edbu1

Anybody know what's up with the drastic price drop on the Futaba 617 FASST 2.4 GHz receivers? Are they discontinuing these? Is it a just a permanent price drop?

foodstick

I honestly don't know, BUT there have been a couple companies selling receivers for 1/3 as much that worked.. they might have been getting cut out of their own market.

DeltaAmt

Wow I hadn't noticed that until you mentioned it. Tower has them for almost half of what I paid for them. On Facebook, Futaba had a give away TM-7 modules, all you had to do is "like" it, and comment with your home address and they would send you one for free. I got one in about 2 weeks. Didn't really need it, but for free, why not. I've used the cheaper FASST type receivers in some of my foamy airplanes, and had'nt had one problem with them. I've always stuck with original Futaba receivers in my expensive airplanes. You are probably right foodstick, they are having to compete with the cheaper versions.

JohnShe

Bad News, Tower Hobby is sold out. I am checking for other vendors.

DeltaAmt

I ordered one from Graves R/C in Orlando. They have them for 39.98 and had 25 in stock last night. I ordered one from them. Unfortunately I already bought enough receivers for the rest of my airplanes at the old price.

RCVFR

My Feedback: (7)

The newer cheaper ones are "made in China". The previous ones are made in Taiwan. I haven't used any of the newer versions, so I have no experience as to how well they work. My guess is that if they carry the Futaba label they are probably OK.

TimBle

R617FS is discontinued.
The old FASST Rx are being replaced by FHSS and FASSTest receivers.

JohnShe

Really? How did you hear that?

BTW: Tower Hobby has them back in stock.

radfordc

My Feedback: (14)

It's funny that Futaba FASST recievers have been selling used for $50-60 lately. I recently bought an R607FS for $55 shipped and then Tower sent an ad showing the 617's at 39.95!

I bought the 3 for $115 deal and with the club member discount and free shipping they ended up costing $100.50. That's cheaper than the Orange FASST RX I got from HobbyKing.

TimBle

Tower hobbies does not manufacturer the receiver. They sell what stock they can get. The radios the R617FS ships with are also no longer produced; T6EX, T7C. What I'd coming through is stockpiled goods from the didtribution centres.

JohnShe

Right, I understand that Tower doesn't make them, the "BTW" was just an aside. However, the Futaba website only announces the price cut on the receivers (3 models), but makes not even a hint that the product line (7C) components are being discontinued. So again what is your source for the discontinuance rumor?

TimBle

There's a promotion going on where prices are cut on all receivers. The R617FS has the biggest price cut.
Among the discounted receivers are at least two no longer in production models; the R617FS and the R6008HS. BOth of these are FASST, non S.bus Receivers and were out of production by the Nuremburg toy fair already. This was confirmed by Futaba reps present as well as the FRSKY people. Not sure how they (the FRSKY reps) would know but they were pretty clear on what Futaba's directions is; FHSS/S-FHSS for 8 channel and below radio's and the S.bus and S.Bus 2 receivers for mid to top of the range radio's running FASST and FASSTEST with FASST being discontinued during 2014 - i.e that means even the T8FG would be out of production by the end of 2014....
Futaba announced the R6008HS was being replaced by the R6208SB around the upgrade of the T8FG to "Super". This was nearly two years ago. Pretty hard to produce a source when its word of mouth information from reps at a toy fair. You can use the information as you see fit. Believe it, don't believe I really don't care.
There's nothing wrong with the R617FS receiver.Its reliable and now extremely well priced hence get them while stocks last because they won't be around forever. Personally i like the form factor for use in gliders or smaller aircraft

smithcreek

My Feedback: (25)

I would not worry, the F617FS will be manufactured for a long time. Since there is no full range, full size 4, 5, or 6 channel FASST receiver people with FASST transmitters were forced to buy an expensive 7 channel even if it was more than they needed. Futaba decided to make this receiver affordable enough not to lose customers for their more "entry" level radios. A good move. Wish they had done it a few years ago.

JohnShe

TimBle; Thanks for the long answer. It is interesting that they are saying it at a toyfair but not on their website. I don't know what to think. I plan to keep my 7C for a while so I snapped up two more receivers at the good price from Tower. I also get a discount on purchases plus free shipping so it's a good deal.

