This being a very high-tech outfit, with price to match, the presentation is rather above average. The complete equipment is supplied in a robust aluminium box similar to those generally used as a camera case and frequently used by many top flyers to protect their transmitters. Enclosed is the transmitter, receiver, 5 servos, receiver battery pack, charger, switch harness, servo hardware, DSC lead and a neckstrap. Servo specification is variable to choice but will normally be the economy 507 type. English instructions were still to be prepared at the time of the review and the Japanese leaflet was missing. This was actually a handicap, since Japanese instructions are so good these days that they are useful even when you can't read them!

Most of the airborne equipment is standard JR, but the receiver is a little unusual. This being a helicopter set, the receiver aerial incorporates a filter which is located externally at the end of a screened cable. It is understood that the aircraft version of the set will not include this and that the receivers will be otherwise identical. Presumably, the intention here is to help to eliminate the possibility of any metal-to-metal noise in the system getting into the receiver. Bear in mind that linkages are not the only place where such noise can be generated and most helicopters give the receiver a hard time.

Battery packs supplied are 1000 mAH for the receiver and 700 mAH in the receiver. This is a new size and is obviously intended to extend the operating time of the transmitter. Anyone with either a 'PCM 9' or 'Apex Computer' will be asking just how long the transmitter does operate on a full charge. Well, the current consumption is identical to both of those models (175 mA with aerial retracted - 300 mA plus with it extended). If you know how long your existing system operates, just divide by 11 and multiply by 14. After a 16 hour charge, we made it 2 hours 11 minutes before the low volts alarm went off (at 8.9 volts). If anyone tries to tell you anything different - ask him if he had the aerial extended! No doubt that 700 mAH battery will be in demand as a 'modification' for existing sets.

The shape of the transmitter is very comfortable and similar to the shape of the JR 'Max' series. Two adhesive rubber strips are supplied which can be attached to the rear of the transmitter to give additional comfort. This convenient shape has been acquired by a certain amount of local slimming at the sides of the case. As a result, the RF module projects some way from the rear face and may present problems to those who prefer to use a tray.

In any helicopter radio, the transmitter is the heart of the system. This is even more true in this case.

Once the microprocessor became a standard part of the modern R/C transmitter there was really no limit to what was possible and we are beginning to see practical evidence of this. The biggest problem has now become the means by which all of the available information is passed on to the operator - 'programmer' might be a more apt word.

Some form of graphic display is required and, with current technology, this is best achieved by means of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Obviously, the whole thing should be as 'user friendly' as possible and JR have used a technique which has formerly only been seen on expensive instrumentation. A transparent membrane is bonded to the surface of the screen which incorporates several rows of pushbuttons. So, when any input is required, the point to be pressed appears on the screen itself. Simple and effective.

When the set is first switched on, the 'entry screen' shows a JR logo, the battery voltage, the number and name of the model selected, the type of modulation selected (PCM/PPM) and the time that the transmitter has been switched on with that particular model selected. This is an important point since, unlike most other equipment, the actual time that the transmitter has been in use is not shown. The 'integrated' time shows how long each model has been in use. In the top right hand corner of the display is an 'enter' button which then gives access to other facilities. If the countdown timer is in use, this is also shown, together with 'start/stop' and 'clear' buttons.

Pressing enter moves on to a screen which allows you to select the function that you want in one of two ways. You can enter the appropriate number directly or you can step through the available functions one by one (D.List). This is similar to the system used in the familiar 'Apex Computer' (beware! some of the function numbers are different), except that the pushbuttons are 'on screen'. One other useful difference is that when you have used the step by step system of finding a function it will always go to the one that you last selected. This means that you can leave one frequently used function already selected - 'model select' for example - and go straight to it by pressing one button.

There are several safeguards built into the system. If the throttle hold, invert or pitch curve switches are in anything other than the normal position when the transmitter is switched on there is an audible warning and a message to check the switch positions. Meanwhile, nothing works!

There are of course the usual two sticks, with integral trims. The trims only effect the centre of the travel, they do not change the end points. A new departure is that the trims have dual rates. Two rates of trim can be selected. These are referred to as '100%' and '50%' although these figures have no real meaning other than to tell us that one is a half of the other.

