Construction Equipment Radio

[tracksntreadslou]

Ok now Ladies and Gents ..Some input on what Radios are offered with all or most extra channels that are Proportional..Meaning three position switchs or turn dial ..with hydraulic function you really need this ..
I am intrested in no less then 10 channels for grader functions
Is the Robbe F14 still available in North america? or how about the multiplex ?
whats the in thing in Europe these days ?

[Lil Giants]

Spektrum DX18

Don't let the price spook you, this radio is a creature of awesomeness! you'll have 16 mixes to pick from.

You'll have 9chs with the AR9020 rx, then the X plus module gives you the other 9chs.

4 proportional on sticks
2 two pos
7 three pos
1 dial
2 rotary sliders (one of each side of tx)

I got my radio from Albert See.

[Stuart]

I've been looking in to multi-channel radios too lately and have narrowed it down to the following:

The DX18 as Lil Giants sugested

The DX10t although the sticks seem to close together but you can change switch modules for different configurations

Then I stumbled across the Graupner range of tray style radios, the MC-16, MC-20 and the big daddy the MC-32.
These are upgradable with extra switches and you can bind multiple receivers for extra channels, not sure if they are available in the states but I guess you could order from europe?

I still haven't decided but am leaning towards an MC-16 which is 8 channel out of the box and upgradable to 12 channels later on (more if you have multiple receivers)

Stu

[JAMMER]

Stu the DX18 will do 18 channels 9 in the radio and 9 on a expander it's all plug and play. There is also one other thing about this radio it keeps you up dated with the latest info. You just go on site down load and transfer the info to the SD card that comes with the radio. Ed

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by JAMMER

Stu the DX18 will do 18 channels 9 in the radio and 9 on a expander it's all plug and play. There is also one other thing about this radio it keeps you up dated with the latest info. You just go on site down load and transfer the info to the SD card that comes with the radio. Ed

Thanks Ed, do you know if you can bind 2x receivers to the same model memory on the DX18 or DX10?
I'm thinking 1x in a truck and 1x in a trailer maybe for ramps and stuff rather than having wires between the two.

I do like the Spektrum radios, I have a dx7s at the mo with quite a few receivers so would make sense to stick with them.

Don't mean to highjack this thread

Stu

[Lil Giants]

No Stuart, you would have to switch the tx model memory to use each rx individually... isn't all 2.4GHz radios that way? That idea works with FM running the same frequency ch.

[IDontKnow]

No, You can bind more than one receiver to the transmitters under 2.4g!
That is how I set up a friend of mines (Sandcraft Transport) C510 roadtrain.
One receiver in the truck and another in the drive pod in the middle of the road train driving another speed controller and gear shift for the second tri-drive.
Have done it with Airtronics and Spectrum radio gear, would say there would not be a limit to the number of receivers that could be bound in one go just need to set the receivers to bind mode and fire up the tranmitter in bind mode.

[apfubar]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Thanks Ed, do you know if you can bind 2x receivers to the same model memory on the DX18 or DX10?
I'm thinking 1x in a truck and 1x in a trailer maybe for ramps and stuff rather than having wires between the two.

I do like the Spektrum radios, I have a dx7s at the mo with quite a few receivers so would make sense to stick with them.

Don't mean to highjack this thread

Stu

Yes the spektrum gear will support this, place both rx's in bind and the bind the radio.

The receivers must be the same series, ie. dsmx or dsm2. You can't bind dsm2 and dsmx recievers(at the same time to the same model memory in the tx).

Cheers,
Ap
P.s. I would not recommend the 10t, as the 18 has more functions for less $.

[Lil Giants]

Hmmm, I was misinformed when I asked that question yrs ago... That would make building large excavators much simpler without the need to have an endless union between the bridge & house. This forum is a great teacher of the hobby.

Another question that comes to mind - is 'throttle' ch the same on both rx's or can you differentiate within the tx each throttle ch from each rx to perform a different function from the other?

[apfubar]

Originally Posted by Lil Giants

Hmmm, I was misinformed when I asked that question yrs ago... That would make building large excavators much simpler without the need to have an endless union between the bridge & house. This forum is a great teacher of the hobby.

Another question that comes to mind - is 'throttle' ch the same on both rx's or can you differentiate within the tx each throttle ch from each rx to perform a different function from the other?

On spektrum and most others the channels are passed through the same... So no the throttle won't be different. The simple answer is to map the track controls to different channels.

Cheers,
Ap
P.S. Some systems allow more complex setups, ie. Graupner, but let's leave that alone for the moment.

[Lil Giants]

I guess ideally for the DX18, the X-Plus would be connected to the AR9020 where the most amount chs are needed, using only the X-Plus chs & Aux4 and then a variety of rx's could be used down the chain... correct?

[Lil Giants]

Something else... if you had two rx's bound together, then added a third rx later - rebinding the other two with the third; would you then have to redo all your programming on the 1st two rx's again?

[Trackerman]

Joe,
the programming is in the transmitter, the receivers are dumb and just act on the signal received. So effectively you could bind a third unit without a need to redo it all.

cheers

Paul

[Stuart]

Oh dear, sounds like I've opened up a whole can of worms!! LOL!

So if you bind say 2x 6ch rx's, can you then assign any switch or pot or stick to any of those 12 ch's? and how do you determine which rx the ch is on?

Stu

[Espeefan]

Unfortunately, I don't think that binding two 6 channel receivers to a transmitter will give you 12 channels total. You'll just get two 6 channel receivers doing the same thing, on the same channels. You may be able to assign those 6 channels to any switch, knob, or stick, but the transmitter can only run those receivers in tandem, not separately.

[Lil Giants]

Yes, that's my understanding too Nathan.

The DX18 (for example) uses an AR9020 receiver for the 1st 9chs, then the X Plus module plugs into the AR9020 to give the back 9chs. So if other remotely placed rx's were used, they would be the AR8000 and/or whatever the 6ch rx number is, and whatever rx is using throttle ch, no other rx could too.

There's DSM2 receivers & DSMX receivers. All receivers in series have to be 2 or X to function together.

[Lil Giants]

Originally Posted by Trackerman

Joe,
the programming is in the transmitter, the receivers are dumb and just act on the signal received. So effectively you could bind a third unit without a need to redo it all.

cheers

Paul

Sounds logical Paul, but has it been proven?

I ask b/c I lost connection with a rx before and had to replace it with a new one and the tx settings had to be all redone... reset all settings to zero & rebind, then start fresh again. A bit different scenario I know.

[Trackerman]

Joe,
using the DX, grab a receiver without resetting the transmitter and bind, it should behave the same as the one it replaces. The receiver doesn't have the smarts in it, only the transmitter. I have replaced receivers in my planes with no problems at all, everything works exactly the same way it did before change.

Cheers

Paul

[apfubar]

Originally Posted by Lil Giants

Sounds logical Paul, but has it been proven?

I ask b/c I lost connection with a rx before and had to replace it with a new one and the tx settings had to be all redone... reset all settings to zero & rebind, then start fresh again. A bit different scenario I know.

I also agree with Paul, my experience has proven it.

If the tx is the same, then you shouldn't need to create a new model in the tx, just rebind and away you go...

Of course you need to connect the new rx the same way as the old one.

Cheers,
AP

[apfubar]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Oh dear, sounds like I've opened up a whole can of worms!! LOL!

So if you bind say 2x 6ch rx's, can you then assign any switch or pot or stick to any of those 12 ch's? and how do you determine which rx the ch is on?

Stu

The majority don't support the scenario above... Spektrum (doesn't)...

Some do, through programming the RX... If you want more info... Probably good to open that can of worms in a new thread.

Ap