Flybybooth

Hello guys....
I went to my local store today.. only had to drive 40 mins

I went to buy a Futaba FF9, I phoned before I got there and they told me they had this in stock.. They were taking the Pi~~ When I arrived they said.. Oooohhh we just sold our last one..!

Any way they tried to sell me a JR Radio I think it was the JR 378 is this radio as good as the Futaba FF9 or should I stick with the one I wanted..
I am looking for a radio that is easy to program without a degree in how to program a radio following the manual...... (That makes no sense)
I fly hellis and planes...

Many Thanks again

Jim_McIntyre

JR or Futaba is as much a question of religion as it is of logic,

To meet your reuirements (Helis and planes + easy to program) my choice would be;

* * * JR 8103 * * *

Too expensive? Hitec Eclipse 7.

Wanna fit in with the crowd? F.U.taba 9C

ptgarcia

My Feedback: (36)

If you go with JR I would buy the 8103 (I think they rearrange the numbers in Europe). Otherwise stick with the Futaba 9C (FF9).

Terror Dactyl

I have seen ads for the JR and the european version has the numbers rearranged.

The logic ladder on my JR is so much better (easier) than on the Futaba that to me it is a no brainer.

At my field there will be occasional days that the Futaba's will receive random and sporadic glitches that dont show up for the guys flying JR.

I am not knocking Futaba as the glitches havent been severe enough to hurt the plane, except for the one bad touchdown that was said to be a hit and it is debatable knowing the pilot's style/ability, but quite a few are going to the Hitec receiver for their Futabas.

Take care Jim

flyin_hot

For ease of programming the JR, and like has been stated, if you want to do helis and planes I would go with the 8103. With a heli, you will want the mixing, and the programming is intuitive...no programming degree required. I am a programmer, and real programming makes it simple for the user...in other words, the programmer does the work so the user doesn't have to. Bad programming makes the user do the work. You'll really like 8103. It's probably the best bang for the buck. If I didn't use a 10x, that is the radio I would have. If I still flew heli's, I would have the 8103 also.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

I prefer the 9C, but I have flown mostly futaba for over 25 years. Have used most of the rest, but never liked any of them enough to switch.

Flyfalcons

Unfortunately this isn't the case. Many arguments have been made showing the 9C to be a better radio than the 8103. There is a reason the 'crowd' is going with the 9C.

In either case don't go with the 378. Way too much money for what you get.

Jim_McIntyre

Enter the prophets and seers .

Flyfalcons

Okay, show me something the 378 or 8103 can do that the 9C can't do, or can't do better.

wildnloose

Does'nt really matter.....I've seen some really bad flyers using both...

ProfLoorey

My Feedback: (8)

and dont join the "if it costs more its better crowd" i have both and like both, if i got another it would be the jr just cause i think it looks cooler....

Jim_McIntyre

Good answer.

My chief requirement is I've managed to easily do everything I need without consulting a manual....

And b4 you start, I'm not talking about simple programming here (e.g. custom offset chained mixes etc.). The quick jump menu, intuitive ladder logic and the use of the control input affected as input (instead of some wonky semi-related channel # from some numbered sub menu I select by some cross hatch table buttons) is to die for.

Flyfalcons

Good job sidestepping the question. I've programmed both and they are equally easy to program. The Futaba, however, is much more flexible and has some more features than the 8103.

Dyehard

I've managed to easily do everything I need without consulting a manual". You know, I could say the same thing about the older Futaba 8U, I've programed a bunch of them, and never opened a manual. I don't now and have never owned one, but I have been able to do about anything the radio can do (very much equivalent to the 8103) on the first try. Now that is what I call intuitive. It had circular logic (which by the way is what the 8103 has, not ladder logic), how could you not find anything in it, you just kept stepping around the circular. When you got to the item you wanted, everything in that item was circular also. I do have an 8103, I've had to go into the manual several times to figure something out. Its circle has more side steps than the 8U had, and sometimes those side branches aren't obvious. An aquaintance that works at the local hobby shop was fussing that he couldn't find how to change from PCM to PPM on the 8U, anybody could figure out how to do that on his 8103. I let another friend that flys an 8u try to do that on my 8103 just for kicks, after a half hour he was ready to throw my radio against the wall. He never did figure it out, I had to show him. I've only programmed the 9C a few times, I would call it harder to probram than the 8U, pretty much the same as the 8103. There are just too many instances where you do some things in the menu, then suddenly have to jump to the scroll wheel, sort of like the 8103s side branches. But, like the 8103, I sure you would get used to it.
You can get used to any of these radios, none are very hard to program when you get right down to it. There will always be those that say theirs is easier, simply because they know their radio and don't want to learn another. Sort of like when someone tells me that their 10X is easier to program than my 9Z, but it only takes three buttons to get into the pitch or throttle curve of my 9Z ( I primarily fly helicopters) and it takes five bottons (I know,presses on the screen, same thing) on the 10X to do the same thing and I don't have to remember any numbers. Oh, but their five bottons, including remembering the number codes, is intuitive, because its a JR. So much for the power of advertizing.
Buy whichever radio you want, in a month it will seem like you have always been programming it, and at point that point it will seem like the easiest to program radio made.

theox

You can download the respective manuals here;

FF9 http://www.futaba-rc.com/manuals/manual-9c.html

3810 http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/prod...b=support#tabs

caviat emptor

flyin_hot

indeed! be sure to load your printer full of paper for the brand F one though...it's a real bible!

