Thoughts and experiences of the Spektrum DX3C

[RogerM]

The day will very soon arrive where I have to consider either changing to a steerwheel transmitter or give up racing.

As the latter isn't something I want to consider at the moment it looks like I am headed to a steerwheel. I used to use a KO steerwheel many many moons ago but went back to sticks as I prefered the feel so although not totally alien to me it will certainly take some getting used to!

I don't want to go splashing big bucks out on a transmitter to start with as it will only be used for VRC Pro and to practice initially so I was considering a Spektrum DX3C as it seems to have everything I need (end point adjustment, steering rates & greater than 5 model memories) and will work with my existing Spektrum recievers.
I need another RX anyway so once the price of that is considered it's only about £45.

Anybody used one of these? Any comments or observations that might help me decided either way?

If I do indeed migrate to steerwheel I'll probably look at something a bit more high end as we all like to have radios with dozens of settings we never use ;)

[Col]

Feel cheap, but work well IMO

[h0m3sy]

I have no personal experience in using one mate, but there is a hell of a lot of guys at the club that do use them. On that basis, they must be quite good. :)

[RogerM]

I'm not so worried about a cheap transmitter feeling cheap, been using a KO Universe which is an expensive transmitter that feels cheap!

Seems like a good way to go to test the water ... thanks for the feedback

[Hpi_guy]

I have been using one of these for about 4 months and they are great, only criticism is that the spring for the wheel can pop off and it requires sending the radio back or taking it apart and fixing it yourself but voiding the warranty

[eyeayen]

Have you considered the Ansmann W6, very capable radio, receivers are very cheap too.

http://www.jespares.com/electric-models?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=10654&category_id=504

[fidspeed]

i have 5 ko helios radio i use spekky module in three of them

best of both worlds roger :D

[RogerM]

Have you considered the Ansmann W6, very capable radio, receivers are very cheap too.

http://www.jespares.com/electric-models?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=10654&category_id=504

I have considered that but as I already have several Spektrum RXs it seems to make sense to stick with them. If I was to change radio brand then I would need at least 4 RXs so still a bit pricey to change until I am sure that I will stick with a wheel radio.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

[smarkham]

Hi Roger I have a dx3s you can try out still has pleanty of seetings and telemetry should you ever go back to rallycross

[neallewis]

I came back to RC a few months ago and picked up a DX3C as it seemed like the best price point for me, and after feeling other (cheaper products) this felt lots better. I'd always used sticks (20+ years ago) and found it strange that sticks were either super cheap and low quality, or mega expensive >£300 jobbies, which was too much for me to spend when just getting back into it. This was my first wheel controller, and I've been pleased with it so far.
While it may feel a little bit plasticy on the main body of the controller, it could be a lot worse than it is, switch action and rubber grip wise it feels good. The metallic finish and chrome wheel wouldn't be my first choice, but saying that it's not bad. Seems to be holding upto the bumps and bangs in my pitbox.
I find the UI on the menu system really good and easy to use, and the controls allow you to do anything you might need, adjustment wise. I've paired it with three receivers, and plenty of scope for more in the future. It's good on cells, and only needs 4 AA's which keeps the weight down. Wheel spring tension is adjustable, but i've not managed to find a throttle tension adjustment, not that i've needed it. While the manual is a bit brief, there are some undocumented features, and their email tech support is good. I couldn't find how to adjust separate throttle and break end points, so emailed and got the answer right back, and it's quite simple and logical, though not in the manual.
I've never had any interference or bind problems, and the control accuracy seems spot on with the range of speedos and servos I've used, including savox, with which i've not needed to use the extra receiver capacitor.
I'd certainly recommend it, is good value for money given it comes with a receiver in the pack, and others are cheap too. Thumbs up from me.

[RogerM]

Hi Roger I have a dx3s you can try out still has pleanty of seetings and telemetry should you ever go back to rallycross


Stuart, I will be in touch mate .. thanks for the offer.

Neal, exactly the sort of feedback I was after, thank you for taking the time to write that.

[mattr]

I've had almost exactly the same experience as Neal, over 20 years off and back to a DX3C.

Can't really add much more than what he's said, its cheap enough, does what it says on the box, and doesn't eat batteries (which compared to the RTR radio i had is a blessing, 2 hours to flat, now its about 10 hours spread out over 2 weeks).

[neallewis]

Neal, exactly the sort of feedback I was after, thank you for taking the time to write that.

No problem, glad it helped.

[MrMagoo]

I've used Spktrum gear for a number of years in nitro and electric models and found it to be very good, and in most situations I'd certainly recommend it.