This being a ten channel set, there are numerous knobs and switches to operate channels 6-10, plus three rate switches, a throttle hold switch, pitch curve selector switch and an invert switch. In addition there are four more trim controls covering low pitch, high pitch, hovering throttle and hovering pitch. These can be inhibited or selected to work in selected positions. Their actual range is fixed and cannot be programmed, which is a little disappointing. However, the hovering pitch and hovering throttle can be offset and the throttle trim range can be programmed.

A full list of the available functions is as follows:

11 Reverse switch.
12 Travel adjust.
13 Dual rate and exponential.
15 Sub trim.
16 Throttle hold.
17 Trimmer function.
18 Throttle curve.
23 Auto dual rate.
25 Stunt trim.
28 Data reset.
41 Rudder/throttle mix.
44 Gyro gain adjust.
47 ATS - Revo mix.
48 ATS - Acc mix.
51 )
52 )
53 ) Programmable mixers.
54 )
55 )
56 Model select.
57 Trim offset.
61 Invert switch.
65 Swash type.
68 Pitch curve.
75 Servo test.
77 Fail safe.
81 Model name.
83 Trim rate.
85 Modulation.
87 Timer.
88 Keyboard lock.

Obviously, there is not room to go into the various ramifications of all of these here, but some of them do demand some additional comment before concerning ourselves with the pitch and throttle curve adjustment which is the heart of the system.

At first sight, Function 15 'Sub trim' and Function 57 'Trim offset' appear to perform the same function. In fact 'Sub trim' offsets the whole throw range, including the end points, and works on all ten channels. 'Trim offset' only moves the centre of the travel and effects the three flying controls plus the hovering trims. It can be used to directly store any offset of the trim lever, thus allowing this to be recentered.

'Trimmer function', Function 17, allows the 'high' and 'low' pitch trims to be inhibited or activated and also allows the throttle trim range to be set. This later facility is very useful and serves as a very convenient 'idle-up' facility for rapid descents, if required. It is worth remembering that the throttle trim control on all JR sets can be used in this way. Making the throw programmable extends it's usefulness.

'Auto dual rate' (Function 23), provides a 'dogleg' servo response where full stick deflection gives a large increase in servo movement.

Function 25 'Stunt trim' allows the trim of the three flying controls to be offset automatically when pitch curve positions 1 or 2 are in use. The pitch curve switch, incidentally, has the usual three positions N, 1 and 2.

The five programmable mixers (Function 51 - 55) can be used for numerous things and can be switched in and out in a variety of ways. There is a 'Mix' switch which can perform this duty, or they can be permanently effective, or even switched in several combinations by the pitch curve selector switch. Some care is needed here to avoid the possibility of the mix being switched in or out at unwanted moments.

Function 44 'Gyro sense' is, in fact, a facility which allows two different gyro gains to be set and selected directly by a two position switch. Its use requires a gyro which has a direct, in flight, gain adjustment. Previous systems using the term 'gyro sense' have incorporated a means of changing the gyro gain at a given setting of the rudder stick. This is not so in this case.

A very welcome introduction appears as part of the 'ATS - Revo mix' facility (Function 47). This is the 'Hold rudder offset', which allows the rudder trim to be positioned at any point when the 'throttle hold' switch is operated. It is becoming common (dare I say, fashionable) to arrange the gear train of competition helicopter in such a manner that the tail rotor is still being driven during an autorotative descent, so that the machine can still be steered. This produces an unwanted side thrust which has to be countered by holding the rudder stick over and makes the model reluctant to turn in one direction. Hence this new facility to retrim the tail in these circumstances. It could also be very useful for those models where the clutch is reluctant to disengage.

'Model select' (Function 56) allows the settings for 7 different models to be stored but now includes the feature of allowing the settings for one model to be copied into another model number.

The 'invert' switch, Function 61, has a completely separate pitch curve which can be adjusted to suit. This means that the PCM 10 has a total of 5 separate pitch curve settings.

