What's the advantage of Futaba 14SG

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I don't own any Phantom, so I won't even call myself a newbie, but I read this forum daily in preparation for the day when I get off the fence. In the meantime, I have a question.

I have read some folks purchasing the Futaba 14SG or 8 transmitter and retro fitting the receiver into the Phantom. I believe the stock Phantom transmitter supports 6 channels and Futaba supports 8 and 14 channels, but what does that get me. More channels gives me more control, but control of what?

In other words, if someone has a Futaba with 14 channels, what can he do with the Phantom and I can't do with the stock DJI transmitter?

thanks in advance
 
you can add "stuff" such as lights and parachutes and other non essential items and have them controlled by the extra channels. Some will also say the futaba gives better range or prevents fly aways. If they come out with some sort of on/off or picture switch for the gopro, a channel for that.

If you want to fly and get video and just have fun, you can do that with the stock TX. I use the stock TX on my P1 and P2 and never had an issue.

Futaba also has a fairly nice margin for dealers. Meaning that what you pay $400 for the dealer pays much less for. That is why you see a lot of them in the "kits" or "combos" that a lot of dealers are selling. They make more money by selling you the Futaba. If you were flying a S800/S1000 or F450/F550 that had more space/options for "stuff" then I could see where it would be worth the extra money for one. But for something that is supposed to be small and lightweight and easy to travel with, I don't know why you would want to load it up with "stuff".
 
Ksc, thanks for explanation.
 
richparry said:
In other words, if someone has a Futaba with 14 channels, what can he do with the Phantom and I can't do with the stock DJI transmitter?

thanks in advance

I'm planning on a Futaba upgrade (8J) not for the additional channels (though that will be nice) but for the security.

With a number of features like Continuous Channel Shifting, Dual Antenna Diversity, and Easy Link that will lock the Phantom's Receiver to the radios transmitter, problems like signal conflict and interruption, loss of signal, and receiver hijacking are greatly reduced or eliminated.

Here's a pretty good explanation of the technology behind a Futaba Upgrade.

http://www.futaba-rc.com/technology/fasst.html

Hope this helps...

v/r

Michael
 
Technically, the stock Tx has 7 channels ..
the sticks use up 4 of those, the 2 switches another, and then there's the rear potentiometer which is used to tilt the gimbals.
(who knows what the Other potentiometer is used for (but it's possibly an 8th channel, but inaccessible?).

There's a number of benefits in going with a Futaba Tx or similar.
First it does give you a solid 8 channels or more to work with - allowing you to add acessories, - extra lights, retractible landing gear and stuff on larger craft. (I use my 8th channel to control gimbal Roll)

It does offer the best connectivity and range over stock.

and then it has a ton of fun bells and whistles to play with.
I run two timers so that it beeps at 6 minutes to let me know when it's time to land
and I have a switch set up so that the sticks are less sensitive, particular the yaw so that I can rotate at a much slower speed.
it also has a timer so I know when it's time to use new batteries in the Tx too.

Plus I use my Tx with both my Phantom and my F450, all I had to to was buy an extra Rx.
oen of my favorite R/C investments!
 
Ksc, you're a sick puppy ... but I admit I couldn't help but be entertained by the video. I guess that is why "America's Funniest Videos" is popular.

BTW, no thanks to you, I purchased the P2 full kit from B&H at $1,722 yesterday. You made things sound too simple.

Seriously, thanks for all your support.
 

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