My XPS JR 9303 flew today

[ShortBus]

KM!!!!!

[RollingHarrier]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Kitman
	I flew the XPS system in my "radio rat" plane, we flew as far as we could see a 77" plane, no glitches. As the manuel states, it is line of sight, if somebody walks in front of you it will go into failsafe! We tested the recovery rate from failsafe. 34% Extra will be the next test.

How did you get it to go into failsafe? have someone stand in front of you? I thought XPS wasn't suppose to be line of sight? I read the manual and it does say line of sight in the range test but I couldn't find it anywhere else.
Thanks for the info.
Jim

[sweetpea]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Kitman
	As the manuel states, it is line of sight, if somebody walks in front of you it will go into failsafe! .

I'm not sure this is 100% true.

I did my range check at 300ft on the ground. I then turned with my back to the plane and I did not go into failsafe.

Of course I'm thin and trim........How often does someone stand right infront of you while you fly anyway?


Its also pretty easy to test failsafe........turn your transmitter off. The system will not have a signal and go into failsafe. Then turn your radio back on and time the reconnect time. That's really the best you can do except for real time problems.

My XPS was instant.........I've seen Spektrum take alot longer (never timed though)

[Leseirf]

I tested the failsafe as well by turning off the TX (on the ground!). The link was reestablished as soon as the TX rebooted. My 9C takes a second or so to boot up with a "beep" when it's fully on. As soon as I heard the beep I had control.

I also did the range testing with my body between the TX and the plane. I got over 400 feet, over the crest of a hill, behind a large limestone sign so I could not see the plane. I never lost the link in that test.

That said I have NO plans to fly my planes where I can't see them!!!

Mike

[sweetpea]

Me either

[d_wheel]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Kitman
	if somebody walks in front of you it will go into failsafe!

If this is happening to you, you best check for a bad installation or perhaps your module is set up wrong. In any case, I can't remember a single time in over 30 years of flying that someone was standing between me and my airplane while it was flying.

Later;

D.W.

[Judge]

	Quote: Originally Posted by RollingHarrier
	How did you get it to go into failsafe? have someone stand in front of you? I thought XPS wasn't suppose to be line of sight?

ALL these radios are "line of sight". Jim Drew/XPS states it as if it is a negative for other radios while quoting a 5-mile range for his radio. What he fails to specify is that the XPS 5-miles is also "line of sight". Your TX antenna and RX antenna have to "see" each other for the radio to stay locked.

[1bwana1]

On another thread Jim said that he is getting rports of people accidently turning the power down on the system and having range trouble. This is something I think everyone should be aware of. Here is his post:

"It seems that we have provided too many options for the public at large and people are already accidentally getting some options confused.

We have had people program their power level to 1 by mistake, thinking that they were in the BINDING option. Not realizing that they have now changed their power output, they bind the unit and now suddenly their power level is set to a significantly reduced range. We have not had any known crashes with this setup, but we have had numerous lockouts and recoveries reported that were due to this exact reason.

Don Lowe reported this us. He got a unit in Toledo and used the Quickstart guide to setup the system. He had a few unexplained glitches while flying. When he downloaded our user manual and discovered that power level was an option, he checked it and it had been set to 1. Since changing the power to 5, he has not had any problems at all.

Please check your power output before using your XtremeLink!

I think I am going to just remove the power level setting option completely and ship systems preprogrammed for the power output necessary for the country being shipped to... unless someone can come up with some good idea of how to isolate the advanced settings so the average modeler can't access them accidentally."

[sweetpea]

I recall numerous posts from Jim/XPS stating that the system was line of site.

And I have no sympathy for "those" that can't read!

Directly off the website

"XtremeLink™ Features:

Range (6 channel receiver)

* Up to 500 feet ground based, line of sight.
* Up to 5000 feet ground to air, line of sight.

Range (8/10/16 channel receivers)

* Up to 1 mile (5200+ feet) ground based, line of sight.
* Up to 5 miles (26,000+ feet) ground to air, line of sight. "

[Judge]

The chart on the front page of his site he notes that all his competitors systems are "line of sight" while his system is "up to 5-miles". He even encloses the competitors line of sight in " " marks, which generally denotes a negative emphasis.

An effective marketing technique in my view. He does use line of sight for his system elsewhere, but in the comparison chart he does not, except for his competitor's systems.

In the end all of the marketing hype between the various systems strikes me to be similar to the gasoline companies each trying to convince us that their gasoline is better than the other guy's.

[sweetpea]

It's clever........not many people can see their plane at 5miles.......so line of sight is correct. His will work out of the line of sight of your mark one eyeball.

[Judge]

	Quote: Originally Posted by sweetpea
	It's clever........not many people can see their plane at 5miles.......so line of sight is correct. His will work out of the line of sight of your mark one eyeball.

Like I said, effective marketing. The whole point of which is to convince people that distinctions without a difference really do make a difference!!

[RollingHarrier]

My concern with the 2.4 stuff is the line of site statement, what will happen if someone walks in front of you say to go get their bird off of the taxiway when you are flying low like in a hover or harrier. I've been trying to test this therory with some of the guys who have a DX7 but for some reason they don't want to.
I've had people walk in front of me while flying 72 MHZ and have no problems. I just want to know if it will be the same with 2.4. Sounds like you guys have tried to break the link without success. thats great.
Can't wait for them to come out with the Universal for the 14 MZ so I can try it.

[sweetpea]

My system went through my garage wall at an extended amount of time. I am not worried about a split second that someone may be infront of me.

With the ground testing I've done I'm not worried. And yes I'll flight test it for you on my 35%. Then we will all know.

[Judge]

	Quote: Originally Posted by RollingHarrier
	My concern with the 2.4 stuff is the line of site statement, what will happen if someone walks in front of you .....

This is MICROWAVE energy. It will cook them alive And deservedly so for stepping in front of you!!!