Radio opinions

[mikijh]

Hi everyone - I have usually had Futaba radios through the years and was going to start upgrading my radios from the old 75 AM various magnums I have to the new 2.4 Futaba 3PV. It looks solid, but then I saw reviews on the Flysky fs-gt3c and the Radiolink rc4gs v2 and rc6gs v2. The Flysky and the Radiolink are much cheaper and have a good many features. Does anyone have experience with these brands?
Thanks

[Coelacanth]

I have the predecessor, FlySky GT3B, and it's great for bashing around or general purpose use. It may not have the refined "feel" of the better-known brands, for example the wheel itself. It just feels cheap compared to a brand name like Futaba. My old Magnum Junior feels way nicer than the FlySky. That said, the FlySky GT3B has a lot of important features included for a very cheap price. You can use the same transmitter for up to 10 different cars, which is great...and the steering servo endpoint adjustments are also very nice, something you don't find in a lot of other lower-end radios. Being able to limit your servo travel is an essential feature for me.

[Nick]

I would vote for the Futaba personally. When I started back racing about two years ago I went with the 3PV and it's honestly been great for me. It has all the basic features I would need to race and the interface isn't too hard to work with. Up to 10 models in memory and the quality and reliability you would expect from Futaba. For the money I really do think it's a great value.

Nick

[threesheds]

I got FS gt2e which binds with at least 4 fsa3 receivers. Cheap and works. There's an FS A2 tx but takes a lipo battery which seems to be more expensive than the tx it powers so sticking with the AA battery option.
I'm a Ford before Ferrari kinda guy

[Coelacanth]

I'm a Ford before Ferrari kinda guy

+1. If you're a racer or really picky about your transmitter "feel", by all means go for a big brand-name radio for 3x the price...not to mention the price of adding servos and receivers. The 3-channel FlySkys get the job done for anyone on a budget, receivers are dirt cheap and available everywhere, and they have more features than most average hobbyists would ever need. I would avoid the even cheaper 2-channel FlySkys though as they lack some of the more important options like adjustable endpoints and model memory, as already mentioned.

[juicedcoupe]

I still use older Futaba, Airtronics, and JR analog radios. Most of them still have the features that you actually use, including endpoints and model memory.

In addition to that, they don't have binding or brand compatibility issues. All of my transmitters and receivers on that band will work together.

[threesheds]

I have the predecessor, FlySky GT3B, and it's great for bashing around .......something you don't find in a lot of other lower-end radios. Being able to limit your servo travel is an essential feature for me.

Just info, the gt2e has servo travel adjust for steering but I only went that route so that cheap Rx at £7 each can go in each buggy and didn't have to find acoms receivers and crystals. But purely entry level tinkering with no racing in mind. Also found rubbing down old servo plugs to fit the Rx allows them to be used with the 2.4 GHz Rx.

[Snaab9-2]

I have the predecessor, FlySky GT3B, and it's great for bashing around .......something you don't find in a lot of other lower-end radios. Being able to limit your servo travel is an essential feature for me.

Just info, the gt2e has servo travel adjust for steering but I only went that route so that cheap Rx at £7 each can go in each buggy and didn't have to find acoms receivers and crystals. But purely entry level tinkering with no racing in mind. Also found rubbing down old servo plugs to fit the Rx allows them to be used with the 2.4 GHz Rx.

Sorry, what do you mean by rubbing down? I am getting ready to buy a new radio for my vintage car and I am trying to figure this out! I have old school Futaba steering servos.

[juicedcoupe]

Most stuff today uses a universal type plug, basically a JR plug. Hitec and Airtronics Z plugs are also a direct fit.

A Futaba J plug requires slight modification. You have to cut the locating tab off and maybe shave two corners of the plug. Not all receivers require the corners to be shaved.

[RC10CE75]

I still use older Futaba, Airtronics, and JR analog radios. Most of them still have the features that you actually use, including endpoints and model memory.

In addition to that, they don't have binding or brand compatibility issues. All of my transmitters and receivers on that band will work together.

Doing the same thing here. I am surprised at how many of my 20-30 year old remotes work so well. I just wish I could cut down the antennas on the receivers.

[juicedcoupe]

Nothing like modern stuff, but you can lower the profile some.

https://m.traxxas.com/products/parts/1926

I'm sure that most of us don't run surface vehicles out anywhere near the range limits of vintage radios. Hell, I doubt most can see that far anymore.

On some of my stuff, the antenna is inside the body. Some run it inline through the car and others have loops.

[morrisey0]

I am using this $80 RadioLink on all my current builds: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085L3X5GQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2.4ghz, 6-channel, 10 model, $20 shipped RXs, I don't really have any complaints about it for just running around driving. I don't do any competition stuff. When I put it in my hand and concentrate on it, yea, it feels a bit cheap and plasticly, but really, once driving mode kicks in, I don't even notice any of that. I have a 2 channel Spektrum pistol that feels just about as cheap.

[JosephS]

I guess I will be the dissenting opinion. I had some of the hobbyking brand radio transmitters and switched Spektrum. I spent about $120 on the spektrum radio and haven't had any issues in the 6 years I have had it.

The cheaper transmitter was nice a, but it just fell apart. I got a replacement of a higher end cheap model and it just fell apart as well. The case and body would crack. I had a control know pop out of it's sockets. It wasn't anything i couldn't fix but I wound up buying 2 radios over 2 years and spending my bashing time fixing up radios.



I haven't had a single issue with the much less expensive off brand receivers.

[Frankentruck]

I have a 75mhz AM Futaba Magnum T2PL and NER-2S receiver setup that I really like, but my first run today with a Novak SS4300 setup had a glitchy autonomous runaway at farther range. I switched to a second NER-2S with similar results. With just a little battery left, I changed to a NER-2X and seemed to have improvement, but maybe not perfect yet. My son runs a Traxxas TQi 2.4ghz for everything with no issues including a dabble with the SS4300 setup, and I'd been good until this brushless experiment. Does anyone run brushless motors on 75mhz AM with good radio stability?

[GoMachV]

Are you certain the t2pl (narrow band) is suitable for old school (wide band) receivers? I suspect with a more modern narrow band receiver it would be significantly better. Narrow band happened in ‘91 iirc, so in Novak terms that would be a Polaris AM receiver

2.4 is still king tho, you can take off your motor caps and enjoy better range and no glitching.