I crashed one of them once. It never gave trouble till that ceiling fan caused a crash

I don't know what it is, maybe our training as good consumers has taken effect, maybe our expectations have taken second place to our exceptance of meteocrity, I don't know but the way many are talking about the unreliability of all the gear we are being offered is exceptable is beyond me. As is spelling. I started flying these things back in the 50s, 1958 as I remember it. Between then and now, countless companies have come and gone and the reason, in many cases was, that we demanded reliability and we got it. Yes, there were interference problems and quality control problems but we knew the risks of interference and we wouldn't stand for quality control problems. Now, it seems, that our gear has become so complicated and complex that it isn't cost effective to chase down inharint problems and we are asked to live with them and except the added risks as part of the hobby. I call BS to that. I haven't used my A9 in anything but a junker in over a year and that's just so I can see if I can count the number of times there is a sign of lost signal per flight. I won't sell it to anyone because I know it isn't safe to fly with. I have gone back to my trusty old 72mh radio so my down time was minimal and I can wait to decide where to go from here. If you are willing to except lower standards of reliability in exchange for more bells and whistles then that is what your going to get, it's that simple. It does not bode well for the health of the hobby.

Tom

Very well said Tom. I agree 100%! I saw a post by Mike Mayberry that said there was only a small percentage of users that were losing planes. I thought that was total bull. I've seen all your posts and the trouble you've had and it really sucks when that small percentage is YOUR pride and joy that goes in.

So the system is for sale now. I am going with a different manufacturer.

So, all the people who stand by their Aurora 9's you can by this one! Money where your mouth is, and all that!!!!

JB

Originally Posted by flatspinjim

Very well said Tom. I agree 100%! I saw a post by Mike Mayberry that said there was only a small percentage of users that were losing planes. I thought that was total bull. I've seen all your posts and the trouble you've had and it really sucks when that small percentage is YOUR pride and joy that goes in.

i agree with tom as well, and remember that for every 1 that is posted on this site or any other sites about a loss with this system there is probly 10 that arent even posted and or talked about. not all modelrs sits on a computor on these sites.. i dont see anything changing untill we as customers say enough. stop buying and they will fix or go by the wayside.(any company) and i would rather see them fix it rather than folding. but as long as we say oh well thats the way it is nothing will never change. problem is that most people will not do this. there are no leaders anymore we are all followers. sorry but this is a fact..

Still sucks that A-9's are having issues.(I am not saying all, but the evidence is here that there are sizable number) so much great programming and telemetry Very affordable. Just some bugs that scare d me off. I just pulled the trigger on the SD10 hope its a little more stable.

You never hear much out of Airtronics. It could be a good thing. Let us know how you like it.

Originally Posted by JohnBer

I just pulled the trigger on the SD10 hope its a little more stable.

Me too! + ~$1000 worth of Rx's. Should be here next week.

I'm with Tom also. Been in this hobby since the early 50's. When radio control came on the market, I purchased a Futaba, as that was what most in our Club were flying at that time. Have stuck with them over all these years and I can confidently state that I have never had a problem with the Futaba's. Period!!!! Any crashes were user error.
I just can't believe that there are still those out here that will risk their pride and joy on a system that has had major issues. Also, the patience to put up with the fixes, etc. If I had one, it would have been in the garbage a long time ago.
Cheaper to throw away than risk plane after plane. Just saying........................

The Aurora 9 is an AWESOME system! Works fine for me for almost 2 years now. I have done all of the updates use all 3 different RX, giants scale gas planes all the way down to foam.

Anything on 2.4 is prone to issues, just read about it, its very common knowledge and a very old technology. Anyone that thinks a 2.4 system is not going to have issues NO MATTER WHAT BRAND is just fooling themselves IMHO.

Do some work better than others in certain situations? Sure. Doesn't mean the other guys radio sucks does it?

UNSUB'D.

Originally Posted by Mike Anderson

I was in the same situation about choosing a replacement for my A9 system too. I was leaning toward the Futaba 12Z but then read up on the Airtronics SD-10G. I checked what people were saying about it on this and other forums, watched all of the Finless Bob videos on Helifreak and read the manual.

It convinced me to buy into the SD-10g. Take the time to do your own research and maybe you'll be convinced too.

Originally Posted by YAKMAN76

You never hear much out of Airtronics. It could be a good thing. Let us know how you like it.

I fly an SD10 and have had no issues.


