RC10B2

Receiver pricing was one of the main reasons I switched from KO ProPo to Graupner. I have had good luck with the stuff. Their radios and receivers have a two-year warranty. Doug at Graupner is super easy to deal with and if you need a replacement will get one on its way to you fast. The only problems I have had with Graupner are as follows.

1. I have had the three-wire ribbon cable on two of their $30.00 servos develop a open in them. Now granted I was using them as throttle brake servos on a 1/8 nitro buggy. Graupner replaced both servos immediately and was easy to deal with. If you are going to use their servos on a 1/8 nitro vehicle I would step up to the plate and buy their $75 to $150 servos. I have found you get what you pay for with servos and cheap servos (regardless of brand) never seem to make it through a season of racing in a 1/8 nitro buggy. I have not had a single problem with a Graupner servo that I run in my electric vehicles (even my 1/8 e buggy and e truggy). The more expensive HVC 871 BBMG that I use for steering has given me zero problems.
2. I had one GR-4 receiver fail. However, I was using it in a 1/8 e-buggy and I raced the crap out of it. The receiver had a lot of hours on it. Also, two of the tracks I race on have some really big triples that it's very easy to over shoot and flat bottom on really hard. My self and several of the people I race with have had Hobbywing and Tekin speed controls stop working from the hard landings on these jumps. So for a GR-4 to fail with that sort of abuse does not surprise me. I was also racing it at a race in February that was pretty darn cold. I don't know if the cold temperatures might have been a contributing factor to it's failure. This is the only receiver problem I have had. Currently I have 7 vehicles that I run and I have had zero problems with the other six receivers. Of course, Doug at Graupner was super cool and easy to deal with and got me a new receiver. The two-year warranty they have on radios and receivers is hard to beat.
3. My old x-8n (not my new x-8e) did develop some slop only at neutral in the throttle trigger, but I was able to shim it by adding some washers. There is a YouTube video that shows how to do this. Recently Graupner sent me a replacement throttle trigger where they changed the injection molds to fix the problem. When Graupner has problems, they fix them. Any radio bought recently I am sure has this fix, only older ones have this issue.

If you buy a Graupner I don’t think you will be disappointed. If your racing 1/8 nitro off road I would splurge for the GR-8 receiver and some of their more expensive servos.

Aligater

iTrader: (10)

Not much press on this radio, wish there was more info and reviews. I think I've only seen 2 members that have it, one sold his recently and I wonder if it was some issue with it or a sponsor type of thing.

Either way I'd like to get my hands on one and see for myself, will watch the for sale section for a while and see if one pops up again.

mustangkillaz

iTrader: (5)

It's a steal over at tower, but who really knows how good this is. I guess we need more objective and subjective opinions to throw around.

Bubonic-X

iTrader: (4)

I have a 8xn for 2 yrs and it has given zero problems I would assume the same for the 8xe

Aligater

iTrader: (10)

After looking through the manual it make me wonder how useful or realistic the features are, they really need someone who knows the language better to revise the terminology and directions.

Deadfrog Racing

iTrader: (4)

I just got a X-8E today. Although I have not bound it up to a truck yet here are some of my first impressions of it. It feels solid but not overly heavy. The ability to swing the wheel forward or backwards is a nice option. The display is easy to use. The front of the trigger is adjustable to fit your finger better. The radio fits in your hand nicely. The case seems to be solid and has plenty of room inside. It includes everything need such as lipo battery, charge cable, wheel adapters, and SD card.

There are a couple of small issues with the radio. The first is the foam on the steering wheel seem very smooth and slippery. The second is the black door on the front that covers the charge port and SD slot is held shut by hinge tension. It seems like after time it will come loose from use and not stay shut. Plus it doesn't shut tight now leaving a slight gap for dust to get in. The third thing is trigger placement. It seems to be back farther. For me this makes it difficult to get a comfortable controlling finger placement through the entire range of trigger movement. I did contact Graupner for advice but they were unable to figure out a fix.

Hope this helps anybody looking at the X-8E.

mustangkillaz

iTrader: (5)

Nice to know. Wish I could hold one before picking one up. I'm still on my older sanwa for now.

rbmellen

iTrader: (3)

I just bought an X-8e and I am dealing with a learning curve on this new transmitter.

I have seen a number of posts about binding issues, but that has not been a problem for me. I was able to bind a gr-4 2 channel receiver without an issue. The gr-8 that came with it was already bound, no problem.

What I am dealing with is the profiles function. They are used to assign functions to the trim and other switches, but I can't figure out how to assign a profile to a model. I also can't figure out if the profile has to be setup before you assign it to a model, or if the profile will be updated as you edit the model.

I don't think there is a problem with this transmitter, in fact it appears to be a first class piece of hardware. I just can't figure it out. Perhaps someone has figured it out and can help.

slowbiker

Each model has five profiles. The same model can be copied, but different models can not.

rbmellen

iTrader: (3)

How do I change from one profile to another within a model? I can't figure that out!

slowbiker

You have to specify a button for this function.

1. tap profiles (except "Normal") what you want to switch, than tap "NEW". You will see profile next to "INH".

2. tap "NONE", specify a button. ex. PS1

3. When you push PS1, you will see these profiles switch cycling.

I hope it helps you.

rbmellen

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, that does work. I have some other questions, but I'm going to call Graupner in the morning for those issues. I'll post those issues here for others to see.

I think this transmitter needs some sort of tutorial so other won't burn up a lot of time getting started with the X-8e like I have.

rbmellen

iTrader: (3)

I have had a week of playing around with the X-8e and I have learned a number of things that I couldn't figure out from the manual. Thanks to Doug and Leon in tech support, I am a lot more comfortable with it.

