There is no PCM or PPM version of the 9C transmitter... just one version that does both modes... Futaba confuses things with the way they name the TX/RX/Servo bundled packages...

The aircraft version of the 9C TX says 9CAP on the front of it, and the heli version says 9CHP on the front, regardless of whether you get it bundled with a PPM or PCM receiver. If you buy TX packaged with an PPM(FM) receiver included with it, Futaba calls it a 9CAF or 9CHF, but the radio will still say 9CAP or 9CHP on the front!

A crystal module for the 9C is $49, and the synth module for it is priced at $89 right now, according to Tower (it's not released yet). So you can obviously expect to pay more for the synth version...

Since the 9C TX takes modules, you don't have to send it into Futaba to be retuned to another channel... you just buy another freq module... $49 for a single channel crystal module, or $89 for the synth module that can tune all of the 72MHz band channels. For example... I bought my 9C with a ch37 module, and subsequently bought a ch49 module for it (since another regular guy at my club already had ch37). I can now use either channel module in my 9C TX to tune ch37 or ch49, as long as I have a compatible ch37 and ch49 xtal for the RX I plan to use with it.