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Spektrum DX4S with AVC

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I was looking at the Spektrum DX4S and reading about it's AVC (active vehicle control) system - is it any good? I had been thinking of trying a heli gyro in one of my cars to help stability on loose surfaces but would the DX4S do this for me anyway..?

Also, can I assume that the older normal non AVC Spektrum receivers would bind ok to the DX4S transmitter?

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Hi my friend recently purchased one of these systems, remember you also need a digital servo as well

Its a fantastic bit of kit, it controls spin outs from his tt02B very well using 3s lipo!

It took some time with the configuration but once mastered its a great system from stopping donuts!

Id like to see it on a hornet though!

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I got the DX4c recently its bit cheaper smaller screen etc, has AVC though ive not used but plan to try out once get right receiver, i got a good deal with 2 standard receivers included.

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as far as i know all older DSM recievers will work with newer transmitters, you cant use older transmitters with the newer DSM 2 etc.

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I have a dx4c and after contacting spektrum I can confirm that the dx4c will only work with the latest dsmr receivers. I have read that the dx4s and dx4r will work with the older dsm kit. Best bet is a mail to horizon as they are quite responsive.

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I use the DX4S with a range of 2, 3 and 4-channel Spektrum surface receivers both old and new, and it binds with all of them just fine.

I use an AVC receiver in my brushless TT-02B, and it makes for a very easy-driving, neutral car. Basically, no matter how loose and slippery the terrain, it handles like it is on clean tarmac with slicks fitted.

I used to use AVC in my drift car, but it worked a bit too well - took all the challenge out of it. But as a means of taming a powerful offroader, it is brilliant! :)

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I use the DX4S with a range of 2, 3 and 4-channel Spektrum surface receivers both old and new, and it binds with all of them just fine.

I use an AVC receiver in my brushless TT-02B, and it makes for a very easy-driving, neutral car. Basically, no matter how loose and slippery the terrain, it handles like it is on clean tarmac with slicks fitted.

I used to use AVC in my drift car, but it worked a bit too well - took all the challenge out of it. But as a means of taming a powerful offroader, it is brilliant! :)

Thanks this is what I was hoping to hear.. interesting about the binding too ;)

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Wait, first the factories started building all the cars for us, and now the radios are going to start driving them for us too? None for me, thanks.

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I put a DX4C into my 11 year old daughters TT-02B. We haven't used it much but this past weekend we did go to the track. It was very loose and unmaintained but her car tracked the best of any of them and not by a little.

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I have a dx4c and after contacting spektrum I can confirm that the dx4c will only work with the latest dsmr receivers. I have read that the dx4s and dx4r will work with the older dsm kit. Best bet is a mail to horizon as they are quite responsive.

ahh thats a pain then, as blurb on spektrum site says 'Longtime Spektrum users won't need to replace the receivers they have unless they want the frequency-agility of a DSMR receiver or AVC functionality.'

Then says only works with DSMr and DSM2 at bottom of page. I was under impression id be able to use with my older DSM ones to but not had a chance to try, well only have one DSM as other blew lol!

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Wait, first the factories started building all the cars for us, and now the radios are going to start driving them for us too? None for me, thanks.

Not so much driving them for us, as helping us to drive them better. Much like the driver aids in a modern fullsize car, AVC makes it easier to make the car do what you want it to do, rather than it being influenced by the terrain, conditions, etc.

And like most fullsize cars, if you want the raw unaltered driving experience, you can always turn it off. :)

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Not so much driving them for us, as helping us to drive them better. Much like the driver aids in a modern fullsize car, AVC makes it easier to make the car do what you want it to do, rather than it being influenced by the terrain, conditions, etc.

And like most fullsize cars, if you want the raw unaltered driving experience, you can always turn it off. :)

Nail, head, hit! ;)

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I certainly plan to get an AVC receiver when i get more next just to try it out! I was same with ABS etc on motorbikes but know it has saved me many times now.

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Yeah, but with 1:1 vehicles there's a safety issue. Your primary objective is to get from A to B safely, and if some sort of electronic gadgetry can help you with that, and not get in the way under normal conditions (and not break down and render the car undrivable until it's fixed), then it's a good thing.

But on a model car, a toy, I really don't see the point. If you're just bashing around, then learning to control the unpredictable aspects of the behavior is part of the fun (isn't that what every Lunchbox and Hornet advocate keeps saying?). And if you're racing, it feels like cheating, taking a shortcut around the skill development (this applies to 1:1 race cars as well, in my mind). Not everything has to be "easy;" learning how to do something well is a challenge and a reward. Too many things in the world are push-button easy these days.

If you want it, I guess, go right ahead. But I just don't understand why anyone would want it.

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ahhhh they are not toys lol as I keep telling the wife! lol no I know what you mean, I my self will would like to try it as its new technology whether it be much use or not for me I dont know!

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I just don't understand why anyone would want it.

I for one can think of several reasons why some people would want it.

For beginners who might be put off by a car that is too difficult to tame, AVC can make for an easier, more enjoyable and less frustrating drive, which in turn increases the likelihood of said beginner staying with the hobby and developing his/her skills further.

