NEW Spektrum MARINE Receiver

[Darin Jordan]

I can FINALLY say something...

Spektrum Radiosjust announced the release of their new MR3000 Marine Receiver.

http://www.spektrumrc.com/DSM/Produc...Receivers.aspx

More details and information can be found here:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...odID=SPMMR3000


I have been testing these receivers for them since the start of the season this year and have had very good results. I've tested them in my P-Spec OPC Tunnel at ranges out to 980ft (that's as long as the lake I was on... so I couldn't go any further), and still had full control of the model.

These RXs are VERY light, and are potted in a water-resistant casing, which is a great feature. They are essentially water-proof.

There are two antenna. I run mine with the main (longer) antenna as far out of the boat as possible, and I just lay the secondary antenna inside the cowling. Seems to work great. The attached pictures show the initial testing version, where I ran the second antenna outside the radio box and down the side, but the released version I just coiled the second antenna inside and it seems to work fine.

From what I've been told, the only official products at this time with Marine support are the DX3S and the MR3000 (that's the receiver itself). Some other radios will eventually be added as we can train, support, etc. Some radios will NOT be upgraded, in particular the old 2.0/3.0 series.

[Diegoboy]

Very nice indeed

[Flying Scotsman]

Darin, how long is the main antenna?

Douggie

[Darin Jordan]

Darin, how long is the main antenna?

Douggie

I haven't measured it directly... It's a little over 10" long on the samples I have.

The actual "antenna" is only the last 1" of wire that is exposed... the rest of the length is really just to give you the opportunity to get that last 1" up as high as you can...

[Flying Scotsman]

Thank you for the answer. The reason I asked is I have been looking at 2.4ghz systems for over a year and my concern was my existing FM antenna lead lengths are much longer than the wire lengths offered by other 2.4ghz systems. The Spectrum length would allow me to use their RX without modification to my existing antenna placements

Douggie

[Steven Vaccaro]

Thanks for the info Darin.

[Ub Hauled]

I always wondered why nobody invesed in a marine version Rx... specially one with a small footprint.
Airplanes Rx are among the smallest ones I have seen, there should not be a reason for a "ground" Rx not to follow the same size... anyway, thanks for the testing Darin.

[Doby]

Good to have someone "on the inside" for updates like this.

Thanks Darin (although I have never had problems with my 7 Spektrum recievers to date)

[ghostofpf1]

Did I read right??? They made the rx compatible with the air Spektrum and not the ground type ??

Steve

[Darin Jordan]

One more thing I forgot to mention... this RX has parallel connections built into it, so if you are running dual servos or dual ESCs, you don't need a Y-harness... You can see that there are two TH and two ST connections... I'm not sure if the BD (Binding) and the AUX connections are also parallel circuits...

The additional connections might account for the larger footprint. Also, Ground or Marine dedicated RXs have different requirements that Air... The signals don't always travel as well over land or water as they do up in the air, so perhaps there is additional power or circuitry needed... Andy might be able to speak to that one.

[sailr]

That's great. They needed to do something because Spektrum in boats was not the best combination in the past. Good to see that JR is listening and responding! That's a sign of an informed and intelligent vendor! It's cool you can be involved in the testing. Thanks for the update! The parallel connections is a great feature too!

[Darin Jordan]

Just for future reference... JR and Spektrum are NOT the same company. They have cross licensed products in the past, but they are separate and distinct companies.

This new stuff is all Spektrum...

[sailr]

OK. Always thought it was JR. Didn't know they were separate. Good to know.

[alvinsmith75]

UM, are they $25.00 like Tactic?

[Doby]

UM, are they $25.00 like Tactic?

Umm,,,probably not

[LiPo Power]

Ummm, $79.99 @ Horizon

[BILL OXIDEAN]

What in particular is different?
The case as I can see, but is the conformal coating different?
Hopefully the coating on the actual circuit board is different, beceause the old ones were one of the only 2.4 rcvrs that actually die after being dunked too many times.

A water "resistant" case alone won't be enough of a safeguard agaist the rigors that actually make a receiver go out, like stranded boats that cut out far out of the range of a ball and reel that gradually take in tons of water, boats that sink for short ammounts of time, plumbing ruptures, anything that will cause a rcvr to be submerged for an extended period of time.

The one in Darrin's photo looks like it has no case at all, so they must have changed, or made a thick coating, so it could possibly be bulletproof.

If its actually a bulletproof boat rcvr then I'm thoroughly impressed

[Darin Jordan]

Bill,

It's all different... it has special programming a circuitry, specifically designed for use over water and in boats. The signals act differently over water than they do over land, and this system takes that into consideration... The water-proofing on the board is just an added benefit to go with the improved electronics. The dual antennas give another clue that there are some internal changes that have taken place... My SR3100 RXs only have a single antenna. (For those wondering... "SRXXXX" stands for "Surface Receiver", while the "MRXXXX" designates the "Marine Receiver"... Yes, you guessed it... "ARXXXX" stands for .... )

It requires the use of a "Marine Compatible" TX as well, further indicating that there is something different beyond packaging...

