I am still trying to wrap my head around trusting an spm4649T as the main RX on a 550 or 700-size helicopter. If I don't care about TX integration, am I better off with an AR8010T or AR9030T (using SRXL) in terms of receiver sensitivity and tolerance to power spikes?

Cost is not a factor:
sp4649T + one Sat is $75
AR8010T with one Sat is $80

spm4649T + two Sats is $110
AR9030T with two Sats is $120

I am hoping Spirit has done some testing with these different RX's or has some knowledge as to how the spm4649T compares to the AR series.

Yes, AR receivers are always better (safer) than a Spektrum satellites + SPM4649T.

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Spirit System developer

Thanks for your reply as this issue has been bugging me. That means that with Spektrum, if you want integration, you give up some safety. That is sad. You'd think Spektrum would have a more complete RX line including an AR-series that would support FBL integration.

I don't care about Integration either but would still like Telemetry. By going to an AR receiver with Telemetry and using SRXL can I still get all the Telemetry as with the 4649T or do I need to use Spektrum external sensors ??

Unfortunately telemetry nor integration with Spirit units will not work with any other receiver than SPM4649T. Hopefully there will be more receivers like this soon.

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Spirit System developer