I want to buy a radio for flying helis and planes. I was looking at the Futaba 7C, the Spektrum DX7 and the JR 9303 (it's a 9 channel, i know). Which do you think is the best to buy? I'm open to hear your opinions. I can buy one of these brands only.

[color=#FF0099]You're opening a can of worms here!!! This is like the cola war!!!
I fly a Futaba 7Cap....and I only drink COKE...fully leaded...no diet stuff!!!

Bev

Which one is best?

They all work.

Best of that list is the 9303 but any of the those radios work equally well. If you an afford a 10c or 9303 more the better but functionally there's very little difference.

I fly with a Futaba 7c, but if I was new then I would go with the dx7. It has more memory and cheaper wider variety of receivers. I personally like the FASST technology better, but they are both great. I already had 2 FASST receivers with my 6ex so I went to the 7C and I love it! You can't go wrong with either of them.

I guess it does pay to read the whole thread!. I read the first couple sentances and thought: Well, he is leaving out the best radios in the world and felt the need to make comment. You may be right, maybe Airtronics isn't available to him in Cyprus. This is to bad! In that case, I would go with either Futaba, or JR/Spectrum. Hope I've been helpful!

He said "I can buy one of these brands only." Not that he didn't like Airtronics or Hitec. They may not be available where he is.

Get a free receiver when you buy a Futaba 7C and if your a super saver member from tower get an addition $50 off and free shipping. I don't know how you could beat that deal. I had to do it. Oh by the way that was 50 off with the servos.

chopper

Exactly

I forgot about that, that is how I got my new 7C. Tower has super saver membership for $9.99 now, and free shipping if you get it. The shipping was $9.99 so it was a no brainer.

Bev pointed out, it's a big can of worms getting opened here. What you will find are people voting that have never used or set up a plane with the other radios but like the one they have. My own radio is a Futaba 9-C and I understand it inside and out. I have set up planes with the DX7 and can't stand that radio. Problem is it isn't a bad radio, I just keep forgetting a step when setting up a plane, it's a me thing. I love the JR 9303 but it sets up like my own radio and has all the features I like. None of that Y harness crap. Surprise, I voted for the Futaba 7 and have never used it. The guy at the hobby shop let me play with one in the shop and I liked it better then the DX7. The one great feature I found in it was I could set up two elevator servos without a Y. If I had the loose cash I would buy myself a new 10-C to replace my 9-C. I will probably never do it though, my old 9 is working just fine.

I vote for the Spektrum DX7. I believe it has a much better display than the 7C. I have a 9C, and the DX7 display is almost as good as the 9C, IMO.

I love my Spektrum DX-7. Of course I have never used the others so I really can't form an accurate opinion. I'm sure they are great and I know all will get the job done.

Still, the model-match feature alone on the DX-7 makes it worthwhile to me. My only complaint (and it is a small one) is that the plastic housing is a little slippery, especially if your hands get a little sweaty or you have any fuel residue on them.

I have both the spectrum DX7 and the Futaba 7c and love them both. They work great there are some differences with the DX7 you get a bigger battery, digital servos and 20 model memory unlike the futaba 7C. But the 7C is a bit easier to program. Otherwise both are awsome.

The TX battery was always something I wondered about with Futaba. You buy a big high powered radio and they give you a 700mah battery so you have to replace it if you don't have a field charger. I didn't notice on the new 7 what the battery size was but it sounds like they have never wised up. When I picked out the new DX7 for my youngest students Xmas present it came with different servos if you wanted the cheaper set. As I recall it came three different ways but it was stupid not getting the higher priced radio with the digital servos.

I thought the Spektrums were manufactured by JR?

They use the same software/firmware and similiar mechanisms.

They are.

OK, One thing no-one has bothered to say. Since you stated that you want a radio for both Heli and fixed wing aircraft, forget about the 72Mhz or other XXMhz radios and go for the 2.4Ghz instead. Reason being, with the XXMhz receivers you have a 1meter or there abouts antenna wire that you have to figure out how to keep from getting stuck in the rotor blades or tail rotor. The only option I have seen for this was to get a loaded antenna and cut the antenna wire to fit. With the 2.4Ghz radios the antenna sets are a lot shorter and easier to mount.

As far as the brand of the radio, I am partial to Futaba, but that may not be the best fit.

The best way to figure out what will fit you is to research the helicopters that you are interested in, See if you can download the manuals and see which radios they reference. Also check for any wierd mixes usually dealing with the cyclic and collective pitches and make sure the radio that you are looking at is capable of everything to get the thing flying. You definitely want a minimum of a 6 channel computer radio.

If you are looking at getting into giant scale aircraft with redundant receivers, the JR/Spektrum radios might not work. From what I have read on here, if you select your model and even though muliple receivers are linked to the transmitter, only the ONE that is for that model will respond. I don't know this for a fact but it is a question you may want to raise if you plan to run multiple receivers in an aircraft.

Seems i will go for the Futaba one Thanks for the info guys. I wanted the 6EX but they told me that the 7C has some really good things that the 6EX doesn't have, so...7C here i come. Thankjs again guys

TWELVE PLANES AND ONE DX7! I LUV IT !!!!!

Futaba, there is no substitute!

I'm a JR fan. I had Futaba, but once I bought my first JR... I became a loyal Red Shirt.

They are.

Thats wrong.

Well in the context you're using it it's wrong. You can bind two recievers to the same model memory for dual reciever installations.

It is true that once you bind a reciever its tied to that model memory until you rebind it, thats what model match is about, but you can bind more than one receiver to a model memory.