It’s been a while since the time FrSKY has released their new and very succesfull radio — Taranis Q X7. Since that time, this radio has got one minor revision, conquered the minds of a large amount of fans and became on of the best selling radios available on the market!

We’ve reviewed Taranis Q X7 half a year ago and you can read our initial review HERE and our additional early to late revision comparison HERE.

Half of a year passed. Radio works perfectly. But there was one little thing that we’ve been waiting for all this time — magnetic Hall sensor gimbals — M7. FrSKY has promissed to release such gimbals as the most anticipated upgrade for this radio since the time they have released the same gimbals — M9 —  for Taranis X9D Plus.

Considering the fact that we have tried M9 with X9D Plus right after the release and found them to be perfectly smooth and precise which helped a lot during flight session despite of the type of a model used — we were impatiently waiting for the M7 to hit the market and make Q X7 just 100% perfect. And now, here they are — M7 magnetic Hall sensor gimbals arrived to our door and we want to share our opinion about this upgrade.

You can buy M7 gimbals HERE

You can read our M9 Hall sensor gimbals for X9D Plus review HERE

If you would like to watch instead of reading — here is our video review:

Starting with the technical specifications:

• Supply Voltage (VCC): DC 3.0 ~ ±0.5V
• Sensitivity: 2.50 mV/G
• Linear Output Voltage Range: 0.1 ~ ( VCC +0.1) V
• Output Load Resistance (output to ground) >15KQ
• Quiescent Output (TA = 25°C, B = 0 G): 0.5 × VCC
• Noise (no load): ≤40mVpp
• Quiescent Output Power Supply Rjection: -69dB

Machanical: 

• X-Axis Adjustable Angle Range: 60°±5°
• Y-Axis Adjustable Angle Range: 60°±5°
• Adjustable Height Range: 24.5mm-30.5mm
• Installation Dimension: 42.9mmx54mm

I would add some more features to this technical stuff:

• Hall sensor based gimbals (maghnetic field instead of mechanical friction in potentiometers)
• 4 bearing design
• CNC aluminum base for the overall stiffness and precision
• Aluminum crossbars for precision in centering
• All axis can be spring-loaded
• Adjustable tension and ratchet
• Stick tips with sharp edge design
• Adjustable stick length
• Aluminum crossbars are covered with rubber at the bottom part to have a soft stop effect when stick limiters touch it.
• Aluminum hollow stick shafts

If we would like to compare M7 to M9 — we would see some differences:

which means that M7 would be a direct fit for the X9D Plus radio and M9 won’t fit into Q X7 radio. I know that there were some pilots who got tired of waiting for M7 gimbals to hit the market and they’ve decided to go along with M9 in Q X7 instead. They had to do a little mod to fit M9 gimbals inside. But my point of view was always the same — I’d like to have something finished and ready to go from the factory without moding…

Knowing the stated specifications and features, I can conclude the following improvements over original Taranis Q X7 sticks:

1. M7 should be more durable — there are no friction electrical compenents that would wear over time. Hall sensors rely on magnetic field and don’t deteriorate because of the mechanical frictions.
2. M7 should be more precise — same thing here — usual potentiometers would loose their layer due to friction, moreover it is in nature of the potentiometers to show some uneven figures and erratic resistance that gets even worse if heavily used. Hall sensors have even and smooth forces that result in more stable readings. Moreover, additional precision comes from aluminum base that makes the whole sturcture to flex less and aluminum crossbars that result in excellent stick centering.
3. M7 should feel smoother — again, due to the absence of additional friction parts and stiffer machanical parts.

WARNINGS: 

Keep in mind the 2 following warnings about Hall sensors technology:

1. Do not overheat your radio. Natural magnets start to loose their magnetic characteritics when heated >70° Сentigrates. Do not expose your radio to direct summer sunlight for a long time.
2. Keep your radio away from the strong magnetic fields — if the outer magnetic field is stronger than magnets used inside the gimbal it would result in reading inclinations.

