I’ve been very happy with Radiomaster’s range of receivers and the price and availability from UMT.
However, FrSky have issued a desist to Radiomaster with regard to the R161 and R168 receivers that use D16, and this bit cracks me up, on the grounds of Patent infringement. Why does it crack me up? Well FrSky originally got into the RC market by cloning Futaba Receivers and transmitter modules.
I think FrSky have also had words with UMT and 3DXR, both are FrSky resellers, as both receivers are now showing out of stock in both stores.
Could it be only a matter of time before FrSky start issuing desist notices to Radiomaster and Jumper, maybe even TBS, over the production of multiprotocol modules that have the D16 options?
So instead of screwing their customers FrSky are now screwing people who are not their customers.
I guess patent infringement is patent infringement, regardless of any irony about how they first got into the business. But, yes, I agree it does seem daft. If they’re absolutely intent on sealing off their FrSky ecosystem so tightly that it’s totally incompatible with any other hardware then I can’t really see that heading anywhere positive for them. It’s hardly going to force everyone to buy into FrSky when there are more and more options becoming available all the time. Odd behaviour.
The Manual and Firmware downloads for these receivers no longer appears on the the RadioMaster Web site. Difficult to find any mention at all. Thought FRSky might have something to do with it
You can find all the firmware files for the R161 and R168 here. And yes, FrSky were responsible for Radiomaster removing the firmware files from their site
I was a very big fan of FrSky until they started acting above their punching weight. A few years back they tried to coerce the OpenTX devs to exclusively write code for FrSky systems, effectively trying to turn an opensource system into a closed source system. That maybe why FrSky are now trying to push their Ethos operating system now.
They also tried to prevent the use of non-FrSky modules, such as Crossfire, with their radios. They were proactive in dropping the D8 protocol from their ACCESS radios, claiming that it was to do with EU LBT requirements, but in reality it was to deter the use of third party flight controllers with SPI receivers in the hope that more people would buy their flight controllers with embedded receivers.
If FrSky are not careful and don’t start listening to their users they may find themselves going the same route as the likes of JR and Hitec. Even Spektrum have reevaluated their product range based on customer feedback.