TimBle

The entry level radios are FHSS / S-FHSS. The entry level FASST radios are lot in production any longer. What is being sold is run out stock from the distribution centres. Why would Futaba continue to produce a receiver for radios' that are no longer in production.
What is currently in production are the 4, 6 and 8Channel FASST Rx. Why is the 7 channel needed? Even the 14Channel is heading the way of the Dodo. The FASST product line is not Futaba's future. The future is FASSTest and FHSS / S-FHSS. Since the S.bus system allows for a Rx to support as many channels as the TX provides, there is no future need for a Rx at every number from 1- 18. As it currently stand, there are a great deal of Rx in the Futaba range that will be gone in the next year or two. With JR now offering X.bus (their version of S.bus), more pilots will start to accept that single Rx are the future

TimBle

John, what a rep is willing to sahre and what a corporate marketing strategy says may not align in the short term. No company is going to tell its market "hey this is being discontinued".
that would just create outrage from modellers.The tactics is to get youhooked on newer more exciting technology and quietly withdraw the old tech stuff. Thats whats current;y happening. Once S.bus 2 is completely rolled out with servo's that send data back to the tx and a full telemetry suite, not many will interested in buying FASST. Sure there will still be units available but as with any echnology company, they only produce what is current tech and in numbers that provides a lifecycle as determined by the marketers. Teh days of RC Tech staying unchanged for a decade is long gone.

JohnShe

Well Tim, I can't disagree with you, you points are valid. My personal problem is this:

When I first saw the S-Bus announcements and products came out, I thought that it was very cool technology. But, I can't afford it. I bought my 7C with 2 receivers and a bunch of digital high torque servos at a good sale price with extra discounts and free shipping. I am happy with the 7C and plan to stay with it.

You are right, the hobby has always been about improving technology. That is why the transition from FM to 2.4Gh made sense to me. But I can't try to stay up with the technology if I don't feel that I need it or can afford it.

Of course now I have to worry about having compatable servos on the market.

smithcreek

My Feedback: (25)

With that logic they would not produce an 8 channel FM receiver since they only make a 4 channel radio still, but they do. I think your source was mistaken, but time will tell, so we can dig up this thread three years from now and see what Futaba did. My money is on the the F617FS still going strong and s-bus still not popular with your average modeler.

Mtthwacrss

My Feedback: (1)

I still can't find any place that has droped the price on these rx's.

TimBle

I think you are mistaking items that are still on sale with items that are in production. Futaba produces more units than there is a demand for. The oversupply is held back in warehouses to provide warranty replacement parts and maintain sales while there is still a market, albeit a declining market (as more people shift to 2.4GHZ, less people buy FM and therefore low stock becomes slow moving and it appears it is still freely available). In some geographical areas there are larger stockpiles of older hardware and it takes longer for this t dry up as the market moves to newer tech quicker - larger markets are typically more affluent. Perhaps some research in product lifecycle management will help you understand?

I doubt my source is wrong because they are more directly involved in the market forces than we are. Futaba is a technology company that produces touch screens and industrial control equipment. Their main market is at the cutting edge so it would not make economic sense nor Production Engineering sense to maintain manufacturing of obsolete technology when that takes up resources from their core business. Typically what happens to old technology as it is being phased out is that production is farmed out to subcontracted factories till production is actually stopped usually when tool replacement becomes nonviable or the market has no further need for the product.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

I bought eight of them for that price, great deal!

smithcreek

My Feedback: (25)

I think I'll pass. I don't like to go around pretending to be an expert on a subject because I took a class or read a book on it. Some people are more comfortable doing that than me. Like I said, we'll see in a few years if they are still making them. Until then I'll assume Futaba who is a Japanese manufacturing company (you know, the guys that perfected JIT production?) is not just stockpiling massive amounts of product around the world then cutting the price in half to get rid of it. I'll go with the more simple explanation. Their receivers were too expensive so they moved production to China and cut the price.

eddieC

My Feedback: (2)

I doubt the reps would purposely mislead anyone at Nuremberg, Toledo, WRAM or other shows. The rx's may be available for a short time, but product cycles are amazingly short in the RC realm, and getting shorter. Makes sense to me, thanx for the lowdown, Tim.

smithcreek

My Feedback: (25)

Purposefully being the key word. I'm sure they were just mistaken. From the Futaba website:

There's never been a better time to make the switch to Futaba dependability, because Futaba receivers are now available at previously unheard-of low prices.

Flight receivers. Surface receivers. Receivers with FASSTest, FASST, FHSS & S-FHSS modulations. Savings are available on over 20 Futaba receivers, including the 7-channel R617FS — the most popular receiver in the Futaba lineup.

So their plan is to get lots of new people to switch to Futaba, many of who would buy FASST, then pull the rug out from under them by discontinuing receivers that will be compatible with their new transmitter, not to mention their most popular receiver? I don't get it, but then again, it's been noted that I don't understand "product life-cycle management".

DiscoWings

My Feedback: (76)

damn I bought 1 off ebay 2 weeks ao for 74.99 thinking I got a deal... and now this!

Well I bought 3 from tower just now, better get them before they are gone, at this price Its better to get even chinese made futabas then knock off hobby king...