One important note here: 

Original Taranis Q X7 gimbals are not bad at all. Despite the fact that I’ve used this radio for half a year now, gimbals are perfectly stable at centers, return perfectly well to zero-values and don’t show any signs of erratic behavior or jittering around centers. The only main and apparent drawback in the direct comparison to M7 Hall sensor gimbals — is that they are not so smooth and feels a bit more flexible bacause of the all-around plastics design. Moreover, they would eventually deteriorate as the time passes. Mechanical fricting would never be so reliable as contactless sensors.

In the box:

M7 gimbal is sold as 1 separate item, packed into soft box together with the extra mounting screws. I would prefer if those gimbals were packed in some more reliable box but seems that there are no complains from other customers about that. In contrary to M9 boxes which had blue pictures, M7 gimbal boxes have orange prints.

Installation process:

• 1.5mm hex screwdriver to adjust the spring tension and remove spring tension screw from Y-xis on throttle gimbal
• Phillips screwdriver to open the case and remove (install gimbal) + adjust throttle friction bracket
• 2mm hex screwdriver to adjust the length of the stick (inner small hex screw in the stick tip)

Nothing to worry about. Taranis Q X7 radio is very user friendly when it comes to dissasembling… There are four screws at the back that hold front and back parts or the radio together. But make sure to remove battery and external module bay prior to this.

When inside, there are 4 screws holding each gimbal to the front part of the case, 2 screws that hold special plastic cable wraps and 2 gimbal connectors that have to be removed from the mainboard and replaced with the similar connectors coming from M7 gimbals.

It took me about 15 minutes to get the job done and assemble everything back again. But there were some things that should be described:

• M7 gimbal cables are not very long. Shorter than I would expect. In order for the gimbals to work silky smooth and cables not to bend too much — I’ve placed the longer gimbal cables (side, Y-axis sensors) together with all other cables under the plastic wrap and the shorter cables (X-axis) were firmly zip-tied to the longer ones near the connector.

• M7 gimbals would not go so deep inside the gimbal podiums as it was with original gimbals. M7 would look as if they are placed too far from the face plate inside the radio. But it is normal.

• Prior to throttle gimbal installation — it is better to remove spring tension and adjust throttle friction bracket. First can be done by removing throttle axis spring tension screw from the gimbal, lifting crossbar all the way up and placing this screw inside the special hole inside the throttle crossbar. This screw will hold the crossbar at the highest position and would not let it interfere into the stick movement.

That’s it.

Comparing the construction of original and M7 gimbals — we can see the following differences:

• Min and max stick lengths are the same if both gimbals are placed on the same height. But considering the fact that M7 gimbals would sit 4-5mm deeper inside the radio — sticks become consequently shorter.

• M7 stick shafts are hollow inside and have a passthrough opening. It means that we would be able to have some further upgrades with additional switches and buttons at the stick top as it was seen in Horus X12S radios.

• M7 shafts have larger diameter and stock gimbal tips won’t fit.

Overall feel:

As expected — M7 magnetic gimbals are perfectly smooth, feel much stiffer and behave rock steady when looking at the channel jitter. From our experience with M9 gimbals placed inside our X9D Plus radio about half a year ago — such gimbal upgrade would result into more precise model control. And it really doesn’t matter which type of a model to fly. I’ve noticed the improvement right away with my bunch of FPV racers, while using the radio for simulators as well as with my RC heli models. Each stick input is silky smooth and results into predictable model manuevers. Hard to explain but it stick-movements-to-model-behavior became more linear and less erratic. Such feel was unreachable with the stock gimbals…

Magnetic field test: 

I’ve taken small magnet from 2212 ruined outrunner motor and put it close to the gimbals:

• 1-2% reading inclinations on aileron and rudder axis when magnet is placed on top upper part of the aluminum gimbal base
• 2-4% readings inclinations on throttle and elevator axis when magnet is placed close to hall sensors on corresponding sides of the radio shell
• 0% inclinations when magnet is placed at the back of the radio shell (hall sensors are far away)

Conclusion:

FrSKY M7 gimbals is a must have upgrade for any Taranis Q X7 user. This upgrade helps a lot to master model control and worth every cent. And, to be honest, the price is very low — only $20,5/gimbal. Difinitely worth it. Especially if to compare with the prices for the same items of other brands. Have a set, try it out and be happy with your radio upgrade!

