steamroller22

Is the FUTABA 6XAPS with 4 servos good for a first radio with room to move. Is it a good deal at 250.00?
Thanks

RCaeroguy

My Feedback: (4)

It's a great radio. $250.00 is kind of steep. I think Tower has it for $239.00. I think Bruckner Hobbies also carries it but I haven't checked the price.

WreckRman2

My Feedback: (5)

The T6XA is a great first computer radio. You might try Chief Aircraft for a better price. I got my 9C from them for $365.

WreckRman2

My Feedback: (5)

Here ya go from Chief Aircraft...

*******************
** Futaba Radios ** IN STOCK!
*******************

6XAS FM Air w/3004................ 215.00*
6XHS FM Heli w/3003............... 235.00*
6XAPS PCM w/3004.................. 249.00*
*Includes UPS/FedEx Ground Freight


Tower Hobbies wants $259.99 plus shipping for the 6XAPS.

If your planning to be in the hobby for years to come and have an extra $100 to spend you can't go wrong with the 9C.

I went from a basic 4 channel to the 6 channel to the 9C in a little over a year. As you get more in depth with setting up mixes, etc. you will quickly learn the limits of the T6XA.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

For the money, the Airtronics RD6000 is a much better value. It's got many more features, and is much more versatile. The 6XAS is due for a replacement sometime soon.

david a

If you're a beginner your best radio is a basic four channel like the Hitec Laser 4. I bought mine with radio, 4 servos, receiver, battery, charger and switch for a little over $100. My plane flies just as high and just as good as any other plane in it's class. I can do loops, rolls, immelmans, split S, hammer head stalls all with my little four channel radio. It's a trainer plane but it can do all these maneuvers and it can hover. Even though that has more to do with the engine than radio.

There will always be a better computer radio coming out tomorrow and it will be cheaper than what's available today. If you can hold off until you "really" need one then you will get a better deal.

I too struggled with making a decision on a radio; this manufacturer or that one, this model or that one, computer radio or not, four channel or eight. I finally had to stop and ask myself if I really needed the super-duper computer radio in order to fly or did I just want it to fulfill my manly desire to gadetize. It was tough being honest about it, as I like all the shinny buttons and switches on a computer radio as much as the next guy. But with the money I saved ($150) I'm buying a stand alone Hitec Laser 6 radio with buddy cord ($80) so my son can fly too.

Jim Schwagle

My Feedback: (1)

There are pros and cons but if you're pretty confident that the hobby is for you and you will be in it for the long haul a higher end radio can save you $. I have two 4 channel radios and a six channel I will probably never use again. Mid and up level computer radios make setting up planes so much easier with adjustable travel etc, etc. One radio can store settings for several planes making it versatile. A mid level computer radio can take you a long ways and with judicious shopping it can be had for a reasonable price.

ctdahle

David is exactly right.

The flight pack that you get with a basic four channel is identical to the flight pack you get with a computer six, and guess what? When you buy a four channel you are really buying servos, a receiver, a switch harness, a battery charger and a set of airborne and transmitter batteries. They throw in the four channel transmitter for free.

THis means that when you do actually need a computer radio, you will already have a spare flight pack and an extra charger and transmitter battery, for less money than if you bought the 6 channel first and then tried to piece together a flight pack to equip a second plane.

Also, for the last five years I have been saying that next years computer radios will be cheaper and have more features and I have not been wrong yet. Don't buy a computer radio until you need one, and you don't need one to learn how to fly.

Jim Schwagle

My Feedback: (1)

Of course no one needs a computer radio to learn.

Using Futaba and Tower as examples (not definitive but representative)

4 channel radio $150 4VF
6 channel computer radio $230 6XAS
futaba flight pack $109

If one buys a 4 channel, then later a 6 channel computer radio you've spent $380

If one buys the 6 channel computer radio then a flight pack you've spent $339.

