Transmitter advice

[JJ1984]

I am looking into buying a mini CP. Will be my first CP and i think a good choice to learn with.

Now the options to buy with this are a Walkera DEVO 7, 8, or 10 channel transmitter. What would you ever need more then 6 channels for.
I am not being sarcastic i just want to know whether its worth spending the extra and getting the 10 channel for future if not anything. And also what are the extra channels for with a heli.

In the future id move to a 450 blade possibly, and again would the walkera transmitter with right reciever work with the blade - whether its a 6, 7 or 10 channel DEVO


Thanks guys i appreciate your help and remember im a noob so be kind

[aamacgregor]

Hi there, I have a walkera helicopter and personally have the opinion that I should have bought a blade mcpx. There are a few reasons for this opinion. Firstly, although I haven't had any problems with the walkera tx (aside from the rx and tx not always talking to eachother on power-up), I don't trust the walkera tx as much as I would my spektrum tx. A walkera tx will only work with a walkera rx (or a rebadged one like Buzzflyer provide). Spektrum on the otherhand are a brand dedicated to RC electronics, are well respected and utilise more advanced technology.

With respect to the actual helicopter, I would be extremely surprised if a walkera mini cp helicopter could out-fly a blade mcpx. Furthermore parts (standard and upgraded) will be more readily available for the mcpx. Finally, blade use spectrum rx's, so if you get a blade mcpx rtf combo then you could upgrade the tx to a better spektrum tx later on and that should be useful for controlling any future helicopters you buy that have a spektrum rx.

That's just my two cents.

[JJ1984]

Thanks for the reply.
If I brought the Mini CP without transmitter would i be able to buy a spektrum or futaba 8J with receiver to work with the mini CP. It has 3 axis gyro for your information.

Thank you

[Alexiske]

Hi there. i have been in the hobby for the last 20 years. My experience says that the most import part of the hobby is the TX/RX package. Even if the model costs 10 pounds it is still expensive for some and you will be so angry when it crashes and it it not your fault. I was skeptical also in the beginning about 4 channel(i started with aeroplanes) or 8 channel and bought the 4 channel. After six months a 7 channel ,and then an 8 channel because I started with helicopters. You can choose any model,good or bad, but you must choose a good TX/RX set. So my sugestion is go for JR PROPO or Futaba or Spectrum. I personally use JR for the last 15 years and I never had any problems. An eight channel will give you the possibility to fly almost anything .

[JJ1984]

Can i pair a Futaba 8J or Spektrum with a Mini CP with 3 axis Gyro.

[Mark_T]

You pretty much need to stay with a Walkera radio to fly a Walkera heli of this size.

The radios are actually not that bad, especially the newer Devo range, you just won't find many people around here using them.

As long as you are comfortable with Walkera rather than Eflite for the small helis then nothing wrong with the direction you are heading, but you can't easily mix and match unfortunately so when you get the Devo radio you lock yourself out of easy access to the world of Spektrum BnF models.

[helimadness]

I have a Mini CP and everything above basically explains it. My only difference is I live in China so Walkera stuff is cheap and easy to get. The Blade stuff is fairly non existent here. I got a devo 7 for my Mini CP as very cheap and was only going to use on that and the sim. Its a nice radio in the hand and sticks are good but the menus take a bit to work out. The Walkera radios only work with Walkera helis.
I had a Turnigy 9X radio but upgraded to a JRXG7 for the Trex 500 as was having some strange problems and didn't trust the cheap radio with the expensive heli.
If you get a Mini let me know. There are a few mods you can do to save money in crashes. Also TX setup as they come is rubbish. Need to spend some time setting up. I have given mine hell and it still flys ok. I got it when I was really nervous about flying the 500 and not so game to try moves on it but as I get more confident with the 500 the Mini is getting less use. Still fun and certainly served it purpose.

Good luck.

[JJ1984]

Thanks guys. Yes defo I will drop you a message whenit arrives. I am on holiday next week but when im back i plan on purchasing.

I take it I should stop looking at Futaba radios then lol. I being a NOOB presumed that is i got the Mini CP bnf and brought a Futaba 8J with reciever. Swapped the walkera reciever with the Futaba reciever and it would work.
Doesnt matter, its not that im not impressed or dont like the Devo 7. I just want 1 radio not 2 or 3 etc thats all. But it doesnt matter it will keep me very happy for a very long time

[Mark_T]

I being a NOOB presumed that is i got the Mini CP bnf and brought a Futaba 8J with reciever. Swapped the walkera reciever with the Futaba reciever and it would work.

With a larger heli that might have been possible, but with the very small ones you tend to find that things get integrated and rather specific to the model. In this case, the receiver and the 3 axis gyro are all together on the one board.

[JJ1984]

That makes sense, not to worry. AT least I know now. Devo 7 it is. shall stop looking. Mini CP hear i come

[helimadness]

Yes the board in the Mini CP has everything integrated. Here is mine when I was repairing it to give you an idea. You might notice in the very bottom left had corner of the board there is a component broken off. The board was nearly 1/3 rd of the heli. Fair bit of technology in it so not surprising. The problem is in a crash the canopy pops off and takes out this little part. Have done it twice but learnt how to fix them :-) I have put a new one in and just covered it with glue to stop happening again.

IMG_0770.jpg

I ended up with about 5 TX's. A few from little inferred coax. My Turnigy 9X that I started with on the 500, donated that to my brother, the Devo 7 I just got the cheap option because I figure I will only use with the mini. It was only about 20 quid I think so no biggie. Now have the JR XG 7 for the 500 which is really nice. Figure that will do me for a while.

If you go ahead I have some settings for the Devo Tx I can dig up. Have 2 models setup, one for indoors nice and mellow and one for out doors so I can flip and roll.

Cheers

[JJ1984]

Yes feel free to forward over the settings. I appreciate that.