I am thinking of buying a new remote for my plane. I just don't know what the typical good range is for the reciever. Any suggestions? The remote I am looking to buy has a range of 500 yards ground and 1000 yards air. Is this good for beginners?

a good system will be line of sight, it'll talk to the receiver as far as you can see it (couple miles) which is allot farther then you can control it.

kc

If looking at the specs of the reciever and it doesn't provide the range, is this a good assumption that it is line of sight?

What Mhz is it on??

any quality 72mhz Rx will be line of sight.. as mentioned, farther than you can see the plane (or heli)

if it is 27mhz (frequency used by lesser expensive "toys" etc... then it is much less

The following is the spec for the radio. It appears that it is 72Mhz.

IS this a good remote to buy?

SPECS: 6XM TRANSMITTER
Channels: 6-channel
Transmitting frequencies: 72MHz band, channels 11-60 (72.010
72.990MHz)
Modulation Type: FM, narrow-band
Input Power: 9.6V 500mAh Sanyo® NiCd battery
Current Drain: 250mA
Output Power: < 0.75W
Model Memories: Six, with reset
Programmable Mixing: 4 preset, one user-programmable
Display Type: 40-segment LCD (liquid crystal display)

DUAL CONVERSION 8 CHANNEL RECEIVER
Channels: 8-channel
Receiving Frequencies: 72MHz band
Modulation Type: FM dual-conversion narrow-band
Input Power Requirement: 4.8V or 6V DC
Avg. Current Drain: 14mA approx. w/o servos
Intermediate Frequencies: 10.7MHz 1st IF, 455kHz 2nd IF
Receiving range: 500 yards ground, 1000 yards air
Dimensions: 1.1 x 2.2 x 0.8" (28.5 x 55.5 x 19.8mm)
Weight: 1.0 oz (28g)

Receivers do just that they receive, they are NOT range rated because they will receive as long as there is a signal of sufficient strength to receive, range is limited by the transmitter.

@exeter_acres FWIW 27 MHz systems are for surface use only.

kc

OK, that's Tower's 6 channel "in-house" brand radio
http://www.towerhobbies.com/products/pdf/towj62web.pdf for the transmitter.
It will operate your plane just fine as long as you can see it well with the naked eye. You have no business flying a plane further out than that anyway. 1000 yards, that's 10 football fields away. Way too far out to be flying a plane IMO.

I'll "assume" this is the Tower Hobbies 6XM. It appears to be a good radio at a good price. The 8 channel receiver that comes with it is considered a 'full range' receiver. I'd say the specs are very conservative but are still pretty far. 1000 yards is over a half mile. Unless your model is gigantic you'll rarely be flying it that far away. My biggest plane has a 6 foot wing and I seriously doubt that I'd be able to see it well enough to control it if it was a half mile away.

Thanks sounds great. I have a P51D with a 48" wing span. This remote sounds good for this size of plane.

I am just getting into this sport and have never flown RC before. I am also looking at the flight simulator that plugs into your USB port on the computer. Does anyone know if this is worth a crap? It is only $20.00.

Don't know about the simulator but wanted to mention that the radio is made by Futaba for Tower(under contract) . Some level of quality can be assumed via this.

A typical P51D is not a beginner's airplane.

You should consider getting a trainer plane and finding an instructor. According to the AMA club locator:
http://www.ama-dist-8.org/Clubs/Locator.php
there are 3 RC clubs within 20 miles of winter haven. Most clubs provide free instruction to members.



At the top of the Beginner forum is a "sticky" posted by RCKen
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4537845/tm.htm
It is a pretty broad listing of trainer airplanes that are available. All use glow fuel powered engines.

If you want electric power, there are several electric trainers available; these are the ones I've seen:
Hobbico has one called "ElectraStar" or something similar; and the Superstar EP.
SIG has an electric version of their "Kadet LT series trainer"
Hobby-Lobby has an electric Telemaster

As far as the $20 simulator: I'm guessing it's a $20 USB adapter to hook your transmitter to the computer and a copy of FMS software which is available as a free download. I've never used FMS but a lot of people do. It will not have the graphics or physics of a $200 package but it could help the learning curve.

Might want to tell the folks at air hogs, Fly tech, Hasbro, Draganfly, and HobbyZone for starters

http://www.modelaircraft.org/comp/frequency.htm
AMA freq charts. 27 MHz not recommended but allowed.

75MHz is surface only in the U.S.

That's not exactly true. What is true is that a receiver will receive if it's on the correct frequency AND if the antenna is intact. Shorten the antenna and you have reduced the capability of the receiver to properly receiver the transmit signal.. no matter HOW powerful the transmitter is. It relys on wavelength to receive the correct frequency. Wavelength is specific to the operating frequency and must be very close to that length, if not spot on, to operate properly. The closer it is to the proper wavelength the better the receiver will perform, range wise.

i guess i should have been a bit more clear, you CAN use 27 MHz in the air, the FCC and AMA wouldnt hold it aginst you if you did BUT your plane sure would if it's anything much bigger then a park flier because of the limited range unless you wanted to string along a few yards of antenna dangeling out the back of it.


the range is again dependent on the transmitted signal and TX antenna height (can be substitute for RX height in plane/heli flying), regardless of how far off tune the RX antenna is in relationship to it's receiving frequency. the reasoning for range reduction with off tuning is because the off tune is reducing the signal strength into the receiver. in most model applications we use a 1/4 wave antenna (39 inches in 72 MHz systems) and increasing that to a a half wave would increase range by about 1.5x but who wants that much antenna dangling out the back of our planes????

kc

Any Dual Conversion 72mhz system rated at "full Range" will work for you. Don't waste your time and money on single conversion short range equipment.

Hi there!!!

I read about Hitec's Electron 6 Receiver's range is 1,500 meters, but as its been said, that range can be as far as your eyes can see, but Im sure its more than 2,000 meters. Im using that on my JR's XF421 EX radio of 72 Mhz.

Mody