New Boards From Elmod.

[EAO]

Hello to all,

As of November 10th, 2021 Thomas at Elmod has released a couple of new boards to his inventory. First is the Elmod Fusion X which replaced the Fusion Eco and Pro models. It is smaller than the previous boards and has more features now too. It is also fully configurable so all functions can be freely assigned to any available channel.

There is also now an Elmod 4WD board that replaces the Elmod 3 up through the Elmod Puma. It appears to be a scaled down Fusion X stripped of any unneeded connectors.

There are also some new adapter boards to even increase the amount of features offered. A FX Expander for more servo and lighting options. FX Battle for sorting out IR capabilities between manufacturers, and FX SBus for compatible radios up to 16 channels. FX Stabi is currently under development to be used on modern tanks with their stabilized cannons.

Lots going on with Thomas and his company. It will be interesting to see reports from member's on how these new products sort out in the field. As for me; I love my Elmod Fusion Pro and Thomas is great at customer service, so I'm sure these new offerings will be top notch too. I'm also 100% sure that these new offerings would also totally overwhelm my tech challenged brain!

Perhaps one of our radio/board experts could shed more light and insights on these new products from Thomas? You guessed it! I'm thinking Rad!

Just thought I'd share.

Cheers,
Eric.

[Kaczor]

As it was said already on other forums it's a step back. No more external ESC (no more brushless motors) and overall less functions for more money.

[Tiger6]

The ability to use an external ESC was dropped on the previous generation, suggesting that it was probably something that few people wanted and wasn't worth keeping in the product offering.

[Rad_Schuhart]

Hi, yeah, as Kaczor points, it has already been discused almost everywhere, and there it seems to be a global consensus.

For everybody, it seems the new board is a big step back, because:
It does not have support for external ESCs (But I don't know anybody that uses them, but annoys some guys)
It does not support not even one servo anymore, when it used to have 3, which is a disaster.
It misses one machine gun light.
It misses one auxiliar light.
And now is more expensive than the previous board, with less functions

Besides that, when I was testing the Fusion Pro I requested several things that fortunately changed:
To have the 24 user sounds (It used to have eight), and I told him how to (Channel splitting), and he did it. Can't be happier here
To have sound when triggering light and smoke machine. He implemented it too.
Some other bugs and errors that were corrected immediatelly

What I requested and he refused:
To be able to disable the damn inertia which ruins the use of this board for half of world population. No way, unfortunately.
More battle options for those who battle, machine gun combat, repairings and so on. Nope
To be able to play sounds with decent quality. That was not possible because of hardware limits, but I hoped to be fixed in next version. Some other boards have a much better sound. No dice.
To have more auxiliar lights. Well, now we lost the only one we had... Unless you pay 44 extra euros for the accesorie that lets you have more lights.

So, at this point, I might be wrong, but I think this can be like what happened with the "IBU 3" which was a failure. I would not be surprised to see an Elmod Fusion Pro 2.0 or something similar quite soon...

Meanwhile, I stick with Beier, does MUCH more, for less.

[BarryC]

I can hardly wait for the GBS Add on!

Barry

[B_Man]

Upgraded sound quality would probably have tipped me over to upgrading but otherwise I'll stick with my Fusion Pro for now. The price hike is understandable in the current climate and I'm not against having an additional module for lights and servos as not everyone needs that but otherwise it just doesn't do anything I need that my current board can't.

Rad - I understand your frustration with not being able to switch off inertia but I can always stop my tanks on the spot with the brake function so it's never been an issue for me.

[Jimster]

Hell, I love the inertia with braking capability. I love pumping the brakes to control my stopping. A pump or two to slow down a bit or lay on the brakes to stop quickly. Very satisfying and realistic. Just one of the many features I love about the Fusion Pro.
But I can’t understand why the newest Elmod board lacks any servo outputs. That’s crazy.

[HERMAN BIX]

An Elmod without servo function is like a pub with no beer............

[Rad_Schuhart]

Barry_C: Add a 5 euro aircrafte gyro to your old elmod, and you get GBS.
B_Man/Jimster: Most of the time I like the inertia too, but sometimes I need to disable it. For example when driving over rough surfaces, when my children drive, on when I am in a RC meeting with 50 toys moving at the same time. Even with brake set to max it still takes like a lot to brake when full speed. Inertia is cool, but I don't want anybody to decide how to drive the tank for me.
Herman: Yep, that too.

[EAO]

Rad,

Thanks for giving your critique of the new boards. Somehow when you give a run down or explanation it gets processed by my brain easier! It would appear that this is a case of "less is not more". Seems the board size was reduced by removing some of the key components with the idea that you'd buy the main board and then add the adapter boards that you needed or wanted. By that time I'd think that the only advantage of smaller size would be negated?

I had heard a while back on the Forum that the new Elmod's would be coming out this Fall (sorry can't remember who said that). My free time is next to nonexistent, but I do watch the Elmod website for updates. I was hoping that this would be a "ground breaking" new board but it sure looks like it isn't. As usual, I'm one of the last to hear news like this.

I agree with B_Man that improved sound quality would of been a winner. It would have to be a pretty impressive improvement over my Fusion Pro to get me to make the switch. I think he's also right about the increase in the price. Unfortunately, it's a sign of the times. Especially in a niche hobby like ours. I also agree with him and Jimster about the inertia. I love it, but I ran into lots of chair legs, etc. before mastering the controls on my Taranis. I do think a simple disable feature would be helpful though.

As it was said already on other forums it's a step back. No more external ESC (no more brushless motors) and overall less functions for more money.

What! There are other forums?!? Surely you jest! As I already noted I have a dearth of free time. I do know lots of members here are members on other forums too. Actually, I belong to another forum also, but haven't visited it in like....forever. So I chose the best and weeded out all the rest! I'll devote what free time I have here. Where the expertise, knowledge, and best, friendliest, trusted member's reside! I'll stop now before I get all mushy!

Cheers guys,
Eric.