is this radio combo overkill for a first radio? i wanted something i could grow with. i am not intimidated by the complexity of the system, i am mostly wondering if this is a good price for this combo.

7CAF Combo #70



$279.95



#FUTJ70
(1) Transmitter
(4) S3151 Digital Servos
(1) R127DF FM Rx
(1) 4.8V, 600mah Rx Battery
(1) Swith Harness w/charge jack
(1) 8” Servo Extension
(1) Frequency Flag
(1) Receiver Crystal
(1) 700mah Tx Battery
(1) Tx/Rx Charger
(1) Neck Strap
(1) Manual

No. Awesome radio. Thats the one I have and its my first. There's lots of stuff on there. But you can fly without understanding all of it. Then when you figure out that it would be nice if you could.......you'll find out it probably does it!

Go for it!

That seem to be a great radio.
It has everything you'll need for a long time ahead, it can also fly helicopters (collective / Throttle mixing).
I have the FF9, but if the F7 had been available when I bought my radio I would probably have choosen it.

The "complexity" is non existing, the Futaba radios are very easy to program and you'll learn all the basic functions in one night if you sit down with the radio, manual and a plane to practice on.

Two things though:
1-- You really don't need the digital servos, as a beginner and with a trainer airplane you can as well use standard 3001 or 3004 servos.

2--The bigger TX battery the better, try to get a bigger TX battery. Sure, if you have a fieldcharger you'll juice it up in half an hour, but it's nice to have a big battery that you don't need to charge during a full weekend of flying.
I run 1500 Mah in my radio and 1500 mah flight packs... No worries!

for the same price you can get a JR 8103 with 4 standard digital servos and fm flight pack.
plus the 8103 can transmit in PPM (normal FM), PCM (a must for gas planes) and SPCM for sail planes. It is preprogmed for all fixed wings and helis. Plus it comes with a 3 year warranty. Having owned Futaba myself, the feel of the JR radio is much better, the switches are right where you need them to be, and the sticks are much smoother. If you ever have the pleasure of owning one, you will agree that there is no comparison!

A JR 8103 is close to $700 - its a little out of my range.

JR 8103 PCM..................$639.99

That 7CAP is a good radio. You won't regret it. I bought mine with the 3004 servos (still pending installation in an airplane) for about that same price. I guess the price has down.

With the digitals I would opt for a bigger battery. No less than 800 mah. 1000 would be better yet. Digitals use more battery than standard servo's. I don't know why Futaba doesn't bundle a bigger battery with this package. I would say go for it. You cannot get the digitals this cheap anywhere else. If they seem too much you can always buy 4 standard servo's. They are around 15$ each. Save the digitals for later. Either way you win. I feel this is a good choice.

Mark Shuman

Check Ebay for your rx batts. I seen quite a few 4.8 volt 1600 nimh packs. I make my own for fractions of the cost and they are
1600 mah. I can fly for days and not use up all the juice.

Dave...

I just bought a new JR XP 8103 w. 4 digital servos, R700 Rx, 400 Ahr battery, channel flag, etc. from Horizon Hobby for $379.00. Flies, planes, heli's and sailplane.

NO! the 8103 fm package IS $279. It is the SAME RADIO offered in the PCM package, the only difference is the RECIEVER and SERVOS that come with it. The radio can transmit in one of 3 different modulations. This allows you to use a less expensive standard FM (PPM) reciever for your glow fuel models, and still use the same radio with a PCM reciever for the big gassers! If your just starting out you won't use the PCM feature until next season at best!

For the price, you cant beat the 7CAF/CAP. I would upgrade the receiver battery though as you wont get more than a handful of flights with digital servos. For a trainer the digitals are not needed, but buy them as part of the pack. They go for $35 a piece as compared to the standards at $15 a piece. For 4 servos its a difference of $100, but the difference between the radio with the digital and the standard servos is only a few dollars difference. Its a better value going with the digitals you will want them for your 2nd or 3rd plane.