Telemetry - talking radios

John, you asked about pros and cons of telemetry, I'm only dipping my toe into telemetry with my receivers sending back RX battery voltage and received signal strength, but I can't see there being any negative aspects to having a bit more info on what's going on in your plane.

The RX battery voltage is set to warn me if it drops below a value I've set. The signal strength is useful for piece of mind, and again the radio will warn me if it's low or critical. I've also chosen to have my radio log these and it also logs all stick inputs too, this has been quite interesting to look at, but I'm not sure there is any real valuable info that I can glean from it. Having said that, if (when) I loose a model I should be able to look at the logs and see if I lost contact or simple stalled the model.

I'm going to get a voltage sensor for my flight packs, and I know someone who is playing around with a GPS sensor, I'm interested to know how that copes with inverted and knife edge flying. I'd be interested to know how high and far I fly as I'm terrible as estimating distances.

As for the talking aspects, I've paired mine down to 'important warnings' which hopefully I won't hear, 30 sec timer to remind me to land and switch position confirmation, it is just reassuring to know that it was the retracts I put down and not the motor kill switch, otherwise landings happen a little quicker than expected!

I'm also using the telemetry to switch the timer on for my little slope soarer, so when I plug the battery in and the receiver connects my radio waits 15 secs then starts the timer (and data logging). That way I don't have to remember to flick a switch.

Anyway it strikes me that your sudden interest in this seems to coincide with Pete making excellent progress on the Mig.
Can you get a fuel flow sensor that will calculate your fuel reserves and convert that into flying time?

IMHO, telemetry is most useful when setting up a model. Is the receiver battery okay? What current is really going through that ESC? And so on. But after a few flights you know everything is fine and can ignore it all and just enjoy your flying. And because you can ignore all this telemetry info you need to reprogram the transmitter so it does not report back every 20 seconds which will lead to everyone else being annoyed by it.

When everyone is using telemetry with voice alerts it will get confusing on the flight line. Chris and I flew the other day with the same transmitter voice and it was strange to say the least. Maybe a set of headphones is needed?

Mike,
I agree multiple similar voice alerts from different Txs whilst in the pilot box can be very annoying and more importantly distracting. However, I think the manufacturers have missed a trick on the audio output front. Attaching Headphones or Ear Buds with wire/plug creates a significant risk when combined with rotating props/blades, especially as an incident could result in the pilots head being pulled in towards a prop with potentially horrific results. If the manufacturers had thought it through from a Risk Assessment (rather than a techie) point of view they would have provided Bluetooth/wireless (compatible with the RC system in use) output so that cordless Ear Buds/Headphones could be used from the outset. Of course you can get Bluetooth Txs to plug into the output socket but this then creates potential compatibility issues and is less than robust for flying field use.

Peter W.

I came across this heated discussion (I was hoping for some new stock of the earlier powersafe 9010 series) after following a KLM promotion for the new Spektrum range of Powersafe T series receivers. I gave up after 39 pages....... :blink: Spektrum & H/H are really going downhill.

www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2...T-9030T-9320T/page32

Got a spare few hours?

No...I haven't got a few hours...so how about summarising why you think they are going downhill?

I was not trying to create a debate or get into a deep discussion but In my humble opinion Spektrum and HH have been struggling for some time now. So, they bring out stuff for a "set price" but want bells n whistles to attract customers. Innovation? Receivers with built in stabilisation (ASX) was first out of the bag but many got confused over setting it up (independent gyro much easier). Then it was the talking and telemetry in TXs, then the new range of DX transmitters especially the 18 channel, software bugs and lack of support and excuses followed now by the T version receivers.

Personally I think it is a shame because the ideas and innovation are there. I would like a TX that tells me my power pack is getting low and time to come down but other than that need nothing else. That's my four penny worth.

Thanks, Phil. Not being a Spektrum user, I was not sure what I was supposed to infer from the link you posted...all gobbledegook to me.

As for innovation? Yes, they brought us 2.4G which is great, but others have taken their idea and improved upon it no end. I've been following the various Spektrum threads for years and watched their employees and fanboys argue that their system was flawless and that it was the end-user's ignorance that caused all the brown-outs and crashes.

...I don't think they are an innovative company any more...

And back on topic, others produced telemetry and voice alerts a long time before Spektrum and they took a while catching up. Their latest offerings appear to be very well produced and aimed at the masses. I would, and have, recommended the DX6 as the ideal starter radio because of its price, capabilities and simplicity of use. And once you've bought into the Spektrum brand it makes sense to stick with it unless you have a real need for something that they do not offer.

Back on topic - I had a conversation with Jason Woods regarding Jeti telemetry and he was of the opinion that GPS in particular took some time to arrive at the loud speaker due to the time taken for sampling, verifying, and calculating speeds etc based on previous samples (he attained this knowledge from using his telemetry to try and prescribe a perfect loop with constant speed). This would reduce the gps usefulness for landing proximity alerts as a couple of seconds is a long way OTG especially with a turbine model (typically 150ft).