Help with RC car/ plane radio gear. Spektrum or ANother
Discussion
Evening all and Happy New Year.
At the end of November with an impending lockdown Xmas, I bought a Tamiya Racing Fighter Buggy from Jadlam (damn them tempting mail drops!!!!) with the intention of building it with the 'help' of my 4yr old boy over the Xmas break. Well fast forward til a few days after Xmas, we cleared the table and over the course of the day built it. I had a Core 2.4g radio system that came with an RC boat add-on bundle (which when it all arrived it turned out the boat came with radio gear so I ended up with a spare radio system) so I threw that in and went to play out the back and we had a blast. Only problem is, I've now got the itch back to do more, and do things that I couldnt afford when I was last in to RC cars about 10 years back. For starters I need to get him driving, but the buggy is a bit quick and wayward for him, so I dug out some of my old stuff from the loft, a couple of TT01 touring car chassis (well one rolling and another in 'donor' condition) and an old TL01 that I only bought for the body. The TL01 got built with slightly raised suspension and some rally wheels so would be ideal for him bashing it about on a bumpy carpark. That then poses me with a problem, my old radio gear was a relatively big and heavy 27mhz Acoms complete with 3ft long aerial thats probably not ideal for a 4yr old. So using a bit of man maths and 'but we can bond and use them together' excuses to the Mrs, I thought I may as well set up 'his' car with the cheapy Core radio, and get myself something posher. The names that always seems to be at the top of the tree are Futaba and Spektrum, with Spektrum being the one I always thought to myself I'd like to get, but it has to be a computer one, because 10 years ago that seemed amazing! A Spektrum 5ch wheel radio with reciever is £155 or so, with additional receivers being £25+, its a similar story with Futaba, and neither have the option to pair to other brands receivers. So a bit more looking brought me to Radiolink, who do a 4ch wheel transmitter with 2 receivers for £61, or a 6ch with 2 receivers for £81. Extra receivers start at just over £12, so I could get all of my 'fleet' up and running for alot less than just getting one set up. So the first question is do I need 4ch or 6ch? I've never had or used more than 2 before, so I don't know whether I'm missing out on some cool stuff. I've got a HPI Baja clone 1/5 petrol car that I guess could gain from having a remote kill, and my drift car could have some lights fitted, but what else am I likely to need or want? It's only £20 but it seems a waste if I only ever use 3 of the 6ch. The receivers all seem to be 6ch and up, and that brings me to the next question. Planes? After spending way too much time on youtube looking at RC cars, I stumbled upon a channel called Flite test, who make foam board plane kits that are cheap, tough and easy to fly. That made me want a plane as well, something I've always wanted to do, but that then needs aircraft radio gear. The bit of research I did into Spektrum gear showed that they do surface and air reveivers, and the two can't be mixed. The same goes for Futaba. Are all other brands like that? It would make sense to me to have a little box of receivers hanging about that could just be chopped and changed in to what ever project I'm messing about with, or is it a case of all brands seperate their surface and air gear?
If you've made it to the end of my ramblings, I commend you! And if you've got any advice I thank you. When I was a kid, everything was much simpler (I'm only 35 and I'm talking like my grandad!), 27mhz and later 40mhz was for surface and water, while the FM stuff was for air, and anything more than 2ch on land or 4ch in the air was super expensive, now everything is so much more affordable, the decisions just get harder!
