Hey All, I'm very new to the RC airplane universe and I'm trying to find a Transmitter for a decent price and I've been looking on ebay and stuff and there are quite a few Futaba Conquests FM sets out there with 4 servos and the reciever and I'm wondering if that would be an ok purchase as my first radio. I'm having a hard time find out information about them because I believe they are going to be old radios. Would it be an issue getting an radio that is New In Box but is 8 years old? Let me know what you think.

No problem, The Conquest is an excellent radio

I have a friend with one and it works just fine. A good basic radio, no frills.

i have my trainer on one. the rest of my radios are all JR. but the conquest is a great radio. i have the 6 channel which is a good one to start with. but the 4 channel one will suffice.

The only problem you may have with buying an 8 year old radio, even if new, is that the batteries may be bad. If you have to replace them it will cost $30-50. Factor this into deciding whether to buy a Conquest from eBay versus a new Skysport. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXEFJ4**&P=0

Chuck brings up a good point. Chances are the batteries, if they're even included, are bad. So you don't want to pay much for any old radio set.

You can buy a brand new 4 channel Futaba set, WITH battery packs, transmitter, receiver, on/off switch and all the extras, for about $140. Or get the Tower Hobbies or Hitec versions for a few bucks less.
Dennis-

The batteries are definitely worth checking, but don't count them out.

I had a friend with a radio that had sat in his attic for 10 years. We put it on the charger and cycled the batteries and they worked fine.

check out this hi tec optic 6 for 180 with spectra module is a steal.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXHCR7&P=RF

Notice there are no servos but not a bad deal.

Yes, it's not a bad deal, but by the time one adds servos, rx battery, switch harness, aileron extension, etc, it's probably WAY more than the original poster was looking to spend.

i am a beginner myself and i need a radio system too, i am 14 and yet don't have a job, so my $ is very tight. So i though i should buy a radio that i am going to use in far future--6ch+ computer radio, and a lot of people recommended optic 6, i have no experience with radios at all, but by it looks optic 6 is the way to go and although its pricy i hope this is the only one i am going to need.

There's nothing wrong with the Optic 6, Futaba 6EXAS, or similar JR. However, their price tag is beyond what many people can, or want, to spend. It's also important to remember that a significant number of people never get beyond planes that fly perfectly well on 4 channels.

Chuck makes a very good point. More planes fly on 4 channels than anything else. And I'm even talking about very advanced planes!

Example: This monster is a 4 channel plane

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=276

Just be sure that that radio has a trainer port. I've had several people come to our field wanting instruction but had an old conquest with no trainer port and we could do nothing for him.The first conquests' were put out with no trainer ports and some later ones had them.