Sean-I tnink you'll wish you had PCM later if you don't get it now. I don't know at what level you want to go in the hobby, but the other thing to consider with PCM over PPM is failsafe operation, which is built into PCM but has to be added on to PPM. Joe Nall requires a failsafe on the throttle for all participants, and some of the talk I've heard at the event leans toward requiring it at many more of the larger fly-ins.

The 9C radio is a great one, that's what I use and I love it. But if budget is a problem, you might want to look at the Tracker III that Polk Hobbies sells. Not quite the programmability of the Futaba or JR top-end Tx's, but it is PCM, has frequency synthesizing (no crystals, fly on any available channel), preset mixes like the 9C, digital trims, 99 model memory, automatically sets to the proper shift if you're using different brands of servos, and more. The set comes with Tx and Rx battery, one servo, and the Rx, which is also frequency synthesized and will also work with any brand of Tx. The whole system is $200. A couple of guys in our club use it, they both like them a lot.

Maybe it's all moot; once DSSS is approved for all r/c airplanes, most of the other stuff will eventually go the way of the dinosaur.