GarbMan,
As said above, this receiver is obviously designed for park flyers. Do the math on distance. 500 meter = 1640 feet = .31 miles. That's a third of a mile, or about 3 city blocks. That's not really that far at all. A regular radio control system will have an effective range of about a mile to a mile and a half. So this receiver is not going to be able to be used for much.

As for using crystals to change the channel. No matter what brand of receiver you need to use the crystals made by that manufacturer for that receiver in order to make your change. Not using the parts made by manufacturer is just asking for trouble down the road.

Ken