Digitals: Jr/Hitec programmer
rthorne- Ganging servo without matching them can cause problems with excess current draw and potential servo failure. The advantage you have with the Hitec digitals is the ability to match each servo with the HFP-10 programmer. The 5945MG's have proven to be as good, if not better than anything else out there, and the HS-735MG jumbo servo is starting to become the servo of choice for rudders with its 263in/oz of torque and 789in/oz holding power (Updated spec).
Just to give you an idea... The average cost to outfit a giant scale airplane with 10 servos and the appropriate matching devices would be as follows:
Hitec:
8-5945MG's @ $90ea, total $720
2-5735MG's @ $85ea, total $170
1-HFP-10 programmers: $160
Grand Total: $1050
JR:
10-8411's @$115 ea, total $1150
5- match box devises@ $60ea, total $300
Grand Total: $1450
Remember that the Hitec programmer will match all of your servos for future airplanes. With the JR you will need 5 match boxes ($300) for every additional airplane in the future as well.
There has been one issue with the Hitec digitals where the servo would reportedly freeze for an instant if the input was outside 900us-2100us. This would happen when some radios had their end points and dual rates set above 125%. This issue has been solved with the latest servos, and any older versions can simply be reset with the programmer to update the programming to recognize 800us - 2200us eliminated any potential problem.
The Hitec servos also have a unique metal inner, plastic outer first gear that allows us to guarantee the servo gears to be unbreakable. The JR and all other metal geared servos use an all plastic gear at this point.
I hope this sheds some light on the issue for you. There is no doubt in my mind that the Hitec digitals are as good as it gets, and the programmer addresses the matching issue much better than anything else.
Vince- Hitec builds all of our own products.
Mike.