You can buy M7 gimbals HERE

FrSKY premium dealers list

FrSKY Taranis X9D Plus Special Edition is out (M9 gimbals, upgraded switches, new stick ends, detachable antenna, EVA case, new shell designs)

Many people would ask why is this product is so important and what improvements does it have over the original Taranis gimbals? I would try to explain the point here, but lets start with the technical specifications:

There is a list of electrical specifications provided by FrSKY:

I would add some more features to this technical stuff:

• Hall sensor based gimbals (maghnetic field instead of mechanical friction in potentiometers)
• 4 bearing design
• CNC aluminum base for the overall stiffness and precision
• Aluminum crossbars for precision in centering
• All axis can be spring-loaded
• Adjustable tension and ratchet
• Stick tips with sharp edge design
• Adjustable stick length
• Aluminum crossbars are covered with rubber at the bottom part to have a soft stop effect when stick limiters touch it.

Knowing the stated specifications and features, I can conclude the following improvements over original Taranis sticks:

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1. M9 should be more durable — there are no friction electrical compenents that would wear over time. Hall sensors rely on magnetic field and don’t deteriorate because of the mechanical frictions.
2. M9 should be more precise — same thing here — usual potentiometers would loose their layer due to friction, moreover it is in nature of the potentiometers to show some uneven figures and erratic resistance that gets even worse if heavily used. Hall sensors have even and smooth forces that result in more stable readings. Moreover, additional precision comes from aluminum base that makes the whole sturcture to flex less and aluminum crossbars that result in excellent stick centering.
3. M9 should feel smoother — again, due to the absence of additional friction parts.

Note: as LapinFou from RCG mentioned — Taranis X9D Plus starting with C01 version also have aluminum crossbars in the gimbal construction (PR-10 gimbals) that made them center better… But this is not only about having crossbars — there are plenty of other advantages of M9 over even PR-10 original sticks.

Note2: M9 stick shafts are bit longer than in original gimbals. If you got used to fly with original stick tips set to the shortest position — you might experience some troubles with M9 gimbals. In this case, you would have to find some after market shorter tips. 

So, those 3 main advantages make M9 gimbals to be the must have upgrade for any Taranis X9D Plus and X9D owner.

WARNINGS: 

Keep in mind the 2 following warnings about Hall sensors technology:

1. Do not overheat your radio. Natural magnets start to loose their magnetic characteritics when heated >70° Сentigrates. Do not expose your radio to direct summer sunlight for a long time.
2. Keep your radio away from the strong magnetic fields — if the outer magnetic field is stronger than magnets used inside the gimbal it would result in reading inclinations.

In the box:

M9 gimbals are exactly the same. They are sold separately — 1 piece in the box. There is no such thing as right or left gimbal — any two would do. The box is ok but I would prefer something more sturdy to eliminate all possible issues during the transportation. The box also contans 4 hex screws for each gimbal which are really needed because the original gimbals use self-tapping screws and would not work with M9 gimbals.

