Actually, before you spend money to buy one you may want to check with your local hobby shop if you have one. A lot of hobby shops have buddy boxes that they will rent for a very low fee. You can use it until you are trained and then you give it back to them. My LHS charges $10 for buddy box and cord.

Also, wait until you hook up with an instructor before you spend on a buddy box. A lot of instructors have buddy boxes of their own that they have for just this instance. I know that I personally have an Airtronics, Hitec, JR, and Futaba buddy boxes so that my students do not need to buy one.

I'm not saying that these are a 100% sure thing, but at least check them out before you spend money buying one that you may not need.

Hope this helps

Ken