Function 65 'Swash type' caters for CCPM systems, but only for those systems which use three servos at either 90 degree or 120 degree spacing. The far more common Heim system (2 servos) is not covered, nor is the increasingly popular four servo system. It was not possible to fully investigate this in the limited time available, but attempts to produce a Heim type system by using one of the programmable mixers to remove the elevator mixing from the 3 servo 90 degree set up were not successful. This was due to there still being some elevator movement present when the throttle stick was moved quickly. It should be possible to remove this by using another mixer.

It is possible to produce a two servo CCPM system by using two of the programmable mixers directly. However, in this configuration, the 'invert' switch will not work correctly.

Attempts to produce a four servo set-up were thwarted by the fact that there is no spare channel available to drive the fourth servo. If one of the auxiliary channels is used, there is no way of inhibiting the relevant switch or knob and inadvertent operation could lead to disaster.

Function 77 'Fail safe' can be set to 'hold' all controls or drive them to a preset position. This function also includes a feature called 'Battery fail safe' which can be inhibited or set to 'high', 'half' or 'low'. At this point in time, its purpose is a mystery. It does not effect the point at which the transmitter low battery alarm activates. The three selections available suggest that they might be the position that the throttle servo is driven to if the receiver pack drops below a set point - like the original PCM 9 system. However, running the airborne system with a battery in a low state did not produce any result. Possibly, this is a feature of the 'aero' set.

Finally, Function 88 provides for a 'Keyboard lock' which allows you to enter a security code to inhibit the keyboard. Entries can then only be made by those that know the code.

One of the problems associated with the modern helicopter transmitter is just how to present the various combinations of pitch and throttle mixing and coupling in a form which gives all the information required and can be easily understood.

Both the pitch and throttle travels have a total of 7 adjustable points - 2 end point settings and 5 intermediate points. The intermediate points can be anywhere in the range, but there is a certain minimum spacing required to make the system practicable. Each channel has it's range depicted graphically when the appropriate function is selected (Function 18 or 68), with the stick position shown horizontally and the output to the servo shown vertically. With no intermediate points selected the graph is a straight line. Any trim input is shown directly by moving the line. This is a most welcome improvement over previous systems.

There is a continuous readout of the actual stick position, together with a travelling cursor which indicates just where the stick is on the graph itself. As one of the preset positions is approached, two more figures appear which are labelled 'in' and 'out'. This was initially rather confusing, but 'in' is the true stick position at the selected point (in other words, 'input'), while 'out' is the modified position ('output'). As this display appears before the preset point is reached, and as there is already a continuous readout of the true stick position, we now have three different figures appearing simultaneously. The intention here is to allow the programmed position to be adjusted slightly, if required. When the in/out settings appear they can be changed to correspond with the stick position.

The hovering pitch and throttle trims are only effective on the N pitch range. They can be selected to work on any, or all, of the intermediate positions, as required. When a position is set, an additional flag appears labelled 'Hov'. Pressing the adjacent 'select' button then makes the hovering trim operative.

As stated above, all of the trim controls are directly shown on the display. One thing which is not present, and which might be useful, is some means of superimposing the throttle travel onto the pitch travel graph and vice versa. Granted this could well add to the confusion, but it might be very useful in some circumstances.

All of the above does little more than scratch the surface of what is available, and is already straining the bounds of a single article. Those who are already familiar with the 'Apex Computer' will find that much of the system is familiar to them and they are referred to the the writers numerous writings on that subject. Those with the CCPM version of the 'Apex' may be a little disappointed but should bear in mind that the software for that particular product was developed in this country and reflects what might be called 'European' thinking. The PCM 10, with it's 5 free mixers should be capable of duplicating all of it's features, but you will have to do some head scratching to get there.

It is all rather confusing at first, even to the initiated (roll on those English instructions), but, if you need it, you should be able to figure it out.

The impression gained is that JR have tried to include everything that anyone ever asked for. This inevitably means that there are lots of things that any given individual does not need - or even want - but the ideal outfit for you would cost considerably more than the already considerable price tag.

If you want an overall conclusion, I like it - but I can't afford it, I can't afford it, I can't afford it, I can't afford it...