ratshooter

Hello Hydro. I was just trying to help a returning pilot to use what he had with the smallest amount of money spent. Most likely with new batteries and a thorough check out his old radios will get him in the air. But if he decides he likes it then a radio upgrade might be in order. I look at upgrading what I have to one transmitter and replacement recieivers for the flying models I have now. I admit I am behind the curve. I just can't decide on a transmitter. But I will most likely go with the Futaba. I have spent a little time quizzing the guys at the field about what radio to get and that seems to be the most common answer.


That was the best statement in your post. The profit margin is higher. Not all new or returning pilots are familiar with whats offered or required. A good basic radio set up sounds like a good place to start. The most common upgrade may be the servos. The basic servos will work for sport planes like a big stik 40. Bigger/faster planes. Bigger/faster servos.

But now there are all manor of choices for a new radio buyer. The hobby has just grown a tremendous amount since when I started with a Kraft KP-4A and a little stik in 1978. But thats good isn't it?

jester_s1

Higher profits are nearly never the reason something costs more one way than it does the other. Free market economics pretty much takes care of that. The reason there is a higher price associated with a standalone battery and servos as opposed to getting them in a radio set is that it costs more to sell them that way. Each item has to be cataloged and inventoried, not to mention the space small items take up on the valuable retail shelves. And, of course, when comparing brands or even vendors, higher prices usually mean better quality or better service, usually both.

ratshooter

Jester I agree with everything you said. As a matter of fact I sometimes wonder how something can be manufactured, packaged, shipped and a dealer buy it and resale it for the price they do. Volume helps but it is not the whole answer. I am just thankful to have the options I have when making a purchase. No matter if its RC stuff, guitar equipment or guns and shooting stuff I also like to mess with.

What also surprises me is how a model shop like Roys can sell servos for less than what they sell for at Tower. The difference is if I have a big enough order the shipping amount is less than the gas to drive to the hobby shop. And even small orders from Tower have a lower shipping amount than in the past. I go to Roys just because I feel I need to support the local guy. And they sell stuff Tower doesn't carry like the Sig Seiorita kit I picked up a couple of months ago.

I paid $400 for that first Kraft radio I bought from Johnny Cashburn. That was just over a weeks pay for me then. A simple entry level computer radio if available in 1979 would be thousands of dollars in that day. Now that my work status has changed the price of a 6 channel Futaba computer radio is only a couple of hours of work. But I still watch what I spend. I was poor far too long to pass up a bargain or get something to do the job for less money as long as it does the job.

Hydro Junkie

Ratshooter, you're preaching to the choir in this case. I am one that believes in using what you have rather than going out and buying the latest and greatest if it's not really any better than what you already have. I bought a Futaba 9CAP roughly ten years ago to use with boats and planes since I couldn't afford to buy two radios at the time. Now that finances have gotten better, I bought a 4PLS for the boats and will be ordering a Kadet MkII in the morning with motor, spinner and prop. I can't see the reason to buy a new radio set when the one I have works fine, just need to retune the module and receiver to 72MHz from 75MHZ. That will save me a considerable amount of money over buying a complete new radio or module and receiver set. If I had been able to afford it at the time, I would have had my AM Futaba Conquest 4 narrow banded and would be using it instead since it still works fine, 30 years after I purchased it.

EloyM

My Feedback: (194)

Hey John Buckner - greetings from ORBIT'S last Service Manager

Heed the old Latin saying: "Non illegitimus carborundum" (Don't let the *******s grind you down!)
Eloy Marez

OliverJacob

My Feedback: (12)

My 2 cents, the old radio may work fine, but you just don't know if there is any internal corrosion, potentiometers on the gimbals may just fail at some point, or they may last forever. Same thing with the servo pots.

So if you want to go back into the hobby, I'd use this after extensive testing and only fly planes I can afford to loose. Planes with a larger price tag would get a better radio.

Newer radios are so much safer to use, interference and frequency monitoring is a thing of the past. And even entry level radios have a lot of functions, imo they are well worth their money.

Which brand and model to choose, is up to you. You'll get a lot of different opinions when you ask which one is best. If you need help with programming, you better off buying something people at your local club use, so they can help you out.

jetmech05

While I fly 2.4. I understand the need for a budget. I agree with changing batteries and flying your 72 gear. Up grade when you can

ratshooter

Thank you Hydro Junkie. Its not often someone validates one of my post. New is good. But its not always better or the best. But I am for anything that brings in a new pilot. Or reanimates an old one. Or gets a kid involved.

daydream believer

It's called "thread drift" & sometimes it can give an interesting new slant on a thread. It just depends if it interests you
If not --move on to the next post

rcmichael

My Feedback: (21)

If you buy cheap that is what you will get! Many bargains are NO bargain. Buy a good name brand radio, you will save grief and money in the long run.

Aquila1954

My Feedback: (1)

A name brand would be good to people that can afford it. But for me when I got back into flying this year. I went with cheap. I bought a 6 channel FlySky FS-I6 Radio, Rx 2.4 GHz for 55.00 new from hobby parts and I have had no problems with it. I fly sailplanes and got some great thermal height out of it this season. And that is on the park flyer rx that comes with it. This winter I will be ordering the i6b rx's which is the full range rx >500 meters.

I have a Airtronics RD-6000 72 MHz radio. But I wanted something newer.

Hydro Junkie

The first part of your post I agree with so that's why I recommend sending in an older radio to be checked out before using it if it's been sitting for a while. I totally disagree that new radios are safer. When you take into account that new stuff is mostly machine soldered using parts that their source is unknown, how can you assume it's safer? That's like saying a car built four years ago is safer than one built ten years ago because of when it was built. Now, look at what's happened to cars built four years ago. Air bags have been found to be dangerous at best, deadly at worst due to the company making them. How do we know the parts going into our transmitters are any better than they were in the past?

OliverJacob

My Feedback: (12)

That's simple - all 2.4 Ghz systems use some means of frequency hopping, it is very unlikely that you will get any interference. That is what I meant by safer to use.
You are getting way off topic here, radios have improved because the technology has changed.
But to use your example - a newer car IS safer then any antique model. Safer for the driver. Doesn't mean the new car won't break down, it will probably have more problems then the older one.

And I'd probably change the potentiometers myself, rather then wasting money to have the old radio serviced. I stopped using 72 Mhz radios when I got massive interferences through a thunderstorm in the far distance. To each his own, most people never have any problems with their 72 Mhz systems.
I fly planes and helicopters, a computer radio with programmable flight modes and expo makes flying a lot more enjoyable.

Like I stated, it's my 2 cents