we3hokies

New to the hobby, am purchasing a slow stick, but want a radio that will give some room for growth, considering a 4 channel, leaning toward the hitec laser. What would you recommend. Another question, is it standard to be able to shut off the motor from the transmitter , or do I need a special feature for this.

scott88

How much are you willing to spend? If you have upwards of $225 then go for a Futaba 6ch Computer radio... they're the best for your money. But then a cheap but good value is a GWS radio which is about $100 for the whole system (servos, tx, rx, speed control, crystal, and battery) Good luck!

madflyer64

I've had a Hitec Laser 4 for about 2 years now. One of the best radios I've ever owned. Since you are using a park flyer though make sure you get a small receiver. The standard package has a 8 channel and is way to heavy. The feather single conversion are OK but the range is limited. I purchased an electron 6 channel receiver. It is dual conversion and works great. You can also use this in a much larger plane. Hope this helps.

Dr Kiwi

One of the best Tx pack deals going is the Hitec Flash 5 with Micro 555 Rx and HS-55 servos - all for $169 at Hobby-Lobby. HTR971R. This has all sorts of elevon/V-tail mixers for use with flying wings etc, and all the standard features of dual rates etc.

Cheers, Phil

wesg

I was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago, I just got a complete slow stick setup myself. I went with the JR xf421ex with two 241 sub-micro servos and a R610M receiver. It is an entry level 5 channel(5th channel allows use of landing gear,etc.) computer radio similar to the Hitec flash 5. The price was $160.00 for the radio, 2 servos, and receiver(if you get one you will want the version with the micro servos). It also came with a battery and charger for the transmitter. I am not sure if the laser 4 comes with a transmitter battery or not, I think it does. I was also considering a laser 4 when looking at radios and read a lot of good things about it, but since purchasing and flying a few times I am very happy that I went with a computer radio. It adds digital trim and lets me set limits on my travel. I'm not sure if the laser 4 has travel adjustments or not. Also, it has memory for 2 planes in case I get another one, I think the flash 5 remembers 5 different planes.

I am new at this and don't claim to be an expert, but so far I am happy with this radio. Also, I found some good reviews of various radios in the product guide section on this site. Check there if you haven't already. I think you will love your slow stick( I've got about 10 flights on mine so far and did my first loops and inverted flying the last couple of flights). Good luck with the new plane.
Wes

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

As you can see, the choices are endless. The nice thing about it is you can't go wrong no matter what you choose. All the major radio manufacturers make excellent products, and offer great service. I'm talking about Futaba, JR, Hitec, and Airtronics... GWS makes a workable budget system, and deserve honorable mention. Multiplex is starting to creep into the US market in larger numbers as well; they're big in Europe.

A popular choice with fliers of small electric planes is the Hitec Eclipse 7. The only reason you'd ever need another radio is if you got more than 7 models flyable at once.

Wright Flyer

If you had $200+ to spend then I wouldn't recommend the Futaba 6ch myself (FF6). I own both an FF6 and, more recently, an Eclipse 7 and the latter has far better facilities. You will notice this particularly if you ever decide to get involved in helicopters (it comes to most of us eventually!!).

Cliff

blvdbuzzard

The Airtronics VG6000 is a really nice 6 channel computer radio. In a standard package it is $179.00. The plus about Aritronics is you can use any Rx out there. You can change the shift to match Futaba, Jr, Hitec. It comes with the Z connectors so you can use any brand of servo, you just have to cut the tab off and round the corners of the Futaba servo leads. It also comes with a small sized 6 channel Rx. If you have a larger budget the RD8000 has most of the bells and whistles out there.

Dru.

tiggerinmk

The thing that hasn't really been covered is that a GWS slow flyer plane gives you different options than most electric aircraft.
GWS sells flight packs for their planes that give you everything you need to go in the plane. They now also sell the transmitters to complete the package. This option gives you a complete package for the lowest price, but you might want a better quality transmitter for later planes.
You could, as stated above, buy your own radio with a micro flight pack for electric aircraft. The JR Quattro lite is another option at around $150. This would leave you to get the ESC and the battery to complete the airbourne package.
Don't forget, you also need a charger to charge the airplane battery, that's another considerable expense.

Another thing to consider when buying your own radio, is the cost of a second flight pack vs the cost of a complete radio. It's not worth buying a Hitec laser with the idea of using the transmitter on a second plane for example, as a standard Laser 4 package only costs around $120, which is a similar price to a flight pack on its own.....