Broken DX6i upgrade or fix it.

[evolve92]

First post been out of the hobby for little bit due to life getting in the way. I figured I would stop snooping and get a little proactive. I decided to do some flying this weekend and found my DX6i has no throttle input, must have gotten knocked around during my recent move. I looked in the monitor section and zero stick movement registering. I have it ready to go back to HH for repair as this radio suits my needs and skill at the moment but in the event I need to replace it I have some questions.

1. Anybody had HH fix a similar issue and what did they charge. Not going to spend a $100 to fix this thing.

2. If I have to upgrade I am looking to the future and thinking DX8 or 9. Don't really want to spend the money on a DX9 at the moment but I am concerned about the age of the DX8. It appears to be about a $100 difference in price. Looking around it appears the 8 came out in 2010 and I don't want something out dated before I buy it. I got burned on some of my early heli purchases with discontinued products so I am a little leery. I tend to keep things a while and I don't need the latest and greatest just don't want a radio that will be out of production and unsupported six months from now. any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Russell Harding]

99.9% of the time, HH will fix it for free. I had a busted pot on mine and they fixed it, and a few broken switches I had too. No charge. Cost me $15 to ship and about a 10 day wait.

You are right about the DX8. It is long in the tooth. These days the tech is moving so fast that a Tx is not a 'lifelong investment'... Times will change, new features will come out, and the protocol will be antiquated and deprecated.

Keep the 6i until you know exactly what you want in your new Tx unless you have a NEEDED feature to upgrade to.

[evolve92]

Thanks for the response. I shipped off the Tx to HH so will we see. If they get it going again I will wait and see what the prices look like around the holidays. Thinking about the DX9 but I can wait to see what prices do. After looking again the price difference is150.00 not 100.00. I also use Phoenix 4 as my sim and after reading about all the issues with the LCD screen I think I will use the 6 for my sim Tx.

[neverland]

i also upgraded recently in similar circumstances. what happened was i sent my dx6i off to get new pots, and they sent me a new one, free. thats mad. although tbh, as i lost all my settings, i wish theyd have asked me first. so as i had to reprogram all my helis anyway i decided to sell it and upgrade instead. got a lightly used dx7s. i was debating whether to get new dx6 or used dx7s but i dont like to be a guinea pig for new products i got the older radio as its tried and tested. believe me, you will be VERY happy with a dx7s (or dx8)after a dx6i. its a massive step up in quality and usability in all areas. the menus are just so much better. also the gimbles are better and my flying was immediately smoother in the sim and on my 130x and beast umx. i dont really miss not having the backlight on the dx7s as its very quick to program compared to a dx6i and im not programming for long. for example, altering the throttle curve takes about 1/10th of the time it took on the dx6i. i really like this radio. im sure id have liked a new dx6 too, but that would have been £50 more than my used dx7s cost me

[evolve92]

A new Tx never crossed my mind but would make sense. At this point the 6i can not be expensive to produce and it might be worth it to have a happy customer who comes back when it's time to upgrade. From what I am hearing they stand behind there products so I am hoping for the best, especially since I have an Ar 7200 on my 450 Pro. I guess we will see as they are supposed to get it tomorrow, I am hoping to know something by the end of the week.

[LoveToFly1]

did you double check to insure your throttle curve was liner from 0-100 and hold was off before you shipped this off to be fixed? the way we set these up now, with straight line curves and letting the ESC do the governing, i can see how this could have looked like no throttle output......

[evolve92]

I'm pretty sure I checked everything before I sent it out? I know my throttle curve for my 450 wasn't linear but I wasn't running a governor. I am still working on orientation and basic stuff so I haven't dealt with governors etc, just don't need them yet. I read somewhere that your mid stick throttle percentage should match the throttle position in IU. I had it set so mid stick in IU and normal were both 80%. My understanding was for a smoother transition. When you flip the switch. I had the throttle positions for 3/4/5 on the Tx set at 80% as a basic governor I guess. In normal mode the heli wouldn't do anything but in IU it would spool up like normal so I know the throttle cut was off. At that point I thought it was the heli then I hooked it up to Phoenix with a linear curve and it did the some thing, took of like crazy in IU and nothing in normal flight mode. That is when I looked at the Tx and saw zero stick movement in the monitor section.

HH checked it in on the 10/21 and it still says holding for parts so I guess they found something. It has said that since 10/22 so not sure where I stand at the moment as far as a timeline for return. I will update the thread when all is said and done. Thanks again any ideas are welcome since I don't get to fly much I am sure I will miss something.

[evolve92]

Thought I would see this through to completion. I got my Tx back from HH and they replaced both gimbals and updated the firmware. They fixed it for free and even paid for return shipping. The only downside as stated before is I have to set up everything again, they were nice enough to put in three basic blade set ups but that doesn't help me. Anyway really impressed with HH support given my Tx is two years old and they could have told me tough and charged for everything. I will look at Spektrum again when the time comes to upgrade.

One other thought they were out of parts so turnaround was about 15 days, in case anyone wants to know.

[jasond1979]

Yea sent my DX8 in for what I thought was a throttle stick centering issue. It wouldn't hold zero throttle. Turns out it was a spring was turned on the throttle for when you want to fly mode 1.

Well fixed the issue and upgraded the firmware no problem. Very good service. Will buy again.

Jason