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[dodgy geezer]

Anyone ever bought or used a FlySky FSTh9X/B 2.4G 9 Channel Transmitter?

They are £55 from here:  http://www.giantcod.co.uk/flysky-fsth9xb-channel-transmitter-with-module-p-406149.html  and they look rather good value - when they're available...

I would appreciate hearing about anyone's experiences with one and whether they would recommend them...

[essex2visuvesi]

Not bad, but the Quality control is next to non existent
I had one for my helis but it was far too glitchy, probably be ok for boats tho

[AlisterL]

Hi Dodgy,

I think you will find that there are several people on here who have them - searching for th9x might get you a result.

I got one over Christmas and for the price I am mightily impressed:
The feel of it in the hand is very good - it feels much nicer than the DX5e I had a year or two back (I found the DX5e very light - the 9x has a good heft to it).
All the sticks move smoothly and freely.
It's an excellent step up from the FS-CT6x (Turborix et al) radios in terms of quality and functionality and being able to adjust stuff at the pond makes a difference.
The extra receivers I got bound with it in, literally, 2 seconds, dead easy.

Problems with it:
When it arrived (I got it straight from HK) the display was not working. After an "oh sh!t" moment I opened it up, reseated the connector for the display and all was good.
One of the pots does not register the centre of movement as the centred value (if that makes sense).

Modifications:
I bought it knowing that the firmware was not terribly wonderful and only used it once with the stock firmware (which did work without too many problems) before flashing it with ER9x - which works very well.
I also put in a backlight for the display. Well worth the US$4.95.
I use a low discharge Rhino LiPo to power it. I charged it last weekend because I thought I should, not because it needed it. I only charge the battery to storage voltage, not the full voltage, BTW.

Thoughts:
Do I have total peace of mind with it - not yet, but I'm not far off.
For the price I paid (~NZ$150 for the 9x radio, 1 additional 8ch receiver, 2 additional 6ch receivers, a 3s low discharge LiPo, some miscellaneous bits (less than $5) and shipping) it can't be beaten.
Do I need 9 channels - no, almost certainly not. So why did I get? Flexibility at a damn good price.
It's a frequency hopping radio with the same technology (in general) as FASST and DSMX!
Would I get another? Heck yes! Just waiting for budget.

Also note: From Hobby King in HK these radios are almost always out of stock and the backorder queue can be long - there must be a reason for that and I put it down to popularity...

[dodgy geezer]

The FSTh9X certainly looks like a lot of radio for very little money. As with all cheap chinese, I understand the requirement to open it up and check the connectors/soldering, and have no trouble with that.

But a lot of people who get it seem to add an aftermarket programming board onto it, which rather puts the price up. I wonder how important putting this extra on is..?

[AlisterL]

The aftermarket board question kind of depends on which bit you mean. As I understand it there are several options, and all of them (I may be wrong here) are to do with enabling telemetry. There are many ways to modify this radio and this starts with what I did to put a connector on it to re-flash the firmware, to putting a complete new mainboard in it. IMHO, you would not need to do any more than what I did, and even then that may not be necessary. If you were to get one of these radios, try it with the stock firmware and see how it goes. You would only need to consider replacing that if you found things not working in it that should.

The earlier post from E2V is accurate in that the quality control is variable, but I wonder if buying from Giant Cod would eliminate that due to their own checking procedures. Additionally, the glitching he mentions is interesting - I wonder if that was the version 1 radio which definitely was not the equivalent to FASST or even DSM2.

The key thing is to understand that there is a higher risk of buying one of these cheaper Chinese radio's - but that exists for any cheaper radio, IMHO. As long as you are buying with that understanding and accept the risk, then go for it.

[essex2visuvesi]

I'll clarify the issues I had in a little more detail

When in Helicoper mixing mode there was a noticable delay between movement of the sticks and the servo, and also quite noticable "Servo chatter" when all sticks centred.  The servo chatter continued no matter what mode was used.
I thought it might have been down to ESC interefernce but the issues remained when using a RX battery pack and just servos.

