RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Hello All,
I have been a JR 72mhzman for the past 20 years, and currently fly a JR6102,so you can imaging how much JR stuff I have. (Servos, extentions,36 rx's,& rx batterypacks, andso on)I'm thinking of making the switch to 2.4g and don't want to spend an arm & leg doing this, and would like to keep all the servos in myplanes. What I am lookingfor is something where all Ineed to do isswap out the RX in each of my planes.Is there another radio out there that's 2.4 that will work with all my JRservos & RX battery packs? Other than JR?Iknow nothing about the 2.4 world. Can anyone explaine this to me, and help me make the switch?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Any current 2.4GHz radio will work with your current servos and batteries

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

REALLY? I can buy ANY 2.4 radio and just swap out the RX's in my planes? Could I go with Futaba?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Yep!

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

No kidding? So if Iwent to Tower Hobbies and bought a 2.4Futaba radio with a few rx's my JR rx Battery packs and servos will plug into the Futaba 2.4 rx? It's that simple? Sounds too good to be true. Ithought Iwould have to buy all new servos, &battery packs. Let me get this right.. I can fly a 2.4 Futaba radioand rx with all my JR stuff that's in my planes? And all Ineed to do is swap out the RX's? Is that right?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

That is correct. I use Futaba 2.4 radios all the time with JR servos and battery packs

LewAshby

I have Futaba & JR radios (FM and 2.4GHz) with Hitech & Futaba servos mixed and matched without any problems.

The only problem that I have run into is the extra piece of plastic that Futaba puts on their servo plugs. To solve that, I just cut it off with a hobby knife

ArchNemesis

Hold up...

There is a caveat. Yes, any of the current systems technically will work with your servos (I'm an Airtronics guy, so I'll tell you to look carefully at the SD10 radio and the cost of additional Receivers. BTW, Airtronics offers Rx's in bulk packs for even less). That said, you MAYfind that some of your older Analog servos do NOT work well with 2.4Ghz systems. I'm not 100% sure of what's happening technically, but in simple terms...they can't handle the fast refresh rate that the new radio's are putting out. This is true of ALL the brands, but there is no definitive guide (yet) that says which of the older servos do or don't behave well with various systems.

You'll notice that Digital servos are all the rage. There's a reason for that...they all work with the 2.4 systems.

MOSTof my existing analog servos DO work with my ATX transmitter and would probably work with other 2.4 systems as well. Just a few of the older, slower servos seem to behave badly.

I don't want to throw you off the course of getting a new system. It's very much worth the investment and most of your stuff (and possibly all of it) will work fine. Just have your eyes open that some may not and be prepared.

BTW, the failure is evident on the ground when you first try them. It's not something that will sneak up on you.They'll either function properly or they won't. No mystery.

-Mark

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

This is all great news to hear. So now days you can mix and match between all the radios huh? As long as the radio and rx are the same? When you buy a RX for your 2.4 radio how do you mate it with your radio?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

You have been able to do this for many years

With Futaba, you just turn on the Tx and Rx, then push a tiny button (hidden between the two antennas) for a few seconds and you're good to go

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Iam looking at the HiTec radios on Tower Hobbies. Are they any good? and, aren't they the same as JR?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Yes, they are good and no, they are not the same

ArchNemesis

Airtronics and JR have a similar process as well. All refer to it as "Binding" the reciever. And as described above, it's very simple. I don't know, but I have to assume that Hitec's is equally simple.

JR and Airtronics offer a feature that prevents the Rx from operating when your radio is on the wrong model. JR calls it Model Match, ATX calls it Safety Link, but they effectively do the same thing.

Enjoy shopping!! It's the one and only time that we're not beholden to the radio choice we made when we first started. You'll need all new Rx's regardless, so you might as well examine the whole gambit of offerings. There's lots of info out there to read too.

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Oh...What about the on/off switch on my planes? will they work as well with other radios? What's a good 2.4six channel radio that comes with a few RX's? Anyone know of any good deals out there right now? The one thing ILOVE about Tower and use all the timeis the "Easy Pay!"

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

yes, switches will work too

Look at the Futaba 6EX or 7C

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

You read my mind. That's the radio I'm looking at. Will that "FASST" thing give me any problems with JR standard servos? AND....my JR 4.8v RXbattery pack will work with that 6EX RX right?I guess anything will work as long as you get the + - and signal leads all hooked up right.

ArchNemesis

I'm happy to biasly recommend the ATX SD-6Gfor 6-channel radios. I think you'll find it to be much more feature rich than the 6EX or the 7c. You'll also find additional Rx's to be much less expensive than Futaba.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php...FQPsKgodT0a2jw

LewAshby

I'm using a Futaba 8FG and those HobbyKing Rx for $40 a piece work without any problems.

fizzwater2

My Feedback: (61)

archnemesis - does the SD-6 use individual AA cells in the TX? I thought I saw that somewhere. NiMh could be used, right, and recharged? I'll confess I don't know much about the Airtronics TX but that SD-6 is sure priced attractively.

