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Starting to get into the hobby, what would you guys recommend making an investment in? Do you all have one radio for all your planes? I like the 2.4s but I want to know if you buy multiple receivers for each model and link that one transmitter to it? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Jim Schwagle

My Feedback: (1)

I think that all of us over time have accumulated several transmitters and even several brands. If you believe you're going to remain in the hobby for a while, a transmitter capable of storing many different plane's setups is a good thing to have. Yes, you can have several receivers on different planes and use the one transmitter. You will get much advice here from different people who love their brand, all for different reasons. Go to a local field, if you have one, see what the guys are flying. If one brand is dominant, or even if you see several different brands, if you fly there, you'll be able to get help programming or setting up the radio if it's one of those brands. Any mid level radio, 6 or 7 channel can be had for a reasonable price and provide enough flexibility to fly any plane you're likely to have in the reasonable future. Then later on, if you really get into the hobby and have serious need for a high level radio, all the major brands will be happy to take your money and provide a radio capable of flying anything.

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

I agree with Jim. I have been flying RC since 1978 so I have had many radios over that time period. There are many good brands to choose from such as JR, Spektrum, Futaba, Hitec, Airtronics, Multiplex, Jetti, etc.. I chose the brand that most of the members of my RC club use. We support one another. In your area, your fellow RC pilots may use different brands than we use.

2.4 radios are very proprietary so whatever brand transmitter you choose will require the same brand of receiver. As you build up an inventory, you will likely stay with the same brand as it will be costly to switch. There are some 3rd party receivers that may be compatible with the brand you choose, but the choices are limited.

Talk to your fellow modelers, go to your LHS, visit a trade show, and look for suggestions on forums like this one.

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

One other consideration; if you want to fly the BNF stuff that's coming out of Horizon like the EFlite or Park Zone models, you'll need a Spektrum radio for most of it. Some are available in what I think they call PNP or ARF configurations where you put in all your radio stuff but most of it is Spektrum.