The beep on button every press is annoying as you cant switch it off, but this can be fixed easily by either desoldering the speaker or shoving some paper/hotglue/epoxy etc in the speaker hole.

For me I felt that this controller couldn't be trusted with my helicopters, tho I know several people who use these with helicopters and they work very well.
I'm of the opinion I got a Friday afternoon model and passed mine on to someone else.  They have since done some work/mods on it and is using it quite hapily.

If you want something that works straight out of the box, you might be lucky.  But if you are not afraid to do a little tinkering then its a fine system for the price.

Would I buy another?
Yes if it was from someone who has ironed out the issues

[Yamaha1]

I have the Eurgle badged version of this radio - and am delighted with it !!

8 model memories - a Rhino 2640 lipo fits straight in - but need to swop connectors to match in with the tx battery socket.

Also, for boat / train use, these dirt cheap 3 channel receivers from Hobby King work very well - plus NO failsafe to annoy!!

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10625__Hobby_King_GT_2_2_4Ghz_Receiver_3Ch_.html

Mike

[Chameo]

I have the original FlySky with a FrSky 2.4GHz module and a Turnigy branded version with the original 2.4GHz module. I'm using the er9x firmware too because it's very flexible and suits all my needs. The original firmware only supports planes and helis so there are always channels blocked by aileron or swashplate mixers.

By the way: with the standard 2.4GHz module it is an 8 channel TX, not 9 channel. With a more expensive Jeti module up to 16 channels are possible with the er9x firmware.

I had no quality problems with both of my transmitters. The modifications I made were adding a programming plug (for flashing firmware and read/write model memories), adding a backlight (to one TX) and replacing the AA battery holder with two 18650 lipo cells from a notebook battery.

I guess you won't get more value for your money anywhere else.

[dodgy geezer]

. The modifications I made were adding a programming plug (for flashing firmware and read/write model memories), adding a backlight (to one TX)

Could you please tell us where you got your programmer and backlight from? I had a quick look around and could only see items from the US such as SmartiPants. Is there a European supplier for these things?

[AlisterL]

Getting in before Chameo, I got the backlight when I ordered the radio, so it was a HobbyKing part.

Note my location (I hope visible) - I got my programmer from the US:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9825

and an extra cable to sacrifice:
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9215

and ended up using a mini-DIN PS2 connector to plug it all in.

The stuff from spark fun arrived in about two weeks by non-priority mail over Christmas.

[dodgy geezer]

Thanks for the response. So you soldered your programmer rather than used spring-loaded pins? But the price looks very good. It was all compatible with the Th9X?

[AlisterL]

Yes and yes. I used the ER9x project eepe tool to do the reflash.

The inside of my 9x:


Multicoloured wires soldered to the mainboard going to the external connector at the right hand side of the pic. I'd like to get a cover for that...
Also, the big connector with the heat shrink on it is the new adaptor to power the backlight which is on the other side of the mainboard.

[dodgy geezer]

Multicoloured wires soldered to the mainboard going to the external connector at the right hand side of the pic. I'd like to get a cover for that...
Also, the big connector with the heat shrink on it is the new adaptor to power the backlight which is on the other side of the mainboard.

Oh, I see - you have the programmer outside and just connect the main board to it via the mini-DIN. Seems simple enough, so long as you have a small iron...
 
I presume that the backlight kit just plugs in..

[AlisterL]

Yes the programmer is external - I believe that it is possible to get a programmer that does fit inside, but then, programming a second radio would require another programmer...
Yep the backlight is just a plug-in job, but you do have to remove the old spacing rubber first and that can be "fun". Heaps of video's on Youtube about this.

[Chameo]

This looks very similar to the things I have done with my tx, I've only used a different connector.  The external programmer I'm using is called USBasp and is available on ebay for about $10.

My backlight is made from a pieces of EL foil and a voltage inverter and wasn't specially produced for the TH9X. My backlight is controlled by the er9x firmware through a BS170 FET connected to a free controller pin. There's a manual on the er9x project page: http://er9x.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/doc/Backlight%20Installation.pdf . This might look a bit complicated but it isn't if you follow the instructions step by step.