THE WAIT IS OVER
The long awaited release of the Futaba synth module for the 9C and 9C super series has finally come to an end. This module is now available to owners of Futaba 9C and 9C Super series transmitters who have the need to change their frequency for use with receivers on any of the available 72Mhz channels.
I myself am a 9C owner and my strategy in the past was to always get a different channel for every receiver as a hedge so when I was at the field with a couple planes hopefully one channel at least would hopefully be available. Well, this strategy worked for awhile with two of my other radios which had synthesized frequency capability but the 9C was fast becoming my "go to" favorite radio. I then found myself putting many of my new planes on the same channel that I had the 9C on. This was also fine until a couple new guys showed up at the field on my channel! So a quandry I was now in.
CAUGHT ON THE WRONG CHANNEL!
Then it all came to a head just about 2 weeks ago from the time I'm writing this mini-review where I brought down one of my favorite planes to the field and had my 9C with me. Unfortunately my brain failed me as this plane was slaved to a diffrent channel AND setup for my Futaba 9Z rather than the 9C! So there I was sitting at the field with everything unpacked, setup and ready to go but had the wrong transmitter. I knew I could program the 9C quickly at the field to work with the plane but it was on the wrong channel. Very displeasing!
STU SAVES THE DAY WITH HIS MODULE
Next a buddy of mine at the field, Stu, said "why don't you borrow my synth module?" Well, that literally saved the day for me. I popped in his Futaba synthesized module, dialed in my frequency, spent 5 minutes setting up the 9C for this plane and I was in the air! AWESOME! So of course I went home and had to order one after this.
The great thing about a synth module is when you have several planes on different channels or if you buy a plane from somebody with an rx on a different channel you simply dial in the channel required and you are good to go. I loved that capability on my 9Z radio and could not wait until it was available for the 9C and 9C super series and thankfully anybody can now get one of these.
ABOUT THE MODULE
The Futaba synth module works on the 72MHz band. It is compatible with the Futaba 9C and 9C Super series. It eliminates selecting and installing a unique transmitter crystal into the 9C whenever you need to change channel. Channel range is from 11-60. It comes with a plastic adjustment screwdriver to dial in your channel. It also has a cool safety sliding "shield" that you must open to dial in your channel and then close once done to protect from accidental channel changes. Futaba warranties the device for one year.
The photos below show closeup (click for larger images) the safety shield and the action used to dial in the channel you require.