Installation process:

It is easy. The product is design to be plug and play. But still some tools are needed:

• 1.5mm hex screwdriver to adjust the spring tension
• 2.5mm hex screwdriver to unscrew original stick and tie new ones to the case
• Phillips screwdriver to open the case and to remove spring load from throttle
• scissors or any other tool to loosen SE and SG switches
• 2mm hex screwdriver to adjust the length of the stick (inner small hex screw in the stick tip)

First, remove the battery and unscrew 6 screws on the back of the radio. Than, loosen SE and SG switches. Open the case and unplug 3 gimbal plugs of each gimbal. Unscrew 8 srews holding gimbals on the front side of the radio, remove gimbals. Put new gimbals inside so that Hall sensors would be directed outside the case. Be careful with wires coming from the top switches and pots. Plug back 3 plugs coming from each gimbal — it is hard to make a mistake because the length of the cable shows where it can be plugged to. Use the new screws to tie M9 gimbals to the case. Adjust all tensions, ratchets and so on and close the radio. Calibrate. That is it!!!

Note: if you want to remove spring tension from throttle channel you have to lift throttle crossbar all the way up and srew in the screw in the center of the crossbar. It is better to release the tension of the spring completely prior to doing this.

A bit of comparison between original and M9 gimbals:

Original gimbals are made of plastic. No aluminum. This results in different weight: default gimbals weight 49g per gimbal and M9 weight 59g per gimbal. It means that your Taranis would get 20g heavier than it was before.

M9 gimbals are less tall but the stick length might be adjusted so that it would almost reach the level of original sticks adjusted to the highest position. This means that M9 sticks have wider range of length adjustment.

Springs in M9 seem to be a bit more tough in comparison to original gimbals but it might be an effect of the original gimbals long and heavy use.

All the rest of features and adjustments are the same. Cables also look almost the same.

Stick shafts are hollow inside, therefore, you’ll be able to use mods like this one in future when they would become available for M9. Moreover, stick shaft has the same thread as X12S sticks have.

Overall feel:

Yes, in fact — M9 gimbals feel smoother. And centering is much more pronounced thanks to aluminum base and crossbars. As I’ve shown in the video — it seems that channel values are also kept more stable. I would say that I completely satisfied with the results. Cannot conduct any tests in real flying — the weather is still bad — but I am sure that this upgrade would also result in more stable flights.

And there is some small detail that I like very much — aluminum crossbars are covered with rubber at the bottom part to have a soft stop effect when stick limiters touch it. Small detail that results in very pleasant feeling and shows that gimbals are developed by engeineers rather than economists 

Some more technical tests:

Analog readings test (SYSTEM — Analog test menu):

Slow movements of full deflection to side and than to center:

Rudder from left to center: 044D
Rudder from right to center: 044D
No increments.

Elevator from Down to Center: 0350
Elevator from Top to Center: 0351
Increment of 1.

Ailerons from Left to Center: 03EE
Ailerons from Right to Center: 03F0
Increment of 2.

Magnetic field test: 

I’ve taken small neodim magnet from 2212 ruined outrunner motor and put it close to the gimbals:

• 1-2% reading inclinations on aileron and rudder axis when magnet is placed on top upper part of the aluminum gimbal base
• 2-4% readings inclinations on throttle and elevator axis when magnet is placed close to hall sensors on corresponding sides of the radio shell
• 0% inclinations when magnet is placed at the back of the radio shell (hall sensors are far away)

Conclusion:

FrSKY M9 gimbals is a great addition and upgrade to Taranis X9D Plus and X9D radios. One of the best TX in the world now has the cutting edge technology applied to its main controls — gimbals. This upgrade worth every cent and, to be honest, the price is very low — only $19,5 per piece, excluding VAT as stated by FrSKY. Difinitely worth it. Have a set, try it out and be happy with your radio rebirth!

UPDATE: 1 month passed since I’ve started to use M9 — I can tell you now that they are really great. Even in simulators they feel much more precise than regular ones. When swtiching to another radio with regular gimbals my flights become less smooth. I even decided to use only X9DP with M9 for now and wait intil M7 gimbals would be released for Q X7. Must have.

You can buy M9 gimbals from one of the FrSKY premium dealers

Link to the shop of my own preference

FrSKY Taranis X9D Plus Special Edition is out (M9 gimbals, upgraded switches, new stick ends, detachable antenna, EVA case, new shell designs)

Stay tuned, there are more reviews to come soon!!!