im a noob at this building a trainer,and been looking on ebay to save as much as i can on my supplies.i am want to know what are the diffrences in the radio systems AM vs. FM? the AM radios cost less then the fm ones....but i thought am was for ground use???if any one has any advice thanks in advance.
and if any of you have a radio set up with 3 servos you would like to pass on im looking for a deal it doesnt have to be fancy just make the plane fly till i get use to it...hopefully something around $50 shipped...any help?thanks
BTW love the site

AM is the oldest frequency system and works just fine but you had better check with your club to see if they allow it. FM is next in line and is universally accepted if your transmitter is on freguency. My suggestion is to bite the bulltet and go Spred Spectrum and be ahead of the game. This is where the hobby is headed and will soon obsolete all other fregs. If not go with the AM and be prepared to junk it in near future. Norm

AM is perfectly legal for both ground and air work and as long as it is narrow band certified no club would-should restrick it's use.

[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXLGF4**&P=0]Hitec Neon SS[/link]

Tower Hobbies has a brand new 3-channel 72Mhz FM radio system with transmitter, 2 servos, receiver, and switch all for $59.99.

Good radio equipment is an investment. You don't have to spend a lot to get a high quality radio system, but buying the cheapest thing you can possibly find is almost never a good idea.

looks like a good deal but how does it control rudder elavator and throttle with just one stick?

This is the Hitec Neon-SS 3 channel FM single stick 72MHz radio
with the Micro 05S Receiver and two HS-55 Sub Micro Servos.
Recommended for park flyers, gliders and 1/2A airplane kits.

FEATURES: Easy to use proportional 3rd channel (upgradeable to 4 channel)
Servo reverse and trim on Channels 1 and 2
Internal mixing for elevon or V-tail (Channels 1 and 2)
Proportional 3rd channel slide switch
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above is from the comment area in the Tower ad.
Please note the throttle is controled by the slide switch. It also states this is recommended for park flyers and the like. The servos are also sub-micro type which are not suitable for most trainers as is not the RX. Saving money this way or via EBAY is going to cost you more in the long run.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=SM&I=LXEFJ4**
This is a full-fledge beginner suitable system and IMO the minimum a person should begin with. Also has full warranty and if you should have trouble you have a RELIABLE place to go back to.

Good luck.

there is an auxilary channel button or lever for throttle. the spead spectrrum is relatively new . FM is pretty much the standard . AM with narrow band RX is perfectly legal.I think they will be with us for a while yet.what is not legal is the old wide band radios . they are usually quite old & poor buys regardless of cost.

cool info ,thanks
my plane is a Dallaire sportster with 80" wing span ...plans say use .60 motor

Definitely NOT a park flyer/ sub-micro servo type plane.

You need a system of the general type as I suggested above or better.

Buying on a budget is fine until it's time to move up, then what do you do with the cheap radio. You sell it for half of what you paid. Add that loss to the price of the new radio. Don't buy on e-bay the possable repair bill might hurt to much since your new. Go to the RC field or the LHS and look for used radio's. Buy the best to you afford and you'll be able to keed it for a long time. E-
Bay is for people that know what they are buying. You should see some of the stuff that has come into my store from e-bay (only been used once). Listen to the guys at the field, they will keep you out of trouble. Dennis

sounds good, i think im goin to buy new from tower hobbies so it will at least have a warrenty for a little while any way

The Dallaire is a big heavy airplane and when powered with a 60 it can be a safety threat so I highly recommend that you do not use equipment that is not suited for an aircraft this size. The answers you got are all excellent. I don't recall you imforming anyone what your experiece flying was. Norm

i built a flew a sig kadet senior a few years ago but nothing since

the dallaire im building is only 1 or 2 inches bigger and weighs abot the same as the the sig kadet senior i flew, and the sig had an O.S. .40 on it.couldnt i use a .40 on the dallaire to tame it down a little?

Hi The Sig senior Seniorita should fly very similar to the Dallaire, You're in good shape, have fun. Norm

the senior was a very nice plane to fly,and the instuctor at the local flying field said i did a very good job building it .he flew it the first time for me after he inspected it and i saw him fly it into a slight head wind at low idle with full up elevator and the plane just sat it one spot in mid air for almost 30 seconds,never seen one do that before..
thanks to all for posting replys you have been very helpful

Hi, I have been friends with Claude McCoulough who designed the Seniorita for many years and his designs have always been some of the best modeling has ever seen, Claude is in his late 80s and is still competing in scale with scratch built masterpieces of little known aircraft. Norm

Hehe, well in my defense, Junkman123 hadn't identified what exactly he was building when I mentioned the Focus SS. If he'd been building an Ace Grasshopper Simple Flier I'd have been right on the mark!

this is true,i guess i should have explained what i was building in the first post,but i learned alot from this post

I bought the futaba 6exas. It was 159 at TH with a 15 dollar off coupon. This is my first experiance with a computer radios. I fly a superstar trainer .40 and where it really shines is my park 3d flyer. It is really easy to set the epa, D/R and Expo with it. I was very surprised. I just picked futaba because thats the brand radio I use with my RC car stuff as a kid. I'm sure there are a lot better but for a 150 dollars shipped with a flight pack is a good deal. Buy a computer radio. You don't have to do all the push rod adjustments like a non computer radio.

That's a good choice. The radio will last you thru many planes. Some time in the future you will up grade but by then who knows what will be on the market. Dennis