The 153 gyro is an old Futaba mechanical gyro. The square black box actually has a motor in it spinning a wheel which acts as the gyro. The sensor is reading the motion of a magnet attached to the motor frame. The manual for this gyro is available at http://www.futaba-rc.com/manuals/index.html

Although this gyro will work just fine for your initial learning, it will not compare to the accuracy and sensitivity of the current piezo gyro like the 401. If you would like to understand the internal workings of the mechanical and piezo gyro then go to my site and look under "understanding your heli. The Colin mills article "part 7 & 8" explain the operation of both. The newer "heading hold" function is however not addressed.

The non technical difference is that the standard gyro senses rotation and applies correction until the rotation has stopped. The Heading Hold gyro not only senses rotation and applies correction until the rotation stops, but continues to apply correction until the unit senses that it has rotated back the equal amount to which it rotated (returned to where it was).

If you were to upgrade your gyro, the Futaba 401 with the 9253 servo would be a good choice.

The Futaba 7u transmitter you have is a very good but slightly outdated unit. If you have the 7uhpS model versus the 7uhp model then it has a 4 model memory and a few extra functions. The manual for it can also be downloaded at the above link. As far as a module goes, I believe you can still get one from Tower. You might even want to put an add on the board for one. Remember modules come on a specific frequency an need to be sent in for frequency changes so get one on the right frequency that you want.

One thing you will have to do if you use your 153 gyro is set up revolution mixing (revo). This is a transmitter function which varies the tail pitch based on the throttle setting. It must be used with the old mechanical gyro's to maintain a constant heading.

One final statement. If you are a total beginner at this, and it sounds like you are, then I cannot over stress this. If you can find and experienced flyer in your area to assist you in setup and flight testing your chances of succeeding will be greatly improved. This is not to say that people have not learned on their own, but the road of hard knocks and expense may be your downfall.

The Kyosho Concept you have, depending on it age and condition, may be a better first try heli than the X-Cell. The problem with the Concept is that it has been discontinued for some years and parts are becoming hard to find. If interested, there is also a complete library of Concept plans and documentation on my website. Look under "Kyosho". I myself learned to fly helis on a Concept 30 when they first came out in 1988.

Enough for now - good luck - Al