My only complaint is how the radio feels in my hands compared to the RDs8000

NOTE: I believe a lot of crashes can be avoided.
i always check my electrical connections.
check my battery voltage
linkage(s)
servos
Structure
wing attachments
And do a range check before first flight of the day.

guy i am training to fly has a rds8000, It feels too light and ...... fragile? a better word escapes me right at the moment. Probably because my previous radio felt quite substantial in my paws. (i have big hands)
The biggest thing i am looking for is what you said in your first sentence.....No issues.
My last radio spoiled me, 5 years and it never had a hiccup....I did many times but the radio was solid.

Originally Posted by cyoung450

The Aurora 9 is an AWESOME system! Works fine for me for almost 2 years now. I have done all of the updates use all 3 different RX, giants scale gas planes all the way down to foam.

Anything on 2.4 is prone to issues, just read about it, its very common knowledge and a very old technology. Anyone that thinks a 2.4 system is not going to have issues NO MATTER WHAT BRAND is just fooling themselves IMHO.

Do some work better than others in certain situations? Sure. Doesn't mean the other guys radio sucks does it?

UNSUB'D.

That is my point also. I have had trouble free service out of Hitec. I have had a buddy with a Futaba crap out and cost him a plane. Jr had all sorts of DSM2 issues. Remember the lock out thing not so long ago at the NALL? Thats all folks talked about for a while. Remember the heat issues with Futaba? My point is that I think they are all fine radios, but they have all had issues. I think Hitec has resolved the issue with updates which to me is better than having to send it in. I have no brand loyalty. As I have stated before, if you want a guaranteed trouble free system go CONTROL LINE. I personally fly JR, Spectrum, Futaba and A9 and love them all.

I was at the JBAZ4's field when his plane went down. The day prior to his crash, we had the 9ch rx in the plane and we flew I think three 10min flights problem free. I took the plane way high, did some mild aerobatics and some landings. So antenna orientation was ok in the plane as I have not noticed and lockouts then. On the second day, JB took out the plane himself, flew as high as I did, and landed with no problems. He took the plane out for the second time and about 5min into the flight, he was doing some left hand banking over the river when the plane locked out. According to JB, he wiggled the sticks and no control. I don't remember where the engine throttle went to during the lockout as I only saw last second of the plane before it went down and was busy talking to someone to pay attention to the sound. But I know the engine wasn't screaming otherwise I would have heard it.

After the crash, I checked the voltage of his hobbico LIFE batts. with a digital non-loading multimeter. Both voltages were 6.6v. He had one LIFE going into the SPC port and the other into the channel port to power the servos. I think he had enough power on the servo side. This was only a short flight into the second flight with fully charged batts. Previous day we did three longer flights with no battery voltage problems during aerobatics.

When I had a lockout on my 8U and frsky module, the battery voltage dropped during fast knife edge flight but then when plane slowed down and aerodynamic forces were low again, I got back my control. JB was using tower ts-170 servos everywhere except for throttle I think. He had one ts-170 on the rudder but wasn't doing any hard rudder moves in the flight. Nothing mechanical on the plane came apart before the crash.

I believe, it was something in the tx that triggered the lockout as the rx had enough power from separate spc port battery to not go into reboot. His A9 tx had a new lipo in it and had enough voltage to fly safely.

Judging by the hitec servo G2 screwup, I'm not at all surprised how crappy their A9 is. No QC testing, etc. Junk.

Mike,
It seems nobody wants to hear this but Airtronics does seem to have good stuff when it comes to 2.4. I went SD-10G and RDS8K and Stylus 2.4 modual as soon as I could get one. Changed all my planes over to 2.4 as fast as I could. Somebody said they flew junkers on 2.4 only. I tested my radios over and over again, trying to to make them fail. Tried all the analog and digital servos I could find, Japanese servose, Chinese servos, Korea, Thaiwan, the gammut.
What I find when flying my big stuff (39.4% Giles 202 and 50cc planes) is ATX SD-10G, A123 Batts, JR 8711 or ATX 94780M servos and some planes with Smartfly power expander some not. And I get Reliable, consistant, solid RF link to my planes in a crowded environment.
Flying thru known airspaces that give other radios fits (we actually have a spot on our field called the Futaba Zone) I fly the small stuff in my RDS8K all 2.4 FH1 receivers and get full range RF Link from the mini and micro receivers 4, 5, 6 channel. My RDS8K has flow small electric, 30cc, 50cc and never given me a moments trouble. You might try the radios they do work when others dont. Don't get me wrong I like all the radios and have flown them all including the A9 from Hitech. (I fly for an ARF importer and he flys the heck out of his A9 switching planes, switching receivers bind and rebind, he is not kind to his equipment and so far minimal trouble and never crashed anything from lock out)

Airtronics forever !

JDS