RE: New to the hobby and need radio help
Ed-Search under NSRCA and Trimming to find the chart; also Dave Patrick includes one with his planes.
Planning on buying one radio to last you for many years is not realistic; it would be obsolete in 3 or 4 years, or you may see another one that suits your purposes better before then. Your interests will probably change somewhere down the road. I only keep my best radio for a maximum of 3 or 4 years and if it still satisfies my needs, I buy another just like it, and either sell the old one or keep it for a backup. By then it will at least need new batteries and some preventative maintenance.
By no means is it necessary to use all the bells and whistles you will have at your disposal; I would stick with the passive controls which require no flipping of switches on your part to mess up. Exponential will make your planes fly much smoother and you won't even know it's there....Jim