I have used 15 channels on my bernhard gruben SAR boat, anchor, search lights, deck lights, nave lights, tail gate, daughter boat launch mechanism, rudders, motors, bow thruster, fire cannon, smoke generator, interior lights and radars. I had to use two 8 channel recivers. I an the FRSky X10S radio.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and feedback. I have one more question, what is the largest number of channels that one has used on a build. I’m starting a Fairmount Alpine and have calculated that I would need 10 channels and that doesn’t include a working crane if I can figure out how to make it work. I would like to buy one radio to cover all my needs going forward for years to come. The radios I’m considering are the Spektrum NX 10 , IX 14 or perhaps a frsky. Thoughts and comments appreciated.

When I started in RC about 10 years ago I had spectrum equipment, but after a few brown outs causing plane crashes I switched to hitch. Hitec was expensive and they stopped supporting the system so I moved to FrSky (not flysky), I find them reasonably priced, with loads of features including telemetry and RX redundancy. I've been very happy with my set up for the past 5 years or so

Well Doug, I have many spektrum sets, and I think your quote was Very Funny.

Cheers, Pete

Thank you Austin👍
😎

Doug
Well said.
AustinG

Dear Homdadream,
I'm very sorry if I inadvertently offended your delicate sensibilities.
That was in no way my intention.
I have travelled the world living/working in all continents except Australasia and have made many friends worldwide, and NEVER have I mocked or made fun of anyone of any race creed or religion. (Wasn't particularly enamoured of Saddam Hussein or Bin Laden though.)
One thing I did learn, however, is that anywhere you go whereas most folk are friendly and just want to 'get along' there is always someone who looks on the dark side of life and finds bad where none is!
My comment (last sentence) was simply a jocular reference to the well known fact that, despite some 30,000+ characters in the Chinese alphabet there is not one for 'R'.
Resulting in the substitution of L in the translation and pronunciation of western words.
Case in point - When the French supermarket chain Carrefour opened in China it came out as Callefoul in Chinese. I experienced this first hand during several very amicable visits to China.
Being an ardent fan and user of an Airfryer it spontaneously occurred to me FlySky - FrySky - AirFry!
I have no idea of your ethnic origin or if you have ever been to China, and is for me irrelevant anyway, but in deference to your sensitive proclivity I shall delete the, to you, offensive sentence.
Yours sincerely,
Doug

Is your last sentence supposed to be funny? Or are you just mocking Asians?

Can't comment on the newer Spektrum sets.
I only have one Spektrum, a DX6 (no suffix!) which is getting on for 10 years now. No beefs on quality issues BUT, as Dave 976 pointed out in another recent RC gear Thread Spektrums are developed essentially with the Fly-boys in mind and come with several factory presets all aimed at the aircraft community.
So the first thing I did with mine was to spend an evening switching off all the mixers and other settings specific to fixed wing or heli/drone.
I could then assign the various switches and pots along the top of the TX to specific RX ports and use for whatever I wanted.😊

Doesn't get much use though since I acquired a German 're-badge' of the Turnigy/**Sky i6 set. Paid more than if direct from Turnigy but at least I could take it home from the shop in Munich and got a comprehensive programming manual with it; A4 format in German, French and near perfect English😀 No damn Chinglish!
As with Spektrum, first evening spent disconnecting all aircraft related factory presets. Also no quality issues, so far🤞, with the German version.
Cheers, Doug 😎

Hi all l do agree that the older spectrum radios were of a better quality. I decided that when my DX 8 gave up the ghost l would look around the transmitter market. I spent quite a bit of time comparing transmitters from the really expensive Futabas to the basic Flysky. I took into consideration the new protocols being developed, Open source. In my opinion at that time for build quality and price the Fr sky taranis was the best it did take a little time to get used to the open source protocol.
I have now moved on again and now using the Radiomaster tx16 great piece of kit as l am able to bind all of my different branded 2.4 receivers to the one transmitter.
But if you want simplicity at a low price then the Flysky transmitters are the best.

May be the older Spektrum radios have good quality but the latest radios and smart charger that I bought had major quality issues. Some of the internals in the TX are plastic and they snapped and/or stripped. The charger would only charge smart batteries even though the packaging and instruction said that it would. I am not the only one that had these problem with the charger and is backed up in the reviews.
I now us Flysky units with no problems. Much easier to program. Have S-bus capability. Are much cheaper. Can get 10 channel RX.
Just my humble opinion.

Hi it is correct that Spektrum uk shut down, but a company called Logic Rc took up the mantle and offer a superb service at very competitive prices. Once when digital trims got wet and failed repaired f o c.on other gimbal replaced due to worn potr. They examined it contacted me with solution and price and returned in just over a week. Great service

Thank you everyone for your input seems spektrum is expensive but a quality unit. I also have a spektrum dx5 rugged that I very much like and am using in a bankert tug with working sound and lighting but have used up most of the channels. I am now building a Fairmount Alpine and am wanting to add so much more to this build with all the extra room in it. I am considering a one time purchase of the new spektrum ix 14 as the alpine will use all of these channels and I will be covered for any further builds going forwards.

Hi All,

I too have an older DX5E so I have used Spectrum for 18 years in total.

Interestingly, I have exchanged the DX5E free of charge - twice- for a new one just by sending the faulty unit back to the Spectrum UK servicing centre with a polite note - and this was even after 5 years use!

With far cheaper FlySky gear you definitely won't get this superb after-sales service. By contrast FlySky are really great value and in 4 years continuous use, I have no complaints at all with this long range and very reliable gear.

Spectrum's UK Service Centre closed a couple of years back and we are now left with sending their faulty gear to Germany. Therefore, if I had to make a choice today I would definitely choose FlySky.

Hope this helps.

Dr John F. Leeds and Bradford. MBC. 😊😊😊

I have an older DX5e that I have had since 2010. Works great, but this unit is as I said old and I’m sure newer models have much more advanced features.

I have two spektrum radios DX7 and DX8, I like them extremely well. They are excellent quality and after you get used to the menu setup they are easy to adjust the end points, mixing and any other thing you might need. Or think you need.
Barry

Spektrum is more expensive, but the quality is good, it feels good in your hands. Stick position and movement is really good. Programming is easy, manual is easy to read, trims are much finer end point adjustment is more accurate as up to 150% this is the same servo movement as a fly sky at 120%.
Functions are easy to use. I’ve used it for 13 years for flying yachts and power boats. Personal choice suggest going to club and see if you can hold Fly sky Spektrum etc. and see which you prefer, and fits your budget.
Recommend a computer set to make use of functions such as expo, dual rates, end point adjustments and sub trims to centre servo arms,

Buy Spektrum Michael, you will not be disappointed, the quality is great, the simplicity is perfect, I have five different Spektrum sets, and they all work without problems, expensive, Yes! but you only get what you pay for.

Cheers, Pete😊

Of all my RC systems (a bunch) my one Spektrum (8 ch) is the best by far. It is heavy (weight) and has great quality parts. It seems to have a few more features than most other radios I have. When one of my boats sank I thought the receiver was a goner. Took it apart and let it dry a few days and it did not work. Bought another one and after a few more days then I went back recleaned and tried the original one and it work!

Downside is it is expensive. Can buy a whole bunch of Flyskys for the equivalent of one Spektrum. For just the price of one 8 channel Spektrum receiver only, I can get a Flysky transmitter, receiver, and a spare receiver and have change for a cup of java.

For my needs, Spektrum is an overkill. Have not had a Flysky fail yet.

Lew
Florida, USA