If one buys the 4 channel then later a flight pack you've spent $259

My experience, and it's only mine, is that once I got the computer radio, the old 4 and 6 channels went on the shelf, never to be seen again. I couldn't even use the tx battery packs, they were different. The fact that I did have an extra transmitter didn't help me. I have two 4 channel's, two 6 channel's, one 5 channel and one 7 channel. The only radios I use, for the 5 planes I fly are the 7 and 5 channel. I suppose I could sell some of them. If one can use one radio to control all of his/her aircraft you're that much ahead. All of this, of course, assumes the person will stay with the hobby, and can afford it at the start since it's not the cheapest way to start, but it's a way to consider.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

The one really nice thing about having an extra 4-channel transmitter around is that it can be used as a buddy-box. There's no better way to get friends or family involved in flying than to let them experience it.

Flyfalcons

...Or even as a backup radio in case you need to send in your primary radio for service. That is why I'm not selling my 6XAS even though I am exclusively using my new 9C.

mattebox

I think if you're gonna spend $250 on a 6 channel, you might as well go for the 9C for about $100 more. The 9C is probably the best value in computer radios out there. It's a cinch to program and will pretty much do just about anything you will ever need for the forseeable future.

I happen to be in the "buy the best radio you can afford" camp, if you know for sure that you intend to stay in the hobby. By buying the best first, you avoid buying twice (or three times) and you won't be limited to what type of flying you can do.

When I got started in this hobby not long ago I struggled with the same issue of whether or not to get a mid-range or a high end radio. I almost bought a Flash 5x but decided to get a Super 8UAFS instead. If I had gotten the Flash 5x, I wouldn't be able to fly the 6 servo sailplanes that I do now. I also wouldn't be able to put all the advance mixes in my pattern plane either. And I wouldn't be able to fly helicopters if I wanted to. But I can do all of that now. I also have enough model memory in my Super 8 for all my planes. Plus, having had the Super 8 since I started, I've become really familar with the way it feels and how it operates. It's the one constant no matter what I fly.

Remember, no matter how many crashes you go through, the transmitter will always survive. Get yourself a good one if you can.

Flyfalcons

Of course, that depends on how you react to the crash!

WreckRman2

My Feedback: (5)

Sooooo true...

Al Stein

Maybe so, but if money doesn't come to you in unlimited quantities, you may want to wait til you know what a computer radio will do for you before you spend 250% more to get one.

From all I've seen, the computer radio has no benefit for a learner. Not limited benefit, not a little benefit, not even a tiny benefit, it has NO benefit. The better the radio adapts itself to your plane (as computer radios can) the worse a buddy box will be adapted to it. The more selectable setups the radio has (as computer radios do) the better the chance it'll be on the wrong one at any given time. The more it takes to learn the radio (and every computer radio is more complicated than any non-computer radio), the less mental capacity you have available to use for learning to fly.

When you're ready to switch frequently between several special-purpose planes and/or flight modes, then the computer radio will come in handy. Not esential, but until a minor mistake in programming or program selection costs you an airplane AND a flight pack, you'll probably find it nice to have. For now, personally, I'd recommend the $100 class 4- or 5-channel setup.

mattebox

Hmm, well, I have to disagree with you there. I can name one benefit of a computer radio for a beginner right now: digital trims. With analog trims you always run the risk of bumping the trim like during a break or at the end of the day when putting it away or something like that, so you end up having to retrim on the next flight. Or how about throttle cut? Without that you'd have to shut down the engine with throttle trim or god forbid, pinching the spinner. And the list of convenience features like dual rates, ATV, flexible channel assignments, etc. goes on and on.

Don't get me wrong, I understand your point that computer radios are not required to learn how to fly, but you have to agree that they do have some convenience benefits. Besides, any computer radio can be used just like a basic radio if you don't fool around with the advance features.

And yes, it is true that there is a learning curve to computer radios and you can lose a model by not switching to the correct model memory, but you have to give people more credit these days. People, especially young people, are much more computer and electronics savvy so using some of our mental capacity to learn how to use a computer radio in addition to learning how to fly really isn't all that difficult.

bdtsr

My Feedback: (5)

Take a look at the Hitec Flash 5. Simple cost effective entry level radio.

