cudaboy_71

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hi all-

i cant imagine this has never been discussed. but, i've read over the FAQs & done a few searches and can't find anything.

i'm a long-time futaba air flyer in the us (72mhz). never had to worry about any of the radio end, as i always just bought futaba.

now, i'm wading into heli, and all the heli guys in my area fly JR. since i'd like to get help from them on setting up radio, etc i want to get a nice computer JR system. my question is if i want to convert all my aircraft over to a single radio, how much other equipment must be replaced, if any?

do i need JR receivers & crystals or will the futaba RXs work on the same freq.? do i need to replace the servos? or is just replacing the leads enough (if i have to change Rx)?

anything else to consider or should i just start from here building on a JR fleet and leave the futaba setups alone?

Eagle Al

Different brands of Rxs and Txs are compatible as long as they meet two conditions:

1. The same frequency shift (positive or negative)

2. The Tx and Rx crystals are both on the same frequency

For example, JR and Airtronics are both positive shift, so they can be mixed, but Futaba is negative shift and can't be mixed with the two preceding brands. You might also note that Hitec make flight packs with either + or - shift, so you can match one up to your Tx.

It doesn't matter if the Rx is dual or single conversion as long as the above two condtions are met.

Ciao,

Eagle Al

cudaboy_71

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i'm a little cloudy on point #2:

i've read that i should stay on brand with crystals if i change Rx. that is, if i replace my futaba Rxs with JR Rxs i've read i should use JR Rx crystals. but, if i already have a Hitec negative shift Rx, can i use the same crystal with a Hitec positive shift Rx?

also, i just read that i can file off the tab of a futaba servo and use it with a JR/pos. shift Rx. is this correct (just looking for 2nd, 3rd opinions)

hope i'm not being too tedious with the questions. getting the info right could save me $100-$200 per plane....

thanks for the help.

carrellh

You definitely want your RX crystal to be the same brand as the RX.
If you replace a negative shift Hitec with a positive shift Hitec you can reuse your Hitec crystal.

The question about servo compatibility:
Yes, all you need to do is trim off the little "J" tab and they'll work fine.

cudaboy_71

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thanks a lot for the info fellas.