Newbie Questions
 

I am new to R/C. I am a pilot of real aircrafts, and thought that R/C would be a blast, and a lot cheaper. My biggest question right now is controllers. I know nothing. Do both the transmitter, and the reciever have crystals. Do you just put a 72mhz, for example, crystal in each unit. Can I use different brand transmitters and recievers. Can any micro reciever work on a foamie. Are all computer radio brands compatable. How do I buy servos. I am specifically interested in foamies. Will somebody do my dirty work and tell me exactly what I need from tower hobbies to get a good trainer (possibly the slow stick). I would rather get an inexpensive controler now, and purchase a higher end one in a couple of months. The goal is as cheaply as possible, but teach me to fly, so that I can upgrade later.

RE: Newbie Questions
 

Yes, the TX and RX have their own crystals, there are a few TX's that do not use crystals, but most do. Almost all aircraft is 72mhz frequency, it is the channel that is the important part. Say your TX has a channel 17 crystal, your reciver must then have a channel 17 crystal as well. You can use some brands together, I use Futaba and Hitec. They are both negative shift. Jr and I believe Airtronics are positive shift. You cannot use positive and negative shift equipment together. Just about anything that is micro will be ok weight wise. It would be better to go ahead and get the better radio now, prices are not a whole lot different between say a 4 channel and six channel radio, it would be worth the extra money now to get something like the Futaba 6EX-PCM that you can use on up to 8 different planes (You just buy a receiver for each plane, and get the matching channel crystal), than to buy something better 2 months from now and have the other $$$$ sitting in the garage.

Here is the link for the radio, it comes with 3 sub-micro servos and a micro receiver, well worth the money, all you need is a motor, ESC and battery and off you go http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXJUV7**&P=0

RE: Newbie Questions
 

What is negative and possitive shift. Why is a transmitter a tx and a reciever an rx.

RE: Newbie Questions
 

Positive and negative shift are two ways to encode the control signals sent from the transmitter to the receiver. Some manufacturers use one, some use the other. Technically, there is no advantage to either one. Just be sure your transmitter and receiver have the same shift, or that your receiver is one that automatically detects the shift of the transmitter.

Tx and rx are simply abbreviations for transmitter and receiver. The abbreviations originated with Morse Code operators many years ago, long before R/C flying was born.

- Jeff

RE: Newbie Questions
 

just to let you know after you select your tx and rx... there are flight packs you can buy to make it simple to complete your slow stick.... they come with your esc( electronic Speed Control) battery, servo's and Recievers,... I have a slow stick I love it... I do suggest you also get some dubro ez connectors... they make adjusting your slow stick a lot easier... and dont follow the instructions that come with the slow stick... look up a few different sites that cover the slow stick... the directions that come with them are kind of confusiong and dont explain a whole lot but other than that a great trainer... and can be modified later for more performance

RE: Newbie Questions
 

If you want to go with something inexpensive initially, to get most of your crashing while learning out of the way, check out the Hobby Zone SuperCub. Its one of the best beginner planes currently available and comes complete, ready to fly for around $160.

RE: Newbie Questions
 

What you need to know about receivers
http://forums.flyesl.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=258

Don't Buy a Standard Radio
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4454

What Goes on Which Stick
http://forums.flyesl.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=234

These articles may be helpful in understanding radios and receivers.

RE: Newbie Questions
 

I am new to the radio control industry and i was wondering if it is possible to radio control an electric wheelchair that already has a speed controller. If so how do i go about doing this, i have some electronics experience but still see myself as a beginner. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

RE: Newbie Questions
 

Look more at the robotics equipment then airplane equipment.