Help please - need to buy several new spektrum receivers
 

Hello,

I'm looking for some help. I have a Spektrum DX6I. In my cheap, throwdown, don't care much, park flying foamie I use some Hobby King Orange receivers and know not to expect more than I get.

But in my planes that I have in investment in, in planes large enough to see them when they are way out there, I've been using Spektrum AR6200 with satelite purchased through local hobby shop so that I'm pretty sure I'm buying the real deal.

I've been doing a lot of research and I end up confused. I'm no guru but unlike the hobby king compatible I think there are clones out there that to my untrained eye looks darn near like the real deal but isn't...or so I think. The full thread discussion seem to be inconclusive in some cases.

Now for the questions.

1. If I do a google I get a link tp spektrum web page showing the AR6200 with satelite as if it is still valid product. But if I go to their home page and drill down to airecraft receives I don't find the AR6200. Instead I find an AR6210 with satelite. So what is the deal? Is the AR6200 obsolete? Is the AR6210 better? What should I be looking to buy?

2. After I get the answer to the above how does someone find a good deal? Like I said I want to buy several between my brother and myself. Googling seems to want to lead me to clones if the price seems sweet. My local hobby show, while convenient for some things, has a big fancy store front with stock on all sorts of none related slow moving hobby stuff. I feel his prices are high to cover his overhead. Is there a place to purchase real deal spektrum receivers and a reasonable price and feel comfortable you are not buying a clone?

Thanks for the help!

Yes the AR 6200 has been discontinued and replaced by the AR 6210. Visually and functionally they are, as far as i can tell, the same. Presumably there have been some internal tweaks to the design, I have both and for me they both work fine.

If you buy from any reputable dealer then you should get an original product. I've picked them up from eBay and had no trouble. If you buy one from a 'in-country' supplier rather than from China, and it comes in full retail packaging, from a dealer with solid feedback, then you should be safe enough.

Steve

AAgreed. You may be able to use the ar500's and save some money there. They are a full range rx.

The biggest change with the AR6210 is the change to DSMX protocol. A few things about DSMX:

- It's fully backwards compatible with all DSM2 TX's (except for the old DX6 DSM TX).
- The AR6210 satellite RX cannot be interchanged with the satellite from an AR6200.

The AR500 has been discontinued and replaced by the new full range AR600. Yes, it's a bit cheaper... $59.99 for the 600 vs $79.99 for the 6210. Both are 6 channel and full range RX's, but the 6210 uses a satellite RX vs. a long antenna on the 600.


Here is explanation of the differences between the Spektrum Parkflyer type RX's (AR61xx) and the full range RX's. It's all about shielding and multipath reception:

http://www.spektrumrc.com/DSM/Techno...dFeatures.aspx

I have not flown the 62xx series, but I think I would be more comfortable with the AR6210 in a large model than the AR600. Simply because there is a completely separate second satellite RX.