I’m sure this will be very interesting!
As we know Weatronic was acquired by Powerbox some time ago. At first it was thought Powerbox would re-brand the transmitter but after a deeper thought they decided to make their own.
Rumors have been out of course, some more reliable than other but now we have a bit more.
How does it look?
Pretty cool actually, this is Pickering having a look at the transmitter at Jet Power currently on-going in Germany:
So, what do we get from the pic? Quite a lot. Especially if we add it to Powerbox-released teaser-pdf (link)
So far released features are:
- 26-channel radio control system
- Extremely secure against interference, genuine redundant
- 2.4 GHz transmission
- Extremely long range
- Redundant PowerBox power supply system
- High-performance real-time telemetry
- Up to 800 telemetry values per second
- Open bus interface for servos and telemetry
- Aluminum stick units
- Hall sensors for sticks and slider controls
- 20 transmitter controls + 2 optional stick switches
- Full-color screen with capacitive touch-screen
- Figh-contrast screen, legible in sunlight
- Intuitive menu system with Smartkeys
- Integral GPS system
- Linux PC system for every imaginable expansion
Video in German:
Details popping up?
Now. Let’s open a small chat about what lies behind marketing hype. Few things do pop up from there, one is of course the traditional “Extremely long range”. I really would like to know how, since transmitting power is limited practically only way to increase range is sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio on receivers. We have to wait and see.
“Genuine redudant” is interesting. Another thing we need to wait for.
Picture and specs also tell an interesting small thing, dual batteries. Nice, I like that. Weight is most likely not an issue there, I’d like to know the capacity of batteries, that size of screen with backlight does take some juice to run.
DIY-heaven?
It actually might be. Promising 800 telemetry-values per second is fast. And i mean FAST. Also what is catching my eye is the sentence of “Open bus interface for servos and telemetry”. In best case this would mean fully open telemetry. Another wait-and-see thing here that of course interest’s me.
Linux?
Cool. A penguin-transmitter! I do hope that Powerbox have kept the control-operating part of operating system separate from the user-accessible part of it. Trust me, users will get the Linux to freeze. Been there, done that :)
Opinions?
I think it looks sleek and nice. What the price-class will be we have to guess but it will certainly not be a 200-range. What is also interesting is to see what path Powerbox will be taking with receivers. Weatronics receivers were not the smallest on the market and range of receivers did leave something to wish for.
EDIT: RC-Networks has an estimate price as 2498€. Certainly not low-end. Also more pictures available here.
Knowing Powerbox’s history with, yes, powerboxes, gyro’s etc I’m curious about level of integration that will be availabe.
I really hope there’s possibility to customize colors on the display. To be honest that looks like Windows Mobile from some years back.
Should be fun to see what will pop out of the oven when it’s done, this was interesting!
Some like the looks others not so much. I'm fine with it – Tx feel & performance are more important than looks to me. I'm curious to see what PB does to raise the Tx bar. I'm certainly interested in it. My Futaba & Jeti are great but each has some little things that could be improved. Tight integration with existing Pb hardware would be great and certainly move me to purchase.
You are spot-on right about the feel vs look. As long as I haven't held it in my hands I can only talk about looks :)
I know there are some Weatronics for example in Finland, never seen one tho. My wild guess is that there will be considerably more of Jeti than Powerbox even if PB would be a bit more affordable. We'll see how it goes.
Let's keep an open mind, there isn't too many of the high-end systems out there.
Looks PROMISING!
What EXACTLY do they mean by 'Aluminum Stck Units"?
I believe they are not used to the word "gimbal" yet?
Sorry, but just had to! :)