At the end of November with an impending lockdown Xmas, I bought a Tamiya Racing Fighter Buggy from Jadlam (damn them tempting mail drops!!!!) with the intention of building it with the 'help' of my 4yr old boy over the Xmas break. Well fast forward til a few days after Xmas, we cleared the table and over the course of the day built it. I had a Core 2.4g radio system that came with an RC boat add-on bundle (which when it all arrived it turned out the boat came with radio gear so I ended up with a spare radio system) so I threw that in and went to play out the back and we had a blast. Only problem is, I've now got the itch back to do more, and do things that I couldnt afford when I was last in to RC cars about 10 years back. For starters I need to get him driving, but the buggy is a bit quick and wayward for him, so I dug out some of my old stuff from the loft, a couple of TT01 touring car chassis (well one rolling and another in 'donor' condition) and an old TL01 that I only bought for the body. The TL01 got built with slightly raised suspension and some rally wheels so would be ideal for him bashing it about on a bumpy carpark. That then poses me with a problem, my old radio gear was a relatively big and heavy 27mhz Acoms complete with 3ft long aerial thats probably not ideal for a 4yr old. So using a bit of man maths and 'but we can bond and use them together' excuses to the Mrs, I thought I may as well set up 'his' car with the cheapy Core radio, and get myself something posher. The names that always seems to be at the top of the tree are Futaba and Spektrum, with Spektrum being the one I always thought to myself I'd like to get, but it has to be a computer one, because 10 years ago that seemed amazing! A Spektrum 5ch wheel radio with reciever is £155 or so, with additional receivers being £25+, its a similar story with Futaba, and neither have the option to pair to other brands receivers. So a bit more looking brought me to Radiolink, who do a 4ch wheel transmitter with 2 receivers for £61, or a 6ch with 2 receivers for £81. Extra receivers start at just over £12, so I could get all of my 'fleet' up and running for alot less than just getting one set up. So the first question is do I need 4ch or 6ch? I've never had or used more than 2 before, so I don't know whether I'm missing out on some cool stuff. I've got a HPI Baja clone 1/5 petrol car that I guess could gain from having a remote kill, and my drift car could have some lights fitted, but what else am I likely to need or want? It's only £20 but it seems a waste if I only ever use 3 of the 6ch. The receivers all seem to be 6ch and up, and that brings me to the next question. Planes? After spending way too much time on youtube looking at RC cars, I stumbled upon a channel called Flite test, who make foam board plane kits that are cheap, tough and easy to fly. That made me want a plane as well, something I've always wanted to do, but that then needs aircraft radio gear. The bit of research I did into Spektrum gear showed that they do surface and air reveivers, and the two can't be mixed. The same goes for Futaba. Are all other brands like that? It would make sense to me to have a little box of receivers hanging about that could just be chopped and changed in to what ever project I'm messing about with, or is it a case of all brands seperate their surface and air gear?
If you've made it to the end of my ramblings, I commend you! And if you've got any advice I thank you. When I was a kid, everything was much simpler (I'm only 35 and I'm talking like my grandad!), 27mhz and later 40mhz was for surface and water, while the FM stuff was for air, and anything more than 2ch on land or 4ch in the air was super expensive, now everything is so much more affordable, the decisions just get harder!
Use a reasonably priced 2.4Ghz system for land. There really is no need to chuck money at cars.
For air, get an frysky tx and rx (common and cheap).
Spektrum is overpriced and proprietary.
Futaba is overpriced too and just living off the "old boys" who fly planes in clicky clubs.
Number of channels is almost irrelevant as modern chipsets are not really limited by channels. Something like a Taranis or Jumper radio will handle anything you use it for,plus it is updateable and programmable.
For air, get an frysky tx and rx (common and cheap).
Spektrum is overpriced and proprietary.
Futaba is overpriced too and just living off the "old boys" who fly planes in clicky clubs.
Number of channels is almost irrelevant as modern chipsets are not really limited by channels. Something like a Taranis or Jumper radio will handle anything you use it for,plus it is updateable and programmable.
Thanks, I've just been doing more reading and it seems most manufacturers differentiate between air and surface, so theres no need to be all the same brand. I'm not sure how many channels I'd need to any models, but having a computer transmitter with things like dual rates and channel mixing seem like they could be good for messing about with different projects. I think for the £20 extra I'll go for the 6ch Radiolink, and get a couple of extra receivers and I should be good to go for a bit. I'll have have to dig my petrol car out of my dads shed at some point, that'll frighten the crap out of my son!
I'll have a look in to the air gear as and when I get round to some plane stuff, probably more towards the spring or summer when the weather is a bit more agreeable. I just didn't want to make a decision now about something without at least a bit of forward planning, but it seems they'll all be kept seperate anyway so I'm good to just pick up a surface radio for now.
I'll have a look in to the air gear as and when I get round to some plane stuff, probably more towards the spring or summer when the weather is a bit more agreeable. I just didn't want to make a decision now about something without at least a bit of forward planning, but it seems they'll all be kept seperate anyway so I'm good to just pick up a surface radio for now.
The only real differences between air and surface stick radios are:
Range. Obviously you need longer range for a big plane, as it'll be further away. Good quality gear is pretty much all long range.
