Jblake55

Hi there,

I need your help in getting the best radio for the lowest price. I was given an older Futaba T2PH radio until i can buy a decent 2.4GHz radio.

My Boat is about 55inches long, 17inches wide, I believe i should be able to see it a fair distance away.

My question is, what is the range of this Futaba T2PH, i read about 600 feet, is that correct?

My other question is:

What radio should i buy for my boat? its a 30cc gas powered boat, it needs 2 channels. My budget is to buy the best radio i can for the lowest price.

I read that the Futaba 3PL 2.4GHz FHSS 3-Channel Computer System, range is 1058 feet, and the price fits in my budget.

But I have no clue what kind of range i would need for a 1/4 scale cracker box RC boat. I don't want the boat taking off on me and running across the lake at 40+ mph.

Please help! this is my first boat, and that is the reason why i don't want to spend a lot of money on a radio. Not until i know for sure that i love RC boating will i spend lots of money on a radio.

Thanks for your help!

Joe

p.s: I do have two: 2.4GHz radios, one is the HPi racing TF-40, and the other is the Redcat RCR-2c. I don't think they would be good to use for my boat? I use those radios for 1/8 nitro trucks. but if you think they would work let me know?

mfr02

While there are good low price radios on the market, what is a 55 inch with a 30cc motor worth? Don't skimp. 200 yards comes up very quickly on a lake, especially a lake appropriate to a boat of that size and power. How often do your nitro trucks get that far away? Most "full range" 2G4 sets claim about 1000 yards flying, half that for surface, but they don't usually mention just how critical siting the tiny aerial ob a boat is. Especially a boat with a big lump of metal in it.

crapshooter

you older Futaba fm radio could be worth keeping as the range it should have will suit any r/c boat. do a standing range check to find out the range. if your after a 2.4 gig radio have a look at the Futaba 3PV wheel radio , i have this set and it also has ample range plus a fail safe built in. you can buy a failsafe unit cheap for your existing futaba set.

Jblake55

You are 100% right, even though i don't know what my boat is worth, as i got it threw a trade for a 1/10 scale SC truck with an SH 3.0 nitro engine, and a OS max 2.5 nitro engine as a back up. I think i got the better end of the deal, but my only guess is that my boat is worth $800 dollars, the cracker box DUMAS haul is brand new never been put in water, and the 30cc cobra motor is so clean with little run time on it, i just need to put new servos in it, as the ones in it might not be metal gear.

if you want to see pictures of my boat look at this tread, click on the link: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/spee...as-engine.html

if anyone can tell me what you think it might be worth id love to know! But like i said your right, i love my boat, i love the size of it, and the big gas engine, and i cant wait to put it in the water shortly. Lake Erie is the lake i will be running the boat mostly in, as i have a fishing boat, and i go fishing a lot so i will be bringing my RC boat with me so i can do both, fish, then play with my boat! also my RC boat will go a lot faster then my fishing boat, so i couldn't chase it if it went out of range.

Jblake55

Crapshooter

Thank you for your reply on my other thread about the motor!

i will hang on to this FM radio, it came with the boat, and the guy did use it in the past before the 2.4GHz radios came out. I will do that range check, thanks.

I just looked up the Futaba 3PV radio, and its only a few dollars more then the 3PL radio i was thinking of getting. On Futaba website, they list two different options for this radio, what one do you have, the 3PV / R304SB ($175) or the 3PV / R203GF ($150)
there is a $25 dollar difference in price which i don't care about, but would want to get the same one you have as you use it, and you say its great! i think the only difference is the R304SB is telemetry, and the R203GF is not, does this radio even display RPMs and temp, on the screen?

Now on the other hand if my boat is worth a lot of money, maybe i should invest into a higher end radio, what do you guys think of these 2 radios

Futaba 4PLS ( it has telemetry, and i could get stats like temp. and RPMs which is something id like to know) cost is $375, but good news is, its on sale for $235!

or
Futaba 3PM ( it has FASST. It says its for RC boats, and the guy i got my boat off uses this radio, and he said a lot of people at his RC boat club use it too) cost is $240

i like the Futaba 4PLS better, this is only based on looks and the telemetry feature. but do i really need telemetry? i have to buy the senors for it to work, and who knows how much they will cost.

and in closing the Futaba 3PV radio also looks really nice, like the screen, and i like that it doesn't cost over my budget of $150 dollars.

