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I disagree slightly Kevin. It's a time/support investment. The major complaint here is the appearance that JR is no longer going to be actively developing DSMX. Now Matt has said they WILL support it, but nobody really knows what that means. I think people are concerned they spent a lot of money on what is now a dead (developmentally) product.
None of what's happened has changed/worsened the usability or functionality of the existing product. |
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Just think... you could be a JR sponsored pilot, feeling a little personal pressure to jump on the DMSS bandwagon so you buy the new 11 channel radio....
Then you're warming up the motor before your turn at Tucson... thinking about how you have to really wring the plane out to beat the Futaba guy that just landed.. knowing that your receiver is powered only by a battery connection (through a Y-cable) that's only capable of passing 3 amps through it... and praying that you don't have a moment like QQ did a few years ago, all because of the power system! Now, things aren't so bad, are they? |
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Doug,
The time was mostly spent for pleasure. This is a hobby for most of the people reading this, not a job. Did JR ever develop DSMX or simply acquire it from Spektrum? If the latter, they would have to "start" development of DSMX in order to continue that program and being that it is protected, not really possible. Maybe JR doesn't want to share the technical details of DMSS with others, including Spektrum as a means of protecting their investment in that system. If so, it will be hard for another group to create a conversion from existing systems to DMSS. Again, JR makes that choice and they were bound to have weighed the pros and cons of making this change in product offering. |
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Doug you are correct, DSMX will be supported with the current products for some time. I do not know the time frame though... meaining they will continue to sell recievers and current DSMX products... but I don't know for how long. Regarding the service center support, of course they will repair any current JR DSMX products (nothing changed).
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United States, FL, Melbourne
Joined Jan 2006
89 Posts
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It always sucks to see technology change shorty after a big purchase.
Yeap, I own an 11x as well. Just a though... I wonder if the programing updates for the 11x zero are compatible with the HH sold 11x? |
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What follows is just an opinion, not represented as fact.
HH has probably found itself between a rock and a hard place with JR's release of the XG series and DMSS. Originally, when the Spektrum system was developed, JR saw a great opportunity to leapfrog ahead of its major competitors by simply licensing DSM2 from Spektrum and adding it to the JR range of products. This was an arrangement which suited HH/Spektrum and JR at the time. However, I suspect that JR resented having to pay a licensing fee for the use of Spektrum technology and probably also felt that it may have lessened the market's perception of JR as an innovator and market leader (what innovator would be reliant on a competitor's technology?). With this in mind, plus the fact that DSM2 wasn't legal in its home market of Japan and a growing awareness that DSM2 was well past its best-by date and could actually be damaging the JR brand in the longer term, JR had no option but to develop their own 2.4GHz RF system -- DMSS. Now Horizon are on the back foot -- facing demands from their domestic market who are increasingly griping that the "top line" JR gear doesn't offer any form of telemetry and that US consumers are missing out on the XG series of radios. At this point, one of two things could have happened... 1. JR and Horizon part ways and a new JR distributor is appointed. 2. HH reluctantly agree to honor their distributor agreement by selling the XG series with DMSS. Now from HH's point of view, there's an old saying that probably has much relevance "keep your friends close and your enemies closer". By retaining the JR distributorship, HH maintains control over a leading brand that they're now going head-to-head with as they roll out the DX18. What a coup! Wouldn't Ford love to be the distributor for Chevy? Now I'm not saying that HH isn't committed to the JR product - however, I find it hard to reconcile the conflict of interest that now arises with the release of the DX18. When the flagship Spektrum radio was the DX7 or the DX8 then there was a pretty clear line of separation between the "consumer-grade" product that was Spektrum and the "top-end" product that was JR. Now, with the arrival of the XG8 and the DX18, that line has become very blurred. What would HH rather push -- their own Spektrum-branded product with the resultant generous margins -- or the JR product which I suspect comes with much lower margins. The beancounters and managers will clearly have an opinion on that. Now of course, as many have already pointed out, the arrival of DMSS doesn't mean that DSMX-equipped JR gear is rendered useless -- absolutely not. DMSS and DSMX are both good, solid systems and the only real distinction seems to be that the DSMX-equipped JR radios lack telemetry -- although they gain the "powersafe" receivers. To be totally honest, I think telemetry is being grossly over-rated. Yes, it's a nice feeling to know that you'll be alerted if there's an issue with your onboard battery such that the voltage drops to an alarm level -- but we've been flying for decades without such luxuries and good practice and maintenance plus the use of good-quality gear means that in-air battery failures are extremely rare. Let's face it, nobody with half a brain has time to read the LCD screen on their transmitter while they're flying an RC model so telemetry (for most) is a novelty and a "bullet-point" feature on the manufacturer's brochure. Being able to log telemetry data can be far more useful -- but there are already plenty of 3rd-party systems around that offer such logging and do so in a far more flexible and powerful way than most RC systems can offer. The bottom line is that HH is looking after HH. JR is looking after JR and consumers are still free to make whatever choices they think are best for them. The sun is shining, go fly. |
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Then there is the 'kitchen sink' mentality, that any top-end radio should have all the capability available on the market today BECAUSE it's a top-end radio. I happen to agree. If it's your flagship radio, it should have ALL functionality available in today's radio market. |
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I thought that there was no such thing in the US any longer. It is no longer Team JR but instead Team Horizon, nice blue shirts and all. This is why I have wondered if Horizon will be asking their pilots to start migrating to Spektrum, their own brand. Maybe not, but it makes sense to me.
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