Gee, that is almost as good as a JR 10x with a standard PCM rx
JD > -----Original Message----- > From: Dave Register [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 2:17 PM > To: [email protected]; Gordy Stahl; Barry Kennedy > Subject: [RCSE] Re: Soaring V1 #5375 - Shadow 3 > > Not often I get to one-up Gordy. Here's a field report > > Just came back from about two hours at the field trying to screw-up my > new Shadow 3. I can't do it. > > I had 2 DLGs (XP3 and 4), one with the Shadow 3 and the other with a > Hitec Super Slim 8. Both were set up on the tailgate of my pickup (~ 4' > off the ground). Both had the antenna mounted identically - along the > top of the carbon boom and about 8" taped to the LE of the vertical fin. > Shadow had a 'Fail-Safe' setting programmed in last night. > > Tx is a Fut 9CH on Ch 16 with a Rubber Ducky antenna. Turned on and > started walking away. At 300 yds I quit. Had to use binoculars to see if > the surfaces were moving. Yup, both still worked fine. > > Took off the antenna - that's not the standard collapsed test, that's no > antenna. At the 300 yd position the Shadow went to fail safe. The Hitec > wandered around aimlessly. At ~ 50 yds, the Shadow resumed normal > operation. At about 20 yds, the Hitec came back. > > Next, turned on a 7UGFS on ch 16 and placed it about 20 ft from the > planes. As long as the 9C was the closer Tx, the Shadow was fine. At > about equal distances, the Shadow went to fail safe. At no time did the > SuperSlim have any control. > > Changed frequency modules to 19, re-programmed the Shadow and it all > checked out exacty the same. > > Went DLG'ing - lousy day with solid overcast, 40 deg and NW wind about > 7-10 mph so no decent thermal activitiy. This field is a little > 'glitchy' between a couple of metal buildings. I occasionally get > 'twitched' with the normal 8Ch Rx. The Shadow cruised around that region > frequently with no problems. Set up the 7UGFS on Ch 19 and flew on Ch > 16. Flew all around the Ch 19 Tx and never saw a thing. An e-flier was > standing about 20 ft away on ch 54 and then later on ch 28. No problems > observed of any sort. > > This is not a rigourous evaluation of behavior in a crowded RF > environment but the range and sensitivity seem to be better than what > I've been using. I've compared my M5s against the Hitec and the M5 is a > bit better on no-antenna range. But the Shadow just about doubled them > both. > > A disquieting feature - there was absolutely no servo noise in the plane > with the Shadow. I'm used to having a very slight buzz and maybe a > little servo chatter at launch. It goes away once the plane is out about > 20 ft or so. This is with all my Rxs (Futaba, Hitec, FMA). There was > NONE of that with the Shadow 3 at any range. I had to pop the Tx stick > before each flight to convince myself everything was still turned on. > Servos in the fuse of both planes were HS55s. > > I think only competition will tell if this Rx will stand up to hard > usage. But I tried everything I could reasonably do to mess it up today > and it just ignored my efforts completely. > > Fail safe setup took about 5 minutes to do last night (OK, I had to read > the instructions. But after that it was pretty easy). Changing > frequencies takes all of about 10 seconds if your Rx is accessible. > Re-assigning channels for pin outs almost as easy as setting up fail > safe - just had to note that the process for re-assigning has to be > followed by actually calling up the user memory to activate it. > > At this point, this sure looks like a winner. Time will tell. If Tower > can ever get off their butts and ship the synth module for the 9C, this > should be a terrific combination. > > The 4 channel looks particularly intriguing for DLG. Pins will be end > mounted (low profile). Pinouts are re-assignable so you can get Ch7 out > on the Ch3 pins - MUCH easier for flaperon setup than messing with the > Ch5-6 coupling in the Tx. > > After today's experience, I'm sending Barry a check for a second > 7-channel and am on the waiting list for the 4 ch. I'm paying full fare > so this is an unsolicited note. > > And yes, the 7 channel Rx does weigh only 8 grams. > > Anxious to see how the contest season goes with these but so far so good. > > - Dave R > > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note > that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format > with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and > AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
