RE: what is the best RC transmiter out there?
I tend to agree with TimBle (post 21 above) although all current major brands are quite good. Being an avid experimenter, I have one each of Spectrum, Airtronics and Futaba and have found all to be quite reliable. Now tests on drop out voltage gives Airtronics and Futaba a definite advantage by about a 0.1 to 0.2 volts on brownout levels but I have never had a problem with any of them as I pay particular attention to power supply capability such as wire gage, battery internal impedance and switch quality. Now theoretically, FASST or frequency hopping is quite a bit more reliable than the current Spectrum/JR method, especially in areas of high probability of interference or spectrum saturation. I think that is why JR is rumored to be changing to frequency hopping techniques in the future. Fortunately, you will probably fare well with whatever choice you make and; if you buy lots of B&F, you are stuck with Spectrum at the moment but I now see quite a few coming out with other type systems.