I am looking for info on what gear can be used together. I have an assortment of servos (Airtronics, JR, Futaba and mabe others)and a couple of inherrited receivers and crystals in my channel. And being as I don't know the condition of some of this stuff it is hard to figure out what should work with my stuff What I should sell off for hobby money and what just might be junk.

I have a Tower 4fm radio now with a hitec receiver and the tower reciever and some futaba and hitech servos that work together. All that's easy.

I also have some JR servos and a reciver. Here are the questions I have now.
Will they work with the Tower stuff? Are crystalls interchangeable between other receivers? Are receiver crystals different from transmitter crystalls? What Servos will work with what gear? Is there a clear answer or website that lays it all out or do you just have to keep plugging stuff together and try to figure it out?

I am trying to set up multiple planes on the same equipment for easy and economy and trying not to go nuts. I will be upgrading radios in the near future and want to buy one that will "buddy cord" to the Tower to teach my kids.

Any help would be great.

On 72MHz, Tower is compatible with Futaba and Hitec receivers but not with JR or Airtronics. I believe your transmitter should buddy box with Futaba or Hitec transmitters. All servos except old Airtronics and very very old Futaba will work in any receiver with a little cutting or filing of the plugs.

There are 3 basic types of crystal, Transmitter, single conversion receiver and dual conversion receiver. You always have to use the correct type. In a few cases they can be swapped around between manufacturers but it's not a good idea. Generally you should use the crystal recommended by the manufacturer.

Steve

Can Airtronics/JR servos be used with Futaba compatible reciever?

How about this. I have a couple of Crystals in my channel that I do not know the origin of. I was hoping to use them in recivers bought now to outfit other planes. They are marked with "FM RX" but do not say anything else other than the Frequency.

Is this more for the trial and error?

Thanks again for the help.

I run JR 537's with a Futaba R127DF receiver on one of my planes with no problems at all. Servos plug right in. Be careful, though, because the servos can be plugged in the wrong way. I'm not sure about the Airtronics servos plugging into a Futaba receiver.

Regarding the crystals, I would just buy new crystals you know will work. They're only about $10 each. You'll shoot yourself if you loose a plane because you skimped on a relatively inexpensive part.

Good luck.

Airtronic's newer servos with the "Z" connector will work fine. They've got blue connectors. The older-style black connectors won't work without rewiring.

The JR receiver won't work with the Tower radio. That radio is basically an old Futaba rebadged, and works on the negative shift of the frequency. Airtronics and JR are positive shift.

Unless you know the maker of the crystal, it's all trial and error. Is it worth your airplane and the safety of your children to save a couple bucks?