[BILL OXIDEAN]

Bill,

It's all different... it has special programming a circuitry, specifically designed for use over water and in boats. The signals act differently over water than they do over land, and this system takes that into consideration... The water-proofing on the board is just an added benefit to go with the improved electronics. The dual antennas give another clue that there are some internal changes that have taken place... My SR3100 RXs only have a single antenna. (For those wondering... "SRXXXX" stands for "Surface Receiver", while the "MRXXXX" designates the "Marine Receiver"... Yes, you guessed it... "ARXXXX" stands for .... )

It requires the use of a "Marine Compatible" TX as well, further indicating that there is something different beyond packaging...

Sweet! Airtronics had me testing our second to latest technology developed to be utilized in boats FHSS-2 ( Frequency Hopping Spread Spektrum) which has a much higher output, better range and a much higher processing speed than previous models and anything else on the market.. Now we have the M11-X which surpasses any surface radio thus far

The results were great, I can run my boat so far that I can't see it, the response time is unmatchable, and water dosen't sem to kill them. Range is a serious problem with 2.4 in boats, and its great to see radio mfgrs stepping up to the plate and making boat minded/specific products

Spektrum has been working on this boat system for close to 3 years, I was giving input on it back when I raced for 'em.
Pretty exciting.

[6S HYDRO]

are you kidding, so now you dont only have to fork out 80.00 for a reciever but i have to buy a marine specific radio too. oh great

[Darin Jordan]

are you kidding, so now you dont only have to fork out 80.00 for a reciever but i have to buy a marine specific radio too. oh great

If you READ more carefully... It says "and is compatible with all surface transmitters featuring the marine logo. "... The new DX3S radios I are the first ones that currently compatible and have the "Marine Sticker" on them (see http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/D...ProdID=SPM3140 ), and they also have a retrofit program for certain radios already out there.

http://www.spektrumrc.com/Articles/HobbyWire.aspx

Other radios will follow, from what I've been told...

[6S HYDRO]

i did read pretty carefully, problem is none of us have the radio with the marine sticker

[Darin Jordan]

i did read pretty carefully, problem is none of us have the radio with the marine sticker

Of course you wouldn't... it's just been released...

Not everything can be backwards compatible...

[6S HYDRO]

so the one you were testing with only worked with a marine tx, you didnt say anything about you using one. you said they changed it so you have to use the new marine tx. I just love it when companies do that to you just so they can make an extra 300.00 bucks and sell two radios

[sailr]

Great info Bill!

I use the Airtronics 2.4 (first one out I guess) and it has been absolutely flawless. It's kinda puzzling that it took Spektrum so long to change when both Futaba and Airtronics never had the problems that Spektrum did. At least they have addressed it and it sounds like they have come up with a great new system. It's a shame they couldn't make it compatible with existing transmitters though.

Sweet! Airtronics had me testing our second to latest technology developed to be utilized in boats FHSS-2 ( Frequency Hopping Spread Spektrum) which has a much higher output, better range and a much higher processing speed than previous models and anything else on the market.. Now we have the M11-X which surpasses any surface radio thus far

The results were great, I can run my boat so far that I can't see it, the response time is unmatchable, and water dosen't sem to kill them. Range is a serious problem with 2.4 in boats, and its great to see radio mfgrs stepping up to the plate and making boat minded/specific products

Spektrum has been working on this boat system for close to 3 years, I was giving input on it back when I raced for 'em.
Pretty exciting.

[6S HYDRO]

hey sailr, your from mini-cat racing - so are you in phoenix?

[Darin Jordan]

so the one you were testing with only worked with a marine tx, you didnt say anything about you using one. you said they changed it so you have to use the new marine tx. I just love it when companies do that to you just so they can make an extra 300.00 bucks and sell two radios

You need to go back and read my initial post... I DID mention what radios were supported...

They did it this way because it's the way it had to be done to make the technology work. Pretty much the way most new tech evolves. Not sure what you have against them for this, but that's just the way it works sometimes.

Makes it pretty obvious, however, that the tech goes beyond just a simple repackaging of an RX into a water-resistant package...

[6S HYDRO]

no, no, no, the way you posted it sounded like you were saying that the one you were testing this season, worked with the regular spektrum tech. (obviosly the new radios were not out) and if it did why the need for a radio change?

[Darin Jordan]

From what I've been told, the only official products at this time with Marine support are the DX3S and the MR3000 (that's the receiver itself). Some other radios will eventually be added as we can train, support, etc. Some radios will NOT be upgraded, in particular the old 2.0/3.0 series.

I don't know how much clearer it needed to be, but next time I'll try to spell it out more clearly... I didn't make it "sound" like anything of the sort... I typed what I knew... you read it as you read it... They didn't release a new radio... they just updated the ones they are currently selling, and I told you that clearly.

I'm not interested in arguing about this... If you want one, go for it... if you don't, don't. It's a good radio system and has worked well for me... even with the older SR3100 RXs I haven't had an issue with...

[Doby]

Sounds pretty clear to me,,,,,,my DX-3.0's have been trouble free for years!