The DX 10t is kinda "macho"

http://www.skyhighhobby.com/spektrum-dx8-dx10.html

Wow... "uglier than mother-in-law"

http://www.srcmc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1866.msg11168.html?PHPSESSID=538dda6d4cc35eaeb6e3330223f49e9f#msg11168

And the response is "is your mother-in-law feature packed"

that is good to hear and finally they are getting a new one now... and i think its quite cool looking and different than the ones in the market now...

id love to go for the dx10..hoping to get my hands on it soon

this is an old thread. will be priced lower than jr 9 and 11 channel. jr is not having 8 or 10 channel's. this is to hit the futaba market of 8 and 10 channel.

Alan Szabo Jr, one of the best 3D heli pilots in the world, has been using the DX7 for probably around 4 years now, and that is often mentioned in online forums ("If Alan Szabo flies a DX7, I don't need a more complicated radio!"). Well, he has now upgraded to.... you guessed it right... the Spektrum DX8

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5726743&id=507857462

The DX8 seems to fix all the major complaints people had about the DX7.

And telemetry is a cool bonus !

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPM8800

The "Key Features" list seems to summarize all the complaints that people had about the DX7.  I hope they fixed the lame trainer switch also !

Well, kinda resurrecting this thread. DX8 is running into a lot of trouble here in the US lately. Lotsa glitches needing correction.
HH is pitching in with firmware updates, but there are hardware problems as well, especially with throttle sticks and gimbals. Very poor testing from Spektrum side.

Fliers seem to be their scapegoats for doing beta testing  

Overall, would be a good idea to wait for Spektrum to stabilise it.

Just a sample thread below..
http://helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=245340

Issues are not totally unexpected with new products, but the number in this one is a bit high

The good thing is that there is a way for end users to upgrade the software themselves via the SD card, which a great advantage with the newer radios (reminds me of one great advantage of a Futaba 12FG compared to a 9Z, being discussed on another thread).

Ofcourse Anwar, if it just stopped at programming trouble alone.
This one has bit of hardware trouble too. I read a few cases(not a significant number though) reported with faulty throttle sticks going back to HH for repairs.

Rudder stick getting stuck in between, gimbal trouble and the sort..Range issues at after 30 paces saw some planes falling down from the sky.

I have an enticing deal on a brand new unopened dx8 all inclusive box for $380, but quite skeptical.

Not able to decide whether to go ahead for a DX7 or wait till DX8 gets sober or ..get the all new JR XG7 or again  WAIT.

Point is my trex 500 3g is taking dust   

Why are you going after Spektrum/JR alone ?  Of late, it has the least reputation among the 4 major players in terms of reliability of the radio link (DSM2).  You can see many such threads on the US forums.  JR is now moving to its own FHSS based system called DMSS.

You should investigate other brands in the same price band.

The JR XG7 I mentioned uses DMSS
http://www.helipal.com/jr-xg7-7-channel-2-4ghz-dmss-radio-system.html?osCsid=m6e0hpeijg0mm0h2usfpkikpv3

Which other brands do you mean?
Hinting at one of Futaba, Airtronics  or Hitec Aurora?

All of these have had DSM link failures in the past close to the DX7 I guess . No personal experience, just forum experience  

If you meant some other system, please help me out with the names.
Awaiting suggestions..I see a good deal on an airtronics DS8k pack as well.

i would stay away from dx8,

had a look in a friends dx8 and it looks like it is soldered on a kitchen table from a complete beginner with a fat finger print on the card.

he only use it now for sim and use sim stick and get glitches all the time, general built quality is very poor and spectrum dsm2 is not using a proper control loop so if u get a esd in example the lead to the sat it give the imputs to the receiver mean  disaster. futaba is ignoring a esd like that.

futaba is coming with telemetry in the spring, i would wait for that



i am moving away from dsm2

I think you are majorly confused    

First of all, DSM is Spektrum (and indirectly JR) specific.  So any "DSM" issue cannot be attributed to any of the other 3 brands.

Now if you meant just a "radio link" when you said "DSM" (or something like "digital signal modulation"), you will realize that Airtronics has a near perfect score so far in terms of reliability of the link and working of their components.  Hitec is also rated very high in terms of reliability.  Futaba suffered a bit due to a heat issue, but that is rectified now.

So I did mean these other brands, and any of them are better than JR/Spektrum, from my extensive reading of the US forums. Sushil bhai here echoed the same sentiments, and chose a Futaba radio recently instead of a JR 11X.  If you want reliability and value, I would pick Airtronics and Hitec first, then Futaba, and JR/Spectrum would be last.  But I will still purchase Futaba though, for the only reason that the other two have very little market penetration (which is not entirely their fault).  There is comfort in numbers, and it helps in many ways on and off the field (secondary market for receivers, being able to buddy with others, etc etc).