However... after putting a nice new R10 Pro speedo in my FS2 SP with a Savox servo about a month ago I've had anynumber of annoying electrical issues. I've used a number of Spektrum Rx's, with and with out capacitors and just can't (reliably) fix it. Change the servo, it's fine; change to a Sanwa Rx, it's fine; put my HobbyWing 120 amp back in, it's fine. So it does seem there are some compatibility issues, which from what I can tell are down to Spektrums' design and it's use in certain configurations, especially with high current-draw servos.

From what I can put together, Spektrum are different to all other systems in that they fire all of the servo channels at the same time, rather than in a round-robin fashion like most other Rx's. In addition the fail-safe system they use has a slightly smaller window than most others. That means they place a higher load on the BEC, especially if you use a juicy servo like a Savox/Orion/Align etc, and if the BEC votage does get pulled down slightly the Rx is more likely to failsafe (which is what mines doing intermittently when I punch it out of a tight corner). The glitch buster capacitor should smooth that out, but in some cases it doesn't seem to be quite enough.

[Kelk]

The glitch buster capacitor should smooth that out, but in some cases it doesn't seem to be quite enough.

Sorry MrMagoo - I'm recently back into RC cars after a 20yr break and have just taken delivery of one of these units. I'm also planning to use it with the Spektrum 3500 micro receiver.

Would you mind expanding / explaining your comments above for the unfamiliar. Sorry for being a numpty. particularly what's a glitch buster capacitor?

[neallewis]

Would you mind expanding / explaining your comments above for the unfamiliar. Sorry for being a numpty. particularly what's a glitch buster capacitor?

He means this: http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/index.php/radios/receivers/spektrum-voltage-protector.html

It's basically a 4700uF 10v electrolytic capacitor attached to a receiver plug. You can buy the spektrum product or get one from maplin/ebay for a pound and solder up your own.

I've just made one up. Not had to use it yet, but I made it incase I get issues with the savox low profile servo i've just put in my new GT12 car (running 4cell 4.8v). So far I've not had problems with that servo running on my 2S lipo with Tekin RS Pro speedo, but problems have been documented on the Internet with that setup and spektrum receivers.

[MrMagoo]

Neal is spot on,. I've made up a number of them in the past; I wouldn't bother with the expensive Spekky one, Maplins do what you want for pence and they are easy enough to solder up. When I get a second I'll dig out the Maplin part number, but basically it's a 16V 4700mF radial electrolytic capacitor. Just make sure you wire it up the right way round (+'ve to +'ve)... if you get it wrong you'll get a real nice 'pop' at some point! they don't like it up'em:lol:

[Kelk]

Many thanks for your patience guys :)

[welshmerlin]

I came back to RC a few months ago and picked up a DX3C as it seemed like the best price point for me, and after feeling other (cheaper products) this felt lots better. I'd always used sticks (20+ years ago) and found it strange that sticks were either super cheap and low quality, or mega expensive >£300 jobbies, which was too much for me to spend when just getting back into it. This was my first wheel controller, and I've been pleased with it so far.
While it may feel a little bit plasticy on the main body of the controller, it could be a lot worse than it is, switch action and rubber grip wise it feels good. The metallic finish and chrome wheel wouldn't be my first choice, but saying that it's not bad. Seems to be holding upto the bumps and bangs in my pitbox.
I find the UI on the menu system really good and easy to use, and the controls allow you to do anything you might need, adjustment wise. I've paired it with three receivers, and plenty of scope for more in the future. It's good on cells, and only needs 4 AA's which keeps the weight down. Wheel spring tension is adjustable, but i've not managed to find a throttle tension adjustment, not that i've needed it. While the manual is a bit brief, there are some undocumented features, and their email tech support is good. I couldn't find how to adjust separate throttle and break end points, so emailed and got the answer right back, and it's quite simple and logical, though not in the manual.
I've never had any interference or bind problems, and the control accuracy seems spot on with the range of speedos and servos I've used, including savox, with which i've not needed to use the extra receiver capacitor.
I'd certainly recommend it, is good value for money given it comes with a receiver in the pack, and others are cheap too. Thumbs up from me.

Hi Neal, how do you adjust the seperate throttle and brake end points?

Thanks, Mike

[neallewis]

Hi Neal, how do you adjust the seperate throttle and brake end points?

Thanks, Mike

Yeah this really the only bit of the system i've had trouble with, and it wasn't documented anywhere, and I couldn't find it via google. but its actually quite simple...

Turn tranny on, press the roller and select travel. Select throttle, move the selection box down so it highlights both B100% and F100% at once, press the roller button so the box flashes. Pulling the throttle shifts the flashing box to just the F100%, which you can then adjust with the roller. Pressing the break will select the B100% for adjustment. Pressing the roller button shifts back to selecting both. It's actually pretty logical when you do it, but it wasn't intuitive when I didn't know.
Likewise you can do the same with steering, but turn wheel left or right instead of touching the trigger.

Hope that helps...