Thanks everyone for all the great responses.

I have been doing a good bit of research on radio systems. Like I said I am more familiar with Futaba as that was the radio I used before. But am now leaning more toward the Airtronics RDS8000 due to the fact it is an 8 channel and still priced lower than the Futaba 6 channel version. So in my book it has more bang for the buck. Yes I could work with 6 channels but as I progress further the extra channels will save me from upgrading for a longer period of time thus saving money. Any real world experience advice on the RDS  8000 would be greatly appreciated.

I do not see much in the way of ham band radios being offered. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I know my learning curve will not be as steep as it was when I first got into the hobby but like everything I do I will will go into it again with an open mind and  not be a know it all.

All the advice so far has been great keep it coming, Thank you