Spektrum DX5e / DX6i / DX7i

[martydoc]

I have recently been considering moving to 2.4Ghz. I have been looking for a stick TX that I can use now for land and perhaps take to air later on. The DX6i seems to fit into this specification as well as my budget.

I had a conversation with the LHS owner today who advocates that mode 1 is his preferred way to fly. This would leave the throttle on the RH stick though.

Does anyone on here use any of these for land? How is your TX set up with regards to the springs for the stick and the channels that you use.

Any help appreciated.

[Mr Terminator]

I've not used one but there are a lot of people using them for land models and they are fully programmable,they can also come in mode 2 and are full range too so a lot more range than the DX3.0 for instance.Have a look on RCU,there are a few topics on these radios but I definately know they can are being used for cars and boats aswell....

[martydoc]

Thanks Mr T. I have looked there and a lot of them seem to be using them for tanks. At least I found out you can get both sticks to centre automatically

[Spoonmeister]

A mate of my brother is using one for his buggy and I'm thinking of getting one too. They're nice tx's to use and they're light as they only use 4 AA's as opposed to 8.

[martydoc]

A mate of my brother is using one for his buggy and I'm thinking of getting one too. They're nice tx's to use and they're light as they only use 4 AA's as opposed to 8.

You don't know or could you find out if he had got both sticks to self centre? If so where did he get the parts to do it.

That's the only thing that's putting me off getting one. I know it can be done but so far I have been unable to source the parts to do it

Edited November 30, 2008 by martydoc

[Spoonmeister]

I'll ask him next time I see him if I remember

[martydoc]

Well I bit the bullet and bought a DX6i (Mode 1) to use with my vehicles. I went for a Mode 1 as the LH stick is self centering in both directions and the RH stick (throttle) is self centering on the horizontal axis. I will use the LH stick form my throttle/brake and the RH stick for my steering.

I have opened the back of the transmitter to tighten the tension in the centering springs and a general look inside. It should be pretty easy to lock the sticks from going in the direction I don't want them moving. Two small strips of metal and a few 2mm screws should be enough. The holes are already there. Just a matter of positioning the metal so that it stop the movents as required.

So anyone that is looking for a Spektrum stick transmitter to use like a traditional crystal one, go ahead and get one. It should turn out better than I expected

[martydoc]

OK so here are the mods that i have done to my DX6i. The sticks both center automatically as well as only travelling in the directions that I want them to.

A point to note. In the last pic, to stop the lateral movement of the stick without damaging the centering mechanism, I had to place 3 x M2 washers under each bolt. This keeps the brace up enough but avoids squashing the mechanism below.

One other thing. I do not have use of the built in failsafe as this is only available on the transmitters throttle channel. As I used a Mode 1 TX to save having to get the LH stick re sprung, the throttle is not used. Instead the elevator channel (up/down) is used for my throttle and brake whereas the aileron channel is now used for the steering. The only way to use the inbuilt failsafe would be to get the throttle stick re sprung and learn to use throttle/brake on the right stick. If a Mode 2 TX was used, this would still need to be re sprung although that would leave the throttle/brake on the LH stick as normal.

I have checked and a normal failsafe still works fine.

Here is a video of the final results

Edited April 25, 2009 by martydoc

[martydoc]

I have checked and a normal failsafe still works fine.

Well I obviously didn't check it thoroughly enough. I could get the radio gear working fine with everything installed, but when I switched the TX off and on again, the failsafe wouldn't come back out of failsafe mode. I know I checked this when bench testing it and it was fine. I don't understand why it's happening now.

I managed to get around this by changing the software to make it a Mode 2 TX. Don't worry it's not complicated. It is infact an option on the DX6i. I'm sure it saved costs during manufacture. See here for a guide on how to do it. Thankfully I didnt have to move any springs etc as it already suited what I wanted to do. So now I can use the inbuilt throttle channel failsafe instead of an aftermarket one. The only thing I dont have (as far as I know) is voltage failsafe. Spektrum recommend this one to use along with their receivers to add low voltage protection. I still have to check that my own failsafes won't do the same job as this one though.