denon

I am totally new to the Rc car world (Well at least in the last twenty years). I have the Electrix stadium truck for my 8 year old son and he absolutely loves it. It has been quite durable for him and have only had to replace a few parts. The one thing I would like to change is the radio from AM to FM to increase the distance when he goes to a track. Is there a cheap way to do this as we are on a budget. Thanks in advance.

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

From AM to FM is worthless. You would want AM to 2.4 GHz. Just hook it up, and that is all.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html

SyCo_VeNoM

agree with above
Place with it in stock though
Blue http://www.hobbypartz.com/79p-gt2-blue.html
Orange http://www.hobbypartz.com/fs-g2-24ghz-radio.html

The range will be farther then can be seen with the naked eye (stupid thing won't stop the link...)

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

It was in stock when I suggested it, LOL!

SyCo_VeNoM

weird when I clicked it said out of stock, and now I looked it says 10... Well that is hobbyking for ya lol

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

Agreed, lol.

nitroexpress

Although I don't own a FlySky, I wouldn't recommend one. This is based on various reviews posted on another forum by a respected member. One of his posts follows.

"I've owned 6 different Fly Sky radios ranging from FS-GT2, GT3B and GT3C models. All 6 radios that I owned have given me various problems over time. While each radio worked flawlessly for the first 6 months or so, each would start to incorporate various problems as they aged. Some would simply need the Rx to be rebinded on occassion, while others needed the Rx to be completely replaced. Eventually some radios started experiencing severe range issues no matter what. I no longer recommend any Fly Sky radio to anyone without disclosing that they should expect a lifespan of 6 months to a year before starting to experience similar problems.

I have since been testing the 3XS radio over the past year and it's proving to be faster, smoother, glitch free, more advanced features and no software hacks necessary"

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

nitro, keep in mind, it is just for a kid. He's not going to be racing on a professional level, so there is no use for a digitalized radio.

SyCo_VeNoM

I've owned my FS-GT3 since before they were even sold in the US as I imported mine(well over 3 years), and it works just as well as day one, and I've knocked the antenna off(dropped it down quite a few stairs multiple times), broke the trigger(my fault, and it cost nothing to fix...), even ripped it apart to convert it to use 3S lipos, and I've YET to have to rebind any of my 10 RX's to it. As you can see I don't take care of it either. My GT2 works perfectly fine, and so does my GT3b(again 10 RX's on it), and I got those pretty much the month they went on sale in the US again none of them have needed a rebinding, and all still have range far past I can see. I also have a 6 channel air radio that never had issues, and never lost its programming in the 3+ years I owned it.

I can't say what that dude done to his as we all know every bodies mileage will vary due how they use the equipment, but what I can say is I never had any real issues from the craftsmanship. I make sure I don't put any stress on my RX's antenna wire so it doesn't get damaged(I've seen some people stretch them too far then cry it breaks) as they can rip off the board pretty easy due to the RX size, and keep the antenna well out of harms way under the shell(no idea why people put 2.4ghz out of the shell still)

Its like people with Hobbywing ESC's some say they are crap others like me have used them(and own like 8-12) since they started selling them with no issues. Some people love castle ESC's where Castle ESC's have only given me headaches (will say they have nice motors though)
I won't lie the GT3b DOES have one issue right out of the box with the expo settings not working at all(not sure if its fixed yet as I never cared as I don't race)

BTW I've seen "respected" members on another site that posted insanely erroneous info on a subject they had absolutely 0 knowledge on basically copying bogus info on a site, and ridiculed someone off the board who posted the correct info (it was on castle ESC's) the erroneous info guy was so respected the mods on that forum even joined in ridiculing the correct dude.
Hell even here I used to get into it with "respected" members who would post stuff. One said Hobbywing ESC's were complete crap acting like he used them. Turned out he never used one, and based his opinion on the price... Same with the flysky radios he said they were crappy cause they were low cost, and didn't have the featureset of his $400 radio...

mike31

My Feedback: (67)

Gee, funny you should say that. Up until last Summer I was using AM on 2 of my R/C planes. Not park flyers either. There was a time when AM was widely in use even at contests. To each his own.

denon

Wow....thank you all so much for the information. I had no idea about the 2.4. I am going to go with the GT2. Thank you once again for the info and the links. My son will be excited to get out on the tracks with some of his friends now.

erik valdez

My Feedback: (80)

Just because 2.4 is the new kid on the block doesn't mean FM is worthless. I agree that in some cases 2.4 can be superior, but FM is still a very viable platform to operate on.

SyCo_VeNoM

Well it all depends if you have a good AM, or FM radio then your mileage might vary which I'm guessing you guys had for planes...
Notice though this topic is about an RTR radio in a ground RC as far as radios go the RTR ground AM radios from my experience are usually almost all pretty poor. Then there is the problem with rollovers damaging the antenna shortening the range which honestly when you flyguys get into the situation to damage an antenna you have way more serious problems on your hands as the plane usually crashed

2.4 on ground RC's does have one insane benefit neither AM or FM has which is you can keep the antenna in the body safe from danger of rollovers

rgburrill

Why do you think changing to FM, or even 2.4 GHz will give you more range?

rgburrill

Putting the antenna through a plastic tube can solve a rollover problem. But how do you solve an interference problem with 2.4 GHz when someone else's car is between you and your car? Whip antennas pass each other quickly but a car can easily block line-of-sight, especially at farther distances.

GerKonig

Wow! Really? How old were the AM radios? AM was used in contests well over a decade ago...

