Seamus, this could go on like a novel!
My experiences are not all that remarkable. There are sooooooo many more guys here with lots more to tell then I.
But briefly, my first radio in 1974 was a Cirrus 4-channel from Hobby Shack, and it was mfg'd by Futaba at the time. NiCd battery packs were an extra cost option. The Tx had trims, which were slider switches. That's it. No servo reversing switches, no end point adjustments, no mixing of channels, no low battery alarms, no model memory, no nothing. Just basic control and everything else had to be done mechanically with the servos and linkages inside the model. IE, if you needed to reverse a servo, you moved the linkage over to the other side of the servo arm. If you needed end point adjustment, you had to play around with where you inserted your linkage connector on the servo horns and control surface horns. If you wanted differential you used the round servo wheel that had holes spaced in patterns so you could accommodate the differential. Ailerons were normally operated by a single servo. If you wanted mixing, there were mechanical linkages that could be purchased that would accomplish some degree of mixing, but I never used them so I don't know how well they may have worked. Throttles typically used a "over ride springs" thing that allowed for the servo travel on a limited carb and so would not stall out the servo and drain the battery. It was a very time consuming, and sometimes head scratching deal to get your radio set up like you needed it.
Today with a computer radio, you install the servos and linkages, that is the end of the mechanical work. Then using your computer radio you "beep" your way to the perfect setup.
