Review: Turnigy 9X version 2

Your Reviewer

My Credentials
So who's doing this reviewing then?

Well I've been building and flying or driving radio controlled models for over 40 years and during that time I like to think I've built up a reasonable amount of knowledge.

I'm also a qualified electronics engineer who has worked in radio frequency, analog, digital systems and software for more than three decades. In fact I designed and built my first RC set back in 1969.

For the past nine years I've also been involved in the design and manufacture of some rather sophisticated engine technology and UAV flight control systems.

So, chances are I've been there, done that and have a huge pile of tee shirts to prove it.

Right now I'm heavily into 3D flying and enjoy all aspects of the RC hobby. I may be old but I don't feel it.

In the Pipeline

Here's just a little bit of what's to come on this site...

RC explained: Demystifying terms such as PCM, PPM dual conversion, single conversion, full-range etc., this feature will explain it all.

Cheap Chinese Engines: Just how good are those cheap Chinese glow and gas engines that sell for half the price of their "brand-name" equivalent? I put several to the test.

Build your own radio gear?: Back in the old days, building your own RC gear was not uncommon and now the arrival of 2.4GHz has made it practical again.

Review: Turnigy 9X Version 2

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Dated: 22 June 2010

One of the first products I ever reviewed here was the original iMax/FlySky 9X RC system.

Well now Hobby King is selling what they call "Version 2" of this product and it comes with a dirt-cheap price plus the new frequency-hopping RF module and receiver from FlySky (albeit with the Turnigy branding).

First Look

A FlySky 9X is a FlySky 9X is a FlySky 9X... isn't it?

Hobby King's 9X comes in a big box which you'll probably think is empty when you pick it up -- it's so very light.

Why is it so light?

Well because, for your $60, you'll get a transmitter, a receiver, a bind plug, some polystyrene packaging, and nothing else.

There are no rechargeable batteries, no servos, no receiver switch, no charger, no printed manual, not even a CD with instructions. This is not the radio for someone who's never had an RC system before and has nobody around to help them.

Throughout the review process I had to keep chanting "remember, this is a $60 radio" -- because it's easy to forget and look at this budget radio from the perspective of a much more expensive purchase.

If you think of it as a radio that costs half the price of an old Futaba SkySport 4 then you'll better appreciate that its weaknesses are well and truly mitigated by the price.

What's New?

Well the old single-frequency non-agile DSSS system that was used in the V1 FlySky module/receiver (previously carrying the HobbyKing branding) has been replaced with the new frequency-hopping version. This ought to offer far more resistance to interference on the band and result in more reliable operation, except that...

Now there's no satellite receiver, the system obviously relying on the constantly changing wavelength that frequency-hopping delivers, combined with the slightly higher gain of the sleeved dipole to compensate for that redundancy.

HobbyKing say that they've reflashed the original software with their own "updated" version that allegedly fixes a bunch of bugs in the original version 1 systems. Tests indicate that the firmware is unchanged from the previous model that HK were selling prior to the "V2" label being attached so don't expect miracles in this department.

One difference that is immediately apparent is that the new version transmitter has a 2.4GHz antenna where the old telescopic whip used to be. That's good, and not so good, as I'll explain later in the review.

Page 2 (The transmitter)