Its worth it to build your own trainer. I went straight from the nexstar futaba 4ch to the JR X9303. Very good radio. Its overwhelming at first but once you learn the basics of it you can play with the other "junk" in it later. I went right ahead and bought a radio I knew I wouldnt outgrow anytime soon. The other option is to buy the next step up radio and upgrade as you go. Its just cheaper to buy a good radio up front if you know you are going to stay in the hobby.