WreckRman2

My Feedback: (5)

While no one needs more than 4 channels or any dual rates, expo, etc to fly a trainer as soon as they make that next step into another airplane they will also be looking to setup and play with dual rates, mixes, expo and everything else a computer radio has to offer. Not to mention when he does make that step he won't have to buy a second radio or try to setup both airplanes using that same 4 channel radio.

I know I wish I'd started with a computer radio just because I'd had the ability to play with those features even with my trainer. While the average beginner don't need things like dual rates it sure can help the instructor and student as he learns. I use dual rates when I instruct and if the student shows good progress on low rates I can increase the fun factor with the flip of a switch and then it's a whole new ball game.

Like mattebox said these younger pilots aren't afraid of computer related stuff. It's the older generation that are afraid of them, not because they are older but because they've flown all these years without them and don't see a need for them. Instead of using one computer radio they haul around 3-5 basic 4 channel radios and then wonder which radio goes to which airplane. Now I know there is nothing wrong with this but with the technology of today it's so much simpler than that.

ctdahle

The analysis is really simple actually, computer radios DO NOT match up with standard buddy boxes. They have to be matched with an identical computer radios, which most clubs are not going to supply.

Buy a four channel, spend the difference on fuel and learn to fly. Or buy a computer radio and hope that someone is willing to lend you their computer radio to use as a buddy box. In the latter case, I would not suggest that you hold your breath while you are waiting.

Still, people are stubborn and gadget happy, so I suspect that no matter how many TRULY experienced flyers and instructors say otherwise, the allure of the bells and whistles will continue to grab the beginner's credit card.

ctdahle

You are missing Al's point entirely, YOU CANNOT reliably set up a computer radio to match a buddy box. At best it is a proposition that takes HOURS, and at worst it is IMPOSSIBLE

bdtsr

My Feedback: (5)

You can match a buddy box to a computer radio, I do it for my trainer and have done it for others that I have taught! I use a Hitec Focus 4 TX as a buddy box for the Hitec Flash 5. You just do not mess with ATV. Make your adjustments mechanicaly. Any Futaba compatible buddy box will work. I have not tried my 9C yet because it has a different plug. But it does work with my Flash 5, 7UAF, and 6XAS.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

Christopher, that's just plain bad info. I regularly hook up my old non-computer Vanguard 4 to my RD6000, and have no problems what so ever. There was no complicated set up, and it takes all of 15 seconds to connect the cable between the two on a slow day. The one thing I did check was reversing, but you've got to do that anyway. What systems have you had such problems with? Perhaps we can help.

Jim Schwagle

My Feedback: (1)

Perhaps we could discuss religion or politics in order to reduce the heat.

It can be done, nothing's perfect. Some people do it one way for reasons that make sense to them, others do it another way for their reasons. What I do believe is true is that no one way is right for everyone regardless of circumstances. Hopefully newcomers get advice, weigh the pros and cons for themselves and make an informed decision. Computer radios are not necessarily only bells and whistles. A manual typewriter can certainly work fine and dandy but I'll never give up my word processor once I've seen how it works. They both have a place.

david a

If I buy a Hitec Laser 6 with a flight pack and the frequency for the radio and reciever is 53, can I buy additional Hitec flight packs at the same time with the additional receivers also set to frequency 53? Will I be able to use the Laser 6 with these additional receivers since they are both on frequency 53?

If my receiver goes out will I have to throw the radio away and buy a new one?

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

You sure can, but there's where one of the real advantages of a computer radio becomes clear. Instead of manually re-adjusting your trims and servo-reversing, you just pick the other model from the computer radio's memory. It's very simple, and saves both time and hassle. Some folks will say that it's easy to forget to switch models, but the converse is that it's just as easy to forget to reverse a servo.

Nope.