Please give me your advice guys, I plan to buy another big boat if i really get into this, which i know i will, and i became friends with the guy who i did the trade with, and he has tons of boat hauls, and hes going to give me a good deal on my next boat haul, which i want is a 60" inch RC catamaran with a 25cc zenoth engine, so maybe i should wait until i get that boat and get the more expensive radio then, but i can always use the same radio for each boat i have, so you see its hard for me to decide, i hope you guys info will help me make this hard choice.

anyone know of a site that gives the range of radios, i would like to know that info if possible.

thanks

Joe

crapshooter

all the Futaba radios are reliable always have been since day one of production. i really like my 3pv radio its a breeze to program etc etc , the difference between those 2 different receivers are the R314SB is a telementry type which gives you a read out on the transmitter how much power your receiver battery has just like it lets you know how much power is in the transmitter, very handy and a great safety feature. i am using this radio with 2 different boats which are both worth over $2000 each , [ Insane gassport hydro and Deltaforce gas mono ] oh and there is a fail safe built into this radio as well. i am not saying to go out and buy this particular radio set as if you can afford a higher range set go for it.

Jblake55

Thanks for the info!!! Wow $2000 dollar boats, you must just love the RC boating hobby, do you have pictures of your 2 boats i could see? and if you trust that radio for your boats then it must be good!
before i got my boat i just had nitro powered touring cars/ SC truck, and i had a blast, and the two 2.4GHz radios i still have was enough for the track around my house, i didn't need anything long range. but i wanted to get out of the nitro road game. i planned to build a boat from starch but it never happened, so when i was offered this trade i couldn't say no to a boat ready to run in the water! i had a few to pick from, and even though this wasn't the fastest boat i could have picked, it was the size i wanted, and had a gas engine.

The only problem i have is that i don't have a clue about RC boats, and I'm on here trying to get as much info as i can.

what version of the radio do you have the one with telemetry? or the one with out it? and what would you say the range is on your radio? 1 mile distance or?

crapshooter

my radio set came with the R314SB Telementry receiver but i have purchased the other R203GF receivers for other boats as there cheaper and just as good minus the telementry stuff. i don,t know the exact range these radios have but i am sure there would be more than enough for r/c boat use. $2000 is not that expensive for a race gas powered boat , many guys have boats worth well over $5000. your boat from new would have cost atleast $1000 when you look into hull / motor / pipe / fittings / hardware / radio. it does add up.

Jblake55

Thanks for getting back to me! Yes i have seen some very expensive RC boats on YouTube, like the turbine engine boats, they must cost $5000 dollars, and there so cool looking, and so fast on the water, would love to own one of them!

Today i went to my new friends place (the guy i did the trade with, we hit it off and became friends out of the trade) I had a few more truck nitro parts for him, and he found me the flex cables and the shafts that go with my boat. I got 3 new flex lines, and 2 line shafts, in case i need them down the road. He told me one sells for $35 dollars. He couldn't find me the turn fins though, which i was really hoping to get, and i cant seem to buy them at any local store, I will have to search the online stores i guess.

While i was there visiting him, I got to look at all the RC boat hauls he has, and engines. i also was able to get some more info off him about my boat. I told him that the motor had a champion spark plug in it, and i asked him what brand i should buy to replace it, because i don't like there spark plugs, and he told me that shouldn't have been in the motor, and apologized to me, and gave me a brand new NGK spark plug, which was the brand i thought would be the best, since i use them in my fishing boats motor. I also asked him if he took off the head on this motor, and he told me that he checks all of them when he gets a new motor, and that mine looks brand new, and told me to take it off myself if i want to see it. He went on to tell me that the engine has only ran a few times and for short periods.

I then went on to tell him that i am going to be repainting the boat, i airbrush, and can paint cars, so this will be easy for me, and i went on to tell him that i would be putting a nice clear coat on it, and waxing the bottom of boat to get more speed, he stopped me and said that is something you don't want to do, and he showed me his nitro hydro plane boat hauls, and showed me the bottom of a boat that won a lot of races some years ago. I saw the sanded down spots, mind you the bottom of the haul was still smooth, but it was sanded with a high grit sand paper, probably 1000 grit at least.
Is this information correct?
I should do the same thing on my cracker box haul? or does this just apply to the really fast nitro hydros?