Here is what I learned, in no particular order. Hopefully others who have purchased this relatively new radio will find this helpful.

Basics:

Models / Profiles:
The X-8e can store 35 models, a lot more than I will ever use. I think I got up to a dozen or so on my KO Eurus after nearly 8 years of racing, so I have a lot of room to grow. I define a Model for each car I race. You can edit the name of each model to make it easy. Within each model are 5 profiles. Profiles are used like a dual rate switch on my old airplane transmitter, but instead of having 2 positions, you have 5 if you want. I am not a "switch flipper" as I don't change dual rates or change max values during a race, but I might want to store different values for different tracks, or even different conditions. Either "high traction", "low traction" or "joe's track", "Bob's track", etc.

To activate a profile, you have to do 2 things:

1. Make a profile active by touching the profile name on the main screen. You will then see a screen with "Profile 1", "Profile2", up to "Profile 5". Touch one of the profiles, and [NEW] at the bottom of the screen. You will see "INH" to the right of the name indicating it is active. INH probably means something in German, but it should say ACT or something similar IMHO. To inactivate a profile, touch the "DEL" at the bottom of the screen.

2. Next you have to define a switch (button) to toggle between profiles. On the main screen, touch with the "F" and 2 little gears. This takes you to a set of 3 screens where to define things and make changes. Find the icon "SW Set". It may be on the 2nd or 3rd screen, so use the + and - buttons at the bottom of the screen to cycle through the screens. Touch "SW SET", then the >> button by "Control Key". You can use PS1 or PS3 to cycle profiles, so hit the [NEXT] button to get to the next screen where you should see PS1, PS2 and PS3. I used PS1, so touch where is says "OFF" and it will turn blue. Touch [-] and you will see a number of functions that can be assigned to this button. Touch [Profile] and the previous screen will return with [Profile] next to PS1. Return to the main screen and you can now press PS1 to change profiles.

Models and Binding:

In the X-8e, a receiver is bound to a specific model. If the model doesn't match, the transmitter will beep, and nothing works. As an example, I have a 1/8 eBuggy and 1/8 eTruggy. If I have selected the eBuggy and turn on the eTruggy, there will be no connection. This is probably a safety feature, but when running 2 or more classes it can catch you by surprise.

Binding:

I have not had any problems getting a receiver to bind, but I did have an issue with telemetry not working. I found that when in the binding screen, you have to turn on telemetry, before you bind. If you bind with telemetry off, you can't turn it on later. You have to unbind, and rebind with telemetry on before you bind. You can unbind by pressing the set button on the receiver for 3 seconds or so until it turns red.

Telemetry:

This is a cool feature, and you get telemetry for Rx voltage and strength with the GR-4 2-channel and GR-8 4-channel receiver without any extra hardware. My X-8e came with the temperature/voltage harness, even though it wasn't listed in the included items. It is listed as
"Graupner Temperature/Voltage Sensor GPN HoTT" and at $4.90 it's a bargin. I have used it on both my 1/8 eBuggy and eTruggy and it is easy to setup. Wrap the temp loop around your motor and secure with a zip tie, and solder the red temp lead to the + battery wire and you will have pack voltage and motor temp available on your transmitter screen. The harness plugs into the t/v port of the receiver. There is nothing you have to do in the transmitter to make it work, just plug it in. The temp reading will be in Centigrade, not Fahrenheit, so beware. If there is a way to change it, I haven't found it. To see the temp & pack voltage, access the telemetry screen and "Setting and Data View". I assigned button "S2" for the this for quicker access.

Customizing Screens and Switches:

The "SW SET" page allows you to assign functions to the trim switches TR1 - TR5. Since I am an electric guy, I didn't want TR2 assigned to throttle trim, as that isn't needed and can cause issues with speed controls not arming if they think you have your finger on the trigger. I assigned TR2 to Throttle D/R so I can easily lower the max throttle when traction is low or I need to conserve battery or keep motor temps down. I also assigned TR3 to Brake D/R so I can quickly adjust brake sensitivity. I didn't want TR4 and TR5 assigned to anything, as they are right under your thumb and I might hit them accidentally. To do that, select TR4 on the SW SET page, and touch the "U-turn" button at the bottom of the screen. You will see "OFF" for that switch.

All of the function buttons appear on 3 screen, but some of these buttons I don't use often or at all, so I re-arranged them from the "SW SET" screen using the [MENU SCREEN] function. You can delete buttons that you don't need, like B-Mix and P-Mix, but I suggest that you rearrange them instead, as once deleted, you have to reset to get them back. I rearrange by swapping 2 at a time.

Wish List:

If anyone at Graupner reads this, here are some suggestions.

1. Add option for temp. readouts in Fahrenheit. We Gringos don't under C very well!

2. Make some telemetry values available on the main screen. Right now they are a couple of menus deep, and the readout is in smaller type and hard for this old man to see.

3. Change INH in the profiles screen to ACT. It's confusing. The NEW and DEL buttons at the bottom don't make a lot of sense either.

So far I really like this radio. It leads the pack in the "Bang for the Buck" department with $28 receivers and inexpensive telemetry it can't be beat. I also like the fact that someone in tech support (Doug) has answered the phone every time I have called. That's the kind of support that is hard to find these days.

I'll post again as I learn more, so stay tuned. If I have anything wrong or misleading, let me know and I'll get it fixed.

slowbiker

INH = inhibit, like deactivate.

When you change profile at profile screen, INH will change from "INH" to "ON".

I am from Taiwan but my English is not good, but I am glad to share my experience of use X-8E.

Aligater

iTrader: (10)

Well that was interesting, hopefully a few FW updates will fix these confusing UI problems. Strangely enough I still think I'd like to pick one up.