Hello ! My name is Ray I'm fairly new to the hobby....Have thought about trying to build and fly for several years.Finaly took the plunge ! What a rush to see something you put together actually fly! Well here's the question I have, I'm looking to up grade my radio, my old FUTABA Conquest is not going to cut it any more. If I purchase a new one how many channels do you recomend (looking to be in this hobby for years to come) and can I use my old receiver in conjunction with the new radio (freq. #46).Any help is appreciated.

A couple of questions for you:
1) Is the Conquest narrow banded?
2) Are the servo connector pins in the receiver sockets or on the servo lead?
3) Are we talking AM or FM

The reason I'm asking these questions is that I also have an AM Futaba Conquest four channel on Channel 48. Mine is a 1985 vintage that hasn't been narrow banded, so it's illegal to use per FCC rules. As for the receiver and servos, if it has the old style sockets on the receiver, new servos won't work without either getting an adapter or replacing the connectors on the servo leads, making it more cost effective to replace the receiver when relacing servos. If it's an AM system, you would be better off replacing the receiver anyway, as most of the better quality/higher channel count radios are either FM or FM/PCM.
Almost forgot your other question. The number of channels really is dependant on what you really want your radio to do. If you want separate servos in each wing, you might want them to be on separate channels rather than using a "Y". There are flaps, retracts stabilators, spoilers, bomb drops, smoke systems and who knows what all else. If you plan on any of these, you would be better off looking at the 7CAP or even the 9CAP Super 2. If you don't want to get that complex, stick with a 6EXA(or the latest version 6 channel), as you will still have some mixing capabilities, as well as Expo, EPAs and some of the other bells and whistles that are available.
Hope this helps

Ray, I would say take the plunge. I bought a 9C 2&1/2 years ago and have never been sorry.
While you may not need that much radio the new computer radios are so easy to program and will fly your whole fleet. You old RX will work as long as it is FM. I would however send it in and have it checked over.

David

It is the "new" style Futaba receiver because all of the new servos I have purchased (s3004) have plugged right in. I do believe it is FM ....
I don't have the radio in front of me.....Don't tell anyone but I'm at work right now talking to you guys.........
David what do you mean send the receiver in to get checked over ?........ Also is it important to order the same freq on new radio as old one ?
HERE COMES BOSS, GOTTA GO...................P.S. I have been looking at the 9C! Seems like a good long term radio........[X(]

You bought one too, huh. A lot of the people I associate with bought the 9C. I got mine so I can use one transmitter to handle boats AND planes. Now if only Futaba would get a 75MHz Synth module and receiver........................................

Yes you can still use your current Futaba Ch. #46 reciever with a new radio providing you stay with Futaba & make sure the new raido is on ch. 46 as well. As for how many channels you will need, ask yourself what kind of flying do you intend to grow into. I rarely see anyone actually "NEED" more than 6 channels. However if you plan to get into really deatailed & scale type Warbirds then you might actually use more than six channels . You basicly need at least 4 to fly, 5 if you want to fly with flaperons, 6 if you use retracts too. I believe if you want true flaps, independent of the ailerons, like most Warbirds use that would require it's own channel too. Then if you wanted to do more things like candy drops, or bombs or what ever you might use yet another channel.

Personally I'm finding my 6 channel JR radio with 10 model memory to be enough for me. But a lot guys like more radio than that. There are also the bells & whistles to be considered. A lot of guys buy more radio than I did for the extra bells & whistles, & not necessarily the extra channels. Which brings it down to a matter of affordablility. If you have the money to spend, then I think most people would say go ahead & get the most radio you can.
Personally I think that is fine for those who can afford it, but the middle of the road radios are very nice too. For instance the Futaba 7 Cap is a very nice radio with a good bit of the bells & whistles while accommodating up to 7 channels. The Futaba 6EXA is also a nice 6 channel radio. So it really boils down to what do you think you will need? how much will you really use? how important are the bells & whistles? & how mouch money do you want to spend on a radio? The other thing is if you are only one receiver deep into Futaba then you may still want to look at JR as well. If I were you I would check out Futaba, JR, & HiTech before you bought anything. One receiver isn't that much. I went into the LHS to buy the Futaba 6 EXA, but when I held the JR6102 in my hand it just felt & looked so much better to me than the Futaba that I had to have it, & that was after I already had 6 planes all on Futaba, but I switched up anyway. I was able to sell & trade every one of my Futaba receivers for JR receivers right here in the RCU marketplace so getting turned around really didn't cost me anything extra. So I would say look online for your best price, but go to your LHS & put those radios you like in your hands to see what feels best for you. Then make your decision as to which brand you like best.

Just to throw a little more confusion into the pot, you might want to look into something with the spectra module as well. Of course it's more money, but it gives you channel versatility. Rather than mis-inform you with incorrect information I would rather let someone with more knowledge than myself explain it to you. In the meantime you can go to Tower Hobbies site & look at radios to inform yourself. I believe if you look at the HiTech Eclpise 7 it has a spectra module option & you can read about it there.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAHK8&P=0

That is the link to the Eclipse 7 with the spectra module. This is for the Tx only, there is no flight pack included at this price, but if you scroll down to tech notes, you can read all about it's features. These HiTech radios are very nice too. They are shift selectable which means you can set them up to go with either Fubtaba or JR receivers. You can work your way back to the rest of the radios to look at from here too. You will not find any of the JR stuff at Tower though. To look at JR radios you will need to go to Horizon Hobbies site.

I hope some of this helps. Good luck.

When I say "send it in". I mean send it to Hobby Services. They will check it tune it and do a vibration test on it. Might cost you $20 but it may save a plane. I would buy the same channel just so you can use the RX you have. Another thing about the channel is where do you fly? If you fly in a larger club see if they have a list of FREQ for their members. If a bunch of guys have your same channel then pick a different channel. Then when you send the old RX in have it changed to your new channel. The crystal will cost you about $10 but the rest of the price for service will be the same. I had an old one I sent in that had been crashed. They called and said it had many problems but they would trade me for a new RX with crystal for $40. Thats a $75 value for $40.

David