matt mccurry

My Feedback: (7)

Hi,
I bought someone out this past weekend and it was one of these deals where I had to buy all of it or nothing.
Well I got some really great and useful things. And... some not so useful things.
???? What to do with AM radios? Some of them have silver stickers on them and I have no idea what this means. They are all in great shape and in good working order. I even have several extra receivers to go along with them.
Any suggestions??????
Can I use them??????
Do I want to?????

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

I'm sorry but I'm afraid those Transmitters sre illegal to use any longer and you wouldn't want to anyway. In today's narrow band enviroment they would get eaten alive as well as interfere with other equipment. The servos could be used even if you have to update the connectors if you care to that. Just make sure they are in good working order.

DGrant

My Feedback: (4)

na...na...not so fast......what brand are they? Some of those may well be perfectly legal. More info though is required so as to answer your question to the best of my ability.

Makes, model numbers, any other pertinent info will help. There are even a few places that gold-sticker the older stuff.

In some areas I know AM modulation is not real comfy, and some folks are not real comfy to use it. I find it's just as good in my area, and have no prob using it in some of my not-so-favorite planes. If in good condition and legal it works fine.

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

I thought all non-narrow band transmitter's were illegal now because their wide band width bleeds over on the new narrower band freq. That's the way I understand it. It doesn't matter what brand they are. I may be wrong. It's happened a time or two before. I'm not sayin they will no longer work. I'm sayin they are illegal to use.

Rodney

Dgrant is correct; many of these older AM transmitters can be certified narrow band and still used.

George in TX

provided they are gold-sticker certified. I still use an old Futaba FG series 4 channel AM that was gold-stickered in '92 and it works as well as any radio at our field.

I am curious as to what those "silver stickers on them" say exactly. I have only heard of gold colored stickers for the narrow-band certification.

Taildragger

My Feedback: (204)

Well, Sorry for the Misinformation Matt. Seems I was misinformed myself. I had one on E-bay for auction a month or so ago and I got a very perterbed e-mail from some radio guy stating that I was trying to sell an illegal radio to some un suspecting individual even though I had stated that the radio was for nostalgic purposes only(display). It was on an old freq but could have been updated.

miltonmorris

Go to FUTABA.com and read the stuff about which ones are narrow band. Then get a narrow band receiver. If yours conforms to the conditions listed on FUTABA's site and you are using a narrow band receiver I don't Know that it MUST have "GOLD STICKER" -- Somebody site the FCC if you know it.

Thud_Driver

My Feedback: (1)

If I remember right, while the sticker program was active and the 50 channels were being phased in, a silver sticker meant the Tx didn't meet narrow band specs but was Ok to use while we were still on even numbered frequencies only and then had to be updated for use when the odd numbered freq's were released.

Technically it needs a checkup and probably an update. If you want to do a Tx update, likely with a new narrow band Rx, possibly Tx/Rx batteries & switch and maybe have to replug servos for the new receiver.....why not spend the bucks on a new and much better radio?? Your choice, my opinion.

Dave Bowles

My Feedback: (7)

A properly tuned narrow band AM radio is just as reliable as an FM.

linclogs

It never ceases to amaze me regarding the misinformation that's out there regarding this subject.

When the issue first came up years ago, what we were hearing was "ALL the old radios would have to be junked and ONLY brand new radios would be aceptable to use". I always wondered if it was the radio manufacturers that perpetuated that myth. Afterall, if YOU manufactured radio control systems, wouldn't you be just lickin' your chops at that prospect?

I've had an older radio upgraded recently myself. But Thud_Driver is right. The cost can be MORE than a brand new radio system. I only upgraded mine because it was an old favorite and I liked the features (some of which can't be found on non-computer radios of today). So get an estimate from some of the businesses that do that type of work (I had mine done by Radio South but there are others that can do it, too). Then decide if you really want to go that route, or buy a new radio.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

In the 80's, the sticker program was introduced by the AMA to help people identify narrow-band equipment and non-narrowband equipment. It was especially important for R/C clubs and contests to know which transmitters were narrow band and which were not.

Until 1998, wide-band equipment was legal to use. After that, no.

Silver stickers were used to show that a transmitter had been tested and that it was NOT a narrow-band unit.

Gold stickers were applied to transmitters that conformed to the narrow band specifications.

The program was ended when it became illegal to use wide-band equipment.

At this time, SOME wide-band transmitters can be updated to narrow-band status, while a lot no longer can. Some of that equipment is old enough that their respective manufacturers no longer support it.

strato911

Just want to add one more thing - although not advisable, a wide-band receiver is legal to use. Only the transmitters are affected by the law.

I still fly AM on a narrow-band Futaba Attack 4. But as DGrant said, I relegate it to planes I don't care to much about.

Thud_Driver

My Feedback: (1)

No sweat on whether it's AM, but the folks at the local field would probably like to know its up to snuff and the sliver sticker says someone checked it once and it isn't. That's all. We haven't heard what brand/model yet, so better advice is on hold.

Tx features would likely be the deciding factor, but most of the older radios were just getting full up reversing, dual rates, and even mixers back then. Not to mention how much better even today's cheap servos are compared the old ones. These and more are available for not a lot difference in price to a full update. I think you just have to decide if what you have for performance after the update is worth it to you. Could be it is, or not.