Stick configuration. The left stick up and down axis is centre sprung for cars and electric motor boats (forwards and reverse), but normally has a ratchet for planes and yachts (forwards only for planes, and to keep the sail servo in in a fixed position for extended periods of time for yachts).
Some transmitters are very easy to switch between the two stick configurations, some need to be taken apart and bits swapped, some can't be changed without a bit of surgery.
I used to race cars, and preferred to use a wheel radio - it just felt more natural to me. Wheel radios are mostly designed for cars, so any computerised functions will make a lot more sense. I used an old KO Propo FM radio, and later converted it myself to use Specktrum 2.4GHz electronics.
I also did a bit of flying, and I used Futaba radios, because that's what the guys at the club tended to use. It made "buddy box" flying a lot easier, and I could get advice on settings, etc. Futaba gear is expensive new, but can be found secondhand at reasonable prices. It's reliable, and lasts.
I now sail electric boats, and still use Futaba gear, with the left stick converted to centre-sprung. Takes a little bit of thought during setup to relate the aero terms to boat terminology, but works fine.
If I was starting out now, I'd probably go for a decent Chinese radio though, something like Flysky Taranis. It's very flexible if you can get your head around the programming, and not too expensive.
Range. Obviously you need longer range for a big plane, as it'll be further away. Good quality gear is pretty much all long range.
Stick configuration. The left stick up and down axis is centre sprung for cars and electric motor boats (forwards and reverse), but normally has a ratchet for planes and yachts (forwards only for planes, and to keep the sail servo in in a fixed position for extended periods of time for yachts).
Some transmitters are very easy to switch between the two stick configurations, some need to be taken apart and bits swapped, some can't be changed without a bit of surgery.
I used to race cars, and preferred to use a wheel radio - it just felt more natural to me. Wheel radios are mostly designed for cars, so any computerised functions will make a lot more sense. I used an old KO Propo FM radio, and later converted it myself to use Specktrum 2.4GHz electronics.
I also did a bit of flying, and I used Futaba radios, because that's what the guys at the club tended to use. It made "buddy box" flying a lot easier, and I could get advice on settings, etc. Futaba gear is expensive new, but can be found secondhand at reasonable prices. It's reliable, and lasts.
I now sail electric boats, and still use Futaba gear, with the left stick converted to centre-sprung. Takes a little bit of thought during setup to relate the aero terms to boat terminology, but works fine.
If I was starting out now, I'd probably go for a decent Chinese radio though, something like Flysky Taranis. It's very flexible if you can get your head around the programming, and not too expensive.
I have a Flysky FSi6 that I have modified and made switchable between either ratchet throttle (for my planes and drones) or centre stick throttle for my cars and boats.
It's a shame you can't buy such a transmitter with this simple feature out of the box, because it's great having one transmitter for all models. You can program up to I think 20 models. So I just select the model from the menu, and set the throttle type manually with a little thumbscrew on the back of the transmitter.
I have never got on with the steering wheel type transmitters...they just don't feel natural to me at all.
Flysky receivers are as cheap as chips too.
It's a shame you can't buy such a transmitter with this simple feature out of the box, because it's great having one transmitter for all models. You can program up to I think 20 models. So I just select the model from the menu, and set the throttle type manually with a little thumbscrew on the back of the transmitter.
I have never got on with the steering wheel type transmitters...they just don't feel natural to me at all.
Flysky receivers are as cheap as chips too.
Thank you all for your replies. I've ordered a Radiolink 6ch wheel radio system that's got a computer in it for my cars, and when I come to getting a plane I'll decide which stick radio to go for.
When I started off with RC when I was a kid I had stick radios, but when I had my first RC as an adult I have a wheel radio a try and took to it fine and it feels more natural to me now for cars, but having had a few little cheap helis over the years I still find the swap back to sticks fine.
New bits should be here by the weekend along with new parts so I can out together an old TL02 for my boy with a 80t motor so should be nice and slow with good run time.
When I started off with RC when I was a kid I had stick radios, but when I had my first RC as an adult I have a wheel radio a try and took to it fine and it feels more natural to me now for cars, but having had a few little cheap helis over the years I still find the swap back to sticks fine.
New bits should be here by the weekend along with new parts so I can out together an old TL02 for my boy with a 80t motor so should be nice and slow with good run time.
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