transmitter decision

[kaiser]

well said lonestar.

speaking of servos, a buddy of mine needed to borrow a servo during a recent race. i lent him a spektrum 6040, he was amazed. he went and bought one soon after.
now he's not a terrible driver, but is more of a vintage guy and has just run what he's had. even his newer cars have rtr servos in them....not for long after he saw the light.

[Lonestar]

Amen, brother Kaiser

[harvey]

I have used a futaba 2pl am, and also the XP 2.4 ghz radio that came with the B4.1. i drive on a small backyard track, and can't tell the difference between the radio signal speed between the two. I need a new radio with model memory and have been eyeing the hobby king HK-310. Can any one with experience with any or all of these radios attest to the quality i have already used, and what to expect with the HK-310?
I wouldn't question the opinions of the racers, and it has given me pause to consider other options. I like the specs of the 3PL radio mentioned earlier, but the thought of spending $480 for 10 receivers is a bit daunting, whereas the HK receivers are $15 each.

P.S. I agree that nice servos are nice to drive!

[kaiser]

it's not too bad to swap receivers, i do it from time to time. i think atm i have 5 receivers, and run 12 cars, so i do swap them around.

i think the 3pl is a fantastic entry level radio. i've seen the receivers for about 38 bux on the bay new.

[fredswain]

I have an Airtronics MX Sport and a Flysky GT3B. I use the Airtronics on anything that will probably be run at a track because Spektrum seems to sometimes have glitching problems around them. No other system does. Then again Spektrum users also had problems with a dead spot in a parking lot we used to race in while no one else did. They were also the only ones that I've seen where people had receiver binding issues. Lots of people use their products though so of course they'll blame something else. I will personally never touch their stuff.

My Airtronics has been great. It does everything I need it to do. The high cost of receivers does suck though but I'm happy with them as a company.

My Flysky has been flawless. Especially for the price. Receivers are $7 each and I typically run them in all the vintage cars. I've had no problems. I've had no performance problems and I can't tell any difference in "feel" over any other system I've driven other than the physical feel of the transmitter in my hand but admittedly I'm using it on cars that get run in the street or around the house. I do prefer the Airtronics in terms of feel in hand. My only gripe with the Flysky is that the trim settings are a bit less sensitive than other systems but as with everything else, I set things once and then I'm done. I don't ever mess with transmitter settings once they are where I want them. It has been reliable and better in performance than any AM based system ever was. Maybe that's why I'm not really harsh on it. It's better than what anyone had 25 years ago.

My experience with Hobbywing has been quite good. I've got an XE Run 60a esc and a Justock esc. Both have been perfect. I've also got a Justock 21.5 and 17.5 motor. Again, perfect. They are good runners. The only issue I've ever had was the fan on the 60a esc went out. I replaced it for $12. For servos I mostly use Solar D770's. They are $18 are are plenty fast. I have a Savox as well which is far more expensive. It's very fast and is a great servo but I'm not sure I'll spend $60 for a servo again.

People have a bad habit of spending lots of money because they believe in the old adage "you get what you pay for". Unfortunately that adage doesn't state that paying more necessarily gets you something better. Spend wisely after doing your homework. Spending lots of money isn't necessary in this hobby. Especially on electronics. You can buy expensive junk too. See paragraph 1.

[yellowdatsun]

The old adage "you get what you pay for", doesn't apply to everything. You can get cheap Lipo's that work just as well as the fancy stuff. BUT, radios are one area where that old saying really does apply. When I went from a cheapie Futaba 3prka, to an Airtronics MT-4 the difference was HUGE. I figured, how different can they be, really? They just turn and throttle. But man, the difference in car control-ability was VERY noticable. The only thing I'd buy a cheap radio now would be for a shelf queen that rarely ever gets driven. For anything that will see track duty, if even just practice, buy a decent radio.

[bully]

The budget futaba are great, I have the 2PL 2.4ghz and it's never missed a beat and is great on the battery life also. The range is very impressive.. The cheaper brands are tempting but can be hit an miss,for some reason the cheaper radios have a worse good/bad ratio than the cheaper esc's an motors. And if you have trouble the language barrier can make warranty repairs a real nightmare. I would say if you are in it for the long haul get a good brand that has been in the business for along time...

[yellowdatsun]

If you're looking into cheap-er radios, don't get the Futaba 3PRKA. I had one, the access panel to the trims is a huge pain, and for just a few bucks more you can get a way better radio. For reference, I have about 5 cars on the shelf that could use a radio so I could occasionally play with them, and I haven't bothered to put the Futaba in any of them. I'm partial to Airtronics (Sanwa), always have been, they make good radios. I'd rather just get another receiver for the Airtronics MT-4, since it can handle like 10 different cars, and use that to drive them.