Gerry

SyCo_VeNoM

huh? line of sight? are you talking about RC cars blocking it or normal vehicles on the road? if its RC's races have 8+ people all on 2.4ghz, and never have that issue. Also I've ran with 4 other 2.4ghz radios (actually all were mine I borrowed out), and never had an issue. Even normal vehicles I've never had an issue, and I've lost LOS many a times driving under cars... You do know radio waves pass through most objects fairly easy right? and the ones it won't pass through AM won't either.

also I've had the tube rip out of the little holder its supposed to slot into on MANY occurrences. most land based RC's can go 20-60mph easily that tube isn't protecting anything(then there is the interference brushless can cause due to the EMF noise)

As for why 2.4 usually gives more range it has less interference AM(specially cheaper RTR radios) are prone to picking up noise (this is especially true in the city I've had vehicles drive themselves into walls without touching the radio) due to the way the signal is encoded the RX will block out garbage. I've owned 5+ different brands of AM radios(Traxxas, Futaba, redcat to name a few), and EVER SINGLE ONE suffered from these issues, and the farthest any one of them would go would be maybe 150 feet max before glitching would occur.
The fact the 2.4s I linked can go well over 1/8th of a mile with no issues what so ever kinda shows greater range. Granted AM signals can travel farther (as we have controlled things on the moon with AM), but like I said they are more prone to interference which cuts their range down drastically, and is also limited by the transmitter power(which I believe surface based RC's have a lower power output due to the FCC then air based as generally you guys go a hell of a lot farther)

erik valdez

My Feedback: (80)

Just simply making the point that newer doesn't mean that the older is no longer viable. Instant coffee didn't put coffee machines out of business. For a newbie especially a younger one who may not have the means (not in this case) to purchase a top of the line 2.4 system. There is absolutely nothing wrong with 72mhz.

SyCo_VeNoM

well in ground user case it seems they don't make radios in the 70mhz spectrum(I think ground based was 75mhz could be wrong though) anymore Hell even AM's are rare now(tower has one that could do ground lol)
Looked on tower, and the FM radio they had which for airplanes which for how much it cost the OP could get 7 of the radio I recommended lol

Now for RC subs I will say AM reigns supreme due to how the signal propagates underwater (just in case any RC sub guys decide to chime in, and say AM is superior )

side note if the OP wants to learn a little more on how radios work in RC's http://www.hotslots132.com/understan...ios-a-266.html seemed like a ok thing (found it while trying to find ground based FM frequency which I couldn't find oddly enough)

chuckk2

My son is fooling around with a much hacked model P/U truck.
Controller Nvidia Shield (Wi FI RF link)
Arduno RX & Controller
Video camera signal processed by the Arduno and sent to the Nvidia Shield,
with real time display via the Shield.
The truck has LED white lighting (Off Road Style) which is good enough for
decent video in a room with no other light.

(There are other options!)

OliverJacob

My Feedback: (12)

+1 on the 2.4Ghz system. No interference with other radios, your rx will simply not listen to another tx.

The 'line of sight' is a myth. 2.4 Ghz does not have the the ability to go through walls and other objects
as well as the long wave (AM or FM) systems, but you will not get you rc car out of range under normal conditions.


Nothing wrong with using an older radio, but if you are in the market for a new one, 2.4 is the way to go.

phmaximus

Dont belive it..... There are enough happy users of the Flysky gear. Including myself
What's to say that guy is not trolling? I mean various problems my ass.

only range issues I know of is if the user brakes the tip of the antenna on the receiver,,,, but that's the same with any brand.
so u can't really say its a bad product because on user error that leads to failure.

I don't know about u guys but I only go from my own personal experience. In short I don't have a lot of faith for most of the reviews in forums... According to "those" reviews my slash should of broke years ago

nitroexpress

What makes you think the comments were anything other than from a user who was posting his experiences from usage and testing? His comments were not a "review".
I don't follow the Flysky forums closely (I've never considered getting one), but lumping all the 3 series of models together they seem to exhibit the following propensities.

throttle trigger attends to break
some functions need a hack in order to work
battery drain is high - voltage regulator needs upgrading
internal components somewhat fragile
range and interference problems similar to Spektrum

It seems to be a no no to link to other forums, so Google Flysky problems. I have no hesitation in saying that this person has more radio experience and knowledge than the both of us put together. BTW, if everyone only went by personal experience, no one would listen to you.

collector1231

My Feedback: (1)

PROBLEMS? SPEKTRUM? GO HOME NITROEXPRESS, YOU'RE DRUNK. But really, all my Spektrum and Flysky systems I have owned (that includes AM/FM and OrangeRX) have never had a problem. Also, like I said before (but no one listens to me) "Its just a kid using it for some fun." We aren't looking for perfection here, guys.

SyCo_VeNoM

GT3 has the trigger problem it breaks if you squeeze it too hard the GT2, and 3b, and newer don't have the issue, and honestly it taked 5 mins, and piece of wire(just a little teeny piece stripped) a drop of superglue to fix it for good so I don't even really consider it a huge issue.
GT3, and 3b I will admit the battery drain is kinda high (not higher then my old AM radios mind you) which is the reason I swapped the battery compartment to hold a 3Slipo. 8AA's in the GT3, and 3b get around 8 hours from my testing. Not sure on the GT2, but I would assume its more run time as its not powering a LCD screen, and a pile of other stuff.
3B has the Expo issue... which if you are not racing is not that big of an issue anyways lol

Internal parts are about as fragile as any other radio (now what I found fragile were Traxxas AM radios those things broke EASY) hell if they were fragile I'm sure one of the many times I dropped it off my car (almost once an outing) onto the ground, or dropped it down 8 stairs it would have broke one of those times.
never had range or interference problems on 20 RX's IMO the RX antenna was damaged

IMO that dude was blowing stuff way out of proportions I see it all the time with other things.