Dyehard

Strange remark, flyin_hot. I just checked the links, the brand F manual has 103 pages, the brand JR has 142 pages. Now which one is the real bible. Doesn't matter anyhow, a good manual should have whatever informatioin it takes to help the first time buyer understand the product, however many pages it takes.

Imac Kiwi

Hmm...

Here in NZ we call the Futaba a 9CAP for airplane version and your 8103 we call a 3810. ie 3 aircraft types, 8 channel and 10 model memories.
I own a hobby shop here and we have sold 4 9CAPs and 6 3810's as a comparison in the last 12 months.

I personally fly JR so maybe I'm biased, but am familiar with both radios. My airplane radio is a 10X and I just started flying helis. For this job after soul searching myself, I chose the 3810. The 9CAP perhaps had some more programing but the 3810 didn't have that plastic feel if you know what I mean. This radio also does more than I need at this stage of my heli career. This is not a slant on any radio manufacturer as we sell JR, Futaba and Hitec radios.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Alan

Jim_McIntyre

Brand 'religion' aside.

I don't own an 8103 (My primary Tx is a PCM10) but have programmed many for my fixed wing and rotary head flying buddies and students. Same goes for many other models and brands (F. U .taba, Hide tec, SCARE tronics, Multi(Com )plex etc.).

Most radios will do what you need, many 'unique' features branch into particular 'philosophies' (eg digital vs analog trims, throttle kill switch, flight conditions vs. flight modes etc.).

I've owned (and in some cases still own) most brands, fwiw, when I buy new equipment, I buy JR.

Ladders vs. trees:
When you're used to one, you tend to force this interpretation and run into problems navigating to finding low usage items like ppm/pcm mode change..... IOW, if the only tool you have ever used is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Dyehard

Jim, I think you are stating the same point I was trying to make, that those of us with a lot of experiance can program most any of the computor radios, mostly without even looking at a manual. That isn't always true for people just starting with computor radios, to give them the idea that if they buy brand X that it will be so much easier than if they brand Y if just not telling them the whole truth. All of the different brands of radio are fairly easy to program if you just open the manual. They all use one of two basic methods of programing, either direct intry or circular intry. With enough experiance, they will be able to figure out most of what a radio will do without opening a manual, without that experiance they will just be confused if they try it without the manual.
Eveybody develops favorites over time, I try not to let that bias my thinking such that I only consider one brand. I have owned a bunch of JR radios in the past, when I bought my 9ZHW is was certainly not because Futaba was written on the outside but because of what I found on the inside, like digital trims that JR was knocking as obsurd at the time, and assignable switchs, which I still love as it lets me do things without working around just what the radio will do. Until JR changes their philosophy and starts considering that I might know more about what I want to do with a radio and not do just what they think I should do with a radio, I will be forced to stick with the 9Z. They finally admitted that there might be some merit to digital trim, perhaps some time in the future they may get off their corporate rears and add some more of the features that have been common on the 9Z for ten years. At that time I will start considering them again.
I work an an electrician, using a lot of Programable Logic Controls. Those are programmed in either ladder logic or statement logic, so I am quite used to what ladder logic is. Most of the mid class radios use some form of circular logic that is in no way a form of ladder logic. JR at one time made a basic computor rado that used a true form of ladder logic, it was a nightmare to program. I hope I never see another like that.

Jim_McIntyre

Interesting.
I work as a software architect. Although I prefer to work in C++ I know my users prefer a W.I.M.P (Windoze Icon Mouse Pointer) envirnment to do theire "programming".

Seriously, this is like a Mac vs Linux argument, with power comes complexity. Most just want to surf and write 'stuff', some want the ultimate in flexibility. For a relaxing day at the field, I take my JR, if I wanted the ultimate in flexibility, I'd take a Graupner MC24 or Multiplex profi 4000.

Steve Campbell2

Out of curiousity, Jim; do you just fly planks, or other types of aircraft as well?

This is not an ambush question; but there is a reason for asking it.

FWIW, I am a former JR convert; I flew a PCM 10SXII for seven years. So I am more than passingly familiar with the 10-series menus, and those of the 8103 as well.

Jim_McIntyre

Hi Steve,

Mostly "planks" ( ) but I do own (and fly) a Raptor 30 and TSK Mystar 60.... 'mild' aerobatics, autos etc.

Wh00ps

When I went looking for a new radio, it pretty much came down to the 9c vs. the 8103. The monetary consideration was a major factor. The 9c being a little cheaper, plus the fact that all my planes are already on Futaba, and only one of them has a shift-selectable Hitec receiver, so I would've been in hock up to my ears to buy new receivers. But what really, REALLY sold me on the 9c was when I held one in my hands and felt the power of the side rotary dials. I hate having to reach for the flap knob on my 6XA, and not having any tactile feedback as to where the knob is, other than when it hits the stop. And when I held the 8103, I noticed that it was even more of a stretch with the positioning of the knobs there. But with the 9c, you get instant tactile knowledge of where in its range of travel that dial is set. The other thing that sold me on it is the ability to assign any function to any switch.

That's how I arrived at my decision to go with the 9c, which should be here tomorrow. w00t!

(anybody wanna buy a 6XA?) =]

Dyehard

Jim, I would love to try a Profi 4000, if they would just get rid of that flat box. Maybe their new owner will bring that one improvement to the Multiplex line, a little human engineering.