Finally since my post was asking about what radio i should buy?
I decided to go with the Futaba 4PLS, it was on sale, and it has tons of features. I did however really like the 4PV radio better, but it wasn't on sale, and it cost $140 dollars more, and i couldn't really see anything different about the 2 radios, other then the 4PV stating on the box that it has gyro, and the wheel can be moved. I am pretty sure i watched a review video on the 4PLS, and also a video from the Futaba website, and i think it mentioned gyro, but the wheel doesn't move on this radio. But who cares if it can move, when i had it in my hands it was perfect, everything was set perfect for me.
So other then the look of the 4PV which i liked better, and the price difference between the 2 radios is $20 dollars, not counting the sale that is on the 4PLS. If not for the sale on my radio,saving the $120 dollars I would have bought the 3PX. Glad i was able to get the 4PLS, it has the telemetry features i wanted on a radio (voltage, rpm, temp) and your right knowing the voltage is very important, the nice big screen, the 40 memory mode, etc. The savings allows me to do upgrades, and start saving for my next boat! Seeing my friends collection again today and more up close, i saw a few boats that i am going to want to buy off him.

So i guess that ends this thread, but before doing that, what do you guys think about the radio i went with? what are your pros and cons about it. please be honest.

thanks

Joe

PS: i did confirm that my radio does have gyro mixing.

PSS: I think i might have been mislead about this so called sale on the radio i bought, checking on the Futaba website, the 4PV cost $100 dollars more. However the store i bought my radio at had the radio marked for $357.99, and the sale on the radio was 34% off making the radio $236.99, so a savings of $121 dollars. So now after seeing the price difference of the 2 radios on the Futaba website, i think the store just marked up the radio and then put it on sale to the actual price point. I could be wrong, I do live in Canada and RC prices are higher here because of the exchange rate of the US dollar. But even so, i am happy with this radio, and that is what really counts!

here is the link to the store i bought my radio at, so you can see for yourselfs the prices: Futaba radios: https://www.greathobbies.com/search/...FUT&srchcat=QS

crapshooter

when it comes to finishing off the bottom of any race hull it is wise not to leave a smooth finish but to leave a slightly rougher type finish like an orange peel effect, this gives the hull airation which means the hull won,t be glued to the water surface , the orange peel effect leaves tiny air pockets that trap air thus allowing the hull to glide over the water surface. if your spraying a hull you finish off by pulling back on the gun so theres more distance between the gun and the hull, this gives the finish you want. [ no polish ] you can make your own turn fins from some 1/8 th inch thick aluminium but sharpen the outside edge of the fins only not both or the inside. good radio set you got too.

Hydro Junkie

Two things:
1) I have the 4PLS and love it. Be sure to order new battery packs and servos, especially a high torque for the rudder, since the radio does not come with either.
2) To supplement Crapshooter's last post, the aluminum used to make a turn fin needs to be a very hard, inflexible type. If you're going to make your own, 1/8" is fine, IF you use 7075 aluminum. I don't know of any other type that can handle the load without bending

crapshooter

unless your running a large fast boat the 1/8 th standard aluminium is fine and will not bend, the force to bend a 3 inch x 2 inch piece of stock alloy would need to be very strong to bend this. you may get some flex buts thats about it. i have always made my own turn fins for riggers and mono hulls and never had an issue with bending, my latest is a gas sport hydro with a copy turn fin of the Blazer fin curl in type made from standard 1/.8 th aluminium , works fine and holds excellent is fast turns.

Hydro Junkie

I know of guys with gas scales that have literally BENT 1/8" skid fins on their boats. My 1/8th scale runs a 7075 fin, never had an issue. My under construction gas scale is getting the right sponson transom built with a face of 1/16" 6061-T6, 3/16" ply structure and a 3/16" 6061-T6 backer plate. The fin and bracket will both be machined 7075 so there won't be any reason for me to worry about any of it failing in a turn

crapshooter

you can also buy some very nicely made Titanium turn fins, not that cheap but would certainly do the job well even down to the machining / milling of the knife edge. i have a nice quick gen 3 gas sport hydro that i made a custom copy of the blazer curled bottom type turn fin for it and so far it works very well.

Jblake55

thanks for the info guys! im really learning alot about RC boats now! so a big thanks to everyone

i do have a few questions about the turn fins?

do i need one on both sides? im pretty sure that i do but want to make sure

also when i attach the turn fins to the boat haul how far down do they go below the haul of the boat?

thanks

Joe

crapshooter

you only need a turn fin on each side [ port / starboard ] if your going to control the boat left and right at speed, if your only going to go fast in a right hand direction [;clockwise ] you only need one turn fin on the right hand side [ starboard side ] i can,t advise how long your turn fins should be as i don,t know the hull measurements etc , if you make up your own fins you could start at about 3 inches total length or make up a couple of different lengths and test.