  Failsafe on all channels.
2.  Voltage handling up to 10v.

Seems like [1] is available on the R608FS only with the 10C radio or better, and the voltage rating or the original Futaba receiver is also less than [2].  In short, it seems to be little bit of an upgrade instead of just a clone (or "compatible" product!).

First review...

http://rcmodelreviews.com/fasst_compatible_review.shtml (Page 1)

http://rcmodelreviews.com/fasst_compatible_review02.shtml (Page 2)

Interesting quote...

In the tests I conducted, it was clear that the Futaba product was able to sustain a link under higher noise-levels than the TFR8 could. Even so, the TFR8 showed commendable levels of resilience and was far superior to non-hopping systems such as Spektrum, Assan and Corona when large parts of the band were affected.

This is getting interesting. Hope to read more reviews from the mass with the same answers. 

Another interesting bit from the review is that the way they are doing this is more like how open source folks deal with closed source protocols (like how the Samba folks reverse engineer Active directory or the Zimbra folks figure the MS Exchange protocols).  So they think they cannot be sued, as only the protocol was reversed, and all hardware and software is custom (ie brand new!).

Is encryption the solution to stop the Chinese from creating "compatible" receivers that are fully legal ?

http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/locking_out_the_chinese.shtml

Anwar, looks like the new RX has bitten you hard on your brain!  

Why not Vinay! we Futabins have been blessed with such an affordable Rx, almost as cheap as Assan/Corona Rx! Hope HK soon comes up with 6 Ch Rx at around $20 band.

Its just a few months or a year max before even I would jump into a F/JR band.

Is that you Vinay! I cannot believe it !!

Like I said before, this is game changing.  If they work well even for the 25 class and below including electrics (not even 40 size), it is a big deal for everyone (having multiple foam models and small helis, it is great news for me personally too!).

The other radio brands (outside of JR/Spektrum/Futaba) will have a tougher time competing now.

Earnestly! There were many people, who even after  having an OEM 2.4G system moved to Assan/Corona as OEM Rx were both hard to find(India) and 4-5 times costly. Vinay already did the feat, I was on the brink of doing (thanks to Towers earnest discount coupons).

If these 'Compatible' Rx are even 10%-20% times costlier than Assan Rx, it worth sticking to OEM protocol.

So the Goodness of FM/PCM - Tx/Rx system is here for 2.4G people!! Just like in India you are not held hostage to buy 'Genuine' part for your car all the time.

Please include JR/Spektrum/Futaba also in the band... As many sell one radio to a person and multiple RXs. Now with these duplicate RXs, their sales will go down by 50+ percent.

Dont know man, depends on how much money I can invest. RDS is doing a great job now. I really do not see any reason as why to upgrade as it provides all the features and mixes that I would need till my skills get inter mediate. The Assan keeps providing me cheap RXs. I think I can see a price drop in their RXs too.

BTW are there any chances that Futaba may come up with a law suite to fight these RXs?  

BTW its just 3 more posts to reach 1000. All I have done is put some crap posts on this forum and did nothing Good.