is USA FAAST legal in the UK?

[pchristy]

To follow up on what Mark said earlier, it is unclear whether US FASST sets are legal are not. Unlike Spektrum, Futaba only use 100mW in all areas, so they meet the power output requirements. However, these are not the only requirements they have to meet. Spurious emissions from the Tx are much more tightly controlled here than in the USA due to the more compressed population density. Hence the reason why Spektrum/JR needed to add more internal screening to meet EU requirements.

However, if it has a CE mark, you as the purchaser could reasonably claim to have bought the set in good faith should it prove NOT to be compliant. That would probably be an adequate defence in law (don't confuse technical requirements with legal requirements!). You would probably find it difficult to get redress against the supplier if your equipment were confiscated though!

The question is: "Do you feel lucky?" !!!!

--
Pete

[Smoothound]

How many flight modes do you need?

I'm just asking as I use a PCM9X2 and have never found a use for more than 3 and my gliders can have up to 5 if I really need them

[Smoothound]

the 3d masters pilots have to use uk legal sets
look on the blog on the masters and you will find some of the pilots bought new tx's from the retailers at the masters so that they could fly

if the tx is ce approved then it can be used
if it isn't then go to your local hobby shop or whoever you use in the uk and buy a uk legal set plus you get a warranty

Considering the Tx mods Curtis used to have done, he must have had the Tx's he used round the world made up and sorted long in advance of turning up and flying at a comp. Unless of course he got special dispensation because of who he was

[MrKev]

The FCC standard defines the way power is measured differently to the European one does. I can't remember the exact phrasing, but it's something like:

FCC: Average power specified.
EN: Peak Power specified.

There's an interesting difference too in the european standard to how the power from the Spektrum and the power from the FASST systems are to be measured.

[Ian]

i need at least 3, but unlike the 9x, which only has separate rates, it ideal needs to be 3 totally different setups, not just rates and expos, but mixes, throttle curves, the full shabang its in a 102" Katana, and its being used at high level competition, and setup is everything, and my DX7 just isnt cutting it

Ian

[pchristy]

MrKev: The Americans specify "conducted power" ie, what you measure if you connect a power meter directly to the transmitter. This doesn't take account of any gain in the antenna.

The EU specify "Effective Radiated Power" or ERP. This includes the gain of the antenna. The antenna gain on typical 2.4 GHz sets is 2dB, so the transmitter only needs to put out about 60mW to achieve 100mW erp.

On 35 MHz, you need to put nearly 1 watt into the aerial to achieve 100mW erp because the aerials are so inefficient!

--
Pete

[MrKev]

Indeed, but in Europe it's 'peak erp'. You're figures are reasonable, and that 2dB gain is probably off the sides of the antenna, but also relevant is that there's probably approximately a 10dB null off the end...

i.e. a european set which might be feeding 60mW into the antenna to get 100mW in it's peak direction, whereas in the null, it's 10dB down on 60mW, i.e. 6mW.

Furthermore, if my memory serves me correct, the US conducted measurement is average, so if the set transmits with a 10% duty cycle, it can therefore do so at 1 Watt.

Myself, I still use 35MHz.

[inferno]

Whats this CE ! coding all about?

[pchristy]

MrKev: I think you'll find the null off the end of a 35 MHz aerial every bit as sharp as the one off the end of a 2.4 GHz set. Bear in mind that in addition, on 2.4 GHz the receiver aerials also have reasonable gain, unlike 35 MHz! And then there is "coding gain" derived from the advanced modulation techniques used. This means that the "budget" for the path ends up around the 130dB mark - as against 60-70 dB for a narrow band VHF system! That's a HUGE difference! Believe me - 2.4 GHz has a massive advantage over 35 MHz in nearly all aspects of the RF path.

Inferno: The CE! indicates the equipment meets EU requirements, but may not be legal in all EU countries. For example, France currently only permits the use of a subset of the 2.4 GHz band, so a set that is legal in the UK would not be permitted in France. Similarly we in the UK have access to a much bigger slice of 35 MHz than many of our European friends. So a UK approved synthesized module might not be legal in Germany, for example.

--
Pete

[Bruinbear]

Going back to an eairlier question about TX use at the 3DM 2008.
Although it was said that UK spec only TX's were used this was clearly not the case.
No names, but if you do a search there was a nice photo of one of the smaller competitors holding up his nice illegal TX for all to see.
On that note, I didn't see or hear of any issues at this years event, but we won't have this issue for 2009, will we ?
Mike

[Ade_Law]

for fasst this whole CE thing is just a means of keeping the british traders in business.

its not economic to make a different tx for different areas. they are all the same just with a CE sticker.

what makes it even more rediculous is that a large number of UK dx7s have the US RF board in them which whilst they have reduce the power it doesnt meet other parts of the CE mark.

so basically fasst without a CE sticker is not ok.

but a product that doesnt meet CE but does have a sticker is legal.

absolutely stupid.

Ade

[simm0]

what are spains rules on this..or are they the same as the uk's rules
cheers craig simmons