MikeMayberry

My Feedback: (1)

You might want to also consider the Hitec Optic 6 http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXXCZ8&P=ML that is closer to the 7C than the entry level 6EX, so it's far more capable and sells for $30 less. Oh yea... it comes with TWO 2.4ghz receivers (albeit no servos) where if you want another FAAST RX to go with that radio is will set you back $90 if you want full range. Consider that you can get TWO more Hitec Optima 6 2.4Ghz RX's for only $10 more @ $50ea! So 6EX with two RX's and 4 servos for $349.99 or the Optic 6 with four RX's for $329.99. Heck the Hitec Aurora 9 which is superior to the Futaba 8FG is only $349.99 right now and if the super saver discounts are still in place, even less than that! http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXXCZ5&P=ML

Hitec's AFHSS 2.4ghz system features built in battery telemetry with the option to add additional sensors including 4 temps, 2 RPM's Fuel, and GPS for speed and altitude, and in the near future we'll have a system specific to electric flight to see an additional voltage reading (up to 100v) and amperage (up to 200A.) Info can be found here: http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/air...try/index.html . While only the Aurora will be able to display this data on the radio screen there are is now a way to steam this data to a PC http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAPMR&P=7 so you can see what's going on live or record it for later feedback. You can even log your flight and play it back later in Google Earth and view the flight and the sensor data from multiple angles (see pic below.) All this is possible with the Hitec 2.4ghz systems.

Mike.

Iron Dog

Rick,

Iwould statethat for those newer to the hobby . . . without a stockroom full of existing hardware (such as your 36 receivers and battery packs) . . . that a dedicated 2.4 system is the way to go. But because you have so much existing JR hardware that might otherwise become obsolete/useless with a 2.4G system, you might want to at least consider one other option:

Just before JR rolled out the dedicated 2.4G X9303 transmitter, it's original PCM/FM XP9303 transmitter came in a package with a 2.4G module. This transmitter's programmingessentially allows you to control ANY FM &/or PCM receiver ("yes", even Futaba and Hitec, according to the manual), and then plug in the 2.4G module and you can fly on 2.4Ghz usingeither JR or Spektumreceivers, as well. It is possible that this may be the best of both worlds for you(?).

Many have reported that the receiver pack voltage requirements for the 2.4G usage with certain brands required 6 volts . . . that "brown-outs" happened if there was too much servo or other current draw on the battery simultaneously (aerobatics, racing, etc). The receiver would momentarily shut downand reset. By the time funtions were restored, it was often too late and the model crashed.There have been several threads here on RCU about this, and a couple of my friends said it has happened to them. In fact, my local hobby shop has strongly suggestedreplacementwith6 volt batteries withsome brands of 2.4 transmitters they carry. If you have 4.8voltpacks, this could make your vast supply ofreceiver batteries nearly useless.

1. swiching themodules back and forth between FM/PCM & 2.4G
2. that the XP9303 utilizing the 2.4 module does NOT give you ModelMatch capability (such as the XP9303 and the Airtronics SD-10G do). This was not explained in any available information/documentation available on the radio prior to me reading the owner's manualafter I bought this system. It became a drawback for me, and may be to you also, if you really like that feature. So, I just want you to realize that. This is why I ultimately purchased a dedicated 2.4G X9303, and then my Airtronics SD-10G.If you can live without this feature, as you have for the last 20 years, and controlling your ENTIRE fleet from just one transmitter that is more highly functioned than a 6 or 7 channel radio would be, then this may be the way to go for you.

If you find this option appealing, let me know through a response here or PM, and we can discuss it further.

rmh

If you have a lot of old equipment -you also have (most likely) a lot of old NiCad/Nimh packs
NONE of the 2.4 systems will keep workin if the battery power sags excessively during use
On the NON 2.4 systems some people never even realized that battery power was dropping badly in use
Do yourself a favor and read up on the battery sites such as NoBS batteries
A number of prople went nutso using the first Spektrum systems simply because they had too little knowledge about battery power and how voltage is lowered or reduced thu loads and swithes and regulators
Any of the new 2.4 work just fine - 99% of any problems you read about with the 2.4 are user caused errors and of these - 99% are battery (power) related

jmohn

One thing to consider is that you will have to learn a new programing setup if you change radios. The JR and Futaba setups are very different. If you want to keep the same setup programing just get a 9303. It's almost exactly the same as the 6102 was. I made this change about three years ago and it's been great. It's especially nice at uncontrolled airfields or at home when working on stuff in the shop as someone in my areas had the same frequency and I often got hits when testing or flying at the school by my house.



Jeff

jrb1

Best way 9303 w/72 & 2.4 molules, worst things I ever did sold mine!

RickShane

My Feedback: (1)

Correction.....Yes I do have 36 JR Rx's BUT only 3, yes three 4.8v battery packs for the RX's I don't take more than 3 planes out at a time when I go fly. So my only issue is all the RX's.