I just had to send in my eclipse 7 to Hitec for the second time for the same problem: the aileron controls cease to function. Both times they had to replace the board. Is this a common failure with the eclipse? Thank god that both failures occured on the GROUND and not in the AIR. I realize that for $250 or whatever it costs, it's a good deal for 7 channels, but it definitely makes me think it might be smart to invest in a more expensive radio in the future (JR or Futaba?)
Joel
This is not my experience witrh the Eclipse. I have used mine extensively for a couple seasons with no problems at all. Ed
Joel wrote:
You are the exception. Been using Hitec for 10+ years with very few problems, and I caused all of them )
My dad loves his. No problems to date.
I bought a Hitec Prism when they first came out. I found the transmitter to be user friendly. However I have had to send it in about every two years for repair. I have had to have the screen replaced twice, and right now it has malfunctions. I have had the case replaced because the handle broke off. Currently the handle is broken again, and I tried to be careful. Also the aileron trim doesn't work, therefore I can't trim the ailerons. When I first got the radio I almost lost my plane on the first flight because the controls where mixing, I had to sent it in again for repair. Needless to say I haven't had it repaired, Hitec told me it would be about $65.00 to repair, thats not counting my shipping to Hitec. I have a Futaba 7UAP that is 14 years old, I have never had a problem with it. In the long run I think you are further ahead buying a Futaba. I just ordered a Futaba 9CAF.
Been using an Eclipse (a lot) for two seasons with no problems. I know three others that use one also and have had no problems. One guy is really rough on his equipment too.
John VB
One advantage of the Internet and it's fast-paced information dispersal is that we can take into account all sorts of "user reports" about things and factor those reports in to make our own decisions. But the flip side of that is that we get what seems to be a lot of anecdotal reports and "friend of a friend" reports where an individual has a problem with a product and vents on usenet thinking he has personally determined that no one else in the world should buy that product anymore. These anecdotal reports, while they "seem" numerous, usually end up being 1% of 1% of 1% of the total number of satisfied users. What this all means is that unless you get a HUGE number of complaints recounting the SAME problem over and over, you can almost always discount the angry rants as being either: 1. From people who aren't using the equipment properly or are abusing it. Note that many of the reports are from the same person having multiple problems with the same product. Coincidence?... probably not. Or, 2. Simply reports of what would be considered an expected statistical failure rate of ANY product depending upon it's complexity. The bottom line is that Hitec is one of the better products out there, just as is Futaba or JR, other brands that get their own share of angry rants once in a while. Since everything breaks eventually, it's all a wash for the most part.
MJC
"jjvb" wrote in message news:wuwNb.1262$ snipped-for-privacy@fe02.usenetserver.com...
I haven't heard of that problem, and my Eclipse works perfectly. It's a better radio than I am pilot, for sure.
|I just had to send in my eclipse 7 to Hitec for the second time for |the same problem: the aileron controls cease to function. Both times |they had to replace the board. Is this a common failure with the |eclipse? Thank god that both failures occured on the GROUND and not in |the AIR. I realize that for $250 or whatever it costs, it's a good |deal for 7 channels, but it definitely makes me think it might be |smart to invest in a more expensive radio in the future (JR or |Futaba?) | |Joel
I posted a piece just ahead of your asking for comparisons between the Eclipse 7 and the JR XP-6102. I sort of purchased the Eclipse as I wanted a 6 channel (one of the reasons that I do not want a trainer RTF kit with a stock 4 channel). I was able to buy an Eclipse for $240 (helicopter version with 8 channel rcvr and five servos). Then I read the literature for the JR and wondered if I made a bad decision.
What I have learned over the last day or so is that the Eclipse is a better radio than the JR XP-6102. Both have the option of either FM (PPM) or PCM. But the Elipse has the ability to go either "positive" or "negative" so that it works with either JR or Futaba receivers.
I went to my first club meeting last night. I thought that I would be the odd man out as I assumed that everyone would be into JR or Futaba (given how the stores market). What was surprising was that the first thing I saw was little Rascal with an HiTec Eclipse 7!!! It belonged to the president of the club. It seems that there are a number of folks in the club with that radio (and the have just about every radio system out to include the Airtronics).
So I feel a lot better about my choice at this moment. Especially in the fact that the radio would have cost me $300 had I bought straight from the store rather than buying it unused from a friend.
Gday
I only had my eclipse for a few months when I was hovering my chopper and I could smell a burning smell. Glanced down at the tranny and I could see smoke coming out of it. After the quickest heli landing in history i then noticed that smoke was gushing out of the tranny. I removed the battery pack and the smoking ceased.
Sent it back and they replaced the circuit board, some sort of short. Lucky my chopper is still in one piece.
Apart from that ive now had no problems in last 12 months.
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