You've probably heard about the Spektrum and Futaba FASST 2.4 GHz radio systems...these new systems are the latest craze in R/C! Well there is another manufacturer you may or may not have heard about...they are Xtreme Power Systems and their version of the 2.4 GHz radio is the XtremeLink system.

Xtreme Power Systems is a company based out of Lake Havasu City, AZ. The company was formed on January 1st, 2006. Their products are developed in-house by electronic and software engineers having more than 30 years of experience.  These same engineers also happen to be R/C pilots and drivers.

After contacting XPS about their system and informing them of the radio I was currently using for running my boats (JR-R1 pistol grip radio) they informed me that they had a module and receiver kit available for my radio. As a matter of fact they have modules for just about every radio on the market today!


 I received the kit from them shortly after and was anxious to go out and try it! The receiver and module kit was delivered with a quickstart guide that made the installation and setup a breeze. The kit included an 8 channel receiver and of course the module to replace the existing PCM module I was using. I will not get into the details of setting up the radio, since it is all very well explained in the Quickstart guide and the manual, but I will tell you that it only takes a few minutes! It is just about as simple as replacing the module in your transmitter and installing the receiver in your boat. Within a few pushes of the programming buttons on the transmitter module and receiver, you are ready to go!

The instructions call for the antenna portion of the receiver to be mounted no less than 2 inches from any metallic object. This includes metal, carbon fiber, wires, servos, batteries, etc. In most cases this will be a problem in our R/C boats. The radio boxes are usually very compact and will make it very difficult to get a true 2" of clearance from any metal object to the receiver antenna. Knowing this, I put the receiver wherever I could fit it, which was where my PCM receiver was previously installed. The actual clearance between the antenna and all other metal object (including the tuned pipe) was 1 inch. I could have made a separate watertight box for the receiver only and mount it somewhere else in the boat, but I wanted to put this system to a test which would accurately represent the kind of situation most boaters would be confronted with.

*note: the small antenna you see sticking out of the foam in the top lefthand side of the pictures below is the actual receiver antenna. Although the wire from the voltwatch seems to be close to the antenna, it is well over an inch away.

After physically installing the receiver in the boat and the module in the radio, you must "bind" the receiver to the transmitter. This is a quick and simple procedure outlined in the quickstart guide. Once done, I fully charged my batteries and headed to the lake.
Note: when using the XtremeLink transmitter, the antenna on your transmitter should be removed. The antenna on the Xtremelink module is used instead.

My testing was quite simple. I ran several laps with one other boat in the water at the same time. We basically ran a few fun races coming in once in a while to refuel and inspect the radio box for condensation making sure everything was alright. Since we run on a small bay of an open lake, we have a lot of space for testing the range of our radios. I did several runs deep in the bay (much further than you would go in normal racing conditions) to see if I would get glitches or interference and the system showed no bad signs whatsoever. I have also run the boat with the XPS several times since my initial testing and have encountered no problems at all.

The system also has a lot of neat features including programmable failsafe (as previously mentionned) for every output channel (going to servos), channel mapping and power level adjustments.

Transmitter Module Programming:

Set Power Level: the output power level can be adjusted within a range of 1 to 5.  For example, acceptable levels in North America, Australia and the U.K. are 1-5. For Japan and France the acceptable level is 1 only. Acceptable levels in Europe vary so with this system you can program the power level of the transmitter to be within legal limits dictated by law wherever you run throughout the world! Default setting is 5.

Receiver Programming:

Set Channel Mapping: this function can be used to assign channels to different output pins. The default channel map is 1:1. So for example, since I was using a JR radio and the throttle is on channel 2 for JR, then pin out number 2 on the receiver goes to my throttle servo. If I wanted to change it, I could remap 2 to output on pin out 4 on the receiver and plug my throttle servo on pin out 4 instead.

Another interesting feature in channel mapping is that you can actually assign more than one output to the transmitter's channels. For example: assuming I wanted 2 throttle servos doing the exact same thing simultaneously, I could remap channel 2 from the transmitter to output on both channels 2 and 8 on the receiver (assuming you have an 8 or 10 channel receiver). Plug in one servo on pin out 2 and the second servo on pin out 8 and both servos would be responding to throttle inputs on the transmitter simultaneously! Not necessarily something that we commonly would require with boats, but nonetheless a nice feature to know is available. This could actually come in handy on some dual engine setups where throttle linkages can be complicated.

Set Country: this function is to meet various FCC, ETSI, IC and other guidelines. All countries except France use setting 1 and France uses setting 2. Default setting is 1.

Set Failsafe Map: this setting is to set the failsafe behaviour for all channels. Available settings are HOLD or USER DEFINED POSITION. In HOLD mode, the channel will hold the last position upon failsafe activation (for example loss of signal or invalid data received from the transmitter). In the USER DEFINED POSITION mode, the channel will revert to a position set by you during the setup of the radio. This procedure is explained in section 4 of the manual.

As with any radio system it is important to always range check your system before operating your model. This procedure is clearly outlined in the manual. The manual is very thorough and explains in details the procedures to program your XPS system. The manual as well as much other supporting documentation can be downloaded directly from the XPS website.


Final Thoughts...

I absolutely love this radio system! I have been considering upgrading to a 2.4 GHz system but was a little reluctant due to the fact that I had not found one that featured a programmable failsafe. There were other factors, but this was my main concern as I like to know what my boat will do in case of loss of signal. Holding the last known settings and running into the bank at 60+ mph just isn't an option I want to live with if I can avoid it. The fact that this system has a programmable failsafe for every channel with the addition of a programmable failsafe delay made it VERY appealing. The system proved to perform flawlessly during my testing despite the fact that the positioning of the receiver was not optimal.

On top of being an excellent system practically immune to interference, probably the greatest thing about the Xtremelink system is that you can now forget about waiting for your radio clip at the races...you just have to love that! If you are a racer you know what I'm talking about!

To top it all off, the system is made in the USA!

Xtreme Power Systems
2440 N. Kiowa Blvd.
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

Website: www.xtremepowersystems.net

Email Information

Sales Department - sales@xtremepowersystems.net

Technical Support - tech@xtremepowersystems.net

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