ORIGINAL: jester_s1

I must respectfully disagree that the older stuff is better than the current stuff. There are threads galore on the whole 2.4 vs 72mhz conversation, so there's no need to rehash it here. But even without that, the newer radios have programming features that the old ones don't. The programming lets you set up your plane just like you want it, with the throws just right and with exponential to adjust the sensitivity near the middle of the servo movement. Overall, a computer radio can give you a more comfortable plane to fly, and that translates into faster learning and fewer mistakes.

That said, as long as the old radio is in good condition it'll fly a trainer just fine. As said before, make sure the batteries are good. The standard is less than 3 years old and recently passed a cycle test. On a freebie radio, especially if it hasn't been used in a year or two, you can go ahead and count on needing new batteries for your transmitter and receiver. If you also have to buy a receiver, you'll wind up pretty close to the price of a new 2.4ghz system.

Transmitter- free
Good new Tx battery- $30
Receiver (used)- $10
Good new Rx battery- $20
Switch- $10
New Rx Crystal- $7

So that's $77 invested to use a ''free'' system of unknown condition that is long out of warranty. You can save around $25 dollars by buying stock Futaba and JR batteries off Ebay, but it's a gamble as to whether or not the seller is being honest about the condition. Or you could buy a new Hitec Optic 5 or Airtronics SD5 (my first choice) for about $100, and add that same $20 Rx battery and have a system that is more customizable and new. If it saves you one crash, even a minor one, it will have paid for itself and then some.