For people who consider themselves primarily builders or collectors rather than drivers, but who still get enjoyment from running their cars even if they aren't very good at it, AVC makes it easier to run an old, possibly rare and fragile car without crashing and damaging it.

For people who want to work on other aspects of their driving, such as picking the best lines through corners, choosing their braking points, etc, AVC could allow them to concentrate on these aspects, rather than becoming side-tracked by other aspects of car control that can be managed automatically by AVC.

For people with large, heavy and/or exceptionally fast models which can pose a real danger to bystanders if they get out of control, AVC can have a role to play in making them safer.

For people who appreciate technology and what it can do, and who want to build the best possible car with the best possible performance and most advanced gadgetry, AVC might be of interest just to see how far the envelope can be pushed.

Which brings me to another aspect of the AVC debate that might give pause for thought: pretty much all of us use driving aids already! Oil-filled shock absorbers, tyres of different treads and compounds, sway bars, suspension adjustments, even the suspension itself - all of these and more are pieces of technology designed to make the car drive better. The only real difference is that these driver aids are mechanical rather than electronic.

Like the more traditional driver aids, AVC requires skill and experimentation to set up its perameters correctly. It is not just a case of plugging it in and your car is instantly optimised for all track conditions. Just like a set of oil shocks that would have their oil, pistons, springs, etc. tweaked for different conditions, so too would one tweak the steering and throttle gain and priority settings for AVC. The only essential difference is the tweaking is done with software rather than a box spanner or hex wrench.

To my mind, the only time using a given piece of technology is cheating is if it is specifically disallowed by the rules of a given class, or if some people have access to it but others don't. AVC and similar systems are there on the open market for anyone to buy. Sure, they cost a bit more, but the same can be said of other mechanical driver aids such as a good pair of shocks, fancy chassis components, etc.

It is also worth remembering that AVC doesn't magically rectify all driving mistakes or defy the laws of physics. Overcook it into a corner, and you are going to hit the outer barrier, AVC or no AVC. You might hit it right way up and side-on rather than in a wild spin or on your roof, but you'll still hit the thing.

AVC doesn't replace driver skill - it only enhances it. And while it may not be for everyone, I am happy it is there for those of us who want to try it.

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Which brings me to another aspect of the AVC debate that might give pause for thought: pretty much all of us use driving aids already! Oil-filled shock absorbers, tyres of different treads and compounds, sway bars, suspension adjustments, even the suspension itself - all of these and more are pieces of technology designed to make the car drive better. The only real difference is that these driver aids are mechanical rather than electronic.

It's not mechanical vs electronic; it's passive vs. active. When you tune suspension, you're changing the way the car reacts to your inputs and the way it interacts with the driving conditions. You're making changes to the car itself to improve its handling traits.

A stability control system does nothing to improve the vehicle's handling traits - rather, it intervenes to limit the trouble caused by those traits. You're still driving an ill-handling car; you're just relying on a computer to "tame" it somewhat.

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You're still driving an ill-handling car; you're just relying on a computer to "tame" it somewhat.

Not necessarily.

While it is true that AVC can help to keep an ill-handling car from biting its driver in the nether regions, it can also further enhance the abilities of a sweet-handling car.

I believe that people who see AVC as a substitute for good car set-up are doing the system, their cars and themselves a disservice. It is far better to see it as another aspect of a car's setup, to be adjusted and optimised along with the other mechanical/passive components.

AVC is a tool, not a band-aid. (Even though it can function as one.)

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I get where you're coming from, and I'm not trying to tell people not to use it. But it seems to me (at least in my own country) that everything is going down the path towards some gadget or some corporation doing everything for you. Whether it's auto-correct or drum machines or instant cake mix or cars that parallel-park themselves, we are gaining the ability to outsource one more little aspect of our lives every day. And people are taking those opportunities. These things are popular, gaining popularity every day, and no one seems to notice or care that they're handing over a tiny amount of control over their lives, and they don't even know to whom.

You're right; AVC should be a tuning aid for drivers who already know what they're doing. But what happens in a few years, when it's standard in every RTR and turned on by default? When the "hobby" of RC cars is introduced to a new crop of enthusiasts as nothing more than another shiny plastic blob that does half the work for you? When young Timmy learns to drive his 2021 Slash by simply mashing the throttle and cranking the wheel and letting the electronic nanny keep him out of trouble, what will keep him from thinking that the rest of the world will be that easy, that every machine he encounters will take care of him like that? And what will he do when they don't?

It's bad enough that these little infantilizations, the little deaths of the spirit of individual responsibility, are happening out in the rest of the world, that we're getting dumbed down one automation at a time, until even the simplest malfunctions will render us helpless and calling for tech support for a problem that our grandfathers knew how to fix with things they already had on hand. I really hate to see it creeping into a hobby that has, by nature of its simplicity and hands-on character, taught me so much about not only design and technology, but also control and finesse. "It is by having hands that Man is the most intelligent of animals," the philosopher Anaxagoras once wrote. It bothers me that we're using those hands to create so many excuses not to use them.

But hey, do what you want. It's your hobby too. You just won't ever catch me with one. (Or a drum machine, for that matter.) And that's all I have to say on the subject.

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