Sorry, I messed up in my rush to office 
 
I didn't mean to include Airtronics in the list of failures or put DSM on all. But Futaba failure yes, and with FHSS though.

Agree FHSS hopping on Fut/Artrnks is very reliable, but read at places that Futaba has had link failures. But that's just what I read and their analysis could've been wrong about signal loss.

Airtronics may be a big question mark in India on availability front, and it is a small but growing ? here already.
Hence I'm not sure I should go that way, though I still have my eyes on a good deal. Yea, futaba may be the better bet, but the XG7 is asking me to look out for some early adopter reviews.

Futaba/JR  are equally good IMHO.

The issue with Futaba, as I said before, was a temperature issue.  And that has been fixed, and I have noticed Futaba issues being reported has really come down in 2010.  What I see now in terms link reliability these days is pretty much all about Spektrum/JR/DSM2, and people moving to all 3 others because of that.

Just look at the fact that JR ditched DSM2, and one can easily figure out what is going on !  Spektrum made its name because it was the first, and because they licensed/marketed it for "bind-and-fly".  But they have been left behind now.

In 72Mhz world, yes.  In terms of quality of material etc, almost (Futaba being slightly inferior).  But in terms of 2.4Ghz technology, I would say NO, based on what I have seen so far.  Still need to see how the new JR DMSS works out.

Okay, how good a deal do you think is this..

http://www.gonitrohobbies.com/Futaba_7C_7CH_2_4GHz_RADIO_R617FS_RECEIVER_Heli_2_p/futkheli.htm

I have the same price of $199 for the Airtronics as well.

That is the lowest price I have seen for this combo (brand new). 

Since you are in the US, you may be able to find great deals on the "classifieds" section of RCU, RCG, RR etc, on used stuff.  But the above deal is not too far from the classifieds prices.

BTW, have you bought from these people before ?  They have the same radio listed for 3 different prices, with no difference in what is included !

Yea, I see that too. Thanks for bringing it up Anwar.
Only diff I see is they specify the $249 one as a mode2/mode1 by choice, whereas the $199 is mentioned as mode2(with nuthin mentioned abt programming to change it, though both seem to be the same Tx model).

This website seems to be a reputed seller in ebay, from whom I've bought stuff before. Dropped him a mail to confirm both are the same. If they are the same, I will ask him to clarify the price differences. Not jumping at it before he replies.

Got my futaba 7c from gonitrohobbies. So far it works perfect. I think, this was the best price I could've got one for. Thanks all for the suggestions.

After long desperate solitude, my trex gets a new r617fs to dwell within

What was the response on this ?  Are these brand new ?

Yes Anwar Sir, very much new. His name is Rahim. I called and talked to him. Sounds like a decent guy.
It's their year end sale. Stock clearance of 2010 left overs. They are just having the heli version alone for sale. Hence the differences

On further reading I discovered that there are other differences as well to Air/Heli versions of 7c rather than just programming differences; like placement of the dip switches at the top and ratchet placement. Just quick googling revealed..

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8346620/anchors_8783042/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#8783042

From what I've got with me, I can vouch it is brand new. It's a steal in my opinion .

I saw in our forum a post on helikraft selling everything for 50%. I wanted to get some align 425D blades for $22.5 posterity's  sake  , but they were all sold out. They even had the JR XG7, futaba 8fg, trex 550E and trex 500 3gs for way cheap, but all sold out before I could get there. Their server also kept going down due to high hit rates. So I couldn't even buy the stuff I had in my cart

Check this out..Futaba 7c with r617fs for $129
http://cgi.ebay.com/Futaba-7-ch-2-4-GHZ-RC-Radio-R617FS-Reciever-Heli-/250754793069?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a62267e6d

Risk: Seller has 0 feedback, no detailed description of the item
I contacted the seller just for validation, he is prompt in replying though. Sez evrything's brand new and comes with the r617fs.
He mentions he's a new whole sale dealer and gonna list a lot of other items starting february.

Any futaba hunters wanna take the risk?

I tried but he ships to US only.

I am in the US. Don't mind getting it for you if some friend of yours can collect it from me in the near future. I'm in Plano, Texas
Again, dunno the risk involved because it is a 0 feedback seller

Need to have atleast 5+ve feedback. World is big and there will be some other offers someday!

I saw spektrum Dx7 in one of our online lhs..

With Vinay on the feedback..

He claims he is a wholesale dealer. If he really is, he might have more than one piece. Let's just wait and see if he sells atleast one and watchout for the first feedback.

The only thing that allows a ray of light is that "he responds to questions"

Vinay, are you the same Vinay who asked me about my Spartan Blue link on ebay?

Correct! 

BTW, if his prices are so less and he wants to sell more, then lets wait!